How did we get those crazy nicknames?

By V.J. Smith

A few days ago I found myself in conversation with someone about what it was like to live in a small town. This guy was amazed when I told him that in Eureka we could order groceries and have them delivered. He refused to believe that we could call the Red Owl and have our groceries brought right to our house.

That made me remember Stanley Pfiefle. Of course few people called him Stanley. To most of the town he was Sully. As my conversation partner was bantering on about his refusal to believe me I drifted off into space and came up with a question: "How did Stanley get the name of Sully?"

Then I started thinking about other people who had nicknames in Eureka. Even in the same Pfiefle family there was "Duke." How come he had a nickname? And why didn't their sister Gladys have a nickname?

Eureka was filled with people who were known by their nicknames. I remember Smiley Neuharth and Smiley Ladner. They smiled all the time so it was easy to figure how they got their names.

But what about Snowball Nagel? Wayne Frey used to terrorize Snowball's mother's cats. That made Snowball and his mother mad. So mad that Snowball shot Wayne's dog, Baron. Well, Wayne took care of a few of the Nagel's cats. It was a viscious circle.

But back to nicknames. Baseball gave Dick and Marvin Gross new names. They became Diz and Lefty. I don't know where Sarge Kary got to be a Sarge. He just always seemed to be a Sarge, just like Whitey Schaeffer was always Whitey.

How about the Class of 1973? We had a Country, a Packy, a Pus, a Deacon, a Humphrey, and a Fuzz. There were probably others but I can't remember. There have to be some real good stories involved with some of the nicknames.

Probably not as colorful a history as Darrold "Homer" Opp. I'm sure his dental patients don't know he was a Homer at one time. I've got one clue for you, he didn't get the name because he could hit the baseball out of the park.

Other people we knew had good names as well. One of my favorites was Sugar Bear (Rodney Knoepfle). He could always be found at the sand pits leading the charge. He loved his GTO and his CB.

Sugar Bear was a grade ahead of us. Two grades ahead of us was Moosie Krien. I remember the night Moosie taught Wayne and me about the birds and the bees. We were disgusted. I'm glad to report he had about half the stuff wrong. The only other moose I knew in Eureka was Moose John Bertsch.

Several years ahead of us was Ron Herman, known as Sow Belly. I understand he is no longer with us. But I remember the day he told us about his experiences during the infamous North Dakota adventure called "Zip to Zap." Needless to say, he had gotten zapped.

There were a couple guys behind us in school who lost their given names and became something else. One was Goofy (Greg Opp). I'm sure there is a story there. Another guy was Wimpy Grenz. I don't know if it was an affection for hamburgers or his physique that earned him that reputation.

Nor were our teachers exempt from nicknames. But how come Duff was Duff? Why was Mr. Greco a Grub? And how did a guy as big as Rodney Johnson ever become a Rubber Ducky? Was it because he could float?

I'm sure I've missed a bunch of nicknames. All of these people have a place in the history of Eureka.

(V.J. Smith grew up in Eureka with seven brothers and sisters. Today he lives in Brookings, S.D., where he is director of alumni at South Dakota State University.)