Freddie A. Drexler and Marvin F Engel interviews with Keith Trimm

Marvin Frank Engel died in Fairbury, NE. on August 21, 2016. He was born on February 11, 1924 to William (Bill) and Augusta (Virus) Engel in Thayer County, NE. He was baptized and confirmed in Grace Lutheran Church in Hebron, NE.

He graduated from Hebron High School in 1941 and attended the Hebron Jr. College for one year before entering the navy in September 1943. He was a radioman in the pacific theater during WWII. Upon return, he attended Wartburg College in Waverly, IA and graduated in 1949. He married Leora Willems in Gilead, NE on June 5, 1949.

Marvin spent 25 years as a teacher and principal at Peace Lutheran School in Deshler NE, 20 years working for the city of Fairbury, and another 25 years at WalMart in Fairbury.

While in Deshler, Marv coached two state champion Midget baseball teams in 1953 and 1954 and two state champion spellers, Sharon Gerdes and Jennifer Reinke. Jennifer went on to win the National Spelling Bee in 1967.

He was an organist for churches in Deshler and Fairbury and taught piano for many years.



Freddie Alfred Drexler was born on December 10, 1922 to Alfred and Stefanie Drexler in Sternberg, Czechoslovakia. He died May 12, 2020.

At the age of 3 months his father’s visa expired while visiting in Czechoslovakia, so his parents returned to the United States, leaving Freddie with his grandmother as he was too young to travel that far. It took 4 years before his parents had raised enough money to return for him. Freddie arrived in his new home in Steele City, Nebraska in March 1928 at the age of 5. The family first lived in the Steele City Hotel and his father purchased the butcher shop in town. Freddie started school there only speaking German and Czech but he quickly learned to speak English. His school days offered him many opportunities to learn. He was generally on the honor roll and participated in school plays and musicals as well as athletics. He received many honors during his school days, receiving the American Legion Citizenship award upon his 8th grade graduation. He received honors in music contests, dramatics and athletics. He attended Sunday School regularly and was a member of the Presbyterian church. He was a bugler in the Boy Scout Troop. He learned to swim in the Little Blue River and also enjoyed fishing there. His early years in Steele City had fond memories of him singing Czech songs at the Hotel for pennies. He received a lot of love and attention from the local people.

When Freddie was a junior in high school his family moved to Diller so he could play in the school band. His trumpet playing led him into the dance band business. His parents moved back to Steele City after his graduation in 1940.