The Aderman and Lance Friendship

Lance Road and Aderman Lane outside of Daggett, MI

When Carl and Floy moved up to Daggett, MI in the early 1900s, they had a terrific amount of work to do clearing the land, raising food for their growing family, and making enough money to live on.

Neighbors needed each other more than we do today and their friendships ran deep. For Carl and Floy, Winford and Mae Lance were among their dearest neighbors. They helped each other with their farms and Mae also had skills as a midwife.

Their sons, Cyril Lance and Oscar Aderman grew up together and were lifelong friends. The two families farmed just a mile away from each other. Both boys were the same age and were in the same class in school. In adulthood, Oscar moved to Niagara, WI and Cyril moved to Madison, WI, but they stayed in contact over the years and the miles.  Cyril and Myna are remembered as kind-hearted people. For example, they adopted two of Myna’s nieces, Bev and Jackie Lance, and raised them. Ralph, also known as “Hop”, was Cyril’s nephew, but Cyril treated him like a son.

Hop was raised by his Grandma Mae Lance in Daggett and went to High School there. When, during “the war years” (WWII) Winford and Mae, Carl and Floy had trouble getting help to work on the farms, Carl’s grandson, Darrell, and Winford’s grandson, Ralph (Hop) would go out and help with haying.

Oscar’s son, Darrell, attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison. That was a long distance from the northeastern corner of the state. At least once, Cyril and Myna were in Daggett visiting Winford and Mae at the same time Darrell was needing to get to Madison. Oscar took him to Daggett and he rode in the truck with them to Madison. As another courtesy, they would  call him up every so often to visit them for the weekend.

While Carl and Winford were friends, and their sons Oscar and Cyril were buddies, the next generation of Darrell Aderman and Ralph “Hop” Lance were also longtime friends. Ralph went into the Navy after high school and, when he got out, attended the University of Wisconsin on the GI Bill. Darrell and Hop met up again in Madison where both men were attending college. This third generation of Aderman and Lance friendship was also demonstrated when Hop was the Best Man at Darrell’s wedding.

The Aderman car after the terrible crash.

The Lances helped out the Adermans in another major way during the college years of the third generation. Oscar and his family came down to Madison for a special university event. On their drive back, they were in a terrible car accident in which the driver of the other vehicle was killed and the Aderman car was totaled. All five members of the Aderman family who were in the car were seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Madison. One by one, as they were released from the hospital, they stayed with Cyril and Myna Lance until the whole family was out of the hospital and able to drive back to Niagara. Darrell repaid the Lance family by giving their daughter-in-law, Bev, accordion lessons for about three years.