In 1948 Fred and Martha Rohrke purchased a home in Wayne at 303 East 10th Street.
Early this month three of their children - Joann, Diane and Marlene - came to Wayne and were able to sleep in the rooms they knew as children.
Joann and Diane are twins and Marlene is younger.
The three sisters have many memories of the home they grew up in, which is now the Rose Cottage.
"When we walked in, the house was exactly the same as when we lived in it - only it seemed smaller," Marlene said.
There were a number of landscaping changes around the outside of the house, including the removal of a willow tree and hedges in the front of the house. A steep, narrow driveway has been removed also.
The girls remember that the upstairs of the house was not finished when the family moved in. Later, three bedrooms and a bath were added. Joann and Diane got the bedroom overlooking East 10th Street and Marlene got the bedroom that was closest to the neighbor's house on the east.
The Rohrke family also included two sons — Neal, who lives in Wichita, Kansas and Keith who is deceased. Keith was the only one of the children born in Wayne.
The two boys shared the back bedroom overlooking the back yard.
The family came to Wayne from Iowa when Fred purchased a grain elevator here. He was also a feed salesman.
The children went to Hahn Prep to school. This was in the building that currently serves as the Administration Building on the Wayne State campus.
"I remember walking to kindergarten at Wayne Prep (Hahn). It was only two blocks from home. One winter day it was snowing like it does in northeast Nebraska, but my sisters and I trudged through the storm to school. I had kindergarten to myself that day," Marlene said.
Joann added "Cold winters meant having to wear a snow suit if the temperature was below 40 degrees. Girls had to wear dresses to school and we would wear pants under our dresses and take them off when we got to school."
At the time the girls attended school at Wayne Prep, there were approximately 20 students in each class.
All three girls remember the neighborhood packed with kids and they were able to play in the park behind the house every day after school and until dark in the summer.
"We spent a fair amount of time climbing trees across the street from the house on the Wayne State campus. My sisters also played tennis on the campus," Marlene said.
Berry Hall had not yet been built and there was a large, open area for kite-flying and other outdoor activities.
The Rohrke family was one of the first in the neighborhood to get a television set and the kids from the neighborhood came over to watch the Eisenhower inauguration.
Joann currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has three sons and four grandchildren. She has worked for Neman Marcus and is a personal assistant for a family.
Diane lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has four sons and five grandchildren. She graduated from Wayne State in College. She taught elementary education for a number of years and later was a legislative assistant in Lincoln.
Marlene lives in Tecumseh, Kansas. In addition to school here in Wayne, she attended school in Omaha and lived in a number of places in the United States before moving to Kansas in 1979. She has two daughters, one son and three grandchildren.
The chance to visit their childhood home came about because of a friendship with Wayne resident Nicky Bigley.
Bigley let the Rohrke family know that their former home was now a Bed & Breakfast and encouraged them to come to Wayne for a visit.
Joann said she has not been back to Wayne many times since leaving here.
"Our parents are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, but we have no relatives in this area," she said.
The visit to Wayne did include a stop at Greenwood Cemetery, a tour of the Wayne State campus and lots of reminiscing.
"The gift of growing up in a small town taught me the value of freedom, trust and a sense of belonging. It instilled in me a deep appreciation of community," Joann said.
