Ed Lammers moved to Butterfield four decades ago to nurture this connection
Longtime Butterfield Threshing Bee enthusiast Edward “Ed” Lammers passed away on Saturday, December 14, 2013 at Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center in St. James, at the age of 86.
Lammers was born in Fulda on August 17, 1927, the son of Joseph and Franceska Lammers. He grew up on the family farm in rural Fulda, where he assisted his parents in the farming operation. In 1973, he moved to a farmsite north of Butterfield, arriving with his collection of antique farm tractors, which he displayed at the Butterfield Steam and Gas Engine Show – or – Threshing Bee. In fact, it was Ed’s connection to the Bee and his fellow collectors that lured him to move to Butterfield after retiring from farming. Recently, in 2012, Ed’s 1923 Waterloo Boy tractor was featured on the Bee’s buttons, shirts and crock. Collecting and restoring old tractors was his life’s passion. Another of Ed’s hobbies was building wooden replicas of antique tractors. They are now on display in the Watonwan County Museum in Madelia.
In late December 2010, his farmstead home burned down and he moved into Butterfield, where he lived until he suffered a fall this past May 2013. He was then a resident at Pleasant View until his death.
Preceding Ed in death were his parents and sister and brother-in-law, Ilyene and Michael Pratka.
