Welcome to the Rice Family
The following set of photographs and captions was intended to focus primarily on Jesse and Olivia Rice. During that process, we decided to add some historical information about their parents, where they came from, where they lived and what they did. Hopefully, this will provide a better understanding of who they were so we can understand ourselves a bit better as well.
Rather than limit this project to only Jesse and Olivia, we also decided to add some photos and bits of history related to the families of their two children, Lois and Ronald, and to mention their grandchildren as well.
Caution: The information and photos came from a variety of sources and old albums. It's likely that some dates and places could be slightly off in their accuracy. If you have more accurate or additional information, please let us know so we can make corrections. Thank you. Enjoy
Ron W. Hough
ronwhough@gmail.com
Olivia Emma Kindschy
In 1847, Christian Kindschy, Sr. (1815-1883) brought his family to America from Switzerland. The family settled among other Swiss families in Wisconsin. Christian and his two wives raised four sons and a daughter. One of those sons was John Casper Kindschy, Olivia's father.
John C. Kindschy was born on April 14, 1852 in Wisconsin. He was educated at Galesville University in Wisconsin and taught school for four years before entering the mercantile business in Alma, Wisconsin in 1874. While in Alma, he met Paulina Kraft, who was raised in Iowa. They married in 1876.
Six years later, the Kindschy family moved west into the Dakota Territory, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. They settled in the town of Groton where John established a general store. Olivia Emma Kindschy was born in Groton on Feb. 25, 1884. Five years later the states of North and South Dakota were formed and Groton was officially in South Dakota.
In 1888, when Olivia was 4 years old, her mother Paulina passed away, leaving John with their five children. Two years later, John married Paulina's sister Bertha and they added seven more children to the family, bringing the total to six boys and six girls.
According to notes found in an old photo album, this was the first Kindschy home in Groton, South Dakota:
The Kindschy Merc. Co. general store was established in Groton in 1891. Business was good as many Europeans flooded into the area or stopped on their way to seek their fortunes during the Black Hills gold rush.
As the business prospered and the family grew, the family moved to a larger home a few miles outside Groton:
Olivia rode her burro, Billy, six miles to school in Groton:
Olivia at 20 years old in 1904:
In 1910, the Kindschy family left South Dakota behind and moved west again. This time they settled on a 320 acre homestead near Hingham, Montana. Hingham was a very small town at that time . . . and still is today:
The farm became a successful operation and a new home was soon built to accommodate the growing family. The farm earned local awards and became known as the "Silver Cup Farm".
The following photo shows the farmhouse in the late 1940s. That's Mel Kindschy sitting on the stoop chatting with Harry Hough.
A visit in 2012 found the farm vacant and in disrepair. The only remaining structure was the old house, boarded up, abandoned and forlorn . . . but still standing strong.
In July, 1925, the Kindschy family had a reunion on the farm:
John Casper Kindschy posed with his six sons at the 1925 reunion:
Ruth Kindschy (Aunt Ruth to most of us) was a very hard worker and everybody's favorite. She and her brother Wilmer never married but stayed with the farm until they turned off the lights, closed the doors and moved to retirement homes for well-deserved rests.
Ruth Kindschy (above)
Wilmer Kindschy (below)
Jesse Rodman Rice
Jesse Rodman Rice was born and raised in Kentucky. His father, Thomas J. Rice, died at 43, just two years after Jesse was born. His mother, Elizabeth Ann Rhoads, couldn't take care of the family and, out of necessity, sent some of them, including Jesse, to live with other relatives.
Jesse became interested in trains. He learned telegraphy and the photo below was probably taken at one of his early jobs in Corbin, Kentucky. He later got a job with the Great Northern Railway . . . a job that took him to Montana and a 45 year career with the Great Northern.
Montana Rice Family Beginnings
Shortly after the Kindschy family had established their Hingham farm, Olivia and Jesse met in Columbia Falls, Montana. He was working at the depot and she was teaching school. They fell in love and were married on March 1, 1911. They made their first home in or near the small railroad town of Fortine.
On April 25, 1916, Olivia brought their daughter Lois Olivia Rice into the world.
This was Lois at 16 months old in 1917.
We believe this is Jesse, Olivia and baby Lois at their home in Fortine in 1916.
This photo didn't have a caption. It might be the Fortine cabin but we can't confirm it.
Later, about 1917, the Rice family moved north to Eureka where they bought a house. The family was completed on December 3, 1919 with the birth of Ronald Jesse Rice.
Ronald and Lois about 1920.
Mother Olivia with Lois and Ronald (in stroller).
Ronald and Lois - Looks like 4th of July, 1920.
Lois at 4 years and Ronald at 10 mos.
In 1920, Jesse got the opportunity to become station agent at East Glacier Park. The job included living accommodations upstairs in the depot. It was a spacious home. They could watch the trains from their dining room table or enjoy the view of the Rockies and the "Big Hotel" from the living room. And, Jesse could go to and from work without going outdoors in the cold winter weather. He grabbed the opportunity.
Christmas at the depot.
Jesse at work at the East Glacier depot.
For his 45 years of hard work and dedication to the Great Northern, Jesse and Olivia each received a Gold Pass to ride the trains following his retirement.
Jesse and his depot crew at East Glacier. That's Jesse, fourth from the left. Always a sharp dresser.
Having a little fun on the platform with Jesse at the reins.
Jesse and his car
This is believed to be Jesse's brothers Harry and Lester, and their mother Elizabeth Rhoads. She moved to Montana late in life and spent her remaining years in Billings.
Jesse with brothers Harry and Lester.
Jesse with other members of his family (names not known to us).
Lois, Olivia, Ronald and Jesse Rice on a windy day in East Glacier - late 1920s.
The same family and same place - 10 or 15 years later. The large entrance arch in the above photo had been destroyed and removed by this time.
Lois and Ronald in Eureka - Lincoln County High School days . . . mid-1930s
Lois' High School graduation - 1934
Lois and friend in the cab of Great Northern engine No. 2586
Time for a little higher education - at the University of Montana in Missoula. Studying hard in her dorm room.
Taking a break during campus clean-up day.
Brother Ron also crashing the books.
Lois' Graduation in 1939
Ronald J. Rice --- in ROTC uniform
Ron served in Yellowstone Nat'l. Park as a ranger and forest firefighter. This photo shows him at a Yellowstone Canyon overlook with Yellowstone Falls in the distance.
Back in Glacier Park with sister Lois.
Ron in uniform at Glacier Park with sister Lois and Dad Jesse. He was about to serve in World War II. During the battle of Iwo Jima, his spotter plane received enemy fire but safely crash landed. Ron's ankle was wounded by the gunfire.
Ronald Rice on his way to Korea aboard the USNS General E.T. Collins. Six years after being shot down over Iwo Jima, Ron was shot and seriously wounded in Korea and spent months on a hospital ship and at the Bremerton Naval Hospital. Again, he recovered and continued his career with the Marine Corps.
Newspaper article: Major Ron Rice, commanding officer of Great Falls 102nd Special Marine Corps Reserve Infantry Company, being welcomed to Camp Pendleton, California.
Receiving an award.
Following his return and recovery from Korea, Ron made a stop to visit the Hough family in Coulee Dam, Washington in his new Buick. Ronnie tried on his uniform jacket and found it to be a size or two too large.
In 1940, Lois was a University of Montana graduate with a degree in music. She landed her first teaching job in Sheridan, Montana. Louise Steiner was the first person Lois met in Sheridan. It was a small town and Louise gave her a place to stay and helped her in many ways. They became close friends for life.
In 1944, Lois Rice was teaching music in the Portland, Oregon school system. It was there that she met William Dodson, who was midway through his term with the Merchant Marine. They fell in love and got married in April 1944. Their son Ronald William Dodson was born in June 1945.
Lois and Ronnie Dodson in 1946.
The Dodson marriage didn't work out. Lois moved back to Glacier Park and the marriage ended in divorce after three years. In August 1947, Lois married Harry Bryan Hough, an electrical engineer who was working in Montana at the time. Lois Dodson became Lois Hough. They settled in Whitefish, then East Glacier for a short time. This marriage lasted 60 years.
In March 1949, Carol Ann Hough was born in Kalispell and joined the family.
Also in 1949, Ronnie was officially adopted and his name changed from Ronnie Dodson to Ronnie Hough. One big happy family.
Ronnie and baby Carol with Grannie Rice on the lawn in East Glacier - 1949.
This was the Hough residence in East Glacier for a short time before moving to Coulee Dam, Washington in 1950. That's the new 1949 Dodge that replaced Lois' 1940 Ford.
The Hough family grew again with the birth of Gary Wayne Hough in May 1950. They were living in Coulee Dam at that time and, a year later, moved to another dam construction project at Palisades, Idaho. This photo was taken during a summer vacation to East Glacier in 1950.
In early 1953, the Hough family moved in with the grandparents at East Glacier while Harry was working at a new construction project in British Columbia. Ronnie finished the second grade in E. Glacier and the family moved to Kemano, B.C. that summer.
With the Korean conflict behind him, Ronald Rice turned to photography and sports reporting for the Great Falls Tribune. He met Dolores, fell in love, and they were married in 1952.
Ron and Dolores - springtime in Glacier Park.
Dolores and Olivia at Two Medicine Lake
Jesse (camera in hand), Dolores and Olivia
Ron and Dolores' new home under construction in Great Falls.
In the summer of 1958, Ron, Dolores, Nancy and Chris towed a travel trailer from Great Falls to Eureka to visit Jesse and Olivia. The Hough family also came from Yakima for the get-together. We all went to Glen Lake for some swimming and fishing and had a great time.
Jesse and Olivia at home in Eureka - 1958. J.R. took a little flack that day for wearing his yard work pants with the patches for this photo. But, that's what he was wearing at the time and he wasn't about to change just for a picture. Olivia was suffering from MS and having a hard time getting around. Jesse had retired a couple years earlier and was suffering from serious respiratory problems. Two years later, they moved to Yakima to live with Lois' family. Both passed away in 1963. They were wonderful people.
Eureka 1958: Carol, Gary and Ron with Chris and Nancy Rice.
Fun at Glen Lake (Eureka) - 1958: Nancy, Gary, Carol and Chris on the dock. The black blob on the left is Blackie.
That's Chris. Shoes are off and he's ready to take a dip in the lake.
The sun is too bright for Nancy while Daddy proudly displays his catch.
As a child growing up in East Glacier, Lois lived on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation for about ten years. During that time, she became acquainted with many local tribal families and taught music to many. In 1946, she was made an honorary member of the Blackfoot Nation, a very unusual honor for a woman at that time. She was presented with a drum that was painted with her life story and other Indian paraphernalia. This picture is from a newspaper story about sharing her Indian treasures with a fifth grade class in Eureka in 1955.
In 1957, Harry Hough accepted a two-year construction job in Iran. The family had just returned from living in Minnesota and was now living with his parents in Yakima. Lois with her three kids and dog Blackie needed a place of their own. Lois bought this new house on West Viola Avenue and, in early 1958, the family moved in. It became the family home for the next 50 years.
A Few Final Photos
Ronald J. Rice
Ron & Dolores Rice
Lisa, Nancy, Chris and Janet Rice
Harry (Bryan) and Lois Hough
Ron, Carol and Gary Hough
Family get-together at the Koostra home in Great Falls
Left to right: Molly, Zoie, Lisa, Glenn, Carol, Dolores, Janet, Bob, Ron and Mark
Other side of table:
Bob, Chris, Tracy, Bonnie and Mark. It's a rare and special occasion to get these fine people together in one place. We had a great time.
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