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I used to walk through this peaceful silent city and wonder what sort of man he was, his life cut so short.

You may have this information but there is a very fine and detailed record of Walter in Ancestry.com

Somehow I was intrigued and checked it out. There he was in various census. Born Eagle Creek, Scott, Minnesota - the 1910 census tells us of his parents. Jacob 59 yrs. and Kate 47 yrs. A farmer with his own farm. Kate born in Canada and Jacob born in Illinois. Both their fathers ironically were born in Germany.

Walter is 17 yrs. and has five siblings all younger. His letter written as a soldier while training in Texas is shown. Also a photograph in his uniform. The telegram telling of his remains being returned is shown. A bit of a ramble on my part, but thought it might interest posters on this thread.

Spring Lake feeds into upper Prior Lake, Minnesota and only recently has this area become part of the Minneapolis metro. As recently as the 1950s, it was served by a gravel road from Burnsville, Savage and Edina, across the Minnesota River.

I-35 was the first “improvement” from north to south, then the often flooded old Ferry Bridge across the Minnesota River at Savage was replaced with a new four lane span that moved Prior Lake from a 4th or 5th tier suburb to 5 minutes from I-494.

Walter J. Scherer probably never dreamed that homes on the little “perched” lake would command annual taxes of $10-$12,000 annually but they did when we lived there.

In many ways, PL is still a small town on the edge of the countryside. There was corn planted just a few blocks from where we lived in 1999-2000. Dairy cows would wander into the lake on hot summer days and it was not unusual to see one of the local farmers whistle the cows up in the late afternoon for milking.