World War I
Otto Schlangen was born Feb. 13, 1895, in Kansas, the oldest of three chil - dren of Frank and Emma Schlangen. He had a younger brother, Elmer, and a younger sister, Mabel. The 1910 census shows them living in Carleton, in southern Nebraska, when he was 15, and the family moved to Osmond in 1913. Otto enlisted in the U.S. Navy May 28, 1918, and was discharged Sept. 30, 1921, attaining the rank of Seaman First Class. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any information about his service.
He married Pauline Kiichler on Christmas Day 1919, in Pierce, and the couple had four children, with one son dying in infancy. His other children were Earl, June and Arlene. They all grew up in Osmond.
Otto and Pauline lived in Plum Grove Precinct, which is the area northeast of Osmond. He farmed there until 1931, when the family moved to Schuyler. The 1940 census states that he was a salary worker in government work, and the 1950 census says he was a salesman at a gas station. At the time of his death, however, Otto was popularly known as “Otto the shoe man.”
According to his obituary, Otto and Pauline had recently sold their home
and were living in a trailer house in Schuyler. He had been in ill health for several months and had just recently been dismissed from the Veterans Hos - pital in Lincoln when he died.
Apparently, his wife had gone to visit a neighbor and when a man went to see Otto at the trailer, he didn't answer the door. According to the obituary, the man went to get Pauline, and they came back and found that Otto had taken his life.
Funeral rites were held at Bideaux Chapel and then he was buried at Osmond. Services were under the auspices of the American Legion, and members of the Schuyler and Osmond Posts served as pallbearers.
In addition to Otto, his brother Elmer served in the Navy Reserves and his son Earl served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War.
Otto is buried in the Osmond city cemetery with his wife, Pauline, his parents and his infant son, Clarence.
