John Kretchmer Sr. and his wife Catherine Waldorf Kretchmer migrated to North Dakota from Lake George, Minnesota in 1889. They settled on a farm east of Valley City, and later moved to a farm near Oriska, North Dakota, where they were engaged in Bonanza farming. To this courageous pioneer couple 14 children were born, namely Math, March 4, 1889 (married Lillian Cota); John, August 12, 1890, (married Kate Ertelt); Catherine, October 4, 1891, (married Dr. E. B. Crosby); Joseph, October 14, 1892; Julius, January 26, 1894, (married Cilia Kohler); Theresa, October 27, 1895, (married Frank Reese); Mary, August 20, 1896, (married Leo Cota); Anna, June 11, 1898, (married W. J. Gauche); twins 1899, premature and died; Rose, April 2, 1902, (married Joe Schlagel); Amila, May 21, 1903, (married George Blank); Gertrude, August 13, 1904, (married Cecil Mulhair); Oteldia, 1906.
They were original members of Saint Bernard's Catholic Church in Oriska. John Kretchmer served on a committee in 1908 along with George Goulet, Frank Winkler, Anton Yanish, Domanic Gauche, J. C. O'Grady, and L. M. Kuhry to plan and build Saint Bernard's Catholic Church in Oriska. John Kretchmer established and directed the first choir in the church. He served as Barnes County Commissioner from 1911 to 1915 and was Chairman in 1913. They retired from farming and moved to Valley City where they resided and were members of St. Catherine's Catholic Church. He was also a member of the Elks Lodge.
Mr. Kretchmer died in 1921 and his wife Catherine passed away in 1943. She served as president of St. Catherine's Altar Society for a number of years and was a long time faithful church worker.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 131