You can go home again

In 1918, Emma and Nels Nelson moved into a three-year-old home located at 108 S. 9th Ave W., Lake Mills. They would live there for 50 years selling in 1969.
Fast forward almost another 50 years, to 2016, and one of the children who grew up in that house, Bernice (Nelson) Maher, was surprised by her son, with a stop to visit her old home, as they went through Lake Mills during the Thansgiving holiday.
 The trip back in time, all started when Bernice’s son (Mike) happened to see a woman wearing a Lake Mills sweatshirt, while he was working an antique show in Elko, Minn.
“As I talked to her, I realized that her husband was Jim Thompson, who lived across from my grandparents in Lake Mills,” he recalled. They started talking about Bernice’s childhood home, and Mike asked if by chance, they knew who was living there currently. Thompson replied that he would contact the new occupants to see if a tour could be arranged for the 101-year-old former occupant. Thompson replied back, that he had made contact with Justin Byars, and his wife, Rachel, and they had given Maher the green light.
Maher relayed how the return played out, “I had picked up my mom (in Des Moines) for Thanksgiving in Minneapolis and on the return trip we stopped and were welcomed by the Byars.” He added, “I surprised my mom at the last minute about the visit and she was so excited.”
Maher reported that most of the home looked the same as when his mother was growing up. “My grandfather, Nels, was a carpentar and oil painter, and had added many extras to the home in the early 1920s,” he explained. “Things like french doors, colonades, bookshelves, and a lot of woodwork.”
 Bernice is the last of the Nelson’s. “My mom and I will never forget this visit,” concluded Maher.

Lake Mills Graphic

204 N. Mill Street
Lake Mills, IA 50450

Office Number: (641) 592-4222
Fax Number: (641) 592-6397

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