ARCH KROTH
By Florence Clements


     Arch was one of the younger Kroth sons. He attended Buck's Grove Trade School and lived and worked at home until his marriage.
     Arch has always been warm hearted and generous to a fault. He carried toys to sick children and shared his orchard fruit and sweet corn with neighbors and friends. He helped in all worthwhile communityprojects, taking responsible leadership in church, grange and school. Arch was Worthy Master of the grange in 1925 and 1926 when the present grange hall was started and built. Arch was recognized county-wide as a reliable, informed, helpful citizen.
     He spent 30 days in the hospital following an operation in 1962.
     One of the testimonies given by this peaceful, kindly and generous Uncle Arch was that he was endeavoring and hoping to "make the world a little better by his having lived."

THE ARCH KROTH HOME
By Lucy Kroth

     Arch Kroth and Elsie Watts were married in an evening ceremony at the home of Elsie's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Watts on English Ridge. For a wedding trip they joined a group of relatives on an excursion trip by train to San Francisco, and then to Portland, Oregon, by boat. They came back by Yellowstone Park and toured the park for six days in a horse drawn vehicle, which was the method of transportation at that time. They visited Grand Canyon and Denver, Colorado. The group included Mrs. Mary Ellis, Lucy and Ruth; Mrs. Lucy Watts and Maud; and Emma and Georgia Gille, all relatives of Elsie.
     Their first home was southeast of the Kroth homestead about a mile north of the Avoca Post Office and store. Their daughters, Pauline and Lucy were born there. In 1909, they purchased and moved to the Albert Bahret farm one half mile east of the English Ridge school house. This was their home for over 50 years. They moved to Topeka in the fall of 1961.
     Both girls attended English Ridge and graduated from Havensville High School.
     Nearly every winter snows would fill the roads past our house and wefd be snowed in. Sometimes we could find a way that we could go through the fields as we usually had a road through the field to the Fred Watts place. They lived on the English Ridge road and it didn't fill so badly and was usually cleared first. Many times men who lived along the road helped scoop out the snow drifts. Children often walked to school on top of the drifts which would be fence post high. The last few years, snow plows have been a welcome sight,and they usually came a day or two after the snow had fallen.


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