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Henry Nieland's 96th Birthday

Breda, Iowa, January 18, 1948

Breda's Oldest Resident is 96 Today;
Idle Winter Days Give Him 'Fidgets

Breda, Ia. -- Henry Nieland, oldest resident of Breda and probably of Carroll County, is 96 years old today.

Right now he's impatiently awaiting the arrival of spring so he can get his garden planted. The long idle days of winter make him fidget, he says. He longs for weather ht will enable him to be out and around.

"There's nothing I like better than working with the soil, "the pioneer declared.

Just a year ago today Mr. Nieland was released from St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll where he had undergone major surgery. It was the only time in his life that he had been ill enough to go to a hospital.

Only 10 days after the operation, he was back in Breda with his youngest daughter, Mrs. Jacob Wittry.

I'm just as good as new now," he said last week. As proof of the statement, he cared for a large vegetable garden last season.

Mr. Nieland, who retired 20 years ago from his farm on the Sac County line northwest of Breda, is extremely alert for his age. He handles his own finances and has an exceptional memory.

Mar Nieland's hair is almost white, his beard gray.

After coming to the United States from Germany at 17, he bought land near Wall Lake, Ia, when he was 22. Later he acquired three 80-acre tracts now known as the Nieland farm.

He paid $6 for the land and "had a hard time doing it."

When the streets are not icy, Mr. Nieland, father of 12 children, walks downtown. Much of the winter he spends sitting in his favorite rocking chair reading up on the latest news.

A birthday party is planned by his family today. Most of the children expect to attend.

Mr. Nieland was born in Westphalen, Germany. His wife died in 1933

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