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25 years ago

From the Dec. 24, 1987 edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

Trouble plagues Koch

An explosion Tuesday morning, Dec. 15 at Koch Refining Co., Rosemount, claimed the life of a St. Paul man who received burns on more than 95 percent of his body.

Robert Williams died at St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center at 2:44 p.m. Tuesday of severe thermal injury, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office.

Williams was transporting a mixture of hydrocarbons to an oil-water separation unit when the blast occurred at 2:30 a.m., according to Kim Carraway, spokersperson at the company’s headquarters in Wichita, Kan....

The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation by Koch Refinery personnel, the state of Minnesota Fire Marshal and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Carraway said.

RMS spotlights students in November

Rosemount Middle School students of the month in November are:

Math 6 - Greg Hamrick, 7 - Amy Holtz, 8 - Leslee Mollenkoph; Science 6 – David Pogemiller, 7 - Sarah Ploof, 8 – Nicole Boyle; English 6 – Kelly Smith, 7 - Becky Franklin, 8 - Jennifer Roberts; Social Studies 6 - Elizabeth Paw; History – Kathy Woods; Geography - Lisa Bengston; Communications 7 - Jay Gillard, 8 - Kendra Kecker.

Music 6 – Christa Tollefsrud, 7 - Michelle Radant, 8 - Josh Green; Physical Education 6 - Brady Bjorgaard, 7 - Ryan Swafford, 8 - Nicole Wilkins; Reading 6 - Andy McKinley, 7 - Bryan Dahmes, 8 - Jason Schwant; Library and Handwriting skills - Deena Dotseth; Spanish 7 - Justin Collingham, 8 – Stephanie Torlin.

Critical Issues 7 - Eric Sourignavong, 8 - Marie Mitchell; English as a Second Language - Chheum Nhem; Home Economics - Tamiko Edwards; Industrial Technology - Brandon Ogle; Art - Lisa Heine.

50 years ago

From the Dec. 20, 1962 edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

Rosemount News

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gayner are receiving congratulations on the arrival of their first grandchild, a girl born to Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers, at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul on Monday morning. The little girl will be named Deborah Lynne.

Ten girls of the Junior High Girl Scout Troop No. 196 delivered gifts they made to the Ramsey County Home Saturday and visited with the residents there. The gifts made were decorated soap for the ladies and felt comb cases for the men.

The Cheerful Group of 12 ladies met with Mrs. Frank Scott on Wednesday, Dec. 12, for a 1 o’clock luncheon and to help celebrate Mrs. Scott’s birthday. The afternoon was spent playing cards.

Mrs. Marie Nikel entered Sanford Hospital on Monday and her many friends hope for a speedy recovery.

Special notice on Rosemount vote published

According to O.E. Waldeland, clerk, a special election in Independent School District No. 196, Rosemount, will be held Tuesday, Jan. 8.

It is for the purpose of voting on whether district 196 shall be authorized to borrow money and issue negotiable coupon general obligation bonds, not to exceed $1,700,000 for acquiring and bettering school buildings.

Rosemount News

Twenty-five members of the Methodist Junior Choir sang at the Walker Methodist Home in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.

Fluegel’s women’s bowling team enjoyed their Christmas party with dinner and an exchange of gifts at the Pool and Yacht Club at Mendota Thursday evening.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Tom McCoy on the arrival of a baby girl last week at Sanford Hospital.

75 years ago

From the Dec. 24, 1937 edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

Car tips – puff! It burns up

A new Willys auto went up in smoke near the Fairview farm between here and Rosemount at 3:00 a.m. Friday of last week.

Four Owatonna men were enroute to the cities, and as the driver applied his brakes the car skidded into the ditch and flopped over on its back.

The men got out of the machine and as they stood talking the car burst into flames and was destroyed in a short time.

Triple smashup

A triple smashup wrecked two trucks and a roadside milk station in front of the James Doyle farm four miles north of Rosemount Thursday noon of last week.

The accident occurred when a southbound 1935 Diamond truck loaded with fruit and driven by Gordon Cain of Faribault attempted to past the southbound 1929 Ford sedan driven by Albert Genz of Rosemount. An icy pavement caused Cain’s truck to skid, when he tried to stop to evade another truck approaching from the south. His truck hit Genz’ rear fender, skidded to the left off the road and crashed into the milk house in front of the Doyle farm.

A moment later a livestock truck driven by Walter Kuntze, Faribault, crashed into the Cain truck, causing the rack on his truck to tip over. His truck skidded when he tried to stop.

The stock truck contained two cows and 10 pigs. A state patrolman, who arrived soon after the crash, said the pigs remained on the truck after the rack flopped over, believe it or not. The two cows were recaptured after roaming a short distance.

100 years ago

From the Dec. 20, 1912 edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

Hugh Derham is no more

Hugh Derham who was said to be the wealthiest man in Dakota County, died in St. Paul of apoplexy last Friday. He was stricken Nov. 30, and gradually grew weaker until his death, which occurred at 9 o’clock Friday evening.

The deceased was born in Ireland in 1829 and left his native land for America in 1853.

In 1855 he took a homestead in the town of Rosemount which he made his home until the time of his death.

He was a hard working and economical and had accumulated a large amount of property. His pioneer days were spent in toil and sacrifice, which in time bore fruit, as he leaves a large estate to relatives besides having given to Catholic churches, schools and charitable institutions upwards of $150,000.

The exact amount is not known, not even by his family as he made these donations quietly and without any pomp or newspaper notoriety. He endowed Derham Hall of St. Catherine’s College in St. Paul by giving the first $15,000 toward its construction. He also gave freely to orphan asylums and no deserving person was ever turned from his door unheard.

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