Catherine Knopke purchased Lots 3 & 4, Block A, First Addition from the Bemidji Townsite Co. for $350 on Oct 1, 1910 and they built this home. After about two years, they sold to Judge M. A. Clark. A few years later, it became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick McLaughlin. He was a logger and later ran a grader for the state highway department. In 1922, Mrs. Vivian McLaughlin entertained the Catholic ladies aide at the home. Children Pearl, Grace, Daniel, and Patrick. They moved to 1016 Minnesota Avenue in the early 1930s.
Byron C. Russell (1934-35)
Fred Alsop (1942)
It then became the home of the Leo Hofmeister family from 1951 or before and was their residence for at least forty years.
Leo C. Hofmeister and Evangeline Murach were married in 1932. While in Bemidji, he worked at the Kenfield Box Factory, Bahr Trucking and was a heavy equipment operator with the Joe McKinnon and Fred Damm Construction companies. He and Evangeline were later divorced. He moved to Helena, Montana, where he worked in construction. They had ten children, including Mary Ann who went to school with me at St. Philip’s and Leo, who was in my brother’s class at St. Philip’s and high school.
After the divorce, Evangeline Hofmeister continued to live in the home for at least 25 more years. She worked as a cashier and waitress in the Bemidji area for many years. After retiring she volunteered for the hot lunch program at St. Philip’s Catholic Church and was also a volunteer grandma at Central Elementary School. She was an avid gardener and plant collector and was known for her embroidery and crochet work. She died in 1997.