My great-grandfather William Edward Engel was the manager of the Sitka South Dakota Grain elevator before it became a cooperative in 1917

 For 72 years (from 1917 to 1989), a cooperative from nearby Selby owned and operated the grain elevator at Sitka.

 My grandmother was born in Sitka when my great-grandparents lived there as the Engel father was the manager of the Sitka grain elevator in 1912!! That was the year she was born. They moved to North Dakota where my great-grandfather worked as the head carpenter for the nursing school...

 

 https://forums.kitmaker.net/t/abandoned-grain-elevator-in-sitka-south-dakota/50564

 the abandoned grain elevator and one home,

 Grandma Emma was probably born at that home since that is her listed birth place! Wild.

 Date of Birth: January 28, 1912

Place of Birth: Sitka, Walworth County, South Dakota
Parents: William Edward Engel and Emma Schlekau

  4 miles to the west along the railroad there is Glenham, population 112 in 2020

the property and facility in Sitka, South Dakota, were owned by James G. Brady. [1]

• 1909: James G. Brady leased the railroad siding from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and constructed the original grain elevator at Sitka. [1]
1917: Brady sold the facility to the Farmer's Selby Equity Exchange (the Selby cooperative), which operated the elevator site for the next 72 years

 Wow so my great-grandfather worked for James G. Brady! wild.

 https://www.grainjournal.com/article/1150963/a-century-at-the-sitka-elevator

 

 “In October 1909, George Witte, a carpenter working on the Brady elevator at Sitka, fell from a scaffold and sustained injuries from which he died later.”

Wow my great-grandfather was also a carpenter so he replaced George Witte!! My great-grandfather was the manager before the below fellow who also did not survive! wow. 

 “In December 1918, Wm. Fansler, age 42, manager of the elevator, died of double pneumonia following an attack of influenza. ... Mr. Fansler was replaced by a Mr. Richardson, and in 1919 Lloyd Engelbretson was hired as manager.”

 Schilling Farms continued to use the elevator until about 2009 for farm storage: wheat, corn, sunflowers and beans.