“He couldn’t harness a horse,” Charles Deneler said of his father.
One day, while Al was plowing his field behind a team of horses, his neighbor walked up to the fence and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Plowing this field,” he responded.
Incorrectly, he was told.
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Deneler eventually learned how to properly plow the field, and after his death in 1968, the family farm was passed down to his son and his wife, Marlene.
The Denelers — 86-year-old Charles and 76-year-old Marlene — stopped farming in 2001 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Now they lease out the land and they’re proud that today marks the centennial of the family farm being purchased.
They recently received a certificate designating it a Century Farm from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Eventually, the family will receive a plaque from the state and it will hang in the farmhouse designating it as one of the 1,690 Century Farms in the state.
The Denelers don’t have to look far to realize farming is a struggling business. At one time, there were four family farms on DeCamp Road that divides Hanover and Reily townships.
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Today, the Deneler Farm is alone while the other farms have been sold and developed into residential neighborhoods.
The Denelers have made arrangements to give the farm to a friend after they die, and he has assured them he’ll continue leasing the land until he dies.
“Who knows what happens after that,” Marlene said.
The farm nearly was lost during the Great Depression when pigs were selling for $3 a head. It was saved only because of a tragedy. Al’s brother, Hugo, worked on the farm, then found a construction job in Alabama. He was killed on the job by an impaired worker, and the financial settlement was used to pay off the Deneler farm.
The Denelers had milking cows, hogs and cattle and grew corn, soy beans, wheat and hay.
“Farming is in his blood,” his wife said. “It always has been and always will be.”
To supplement their income, Charles worked for the Reily Twp. road department for about 50 years, drove a truck and served as a volunteer firefighter for the township for 43 years. Marlene worked for 20 years for the Hamilton Tool Co.
Now Charles spends most of his time in his wood shop, a converted chicken coop that has electricity. He loves working with his hands and he takes great pleasure in building wooden tractors, sleighs and Santa Clauses. He and his wife also refurbish antique tractors in their large barn. Married for 57 years, the Denelers make a good team.
“I can’t saw a board straight, but I can make some stuff,” he said.
He hates winters. Nothing worse than watching TV.
“He can’t slow down,” his wife said. “He can’t sit still. He’s not a sitter. He drives me nuts. We got to be doing something. He’s always been that way. He’s a worker.”
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