Young Reese battled pneumonia

Doc Ertel and his wife arrived in Ellendale in the early part of the 20th century. Reportedly, their intent was to stay in the area for a couple years, acquire experience and build a good reputation, then move on to a more urban setting.

 

That's not what happened though. Doc Ertel stayed for decades, only leaving his practice when he retired. Across that time he became something of a local legend; nearly every area resident had a story or an observation to share about him.

 

The Ellendale Area Heritage Society (EAHS) collected some of those stories and is working toward finding a format to publish them. The Star Eagle has consented to transcribe the collection from its 1990s printed format and will make the updated text available to the EAHS. In the meantime, some of the accounts will occasionally be published on our pages for the sake of their historical interest.

 

Harold Reese was born on Oct. 10, 1913 to Henry and Hilda (Hanson).

 

His siblings were Clesta (Merle Hoy), Mildred (Clifford Nelson), Orlanda (Roy Peterson), Harold (Ollie Wobschall), Vivian (Lester Svenby), Beulah (Lawrence Jensen, and twins, Roger (Florence Hornstein) and Rolland (Ruth Gasner). His parents farmed in Berlin Twsp., Sec. 5 and the children attended the Root School, about a mile or so away.

 

When Harold was about 13 or 14, he came down with pneumonia. It was in the middle of winter and the roads were bad, but after being sick a couple of weeks, his father, Henry, hitched up the horses and sleigh and went into Ellendale to get the doctor. When they returned to the farm, Dr. Ertel made the diagnoses and pronounced his condition grave, necessitating a hospital stay. In order to make the 10 mile trip with a sick child and snowbound roads, Harold's uncle, Clarence Reese, drove the Chevy Touring car. Harold was bundled into the backseat with his mother, and Doc rode in the passenger seat and monitored the patient's vital signs. Ole Hanson, another of Harold's uncles, and Harold's father followed with the horses, so the car could be pulled through the snowbanks. By the time they reached Ellendale, Doc had decided the patient could go no further. He was taken to Doc’s upstairs office to a small room with a bed, where he was to stay for the next six weeks.

 

Doc removed a piece of rib and inserted a tube to drain the infected lungs. To keep the tube from slipping inside, a large safety pin was attached to the exposed end. Despite the treatments given, Harold's fever wouldn't go down and he hovered between life and death for four weeks. During this time, patients were being treated in the adjoining room and Doc studied his textbooks to see if there was something else he could do for his young patient. Harolds mother stayed with him and worked at Johannas next door restaurant to earn meals for herself and her son. Finally, Doc told his father there was only one thing left to try. He mixed up a solution, put it into a hot water bottle and, turning the patient over, removed the tube and poured in the solution. Holding his hand over the hole, Harold was instructed to cough many times. Then the tube was replaced and he was allowed to roll onto his back again, so it could drain out. Three days later the fever was gone. Another ten days and he was allowed to return home.

 

Harold fully recovered from this bout, but remains susceptible to pneumonia. Now, in 1997, at 84 years of age, he receives the pneumonia vaccine each fall, but without Dr. Ertel's faithful and knowledgeable ministrations, he wouldn't have lived long enough to benefit from this medical advancement.