Lily Lake Summerhaven Association Past Residents

Rev. 07-Sep-18

Several past residents have contacted the Association seeking information about their previous summer homes and offering reminiscences and occasionally pictures of their years here at Lilly Lake. If you have contributions, please contact Marilyn. If your home is mentioned on this page, enjoy the trip down memory lane!

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Jarke, 1928 -1973

Paul Sr. and Libbie Jarke owned the cottage at 8034 335th Ave. Libbie's father, Frank Lhotak, built it in the spring/summer of 1928. Paul Jr. and his twin brother Ray helped with the building and learned a lot about carpentry and other things from their grandfather Frank. During construction, they lived in two tents on the back property.

Paul Sr. erected the flag pole in July of 1939 to commemorate Paul Jr. and Ray's being drafted during World War II.

About the same time, the basement was added. Paul Jr. and Ray and some of their friends crawled under the cottage and dug the basement by hand.

Tony Belmonte (nephew of Paul Jr.), his brother, and some cousins spent many summers there in the 1950s and early 1960s. They learned to swim and rowed rental boats from Bill and Marie Greil's store.

The home was only a summer cottage. The family opened it around Easter and closed it for the winter by Halloween. There was no insulation or heat, no phone or TV, only a radio, several games, and decks of cards.

Friday night was pizza at Marino's in New Munster. Sometimes the family went into Lake Geneva on Sundays.

The cottage and the vacant lot in back were sold in 1973 after Libbie's death.

Submitted by Tony Belmonte

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Paschen, 1930s - early 1940s

From Dorothy Nowack (dorothy.nowack@att.net):

My grandparents, William and Lillian Paschen, owned the home [at 7711 334th Ave] through the 1930s but sold it when they moved to California in the early 1940s.

My father, Ken Paschen, is now [in 2018] almost 89 years old and still lives in California. Dad enjoys reminiscing about growing up in Chicago and spending every summer weekend at Lily Lake. When I was a kid, I loved hearing about how he kayaked on the lake and went ice skating in the winter. (I was raised as a city kid so had few adventures like this.) My grandfather also had a sailboat and a “family rowboat.” Dad’s been able to recall that the house was just a few doors down from “the tavern,” which I’ve confirmed was Bill & Marie’s Tavern.

My dad and his siblings (Joyce, Don, and June who was a baby when the family left for CA) would get such a kick out of hearing about their old summer home!

Paschen kids
L to R: June, Don, Joyce, and Ken. It would have been taken several years after moving to CA, but is a good likeness of dad when he was a teenager/young adult.
Paschen VW

Bill & Marie’s tavern with my parents’ VW bug. They were great road trippers and took that car from coast to coast, and even up to Alaska once.

Paschen lakeside

View of the house at 7711 334th from the lake side

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Lightholder-Kmiecik and Kohl, 1930s-1950s

Per Linda Lightholder Kmiecik (tonky@isp.com):

In the late 1940s and early to mid-1950s my parents spent two weeks each Summer up at Lily Lake. We were southsiders (of Chicago) and it seemed to take forever to get there, to my child's mind. I know we went through Slade's Corners and the lake was near New Munster. I believe my folks also vacationed up there in the 1930s, before I was born in 1940. One year we rented a cottage directly across from the Lily Lake beach. Other times we rented a cottage off up the hill to the right as you are looking at the beach. At that time there was a tavern, Bill and Marie's just as you started up that hill. I have my parents' 1951 address book, and for Bill and Marie's tavern I show the owners' address as Route #3, Box 428, Burlington, WI, and the phone as Wheatland O-55-R. I believe Burlington was their Winter residence.

Close friends of my parents had their own cottage at the lake, on what was then the last street "behind" the beach. Their names were Pop (Clair) and Babe Kohl. Both are now gone, as are my parents. My husband and I took a short trip up to Lily Lake several years ago and couldn't find any of the above sites - not the cottage we rented up the hill, nor Bill and Marie's tavern, nor the Kohls' cottage. I do have photos of many lake sites, from those early years, and even with photos in hand of the Kohls' cottage, we could not find it. No doubt it has been torn down and replaced.

Kohl front view

Ethel Kohl, John Kohl and Linda's dad Harold Lightholder in the 1930's

Kohl and
                Lightholder

Back row: In the 1930's, Harold Lightholder, Babe Kohl, Jean Kohl, Verna Lightholder (Linda's mom).
Front row: Ethel Kohl, Pop Kohl, and John Kohl.


Rental cottage

This is the rental cottage the Lightholders used in the 1950's. Its location is unclear (probably on 334th or 336th up the hill past the beach). The owner's son was in his 20's at the time and had recovered from a bad bout of polio.

[May, 2003] ... we took a ride to Lily Lake, well known by the brother-in-law Mike Iselin whose parents lived in Lily Lake for about 30 years, and whose sister, name unknown, still lives there. We drove to where I think the Kohls' cottage was, and that seems to be on 337th St. I did not see the name/number of the cross street, but it is at the farthest end of the street (if standing with your back to the lake, that farthest end would be at the extreme right). There is a fairly new house on that lot now. We also drove to where I think a rental cottage was, on the first street running to the left just beyond what was Bill and Marie's tavern. Couldn't find that one either, although there seemed to be several possibly abandoned cottages on the right-hand side of that road.

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Cashman 7662 Lily Lake Rd, 1946 - present

The Cashman house was built around 1935. Paul and Catherine Cashman bought it in 1946 as a summer home. Mary Louise, their youngest, tells of playing on the beach and jumping off the raft with her brothers Bob and Jim.

In 1954, the Cashmans sold the house to the Mack family. The Macks added a second floor with bedrooms and an attached garage. They also converted the house to a year-round home.

Around 1965, Bob Cashman, late husband of current resident Kathie Cashman, bought the house back. He built a garage and changed the attached garage into a family room. Kathie lives in the home today with her cats Ralph, Otis, and Walter.

The following photos are courtesy of Kathie Cashman. The full-size versions are 150KB to 250KB.

1946
House in 1946. Paul Cashman is shown with his mother, Elizabeth Cashman, who was born in Ireland and came to this country when she was 18.

1965

House in 1965
2004
House today. Ralph patrols the driveway.

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Lockwood, 1950s

Chuck Lockwood's family spent many summers at Lilly Lake in the early to late 50's. His aunt and uncle, Edith and Walter Hebner, owned the cottage three doors north of what is now called Lilly Lake Resort, formerly Harry Kirsteins. They would go there or to Bill and Marie's on weekends.

Says Chuck (chuckesther33@yahoo.com): "I remember a drive-in called Beckers. My cousin and I would go there for an ice cream cone. I remember we had to stop in Wilmot on the way up to get a block of ice for the ice box. There were trips to Lake Geneva and Twin Lakes to go grocery shopping. In a picture of a recent ice fishing derby, it looks as if there is a new house on that lot. It's been 40 or more years since I've been up there. I am living  in Florida now and don't get up north any more."

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Winker, 1960s - present

The Winker family bought two lots at Lilly Lake in the early 1960s due to the influence of friends. The house originally on the lots had burned down. Their current home was built in 1964-65 while Helga was in Germany teaching for the US Government.

The Winkers planned to retire at Lilly Lake, but John Winker died in March, 1972, six weeks before his retirement. The death was a blow to Tillie, who never learned how to drive.

Mathilde ("Tillie") Winker turned 100 years old on February 16, 2009. Below are some pictures from her birthday party in Illinois.

Tillie 1
Tillie in her birthday party gear
Tillie 5
Tillie with her three children: Fred, Helga, and Bernie
Tillie 2
Tillie with her whole extended family: 30+ people
Tillie 6
Tillie wearing a rosary blessed by Pope Benedict XVI

Following are several historical pictures of the Winker house and family:

1965

1965 - Tillie Winker supervises work on the house
1969

1969 Tillie (on left) and John Winker working the vegetable garden behind their house
1973

1973 July 4 parade
Chuck & Helga Stephansen with Stephansen and Winker children in front of Bill & Marie Greil's tavern
1982
1982 Derek Winker getting a haircut from Larry Smith, the barber in New Munster. It became a Winker tradition for the boys to get their first haircuts from Larry.
Tillie 101
                  - 1
Tillie's 101st birthday on
February 16, 2010

Tillie 101
                -2
Tillie with her children at the birthday party


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Cleland, 33204 80th Street, 1960s-1970s

Per Kim Cleland (Kimcleland@aol.com):

My parents, Paul Cleland (d. 1987) and Pauline Cleland (d. 1991), owned a house on Lily Lake in the 60s/70s. (They lived in Riverside, Illinois after they sold the house at Lily Lake.) The previous owners were Schlotfeldt and the next owner was Natalie Bohnson. When my parents bought the house, the road ended at our parking area.  Mother complained when everyone turned around in her yard and she had to buy gravel frequently, then she complained about the cars and trucks and motorcycles zooming past. I have a few photos taken during the road construction. I have no clear memories of the road being put through. I remember when Val and Sophie Liss' friends built a big house on their side of the road and down a bit. I walked down every day to watch the men work for a few minutes and see what progress had been made.

We had a cement block boat house with a white wood railed deck on the roof, and a very long, curving stone stairway from the water up to the house. It was very easily distinguished from others. I cannot tell you how many hours we mowed that yard with an electric push mower.  And that horrible bank.  I can tell you that I bought Scotts Super Turf Builder and applied it just once.

[For waste management] We used to have two brothers whose names I cannot remember. They doubled as the tree surgeons when storms went through. Very nice men. [Ed. The men were probably Wally Grossman and his nephew Jimmy Grossman.]

Father said that house would be worth $50,000 some day. I thought he was nuts. [Ed. Scott and Lori Hale bought the property in 2004.]

Cleland house
Cleland house in the 1970s. The Rambler was Kim's first car. It cost $600 used.
Paul Cleland   Pauline Cleland
Paul and Pauline Cleland
House out to
                  road
View from the house to the road     
View from the lake
View from the lake
New road 1
Building the new road past the Cleland house - 1
New road 2
Building the new road - 2

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Paula Adams house demolition

Like a number of people around the lake, Paula Adams decided to completely demolish her crumbling old home and replace it with one of the new modular homes. The following photos capture just a few of the steps in the process:

8018 old house
House at 8018 335th before demolition
Demolition

Down it comes
Adams new
Brand new house landscaped and ready for living

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Kamin / Fitzpatrick

Kamin
                Fitzpatrick
Lisa Fitzpatrick writes:

Corlyn Banks Kamin is holding the dog. Her mother Isabelle is in the polka dot dress in the center of the photo. Everyone else is unknown. I am guessing the photo was taken in the late 1930's.

If anyone has any information, please let us know.

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Fitzgibbon 7634 Lilly Lake Rd, 1940s

Fitzgibbon Family 1940s

Father and son
John Martin (left) and John J in 1940
Fitz family 42
The Fitzgibbons in 1941 or 42. Mom (Winifred) and Dad (John J)
John at pump
John at the water pump in 1942.
This is the way people got water.
House

The house at 7634 Lily Lake Rd (date of photo unknown)
Bill & Marie's tavern

The tavern across the street where the golfing buddies partied
John in 1942
John in 1942

John's wife and children today


Judie & girls
Wife Judie and John's daughters
Son & family
John's son and his family

Golf Outings

John remembers the golf outings that his father hosted every August for his New York, Chicago, North Carolina, and Wisconsin business friends. Dad was the men's hosiery buyer for Sears, which made him the biggest men's hosiery buyer in the world in the 1950s and 1960s. The group of up to 20 men were all titans in the men's hosiery business. They bunked at the Fitzgibbon cottage, a neighbor's home, and the Greil's cottage.

The men knew how to party. They kept Bill & Marie Greil's tavern busy every evening, and they made many local friends. Young John was the gofer for the outings. The men remembered him generously at his 1964 wedding in Los Angeles. They also invited John to go on a deep sea fishing trip and goose hunting. On one pheasant hunt, they bagged 32 birds. John had to clean 29 (the others were too damaged to clean).

Here is a picture of two shirts from that era plus John's dad conferring with someone during an outing in 1959:

Fitzgibbon golf
                shirts Golf 1959

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Burlington Historical Society

The Burlington Historical Society web site, www.burlingtonhistory.org, is a gold mine of information about the area. It has several searchable databases. To use them:

1. Click the Search button at the top of the home page.
2. Click the database you want to search.
3. At the bottom of the database description window, click Start Searching.
4. Type the words you want to search for and click the Search button. Example: type "lily lake" and click Search.
Result: The search engine shows you what it has found. Many of the results are abstracts of articles from the Burlington Standard Press. To read the whole article, you must go to the Burlington Public Library and look it up in their microfilm files.

Many thanks to Elaine Burke for providing copies of the following platts of the area:

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Interesting historical notes

Old timers remember certain interesting pieces of lake history. If you have additional information or pictures, we'd be happy to hear from you.


tavern sign
For most of its life, the home at 7655 Lily Lake Rd was a tavern owned by Bill and Marie Greil. When it was converted to a private home, the familiar tavern sign came down. Coutesy of Kathie Cashman.

1930's
                cars

View of some 1930's cars parked across from Bill & Marie's tavern. Lake and swimming area can be seen in the background.
(Courtesy of Linda Lightholder Kmiecik)
Barn

Lucille Kietzer tells of a barn that used to stand near the current intersection of Cty W and JI. When it was torn down, the rats that used to live there scrambled to find new homes. Some of them came into homes across from the beach.

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Copyright © 2004 Lily Lake Summerhaven Association
Lilly Lake (Wisconsin)