At 94, old habits die hard for Oak Creek farm owner

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By Jeff Moore

Wisconsin folk hero Earl Giefer, 94 years cool, decided he’d like to be able to look himself in the mirror every morning rather than take an easy $1.2 million from the city of Oak Creek for his 24.4 acre property, which has been in his family long enough to have had mail delivered to it by the Pony Express.

As well as being an inspiration to humans in general, he is likely the wisest man in Oak Creek. My favorite quotes of his concerning not selling his property are:

“You change it over into worthless money,” he said of selling the property for development. “What good is money? It’s a worthless piece of paper with numbers on it. People go for it. They think it’s God to them, but it ain’t.”

“Do unto others as you would like done to you. They don’t understand that,” Giefer said. “I ain’t bothering them. Why must they bother me? Sure they want the land. They can wait awhile. They ain’t supposed to be in the real estate business in the first place.”

“At 94 years old, why should I go anywhere?” he said. “The cemetery is the next place for me.”

We need more people like Earl in our lives. He plans on leaving the property to his niece once he passes. I hope Earl lives to the ripe age of 122 and that his niece has inherited a good bit of his moxie.

Jeff Moore is a data reporter at The Daily Reporter. He can be reached at (414) 225-1819.