Pritzes named grand marshals for Lincolnville Octoberfest

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Maurice Pritz, 82, and his wife, Twila, of rural Lost Springs were grand marshals Saturday in the Lincolnville Octoberfest parade.

Pritz is a lifelong resident of the area and has worn many hats including farmer, business owner, technician, and musician.

Born on a farm southeast of Lincolnville, Pritz had a good start, having been delivered by John Wesley DeMand, a beloved doctor who served Lincolnville and surrounding areas for many years.

“He had a lot of homemade remedies that worked,” Pritz said.

Pritz likes to say he closed two schools and almost three.

He attended East Creek Country School until it closed after his fourth grade. His parents moved to Pritz’s present homestead south of Lost Springs in 1945. He attended the Lutheran school in Lincolnville until it closed after another four years. He graduated from Lost Springs High School in 1953. Five years later, it closed and students were consolidated into the new Centre rural school district.

Pritz began his musical career as a guitarist and singer at age 27, when he, his wife Bertie, Jimmy Rudolph, Danny Rudolph, and Albert Riffel, Jr. started a band named The Country Sound. They sang together for eight years.

He and Tiemeier’s Store manager Kenny Rindt organized a Hee Haw Show in the 1980s with 15 other people. It played at a Lincolnville Fourth of July celebration, Burdick Labor Day, and a few other places that year.

Pritz, his daughter Robin, and others have continued to provide musical entertainment for community events.

His business career began when he established Pritz Repair and Supply in Lincolnville in 1954. A year later, he bought the Art Lewerenz store. He also provided oil field services.

He closed the Lincolnville business in 1978 but continued it in Herington into the 2000s.

Pritz and his wife, Twila, have been married 30 years.

“She is my best friend,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of good times together.”

They spend time every winter in a retirement community in Arizona, where Maurice enjoys playing guitar three times a week in jam sessions with other musicians.

“I’ve played with some talented musicians,” he said.