STAHL
ORCHARDS got its start in 1924 when Louis Stahl arrived in
Paonia with his wife Lulu and their young family. They began
their trek to the west in the early 1900's, having been born and raised
on the farms of Iowa. The fascinating reports he was hearing
about the wonderful opportunities in the relatively new state of Colorado
were just more than he could resist. He first settled
down on the front range of Colorado in the Greeley area. He farmed
there for a number of years, but he simply could not resist the attraction
which the beautiful Rocky Mountains had for him. As the
sun would set over the massive range each evening, he sensed an irresistible
urge to follow after it. So the day eventually came when the
temptation to move his family farther to the west became more than
he could bear. After selling most of his possessions, he loaded
up his family and headed up over the continental divide. The
road was rough and dusty, but was hardly noticed as he and his young
family anticipated the uncertainty that lied ahead. Some
of the sweetest fruits he had ever known came from the valleys on
the western side of the state. Among other things, he wanted
to check out those orchards, the first of which had been planted in
the late 1880's.
He first spent time in the Montrose area, but eventually he visited
the beautiful North Fork Valley of the Gunnison River.
He knew that this was the spot where he wanted to spend the remainder
of his life and to raise his family, so he purchased a 12 acre
orchard in the Paonia area. His family, by then, had grown to
seven children, providing a ready made labor force to care for the
new orchard and to harvest its luscious fruits.
Unfortunately, however, things did not go as well for him as he had
hoped. While in Montrose, he picked up a severe case of
typhoid fever, from which he never fully regained his strength.
Then, after moving to Paonia, the Great Depression struck and his
hopes and dreams were dashed; fruit prices plummeted as well
as the price of his land.
He decided to tough it out and hang on until things improved.
He was a man of deep faith, so his trust in God and a stubborn
determination to survive, no matter what, pulled him through.
He was fortunate to have a large family of ambitious sons and daughters.
They took on outside work which helped to provide an income for the
family, besides doing practically all the work of harvesting and caring
for the thousand or more trees in their own orchard. The second
oldest of his sons was Gerald. He was only 12 years old when
the family moved to Paonia. He seemed to take a keener interest
in the orchard than some of his other siblings, so his father began
relying more and more upon him to look after the family farm.
Soon, because of failing health, brought on from his bout with typhoid
fever, Louis turned the day-to-day work of the farm over completely
to his son, Gerald, who was yet a teenager. Gerald operated
the farm for his father until 1951 when his father sold it.
However, prior to selling the original family farm, Gerald became
attracted to a beautiful young girl in Fruita, Colorado, named Viola
Holt. They were eventually married in 1936, and established
their own home in Paonia where Gerald continued with what was to become
his lifelong career of fruit growing.
The
Stahl family --a few years after moving to Colorado. Arvin's
dad Gerald (Center) is standing with his arm upon his father's (Louis)
shoulder. Behind center is Louis's mother, Addie (Arvin's great
grandmother).
The
couple not only began planting and purchasing orchards of their own,
but of course, they began to raise a family of their own too. The
family would eventually grow to six children, Vern, Arvin, Carol,
Larry, Betty and David. Their first born, Jackie died tragically
of kidney disease at age 12. During those years, Gerald owned
and operated many of the various orchards throughout the North Fork
Valley. He, like his father before him, depended heavily upon
his children to help him when he needed helping hands--especially
with the thinning and harvesting of the fruit. In 1950, he purchased
the orchard on which became the family home. This is the orchard
to which you will come when you drive to our beautiful valley to purchase
those mouth watering cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums,
pears and apples that this part of Colorado is famous for. Gerald
was a very industrious, hard working man, who was able to provide
for his family even though many, during that time, were forced out
of the business. He was very self-disciplined and did as much
of his own pruning and caring for his orchards as he possibly could,
working daylight to dark, seldom taking a day off except for Sundays.
He was very faithful to his Lord and church which he served very diligently,
as he too was a devout man of faith.
Sadly, Gerald and his father are no longer with us, although they
both lived into their 70's before departing us. Today the orchards
are managed by Gerald's son, Arvin.
He and his wife, Linda, a registered
nurse and nurse practitioner, have one son, Mark. In 2003, Mark received
his doctorate in medicine from Michigan State University. Upon
graduation, he was commissioned Captain in the United States Air Force.
Mark and his wife Brooke moved to Biloxi, Mississippi where he completed
his first two years of pediatric residency at Keesler Air Force Base.
Their
first child, Ian Zachary Stahl, was born on August 27, 2003.
After Hurricane Katrina hit Biloxi, Mark was transferred to Dayton,
Ohio to finish his training. In the midst of their sudden relocation,
they joyfully celebrated the birth of their second son,
Noah
Harrison Stahl, on October 11, 2005. Mark
graduated from his pediatric residency in June 2006. He is currently
in his 2nd year as a staff pediatrician
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Their sons, Ian and Noah,
join the fifth generation of the Louis Stahl family.
