Going once... going 58 years

Ozaukee County Fair enthusiasts may not know Rich Rathke by name, but if they’ve attended any of the fair’s livestock auctions in the last 58 years they surely know his voice.

Rathke has been the voice of the county fair’s livestock auction since its inception in 1968.

When the Town of Fredonia resident was asked to help at the first livestock sale he was well prepared—he had attended the Reisch-American School of Auctioneering  in Mason City, Iowa.

A group from Ozaukee County, including Rathke, Nick Didier, Rollie Bass and Ernie Kueffner, started the auction, modeling it after one they had seen at a county fair in Illinois. There were about 25 animals at first, Rathke said.

The event soon moved to prime time on Thursday and became one of the fair’s mainstays.

Rathke was inspired to enter the auctioneering field by the 1956 Leroy Van Dyke song “The Auctioneer” from the 1967 musical “What am I Bid?” He later met Van Dyke at a Farm Progress Days event.

Rathke spent more than 30 years in the auction business, auctioning antiques, cattle and other items. At his peak, he did about 25 events a year.

He let his license expire 20 years ago but keeps his hand in auctioneering. “Now I just do benefit auctions,” he said.

Rathke practices his craft while working his farm.

“When I’m driving the tractor and there’s nobody around, I run the numbers,” he said. “Nobody would have to listen to me. You do voice box training like an athlete.”

Come time for the auction, Rathke dons a white cowboy hat to “try to look western.”

He will suck on a cough drop before performing, but he avoids one of the fair’s featured products.

“You stay away from milk products or you can’t talk,” he said.

Rathke has been calling higher numbers as the auction has progressed. “Years ago, you were happy to get a little over market price for the kids,” he said. “Since those early times, the prices went up and up and up.”

Rathke likes to see satisfied sellers. “The kids got big smiles on their face. They’re happy,” he said.

Rathke doesn’t handle the two-hour event alone, but he leads it off. First, he introduces everyone, including those who work the gates, the clerk and fellow auctioneers.

“It’s all volunteer. Nobody gets paid,” he said.

Rathke makes a point to thank the buyers for coming.

“If you didn’t have buyers, you wouldn’t have the sale,” he said.

Rathke is the first in a line of family members who have become involved with the event.

Rathke’s daughter Linda Boehlke has been doing the auction for many years.

“You’ve got to hear her. She’s very good,” Rathke said.

His granddaughter Jessie Schoessow also auctioneers and she sings the national anthem at the start of the event.

Others have come to help, including Jake Klas from Fennimore, Tom Bichler from the Town of Belgium and Cassie Hanson, who teaches auctioneering in 4-H.

“We’ve got a real good auction crew,” Rathke said.

The Rathke’s legacy time with the fair predates Rich’s auctioneering.

Rathke’s grandfather Ernie Rutherford, who worked as an electrical engineer on  the interurban railroad line from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, was a member of the Ozaukee County Fair board. He was the first person Rathke saw the first time he went to the fair.

“He’d be sitting at the main gate greeting people as they’d come in,” he said.

The family tradition continued with Rathke’s father Lutz, who had a milk route business and delivered to vendors at the fair. Rathke often rode along as a child.

Rathke grew up in the Town of Grafton and started showing calves at around 10 years old, and he didn’t stop until he was 21, per 4-H rules at the time.

He picked up more than ribbons during his time in 4-H. Rathke met his wife Evie at the fair. She grew up on a farm in Little Kohler and showed calves.

“We were showing against each other,” he said. “So I married my competition.”

Like their upbringing, the Rathkes raised their six children on a farm.

“You teach your kids how to work. That’s the biggest advantage. My dad taught me how to work, and I passed it on. You’ve got fewer problems. They’re not running the streets and causing trouble,” he said.

“And they learn how to take care of animals and be responsible. A farm gives you that experience, and you get a good feeling because you did something good.”

The Rathkes’ six children were involved with the fair, as well as some of their 20 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Rathke’s son Steve is on the fair board and works with his father the rest of the year as well. The senior Rathke’s primary job has been in the sand and gravel business for 60 years, since not long after he returned from serving in the Army as a dental assistant in the early 1960s.

Rathke owns Hartmann Sand and Gravel in the Town of Fredonia,. He got to know the owner Fred Hartmann by hauling gravel to help build Ozaukee High School, and later became a partner in the business before taking it over. Steve now manages it.

Rathke, 88, isn’t sure how long he’ll keep doing the livestock auction.

When he isn’t there, he seeks out his favorite fair foods at the 4-H stand, the Clover Cafe. Rathke likes a chocolate smoothie and a burger.

“At my age I gotta be careful what I eat. Sometimes I do cheat, once in a while at the fair,” he said.

Rathke has also helped at the Washington County Fair’s auction and the Sheboygan County Fair’s junior livestock sale for nearly 40 years.