Good Afternoon Forest County Residents!
The final female featured for Women’s National History Month, Elmyra Hobbs, had a tremendous impact on the Crandon Public Library. In fact, the building is named after her because without her generous donations we would not have the new library facilities. Elmyra was born in 1911 just outside of Crandon to Emil and Anna Schimek. She spent her childhood living on the family’s farm located northwest of the City of Crandon. She attended school at Siding Two, a one room school house, until seventh grade. The Schimek family moved into the City of Crandon in 1926 and Elmyra graduated from Crandon High School in 1931. She went onto higher education at the Oneida County Normal School and worked for F.A. Himes at the local Lumber and Coal Company. She was joined in matrimony to Gordon Hobbs in 1935. Gordon owned the Crandon Telephone Company and Elmyra started working there right after they were married: book keeping, paying bills, handling the switch board, and general office work. She would sometimes work nights and sleep on a cot located in the office. During the early years at the telephone company Elmyra became skilled at repairing heat coils and using a soldering iron. Elmyra continued to work tirelessly at the Crandon Telephone Company as the General Manager until she sold the company to Rhinelander Telecommunications in 1993. In addition to contributing to the Crandon Public Library she donated to Headwaters, a Catholic Charity Bureau, which supplied them with much needed support (Hobbs-Wilbur 2005). I encourage everyone to visit the Forest County Historical Society Museum this summer which displays many objects from Mrs. Hobb’s life.
