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The Lyle Bohn Story Lyle Bohn 1997 Fr. Cassedy Alumni Award Recipient A classic car enthusiast and 30-year employee of FMC Corporation in Minneapolis, Lyle Bohn is looking forward to retirement. A father, grandfather and former Home On The Range resident, Lyle came to the ranch when Fr. Elwood Cassedy was actively involved with running the home and caring for Ahis@ boys. The youngest of four children, Lyle=s mother died before he turned ten. With his father out of the house working, and too much unsupervised leisure time on his hands, Lyle became involved in a series of juvenile offenses. Among the charges was stealing. The younger Bohn used the money for meals and to purchase a pair of glasses for himself. Lyle=s actions brought him to the attention of the Morton County Juvenile Commissioner, who determined that his father was unable to care for his son. Lyle was made a ward of the court. If not for Fr. Galowitsch, pastor of St. Joseph=s Church in Mandan, Lyle would have been sent to the State Training School. However, Galowitsch argued the case and arranged for Lyle=s admission to Home On The Range. Lyle arrived at the ranch in February 1956 at the age of fourteen. AMy first impression of the ranch was the wide-open spaces,@ says Lyle, Athere was so much room! There were about twenty boys when I arrived and over the next four years the ranch became my home and the staff there, my family. I was also impressed with the fact that I was getting three meals a day. There were no iron bars on the ranch, just open fields. There was the opportunity to run away, but I remember thinking if I ran, I would miss the next meal.@ More interested in mechanical things than ranching, Lyle often helped Mrs. Cook in the ranch kitchen. His service in this area often brought him a special reward: cookies. Known around the ranch as ABones,@ one of Lyle=s fondest memories is that of driving tractor: "I remember the day we got a brand new Allis Chalmers WD 45 with a front end loader for cleaning the barns. I got to drive it home from town, that was really something!@ Toward the end of his stay at the ranch, Cassedy became ill and was hospitalized. Fr. William Fahnlander came to the ranch to help out. Lyle remembers with appreciation how Fahnlander arranged for the boys to play basketball in the Sentinel Butte gym on weekends. Fahnlander also helped Lyle secure a scholarship to St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minn., when he left the ranch in 1959. Cassedy passed away that fall when Lyle was a freshman at St. Thomas. As a college student, Lyle met and married his wife of thirty-one years, Mary. Today, they make their home in Princeton, Minn., east of St. Cloud. The couple has five children: Sandy, Audrey, Barb, Greg and Mary Ann; they also have three grandchildren: Timothy, Heather and Jessica. The family has hosted foreign exchange students from Germany, Spain, Mexico, Chile and Nicaragua. Fishing and restoring classic cars are two of Lyle=s hobbies. He also enjoys taking road trips with a classic car club and collects Tonka toy trucks. A member of St. Edward's Parish in Princeton and the Knights of Columbus Council, Lyle says the ranch greatly influenced his spirituality. He especially credits Fr. Fahnlander=s teachings in this area. Recapping his stay at Home On The Range, Lyle remembers: Atalking with Fr. Cassedy, Mrs. Cook=s birthday cakes, special gifts given by caring people at Christmas, my horse--Lady, getting the tractor stuck in the mud, attending Boys State, working at Medora when we built the first amphitheater and performing in the first Old Four Eyes show (forerunner to the Medora Musical), Fr. Fahnlander taking me to buy a suit for graduation, playing football for Beach High School, the rodeos, and taking care of the apple orchard. A When I left Home On The Range I had second thoughts about going,@ says Lyle, Ait meant leaving everything behind. I could take something important with me though, a sense of appreciation and respect for everything that was done for me while I was there. Fr. Cassedy instilled in us by his own example to be trustworthy, generous and respectful. These are values that I brought to my family.A The years have brought many changes to the ranch since I first arrived. I have great respect for the concept that first inspired Fr. Cassedy to found Home On The Range. It is an honor to be nominated for the Fr. Cassedy Alumni Award.@
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