'I'm proud to live here in Gilbert'

GILBERT—Leopolda Schutte was just a little girl of 8 in the 1940s, but memories of her native Slovenia are vivid still, of the beautiful countryside and river, of living on a farm and she and her siblings having chores, of “doing kid things like climbing trees”—and of the Second World War.

In a telephone interview Schutte said, “There was just so much unrest and the planes flying and it was wartime.”

Schutte, 87, has been chosen the 2024 Gilbert 3rd of July grand marshal and will be in the parade at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday accompanied by grandson Adam Ferkul. They will ride in Dennis Pershern’s classic convertible that has been in the Gilbert parade for five decades.

Of being grand marshal, “I’m proud to live here in Gilbert,” and she accepts “the honor graciously,” Schutte said. Many family members will be in town for the parade.

This is Schutte’s story.

She was born Leopolda Bajda in Prebacevo, Slovenia, in 1936. After being forced to evacuate their Yugoslavian homeland at Voklo, Slovenia, and spending five years in Austrian refugee camps, Paul and Mary Bajda and six children—Leopolda, Victoria, Paula, John, Albina and Steven—arrived in the mining location of Elcor near Gilbert in 1949. Daughter Mary had stayed in Europe with her grandmother and a few years later came to Elcor. Five more children were born in America—Martin, Theresa, Rose, Tom and Nadi. Another daughter had died in infancy.

Schutte said, “We came to Boston first and then we came here by train (to mining location near Gilbert called Elcor). That was our beginning in America. And like I said, being an immigrant, we came legally. We were good Christians; I even remember when we started going to church. The bus picked us up for Mass.” If they had Mass at 7 in the morning, they would walk to church from Elcor.

In 2017 Schutte was among several Iron Range people of Slovenian background recognized by Slovenian Union of America Branch 35 for their contributions to preserving their heritage. Her parents lived under Nazi occupation during World War II, and in 1945, when the war ended, the family left for Austria to escape the Communists who had taken over their country. The family had expected to return to Slovenia as soon as conditions were deemed to be safe.

“That time never came,” Schutte said in a biography prepared for the ceremony. “The refugee camp was under the direction of British military, but Slovenians established their own schools, medical services, churches and various civic functions. I attended school from first to sixth grade. Luckily, after five years in the refugee camp America accepted us as immigrants. At that time, it was difficult for my father to get a job. But with the help of our wonderful sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Stephon, as well as Father Schweiger, Father Dolsina, and many good people of Elcor, and surrounding communities we were able to manage until our father found work. New life in America gave us many wonderful opportunities, but it also posed some challenges. For starters, none of us knew any English. I started school in Gilbert. They put me in the second grade to learn English, but I was 13 years old. After a month, I was transferred into the sixth grade, and by the end of the year I also completed the seventh grade. I continued my schooling until the end of ninth grade. At that time, I started a job at Cluett Peabody Shirt Factory in Gilbert.”

Schutte said, “I feel so bad for the people that are coming here now. But being illegal doesn’t help them any. But they don’t have a sponsor. I mean, some of them have the cartel, that’s not safe. So, for us we first came through the Catholic Church, we had a faith and we kept it up. It’s sad that the young people are not going to church as we were, but we had nothing else but our God in our life. We lost everything.” She spoke of her first husband, Vincent Ferkul, born in Slovenia and father of her first four children, Vincent “Vinko,” Marty, Willie and Erika. Ferkul died, leaving his wife a widow still in her 20s. She would marry again to American-born Rudy Schutte and they would have a son Steven.

Of life in Elcor, she recalls people having monthly get-togethers with the other Slovenian immigrants and how most of the American-born people “were very, very kind” toward them and “they really helped us.” Some, however, Schutte said, “resented” the European immigrants or “they’re taking our jobs” and referred to the immigrants, or displaced persons, as “DPs.”

Schutte said, “I assimilated. But that’s because I married Rudy and he was American. So, I kind of went into the American world more than some others.”

She talked about her grandchildren. “They are so wonderful to me and I am so grateful they all live so close up here especially now that I’m older. They’re always fixing something in my house or they do the outside.”

She very much enjoys the summertime. “I like to be active. You know, it was such a beautiful winter. But I didn’t do too much because I didn’t have any shoveling to do. I just say, ‘Thank you, Lord, for the health I have.’”

She is a hard worker like her parents were. She recalled a childhood memory from the end of World War II and the communists taking over their homeland. “What hardships my parents went through. We were kids, you know. You did what kids do. And you were happy as long as you were taken care of. We walked from our town all the way to Austria. We started out with the wagon, just keep going. It was awful. Over 50 miles we walked,” Schutte said. “Maybe it was 20. Maybe it was 100.”

Schutte’s hard-working mother Mary Bajda lived to her 88th year, Schutte said. Her obituary reads: She was born Sept. 15, 1914, in Voklo, Slovenia, to Miha and Marija Belehar, the fourth of nine children. On July 26, 1936, she married Paul Bajda in Brezje, Slovenia. In November of 1949, the couple and their young family immigrated to the United States and settled in Elcor, Minn. In 1956, they moved their home from Elcor Location to Gilbert. Throughout her life, Mary had a strong love for flowers. Through necessity, she tended a large vegetable garden to feed her large family, but she always kept room for flowers. She baked her own bread and many Slovenian pastries. She was an extremely good cook and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren loved her homemade soup. On weekends she would read, and she enjoyed talking to her family and friends on the phone. Mary had a strong faith and belief in family values. She was a very practical person and a source of strength to anyone in need.”

Schutte said, “Right now I’m worried about America. Our government is letting the world order take over. They somehow don’t want to be Americans anymore. I mean, to have pride in America. I am so, so proud to be in America. But I always said I’m Catholic first, then American, then Slovenian. So many people are coming in now that you don’t know what this country will turn into, and that’s what worries me. So many people don’t go to churches anymore.

“Churches are going so liberal, you know. Keep it traditional. Don’t bring all this new stuff into it,” Schutte said. She enjoyed when the Mass was in Latin. “I’m not saying I want the whole Mass in Latin, but it’s so beautiful, so enchanting. I will stay with my church and my faith until I die.”