Ernest Petke was born November 9, 1916 to Heinrich Theodore Petke and Augustina (Marshal) Petke. Henry and Augustina were immigrants from German Poland (probably Pomerania) who had come to the U.S. in 1905. They settled in Chicago where Ernie's father was involved in a milk distribution business. Ernie's two older brothers Alexander and Albert were born in Chicago, but by 1916 the family had moved to the farm north of Withee at the end of River Avenue and Ernie was born there. He grew up on the farm, listening to his father's stories about Poland and his feats of wrestling. Young Ernie and his brothers chased the cows, fished in the Black River, hunted, and blasted stumps and manure piles. By 1940 Ernie was working in Milwaukee, installing insulation for the Wilbur Lumber Company with brother Albert. He married Ruth Bacon of Owen February 21, 1942 in Hennepin, Minnesota.

Ruth Mae Bacon was born March 31 1918, the daughter of Chris Bacon and Mabel Blanche Hutchinson. Mabel had been born in Dunn County and attended school at Medford. After finishing at Taylor County Normal School, Mabel taught in one-room schools near Jump River for a couple years, then married Chris in 1911. Chris (a.k.a. Christ) and his family were early (1897) settlers in Jump River, having come from Richland County. After marrying in 1911, Chris and Mabel moved to Owen in 1912 and raised children Royal, Roland, John, Ruth, Mary and Marny Lou there. Ruth grew up in Owen. The 1940 census shows her lodging in Neillsville, working as an intake clerk for the "welfare department." In 1942 she married Ernie Petke.

The newlyweds initially farmed on Center Road, a half mile north of Ernie's parents, and had daughter Kristine May 3, 1946. The 1950 census shows them still there, with Ernie hauling milk. Some time after, they moved to Watertown and lived with his parents for a while, then moved to Johnson Creek, where they lived in a large old house on Jefferson Street. A second daughter, Kathryn Blanche, was born October 6, 1951. Ernie ran a garage in Johnson Creek, fixing cars and tractors. He pumped DX-Boron gas and sold Massey-Harris tractors for a while. Ruth worked as a postal clerk. Each summer the family set out with their camper to travel out west or to camp near Tomahawk. Eventually Ernie sold the garage, but continued fixing engines (lots of valve-grinding) for an auto supply store in Jefferson.

Kristine and Kathy attended Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills, then studied elementary education at Whitewater. They both taught a couple years near Johnson Creek, then decided to head west. They loved the area around the Grand Tetons. Kristine worked in retail and Kathy worked a couple summers in the early '80s at the Colter Bay Marina. Somewhere along the way Kathy met Robert Charles Taylor, and they married in the fall of 1987. Kathy continued to work summers for the Grand Teton Lodge Company into the 1990s. By the mid-1990s Kathy and Rob were living around Las Vegas.

In 1996 Ernie and Ruth moved from Wisconsin to Mesa, Arizona. Ruth had arthritis and was developing dementia. They were tired of the winters and wanted to be closer to their girls. They moved to a one-story double-wide in Mesa with a carport to shelter Ernie's old Packard. Rather than grow cactus in his yard like some of the neighbors, Ernie planted a couple little ash trees. He still fixed a tractor now and then, and enjoyed going to car shows, sharing stories of the old days. Ernie had a good sense of humor and rustic turns of phrase. A plaque in his house said, "The older you get, the better it was." He took care of Ruth as long as he could, but her illness progressed and she died November 24, 2000.

Kristine lived with Ernie in Mesa. She had developed diabetes at an early age, so had her ups and downs. She worked in retail, was involved in her church, and she and Ernie drove collections of supplies to a Navajo community. Ernie continued to see the cup half-full, visiting friends and dining at the Feed Bag restaurant. Ernie died November 2, 2009. Kristine died October 1, 2010.

Kathy and Rob were living in Henderson, Nevada by the 2000s, where Rob did finishing carpentry work in Las Vegas and Kathy worked in fundraising. They retired to Pueblo, Colorado where Kathy curated her collections (cowboy stuff, Indian pottery, dog stuff, etc.) and Rob fished, cooked, and helped with various projects at church. Rob liked to bake artisan bread to share with friends. He died in a boating accident in July of 2020, which was a shock. Kathy had diabetes since she was young, and died December 21, 2024. Rob's family buried them together in Dubois, Wyoming.

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