Edwin Preuss lived in the Shelby, IA, area most of his life. During the summer before he started high school, Ed began working at Harvey's Drug Store, which was located where the Shelby bank is now. He worked there all through high school, and for a year after graduating from Shelby High School in 1940. For a year, he attended the University of Iowa
Pharmacy college.
Knowing that he would soon be drafted into the Army, Ed and his sweetheart Dorothy Seaman eloped to Maryville, MO, where they were secretly married on September 27, 1942.
They had met at a roller skating rink when they were just teenagers and it was love at first sight. When he was sent to San Francisco, CA, in the Army, Dorothy joined him, and that's when everyone learned they were married. Ed was discharged for medical reasons in October, 1943. After returning from the service, Ed worked for Murphy Drug Company in Council Bluffs for a year. In 1944, he returned to Shelby to help his Dad run his gas station. He also drove a school bus from 1944 to 1950. Ed was having flu-like symptoms and suspected it was polio. He was diagnosed with polio on September 20, 1950, and had both types, one type affecting his throat and the other affecting his limbs. He was not expected to live, and spent four months in the hospital. It wasn't until the summer of 1951 that he went back to working at Preuss Oil Station and gradually took on more responsibility, finally taking over his Dad's business. His Dad William continued to help at the station until he was in his 80's. After his gas station closed in 1984, Ed worked at Schnack Auto Parts Store in Harlan. He was Shelby-Tennant School Board Secretary from 1965 until 1979.
Dorothy and Edwin were the parents of two children; Darwin, born 1944 and Janice born 1948. Later they were blessed with another daughter, Carolyn born 1958.