Clara Kadura Hilbig

by Marian Nelson

My mother, Clara Kadura Hilbig, was the sixth child, in a family of twelve children, born to Joe Frances and Mary Hoffman Kadura. She was her father’s tomboy and right hand man on the farm. She labored from sunup to sundown even in the winter. One of the chores Clara talked about was going in a wagon to pick up acorns to bring back for the hogs. I asked Uncle Bob about this one time and he said, “Oh Papa just wanted to keep us all busy all the time.”

It was Grandpa’s custom to have his children quit school at the age of fourteen. Clara was born on December 25, 1911 and when she turned fourteen, she tried to go back to school. Grandpa came to school and took her out of class. That was the end of her formal education, which she regretted all her life. Clara grew up with a very strict father. Today, we would describe him as abusive. Clara said, “Bella (Sr. Rosamunda) and I would go to bed upstairs in the loft and pray for our daddy.” Isabel was allowed to go to school longer and to join the Convent but Clara had to stay home and work.

Clara married Vester Hilbig and he gave her the affection she needed. Their love union and faith remained firm through many difficulties and hardships while raising ten children. They passed on their Christian values and gave an example of commitment and enduring faith and love.

Some of the things we laugh about today, yet respect, are the many hours we spent on our knees on hard floors. It wasn’t good enough to say the rosary every night but Mamma insisted we all get up at the first sign of lightening and thunder to kneel and pray the rosary again. Holy Water was a “Mamma thing”. She sprinkled and blessed us every night as we lay in our beds. She sprinkled and blessed the house and carried holy water with her. The last bottle of holy water that Mamma gave me 25 years ago is still in the glove compartment of my car. The routine started when I learned to drive. “Do you have holy water in the car?” Mamma would ask. After marriage, when I traveled home, she never failed to ask that question and would have a small bottle handy.

Clara’s legacy is that her prayers were always answered. One example we all enjoy talking about happened in 1972. Son-in-law Charlie Nelson was in Vietnam and wrote, “Mamma, please pray that I get an assignment in San Antonio.” Later when he was assigned to Kelly AFB, Charlie told Mamma he was pleased but wished it could have been to Randolph AFB. Mamma replied, “Why didn’t you tell me, I was praying for Kelly because that’s the only base I knew in San Antonio.”

After a heart attack, Clara retired from her State School job (1960-1974). Retirement meant more time for sewing and going to daily Mass at St. Ignatius. Her greatest pleasure was in giving and one year she embroidered 18 Western shirts for Christmas gifts. She continued her handiwork after moving back to Rockne in 1983. When Barbara Seidel was Director of Religious Education, Mamma made pillows for the First Communion Class so that they could sit on them in a circle on the floor. She prided herself in being able to make and give away quilts. She confided shortly before her death, “I’ve made fifty-seven (57) quilts since retiring.”

Clara was selfless in her dedication to her family and her German saying, “Die Kirche, Kinder, und Die Kuche” (Church, children and Kitchen). She told us the day before she died of a massive coronary that she wanted to join Vester who had preceded her four months earlier. She joined him on November 27, 1987 at the age of seventy-six (76).