A five generation family with Marshfield roots

MARSHFIELD--Mary Lour Duerr and her husband, Marvin, have called Marshfield home their entire lives. “Everyone knows him by Butch. His Aunt Betty gave it to him and it just stuck,” Mary Lou explains her husband’s nickname. Five generations reach back to Butch’s father, Ed (96) who moved to the city of Marshfield in the 1950s. Ed worked as a standing timber buyer for the Rodus Lumber Company before moving the remainder of his career to construction at Trierweiler.
“After he retired they called him back to work. In his seventies! He’s still got it together. Lives at home. Gets out to walk around the house, so-to-speak. Checks the trees and enjoys family outings. These five generations of kids think the world of him and he knows all of their names,” Mary Lou said.
In a similar communal fashion, Butch and Mary Lou are well liked and well known in Marshfield. From 1988-2016 the couple ran and owned Viaduct Bar. “We pretty much ran it ourselves, with the help of a few employees. They were mostly university students and our daughter in law. We wanted to be flexible and could be with their schedules.” When Viaduct Bar was under their ownership, the couple started a safe ride home program for Wood County and Butch held the title of Marshfield Mayor from 1992-1994. Now that the couple is retired, they have more time to focus on their five generational family. Every Sunday they have a get together, and whoever can make it comes.
“Oliver is the youngest in the five generations. He’s four. A four year old having a great great grandpa, which you don’t hear about much. By car, everyone is within an hour of our place. Ed, Butch, Maggie, Oliver, and the rest of the family,” Mary Lou said.
When asked what it feels like to have five generations of family still alive, Mary Lou said, “To me, it is quite a great legacy. Everyone likes to look at their family tree. But to have Ed, that great great grandpa alive who communicates well with these kids is just wonderful. To listen to some of his stories. It’s live history.”