A journey of love

For Harvey and Nancy Lembke, the journey of love started early. They first met in Nancy’s hometown of Waseca, Minn., when she was just 14. Nancy and her friend were walking around downtown when they met Harvey and his friend. At the age of 16, Harvey was admittedly there to pick up girls since he considered the girls in far away towns to be better looking.

Later when Nancy was 15 she was traveling home from St. Paul, Minn., and changed buses in Harvey’s hometown of Owatonna. There was a gap in the schedules so she went to get a hamburger before the home journey. Then Harvey came along in his shiny black 1939 Buick. 

“He said, ‘What are you doing here in town?’” said Nancy, “and so I told him. And he said, ‘You can go over and get your money back from the bus depot, and I’ll take you home. After we have a hamburger.’ And so that’s what I did.” 

While they were driving back, Harvey asked Nancy if she would like to go to the stock car races in Fairbault. She agreed to the date. 

According to Nancy, “I went home and told my mother, and she said, ‘You can’t do that!’ I said, ‘Oh, yes I can.’”

That was their first date. Unfortunately, they also got locked out of the car that day. At the time, cars had a little vent window that you had to crank to open.

“I had to bust that and reach in and unlock the door,” said Harvey. Thankfully, it only cost about $500 to fix. 

After that, Harvey and Nancy started dating. They went out for hamburgers, attended drive-in movies and simply spent time together.

“Owatonna and Waseca are about 13 miles apart and we wore out the highway between,” said Harvey. 

Before long, both Harvey and Nancy became fixtures in each other’s families.

“I was accepted in her family, and my family accepted Nancy so they never worried,” Harvey said.

Growing up, Harvey lived on a farm in Owatonna and attended three different country schools, walking when the weather was bearable. When high school came around, Harvey always had a part-time job. He repaired manual typewriters for schools and local businesses by taking them apart, cleaning them, adjusting them and getting them working properly again. Because of his work ethic, Harvey “always had wheels.”

Meanwhile, Nancy grew up in town but still had to walk about a mile to school. As the oldest, she often hunted and fished with her dad and loved every minute, especially when she caught more fish than her dad. Then in high school, Nancy got a part time job at JC Penneys. 

Harvey graduated high school first and got a sleeping room in Waseca. There he worked at Herters in the fiberglass boat industry and shipping boat parts to different locations.

“I used to pay her mom for meals,” Harvey admitted. 

After that, Harvey enrolled in Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis, Minn., to become an electronic technician. In between studying, Harvey worked at a pharmacy stocking shelves and delivering prescriptions. One time, “Nancy came up for the weekend, and she rode around in my little Plymouth Coupe delivering prescriptions in Minneapolis.”

Harvey proposed to Nancy at Clear Lake in Waseca where they often went for picnics over their lunch hours. Two weeks after Nancy graduated high school they were married in June of 1956. They were 17 and 19. 

The day of the wedding was excruciatingly hot, but the church was decorated lovely with pink and white peonies from Harvey’s aunt’s garden. Meanwhile, Nancy looked stunning in her wedding dress which she got at JC Penneys for $15. 

Eleven months later they had their first baby girl named Wendy.

After they were married Harvey still had to go to school at Dunwoody. Only now he worked full time night shifts at Remington Rand UNIVAC in St. Paul. Then during the day he went to school. Thirteen months after Harvey graduated Nancy had their second baby, Patricia. 

Harvey had worked for Remington Rand UNIVAC for three years when he saw an advertisement for a new job. Boeing was hiring for a position in Seattle, Wash. Harvey drove out first and found a house to rent. Then Nancy followed with the girls on a Vistadome train. 

“I had a room for the kids,” said Nancy, “and once they went to sleep I would open the curtains so I could see outside.”

She recalled watching the lights flicker past and marveling at how fast they were going. 

At times, Harvey worked 12 hours a day seven days a week for Boeing.

“I got involved in all kinds of things. C1ockpit equipment, Minuteman Missiles, Bomarc Missiles,” said Harvey. “I was really gaining some immense exposure to the electronic industry. Just about anything you can imagine, I was involved in.”

“Meantime, we had a new baby,” said Nancy. This was their first son, Mark.

They moved around a little after that until Nancy and the kids ended up in Minnesota with Harvey’s parents for a brief time while Harvey attended six weeks of school on inertial guidance systems for his new job at Atlas. From there they moved to Abilene, Texas. 

According to Nancy, they had “three babies and no disposable diapers at the time.” Although the girls were thankfully potty trained, they still ended up with a diaper pail for their 10-month-old. 

After seven months they packed their belongings again and put the rest in storage for shipment with the intention of moving to California, where Harvey had gotten a new job. Instead, after driving to Minnesota to visit family, Harvey picked up a copy of the Minneapolis Tribune and saw a job listing for Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Harvey interviewed for the job while Nancy was taken on a tour of the town. He started a week later. That was Oct. 2, 1962. Unfortunately, getting their belongings was not as smooth of a process since they were lost in shipment to Cedar Rapids. The weather got colder and colder until finally their belongings arrived around six weeks later. 

“Then in 1964, we had a baby. Again!” Nancy shared. This was their son, Michael. 

Once again, they moved around a little. However, they stayed near Cedar Rapids for 30 years. There they raised their four children. 

In 1993 they retired and moved to Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., and there Harvey and Nancy stayed for 22 years.

“We lived right on the lake,” said Nancy. “It was wonderful. We had all the fish we wanted.” 

When their son Mark first began suggesting they move to South Dakota, they initially dismissed the idea because of the timing. Nevertheless, they loved the area. They had vacationed in the Black Hills often, ate at the Alpine Inn and attended services at The Little White Church. 

“We had it in the back of our minds that, yeah, we’re going to end up there someday,” Harvey said.

Eventually, they started house hunting, which did not take very long.

“We come here, we look at this house, 45 minutes later we bought it,” said Nancy. That was eight years ago. 

Today, Harvey and Nancy have four children, 12 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren with another coming soon and one great-great-grandchild on the way. 

When asked how they kept their marriage strong, they shared that it was their faith and stick-to-itiveness. 

“Somewhere along the line you learn that, OK, whatever the problem is, it’s going to be okay,” said Harvey. “Don’t lose any sleep over it. Stick to it. You’ll be okay.” 

Nancy added that “faith plays the most center.”

To young couples today, Harvey and Nancy recommend a few things to succeed in marriage. First, they caution to make sure the other person has faith. Then, ascertain that you have similar values in what is right and what is wrong. Finally, they recommended choosing wisely and never giving up. 

This was the advice they shared with their children, and it led to a legacy of love. Their journey began with a simple day in town, and now they are proud residents of  Hill City.