Sunday Stories: Walter Theodore "Ted" Harshfield and Elaine Mae Dodson Harshfield
Born July 2, 1902 and died April 19, 1976. Ted spent his
entire life on the ranch, with the exception of a short time he served in the
Army during World War II. He was the only child of John Q.A. and Susan Etta
that was not born on the ranch; but he was the only child to die on the ranch.
He married Elaine Mae Dodson, daughter of Charles Prince and
Ella May (Easton) Dodson on October 15, 1942. Elaine was born January 30, 1914
and had lived at Grant and Maywood communities before she came to work at
Harshfield’s as a hired girl in 1934. To this union one son was born, John
Edward after being married for 17 years. John Edward is their only child.
Ted found all aspects of ranching a challenge. He liked the
business end of it, knew good cattle; bought and sold a lot of them. He was not
gifted with mechanical or musical abilities as his father and brothers were;
but he always said he sure admired a good car or a good tune.
When Ted died, a tribute was written to the North Platte
Telegraph newspaper by Harvey Applegate “A distinguished citizen. Today, April
22, 196, we laid to rest a man I have held in high esteem for almost 50 years.
He was a loyal friend, one of the outstanding citizens of the north country. He
was a fair man, honorable in his dealings and his word was good as gold. We
were neighbors and friends all this time without having a misunderstanding or
unkind word. It is hard to measure how great will be our loss. Ted Harshfield,
we will miss you for many years to come.”
Elaine passed away October 27, 1991.
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