Three Generations of Nebraska Family Attend University
Generations of John Kaldahl’s family have farmed in Nebraska.
By Marie Meis UNL Journalism Student August 2019
John and Mary Kaldahl both attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and so did their three daughters: Jodi, Shari and Kendra. Their granddaughter Malori started classes at UNL in the 2019-2020 school year.
"This is where I puff out my chest a little," John Kaldahl said.
He and his wife hold season tickets for both volleyball and football and spend their time in the fall traveling to as many away games as they can make.
But, their connections to the university go deeper than that. Their land is tied to the University's foundation.
"As you get older, you get more interested in history. One hundred and fifty years isn't very old but that's about as old as we get here in Nebraska because that's when the land was settled," he said. "You think back and it's an amazing thing the way they decided education was going, and that's part of why America is so great: the education. The people that were running this country realized education is how society bettered themselves. That was a very good step."
Their land in Nuckolls County was a part of the Enabling Act in 1864, which was a part of the Land Grant, to help fund our university. While they have a family farm that dates back to the 1940s, this land was only purchased seven or eight years ago. They own 7,000 acres total, and the 160 acres were bought at an auction from a widow with the last name Gemmer. It is half-irrigated and they cash-rent it out where corn and soybeans are grown.
"Farmers don't ever really retire. I'm 64 and we stopped farming big, and I retired about six years ago. We cash-rent out all except about 500 acres. I farm that, and I have a hired hand," Kaldahl said.
The couple lives in Hardy, Nebraska, and the 160 acres that helped fund the university is west of the unincorporated town of Bostwick. These small towns are all near the Kansas border in Central Nebraska.
Kaldahl's father and grandparents moved from Ruskin, Nebraska, to the Hardy area in the 1940s.
"At that time, it was a long ways and now it's just a drive. My grandma didn't want to move, but my grandpa decided that's where they needed to go. The land was available for rent," he said.
There is a history of farming in his family. Kaldahl focused on agriculture during his time at UNL. He participated in the honors program and said his degree would be considered agricultural economics now. Mary went to classes at the teacher's college and pursued business education. Their oldest child, Jodi, majored in special education and became a speech-language pathologist while the middle daughter, Shari, majored in accounting and also received her master's degree. Their youngest, Kendra, has become an ear, nose and throat doctor.
Kaldahl said he and Mary went to games when they were in college but it wasn't until his daughters all moved out that they purchased season tickets for football and volleyball. For home games, they take their fifth wheel camper and spend the entire weekend in Lincoln, tailgating and enjoying time with friends.
