Charlie Decker, third from left, was who you called when you needed to dig a well in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the Echo Lake community. (Photo by Ann Genader)
Old photos can be worth 1,000 words. Take this one, for instance.
It was taken in the late 1940s or early 1950s when people in the Echo Lake community and surrounding areas who planned to dig a water well would not put a shovel into the ground or call a professional well driller until they contacted Charlie Decker to determine where they should dig.
When Charlie determined where there were underground springs that would yield a good supply of water, that is where the well was dug.
The small child at the left in this photo is Peter Gillen, who grew up to be a strong-willed outspoken West Milford councilman. He is in his 80s and still lives in the Echo Lake house where he grew up.
His wife, Pat, is deceased, and his son Ryan lives with him. His daughter Mary Ellen lives up the street and PJ lives at Highland Lakes.
Peter Gillen Sr. is pictured next to his son. He moved to West Milford from New York City in 1936 with his wife, Marion. He found the Echo Lake community property for sale in a New York newspaper advertisement.
Arthur Genader wanted to sell his mother’s house on Wood Street after she passed away in 1936 and the bungalow was just what Gillen, a member of the Operating Engineers Union, wanted in the country to raise his family.
Peter Gillen Sr.’s two other sons: Patrick, pictured, and Jimmy are deceased.
The adult couple in the photo are Anna Romlein Struble and her husband, Floyd, both deceased, with their son Corky.
Floyd Struble was a Democrat in a very Republican town at the time and was so popular that Republicans elected him in overwhelming numbers for whatever office he ran for.
A native son, he descended from one of the original European families.
He was trusted and respected. He served on the Township Council and West Milford Board of Education.
Floyd had been elected Passaic County Clerk when he was killed in a plane crash in Canada while on a fishing trip with friends.
Floyd and Ann had operated Floyd’s Bar and Grille. The building still stands, but the bar/restaurant has been vacant for some time.
One of the many old stories from the days at Floyd’s happened in a great blizzard (probably in 1947). It snowed for something nearly close to 24 hours.
It was a time when major employment for residents was in the Pequannock Rubber Mill in Butler. Workers started to drive home but had to abandon their vehicles at the bottom of Mariontown Hill on Macopin Road near Cold Spring Lake.
It was impossible for them to drive up the snow-covered hill so they started to walk through the deep snow. There could have been as many as 20 people in this little group of survivors.
They got to Floyd and Ann’s Bar and Grille and stayed there for three days until snow-removal vehicles came to plow the road and dig them out. Throughout that time, Ann cooked food for the visitors, who slept on pool tables or anywhere else they could settle. It was a time those who experienced it never forgot.
In the photo, Charlie demonstrates how he used a peach twig to find a water supply for a home. Most wells, at one time, were dug by hand, while others dug by well drillers frequently had Charlie’s approval first.
Once Charlie told them where to dig, the labor began. Some old wells, only six feet or so deep, were dug by hand and supplied an adequate water supply for families.
Charlie was a custodian at St. Joseph School in Echo Lake when it was first built. He was working on a basketball basket attachment when it came loose and struck him in the head, severely injuring him. He was ill for many years before passing.
Charlie was very active in St. Joseph Parish and is buried in a family plot in the church cemetery.
He was active in the Holy Name Society and also belonged to the St. Anthony Council Knights of Columbus.
Charlie and his wife, Jennie Mathews Decker, had five daughters and two sons. The daughters were Edna Blanke, Louise Decker, Gertrude Thompson, Frances Crum and Nancy Hirschberger. The sons were Leonard Decker and Everette Decker.
Charlie said only one of the children, Edna, had the gift of water dowsing, or finding water.