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Herb Yeske has his own formula for longevity: Sleep in as late as possible, don’t bother watching what you eat and ride a Harley.
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Herb Yeske, right, shares a laugh Monday with his only son Richard as he celebrated his 105th birthday, along with 11 of his friends, at Timbers Resturant in Winona. Yeske, born in Winona in 1903, told stories of chasing his cow down Mankato Avenue, skinny dipping in Lake Winona and owning his own Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
Herb’s secret to longevity has served him well. The former Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer and mechanic celebrated his 105th birthday Monday at Timbers with a group of his biker buddies and his son, Richard Yeske.
Herb and his friends — most of whom are about 40 years his junior — reminisced and joked as Herb polished off a cheese-smothered chicken and bacon sandwich.
“If you want to live long,” he advised, “do my stunts.”
He meant it literally.
During the 1930s, Herb was part of the Winona Motorcycle Club, which would perform daredevil thrill shows during the summer fair in Galesville, Wis.
He would ride his motorcycle off a ramp, through a ring of fire.
Herb was born in Winona in 1903 — the year Harley-Davidson was founded. He still lives in the house he grew up in, on east Belleview Street.
A century ago, “everything was different,” he said.
The roads were dirt, there were no storm sewers — just ditches, and the local grocer delivered goods on horseback. Movie theaters charged a dime per show, but Herb couldn’t afford it.
Some of Herb’s fondest memories are of skinny dipping with his friends in Lake Winona. Vegetable gardens grew all around the lake, and the boys would try to cover their bodies when the women and girls came to tend the gardens.
“Those were the days,” he said.
Growing up, Herb attended Washington School, which used to sit on the land that is now home to the East End Recreation Center. On his way to school, Herb would walk the family cow to rented pasture land near what is now the Winona Health campus.
Herb quit school in the seventh grade.
“They were teaching me what I already knew,” he said.
After a stint milking cows at a Rushford, Minn., farm, Herb was hired by the Foss candy factory. Foss offered Herb a job at its Rochester, N.Y., plant and Herb spent some time on the East Coast.
Around 1930, Herb traveled west to train at the Automotive and Electric School in Los Angeles. Amid the Great Depression, Herb couldn’t find work, so he returned to Winona and moved in with his mother.
In 1931, Herb and his younger brother, Ernie — who is now 98 — opened a Harley-Davidson dealership in town and began selling cycles for $300.
Herb retired when he was 71, but kept riding. His last ride was when he was 101. He rode in back of his friend, Elmer Duellman.
“He rode like a champ,” Duellman said.
