Willis Norman Robbins
January 2, 1907 - September 2, 1996
Interment: Greenwood Cemetery, Brookings, SD
Willis was third of three boys born to George and Estella (Stanley) Robbins of Bushnell, SD. He attended grade school in Bushnell and graduated from Brookings HS (1925) where he played basketball and football and was named to the All-State Football Team. Since there were no buses that picked up and dropped of students, Willis, like many other rural students, moved to Brookings during the school semesters in order to graduate from high school. After high school, he began farming just north of Bushnell. In 1928, he married Laura Rose Mickelson who he first met when she was 10 and he was 13 years old and always said it was 'love at first sight'. They were married over 60 years and raised two children - Darlene (married to Lloyd Zweep from Garretson, SD and where they made their home) and Delbert (married to Joanne McMillan from Brookings and they lived in Bushnell). Laura died December 4, 1990. Beyond farming, he was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Brookings, Bushnells School Board, and Brookings Hospital Board (which worked to establish the new hospital in 1964 on the east side of Brookings). He loved to go fishing, riding on his three-wheel cart with his dog or one of the cats, and visiting with anyone who had time for a story or two.
Willis & Laura:
Willis attended grade school in Bushnell and graduated from Brookings High School in 1925. He played football and was name to the All-State Football team.
Willis met Laura when she was 10 years old and he was about 13. He claims it was love at first sight and from then on he loved only her (though he did date a few other girls while in High School - but "none of them were ever special like she was"). They were married on February 6, 1928. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Haagland. They drove to Watertown to marry but didn't actually elope since their parents knew they were getting married. They left Bushnell at 5:00 a.m. in Willis' new model T Ford (1926 or 1927). They were going to get married in Watertown and then drive to Minneapolis, MN for a honeymoon. They ate breakfast at Lake Norden, SD and then drove on a sheet of ice to Watertown. They even stopped and put on chains. When they got to Watertown they found out the courthouse had been condemned and that the county offices had been relocated to the Lincoln Hotel. They went there for the license and found a Methodist preacher who asked them if they had witnesses, which they did not. So the preacher called upon his wife and another man to be the witnesses. Immediately after they were married the noon whistle blew. They had dinner at the home of Clem Stanley (Willis' uncle). The weather was pretty bad so they decided to take the train to Minneapolis instead of driving. Clem took them to the train stations for the 9:30 p.m. train and they arrived in Minneapolis in the morning. They stayed there a week beforre returning to remodel their home.
Norton's Grove
Different picnics were held in the Norton Grove, like 4th of July. Once the Chamber of Commerce from Brookings entertained the farmers to a big ham dinner out there and the school had their picknics there.
Ball Teams
Bushnell seemed to always have a good ball team - their big rivals were Aurora and Elkton. Clem Stanley was their catcher (Clem was a brother to Stella Robbins, Willis' mother).
Bushnell Post Office
The Post office was run by Mrs. Armstrong, then Claude Enright, then Gladys Wilaby and finally Mrs. Henneman (zip code was 57011). It was in several
