Ham Lake couple remained active through their lives

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by Eric Hagen
Staff writer

Helen and Walter Ehrnreiter were private in one sense because they loved their large Ham Lake lot with their home secluded in the trees, but on the other hand, they were very social with the people they met.

Walter loved to stop by the Red Ox Café in Ham Lake for over an hour to visit with his friends. Helen was a little more reserved in recent years, but the Ehrnreiter’s youngest daughter Laura Freundschuh of Blaine said those who really knew her remembered who she really was.

“She was feisty; she was full of attitude,” Freundschuh said.

This 93-year-old Ham Lake couple died together Friday evening (Feb. 11) from smoke inhalation when their home at 3551 Crosstown Blvd. N.E. burned down.

Investigators determined that the fire was accidental, according to the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office.

The origin of the fire was the wood burning insert in the chimney that was used as a supplemental heat source.

The age of the flue and the chimney were the factors of the deteriorated system which caused the fire. The chimney fire spread quickly, overtaking the home.

The Ham Lake couple’s  birthdays were separated by only 13 days. Helen was born Sept. 17, 1917;  Walter on Sept. 30, 1917, but they were born thousands of miles apart.

Helen grew up in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Walter is a native of St. Paul. They met while Walter was working as a civilian on a U.S. naval base in Newfoundland, following his service in the Navy during World War II.

They wed in 1949 and a few years later moved to Minnesota, where they lived the remainder of their lives. They had two daughters separated by 21 years. Hazel Howes of Princeton is the oldest daughter.

Freundschuh credits the over 50-acre Ham Lake property for her parents living as long as they did.

For many years they had cows, horses and pigs on their farm. They also had a large garden full of tomatoes, squash, zucchini and other vegetables that Walter liked tending to and flowers that Helen watched over. In the last several years, the garden shrunk considerably, but they still tended to it.

“When they got up every morning, they had things to do,” she said.

Freundschuh remembers many people knocking on their door, trying to buy land. But they only sold small chunks when road projects on Vickers Street and Crosstown Boulevard were taking place.

Walter’s story

Every morning, Walter did 100 “strokes” on his stationary bike and did squatting exercises to keep his legs strong, according to Freundschuh.

Walter was always on the move even as a young boy. At 12 years old, he and a friend once jumped on a train that was going to Duluth. They had no money and no plan to get home, but Walter one day spotted a truck driver he knew from the Twin Cities. In exchange for a ride home, Walter and his friend helped this driver unload his goods.

Walter was not one to sit around the house when he grew older. He was chopping wood for his fireplace not long ago, Freundschuh said. Into his 80s, he would go deer hunting with his rifle.

He loved to fish at any time of the year. Their home was not far from Coon Lake, so he would walk over there to try to find a spot.

Because the lake is surrounded by homes, he would chat with a lake front property owner and often get invited to fish off their dock. He owned a boat, but he would only take it out when he was going farther away, such as Mille Lacs Lake.

One of the most difficult days for Walter was when he lost his driver’s license just before his 90th birthday, Freundschuh said. It was necessary because his eyesight was failing, but for a man who loved to be on the move, it was a trying time, she said.

A bicycle donated by a friend and fixed up by Freundschuh’s husband became his mode of transportation.

Freundschuh was not exactly excited about this because she was worried about her 90-year-old father riding a bicycle down an unstable dirt driveway. She was less than thrilled when he told her that he only fell a few times. He eventually chose to walk his bicycle down the driveway to a paved trail.

He used to be a regular at the Red Ox Café, spending over an hour there visiting with friends, Freundschuh said, and he wanted to bike there, but was never able to complete the journey on his bike.

Walter also worked hard to keep his mind sharp in his older age. He took computer classes several years ago so he would know what all the people were talking about at the Red Ox Café.

He never got into a situation without educating himself first. When they had to get their garage door fixed, Freundschuh brought her father a manual on how to fix a garage door. He had no intention of making the repair on his own, but he wanted to ensure he was not being scammed by a professional contractor.

When the first contractor told him the repair would cost over $400, Walter quickly sent him on his way, Freundschuh said. The second contractor came in with a much more reasonable price and was hired. Just a couple of weeks ago, Freundschuh recalls seeing another manual on her parents’ table.

“He was always putzing with something,” Freundschuh said.

Helen’s story

Until the last couple of years, Helen would disappear for hours in the forests of their property before returning with buckets full of berries that she would make into jellies and jams and can.

Freundschuh was not very excited about picking berries when she was growing up. A few years ago, she saw something in the backyard she did not recall seeing before. Her mother told her they were black raspberries. They both started to spend more time picking berries together, which Freundschuh knows made her mother happy that her youngest daughter was showing an interest in one of her favorite hobbies.

Walter worked into his late 60s as a plumber. His last job was with Cornelius, which was a large employer in Anoka that made machines for restaurants.

Helen, who had been a school teacher in Newfoundland before she and Walter moved to Minnesota, retired from her job with the Cream of Wheat company after Freundschuh was born.

When Helen was not picking black raspberries or chokecherries and canning jams and jellies, she loved to knit and crochet. She made each of her 11 grandchildren Christmas stockings and she made many afghans.

The church was very important to Walter and Helen. They used to attend St. Stephen’s in Anoka, but eventually joined the Church of Saint Paul in Ham Lake because it was closer to home. They were always seen at 10:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday mornings.

Helen regularly attended Bible study classes until she was in her 90s.

Young Helen was sometimes a little troublemaker. Freundschuh heard that one time her mother was swinging from a cow’s tail so hard that the tail ripped off the cow. It had to be put down.

An interesting story about Helen, according to Freundschuh, is that she did not know her name was Helen until she was nine years old. The priest who baptized her did not like the name Helen, so he announced her name was Ermina. On the baptism certificate, Helen was her middle name.

Before Helen received communion when she was nine years old, she learned that Helen was her first name and Ermina was a name the priest had come up with. Her birth certificate does not include a middle name.

Helen stayed active as long as she could, but a slip on a patch of ice and a broken hip slowed her down. She was in a nursing home for about 10 weeks to recover. Freundschuh told her mother that she thought the move would be permanent, but Helen would have none of that.

Ten days after mother and daughter had this conversation, Helen was healthy enough to go home to her husband.

Eric Hagen is at eric.hagen@ecm-inc.com