Individual Details
Richard Lee Thull
(April 10, 1943 - March 27, 2001)
March 30, 2001
Urban areas draw rural Stearns residents
By Kirsti Marohn, Times staff writer
In his lifetime, Richard Thull has watched Grove Township change from a thriving farm community with more than 1,000 residents to a place where barns stand empty and children leave home with no plans to return.
Thull, the township clerk, came from a family of eight children, and his wife has nine siblings. But the Thulls together had two children, neither of whom plans to continue operating the family's dairy farm into its second century. "Almost all of the farms around me are standing empty," he said. "The old way is dying, I think."
Grove Township, just south of Melrose, is one of many townships and cities in western Stearns County that have seen their population draining to urban areas in the past decade. Since 1990, Grove Township lost 20 percent of its residents, dropping from 629 to 505 people. About 30 of those were lost to the Melrose through annexation.
It's a trend occurring across the state, with metro areas that offer jobs and opportunities seeing major population booms. Meanwhile, numbers dwindle in rural areas that are often dependent on a suffering farm economy. "People are leaving. The economy is part of the reason," said Kent Robertson, community studies professor at St. Cloud State University. "Many ag-based areas do not have enough jobs to support people, particularly younger people."
The 17 townships that make up western Stearns County west of Albany lost a combined 372 people, or 4 percent. Townships with lakes that are attracting new residents fared better in the past decade, including Paynesville Township with Lake Koronis, which gained 69 people, and Millwood Township with Big Birch Lake, which gained 102 people.
Farm-based townships without large lakes typically lost population, including Getty Township southwest of Melrose, which dropped by 15 people, and Oak Township south of Freeport, which lost 21 people.
The 15 cities in western Stearns County combined gained 821 people or nearly 7 percent. But the growth came mainly in cities with stable local economies, such as Sauk Centre, Melrose and Belgrade. Other medium-sized cities struggling with a changing identity, such as Freeport and Paynesville, lost residents. Several small cities such as Greenwald, Roscoe, Elrosa and St. Rosa lost significant portions of their population.
In those areas, high school and college graduates are fleeing rural areas for larger cities that offer better-paying jobs, and often never return home, Robertson said. That leaves a community of older residents who may not be able to replenish the population or the local economy, he said. Mary Wuertz, mayor of Spring Hill in southwestern Stearns County, knows that firsthand. Her son is studying architecture in college, and will need to move away to find a job, she said. "There's nothing real close around here for that," Wuertz said.
Spring Hill lost 22 people since 1990, dropping to 55 residents. Just 16 percent of the population is younger than 18 years old. Even those people who would like to return to the city probably couldn't find a house to buy, Wuertz said. There's currently just one for sale in town. While Spring Hill once relied on nearby farms for its economy, that's changing, Wuertz said. Many Spring Hill residents now commute to jobs in nearby Paynesville or Albany, as Wuertz herself does.
"The economy of many of these small rural towns was based on the small family farm," Robertson said. "The small family farm has a very difficult time making it." Farmers used to go into town to buy seed and feed from local stores, he said. Today's large-scale farm operations buy from suppliers who likely aren't local, Robertson said.
"The local economy that depended on family farmers and their workers ... is hurt," he said. Sometimes minor events can cause large population shifts in small towns, such as when one resident of tiny St. Rosa north of Freeport died and his six children moved out, said Mayor John Stoerman. St. Rosa lost the largest percentage of its population of any Stearns County city in the last decade. Its numbers dropped from 75 to 44 people, or 41 percent. "We gained a bunch, but we had a number of people die," Stoerman said. "It's just one of those things that people get old."
Population numbers also can be affected by cities annexing township land, as in the case of the city of Pleasant Lake annexing a portion of Rockville Township.
Not everyone is gloomy about the future prospects of rural areas. Stearns County's diversified agriculture should help it stay viable, said Mark Partridge, economics professor at St. Cloud State University. "We have a wide range of agricultural products," Partridge said, including dairy, corn, poultry and others. Small towns need to try to diversify their economies, including adding light manufacturing jobs, in order to survive, he said. "My sense is a lot of these younger people would like to stay ... if jobs were available," Partridge said.
Still, experts agree that some small towns could become casualties of the exodus. "I think some of the real tiny towns - under 100 people - could be in trouble down the road, as their population literally dies off," Robertson said.
Richard Thull
57
Spicer
March 27, 2001 Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Sartell, for Richard L. Thull, 57, of 200 Lake Ave., who died Tuesday at his home. Burial will be in Assumption Cemetery, St. Cloud. Friends may call from 4 to 9 tonight and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday at Dingmann Family Funeral Home, Sauk Rapids. Parish prayers will be 6 tonight at the funeral home.
Richard Thull was born in Antioch, Calif., to Leander and Florence (Gardner) Thull. He was raised in Sartell and attended St. Cloud State University. He married Nola Jerve on Dec. 23, 1967, in St. Cloud. They later divorced. He married Connie Wagner on Nov. 26, 1994, in Richmond. He worked at Citizens National Bank, which later became Heritage Bank, in Willmar from 1967 to 1991, and later owned and operated a commercial cleaning business with his wife in the Willmar area. He was a member of Willmar Chamber of Commerce, Willmar Elks Club and Willmar Sertoma Club.
Survivors include his wife; daughter, Stephanie of St. Cloud; stepsons, Jason Wagner of Cambridge, Josh Wagner of Andover, Jeremy Wagner of Dickinson, N.D., and Jordan Wagner of Elk River; sisters and brother, Linda Ederhoff and Marti Bunde of St. Cloud, Carole Braun of Richmond, Annette Stensrud of Rice, and Joseph of Bothell, Wash.; and two stepgrandchildren.
Urban areas draw rural Stearns residents
By Kirsti Marohn, Times staff writer
In his lifetime, Richard Thull has watched Grove Township change from a thriving farm community with more than 1,000 residents to a place where barns stand empty and children leave home with no plans to return.
Thull, the township clerk, came from a family of eight children, and his wife has nine siblings. But the Thulls together had two children, neither of whom plans to continue operating the family's dairy farm into its second century. "Almost all of the farms around me are standing empty," he said. "The old way is dying, I think."
Grove Township, just south of Melrose, is one of many townships and cities in western Stearns County that have seen their population draining to urban areas in the past decade. Since 1990, Grove Township lost 20 percent of its residents, dropping from 629 to 505 people. About 30 of those were lost to the Melrose through annexation.
It's a trend occurring across the state, with metro areas that offer jobs and opportunities seeing major population booms. Meanwhile, numbers dwindle in rural areas that are often dependent on a suffering farm economy. "People are leaving. The economy is part of the reason," said Kent Robertson, community studies professor at St. Cloud State University. "Many ag-based areas do not have enough jobs to support people, particularly younger people."
The 17 townships that make up western Stearns County west of Albany lost a combined 372 people, or 4 percent. Townships with lakes that are attracting new residents fared better in the past decade, including Paynesville Township with Lake Koronis, which gained 69 people, and Millwood Township with Big Birch Lake, which gained 102 people.
Farm-based townships without large lakes typically lost population, including Getty Township southwest of Melrose, which dropped by 15 people, and Oak Township south of Freeport, which lost 21 people.
The 15 cities in western Stearns County combined gained 821 people or nearly 7 percent. But the growth came mainly in cities with stable local economies, such as Sauk Centre, Melrose and Belgrade. Other medium-sized cities struggling with a changing identity, such as Freeport and Paynesville, lost residents. Several small cities such as Greenwald, Roscoe, Elrosa and St. Rosa lost significant portions of their population.
In those areas, high school and college graduates are fleeing rural areas for larger cities that offer better-paying jobs, and often never return home, Robertson said. That leaves a community of older residents who may not be able to replenish the population or the local economy, he said. Mary Wuertz, mayor of Spring Hill in southwestern Stearns County, knows that firsthand. Her son is studying architecture in college, and will need to move away to find a job, she said. "There's nothing real close around here for that," Wuertz said.
Spring Hill lost 22 people since 1990, dropping to 55 residents. Just 16 percent of the population is younger than 18 years old. Even those people who would like to return to the city probably couldn't find a house to buy, Wuertz said. There's currently just one for sale in town. While Spring Hill once relied on nearby farms for its economy, that's changing, Wuertz said. Many Spring Hill residents now commute to jobs in nearby Paynesville or Albany, as Wuertz herself does.
"The economy of many of these small rural towns was based on the small family farm," Robertson said. "The small family farm has a very difficult time making it." Farmers used to go into town to buy seed and feed from local stores, he said. Today's large-scale farm operations buy from suppliers who likely aren't local, Robertson said.
"The local economy that depended on family farmers and their workers ... is hurt," he said. Sometimes minor events can cause large population shifts in small towns, such as when one resident of tiny St. Rosa north of Freeport died and his six children moved out, said Mayor John Stoerman. St. Rosa lost the largest percentage of its population of any Stearns County city in the last decade. Its numbers dropped from 75 to 44 people, or 41 percent. "We gained a bunch, but we had a number of people die," Stoerman said. "It's just one of those things that people get old."
Population numbers also can be affected by cities annexing township land, as in the case of the city of Pleasant Lake annexing a portion of Rockville Township.
Not everyone is gloomy about the future prospects of rural areas. Stearns County's diversified agriculture should help it stay viable, said Mark Partridge, economics professor at St. Cloud State University. "We have a wide range of agricultural products," Partridge said, including dairy, corn, poultry and others. Small towns need to try to diversify their economies, including adding light manufacturing jobs, in order to survive, he said. "My sense is a lot of these younger people would like to stay ... if jobs were available," Partridge said.
Still, experts agree that some small towns could become casualties of the exodus. "I think some of the real tiny towns - under 100 people - could be in trouble down the road, as their population literally dies off," Robertson said.
Richard Thull
57
Spicer
March 27, 2001 Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Sartell, for Richard L. Thull, 57, of 200 Lake Ave., who died Tuesday at his home. Burial will be in Assumption Cemetery, St. Cloud. Friends may call from 4 to 9 tonight and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday at Dingmann Family Funeral Home, Sauk Rapids. Parish prayers will be 6 tonight at the funeral home.
Richard Thull was born in Antioch, Calif., to Leander and Florence (Gardner) Thull. He was raised in Sartell and attended St. Cloud State University. He married Nola Jerve on Dec. 23, 1967, in St. Cloud. They later divorced. He married Connie Wagner on Nov. 26, 1994, in Richmond. He worked at Citizens National Bank, which later became Heritage Bank, in Willmar from 1967 to 1991, and later owned and operated a commercial cleaning business with his wife in the Willmar area. He was a member of Willmar Chamber of Commerce, Willmar Elks Club and Willmar Sertoma Club.
Survivors include his wife; daughter, Stephanie of St. Cloud; stepsons, Jason Wagner of Cambridge, Josh Wagner of Andover, Jeremy Wagner of Dickinson, N.D., and Jordan Wagner of Elk River; sisters and brother, Linda Ederhoff and Marti Bunde of St. Cloud, Carole Braun of Richmond, Annette Stensrud of Rice, and Joseph of Bothell, Wash.; and two stepgrandchildren.
Events
| Birth | April 10, 1943 | Antioch, CA | |||
| Marriage | December 23, 1967 | St. Cloud, FL - Nola Joy Jerve | |||
| Marriage | November 26, 1994 | Richmond, MN - Connie Wagner | |||
| Death | March 27, 2001 | 56288 Spicer, Kandiyohi, MN |
Families
| Spouse | Nola Joy Jerve |
| Child | Stephanie Kay Thull |
| Spouse | Connie Wagner |
| Father | Leander August Thull (1918 - 1999) |
| Mother | Florence Gardner (1921 - 1989) |
| Sibling | Linda Marie Thull |
| Sibling | Martha Jean Thull |
| Sibling | Joseph Peter Thull |
| Sibling | Carole Ann Thull |
| Sibling | Annette MarieThull |