A Little Thing

Our grandfather, Andrew Schulenberg was a man of fortitude. One event from his teen years could easily have killed him or at the very least crippled him, but he wouldn’t let a “little thing” like having to have his leg amputated following a hunting accident, stop him. Young Andy spent a year in the hospital, while the doctors tried desperately to save his badly damaged leg, but in the end, the leg was too badly damaged and infected, so they had to amputate. That must have been a devastating event for a fifteen-year-old boy, but Grandpa had fortitude, and he refused to let it take him down. He hadn’t spent a year in the hospital fighting for his life to give up on it now. His life would be different than he expected, but then that happens to a lot of people. Although probably not to the degree that it did with Grandpa.

Grandpa went on to do many things in his lifetime. He farmed in the Forsyth, Montana area until the late 1920’s. Then, he owned and operated his own trucking company…hauling grains, coal, corn, and beets in the 1930’s. Following his years in trucking, Grandpa worked for the State Highway Department until 1946 and also operated the Kokomo Club, west of Forsyth until 1950. It was really at this point that Grandpa’s life really changed, and at this time that he was going to face his biggest challenges. At that point, in the early 1950s, he began serving as undersheriff and then, served as the Sheriff of Rosebud County from 1955 to 1972. This may not have seemed so remarkable for most people, but remember that Grandpa had a literal peg leg from the time he was 15 years old. I remember his leg well. It was not like the peg legs you see in the pirate cartoons, but was rather a good-sized leg, much like carrying a small tree trunk around with you, and yet if you didn’t know he had it, you might not notice it. Grandpa was a big man, and his legs were strong. He carried that leg with a strength that was unmatched by anything most people could produce.

Remember too, that the reason Grandpa lost that leg was a hunting accident. He was shot in in the leg. That caused him to rather dislike guns…not a good thing for a sheriff. Nevertheless, the sheriff he was, and while there were guns in the trunk of the car, he was not known to carry one with him…and yet he was a highly successful sheriff. He just made his arrests without the use of a gun. Grandpa was a unique kind of a sheriff, but a very successful one indeed. He was well respected by everyone, including the Native Americans, who would even turn over their own wayward children, knowing that he would be fair, and they would avoid a life of crime. Hie time of service in the Rosebud County Sheriff’s Department was a career of which he was very proud, and so am I. Today is the 119th anniversary of Grandpa Andy Schulenberg’s birth. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandpa. We love and miss you very much.