Farmer Gary has always been crazy about his dad’s uncle Rob Wigger.

Rob was a lovable character. He’d grown up on a farm near where we live today, so his visits were always full of questions for Gary. To me, it felt like a pop quiz. Gary passed with flying colors each time.

We’ve been digging around all week looking for a photo or two of Rob, and what we have is a beautiful family portrait, probably taken in 1918.

Gary says he’s relatively (no pun intended) certain the family members, from left, are: Mary Rosa (the future Sister Reinilda). John Henry, Paul, Ed, Emma (Gary’s paternal grandmother), Rob, Mary, Francis, and Albert.

There are stories to be told about all the family members, but for now Gary will share some Rob stories:

In case you were wondering what that $35,000 check Rob tried to give back would be worth in today’s dollars – brace yourself – more than $800,000.

But Rob would have rather seen the trees where they belonged, leafing out each spring in his 40 acres. After Rob’s passing, Gary and his brother Wayne bought “Rob’s Woods,” to keep the property in the family.

As Rob was nearing the end of his life, he was in an Evansville hospital. When family members went to his room for a visit, he was gone. Concerned, they checked at the nurses’ station. An aide smiled and pointed down the hallway.

“He often stands at the window. He tells us if he leans just so, he can see a bit of green. Off in the distance, he can see the trees.”

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