Tollefson family played big role in Kasson’s story

H.M. Tollefson and his family have been anchors in the Kasson community for many decades. In 1901, Tollefson, the local druggist, started the Kasson telephone company with 39 subscribers. The switchboard was located in the rear of his drug store which is the building on Main street where the DCI newspaper is now located.
During the first few years, some people labeled the telephone as an “evil instrument” (some of us also feel that way with those “robo” calls that show up on our phones.) The Mantorville Exchange was purchased in 1909 expanding the number of residents served.
In the early years, telephone service was only available during daylight hours with shorter hours on Sundays, but that changed to 24 hours in 1916. By 1927, the number of telephone subscribers had increased to 731. Herman’s son, Howard Tollefson, took over management until he retired in 1964 when his son, Jon Tollefson, became the company president.
Jon Tollefson takes the helm
Jon graduated from the Kasson school, served two years in the army and returned home to work in the family telephone business. He met his future wife, Glenda “Dee” Minske, while hospitalized in St. Marys Hospital with mono. Dee was his nurse and they eventually were married in 1956. Jon and Dee raised their three children, Paul, Mary and Beth in our community.
The next generation grows up
Their daughters, Mary Ehmke and Beth Tollefson were very active in sports plus band and choir while students at KM. Growing up, their parents were their biggest supporters and encouraged them in all their activities. Jon built a court to shoot baskets, a pitcher’s mound for Beth using the shed for a back stop, and a discus ring for Mary to practice her throws.
During their childhood they enjoyed hiking in the woods, cutting wood for firewood, picnics in the snow, snowmobiling, making maple syrup and just being outdoors in all seasons. They said their mom, Dee, was an athlete even though girl’s athletics were not available in school when she was growing up.
At that time, they didn’t feel girls would have the stamina for strenuous physical activity. Dee liked to run and even went out for a run on her 80th birthday. These days Dee still manages to stay active with daily walks.
Mary and Beth participated on the volleyball, basketball, and track or softball teams. A special highlight for Beth during her junior and senior years were KM teams earning a trip to the Minnesota State High School tournament and placing third in each of volleyball, basketball and softball.
When they played for KM, their dad had one of the early video cameras and would film the games. Mom was quite vocal during the games and eventually Jon and Dee ended up sitting on opposite sides of the gym so that her loud cheering would not be heard on the tape. The game tapes, which were not common at that time, also gave a chance for the family and their teammates to watch themselves play.
Mary and Beth attended Concordia College in Moorhead, where both were on the volleyball and basketball teams. It was great when they would play games against teams in the cities so their parents could then attend the games.
Mary graduated from Concordia in 1987 and began searching for a teaching job. After unsuccessful attempts to find a position, her dad asked her to come work at the telephone company. Mary said she began working different jobs in the company in order to learn the business from the ground up. At first, Mary really didn’t have intentions to make it a career but that obviously changed over time.
Beth majored in accounting and became a CPA. She worked for a public accounting firm in Fargo for a couple of years. She really started to miss the KM area and when dad asked her if she wanted to start working at the telephone company, she made the decision to return home.
They fondly recall one of their first jobs at the phone company was putting stamps on the telephone billing statement envelopes that their dad would bring home. The sisters often wondered why dad would have to stop by the telephone office on the weekends to check things out. When the sisters started working at the company, they felt that dad was more patient with them than he might have been with others.
Jon Tollefson big backer of Kasson
Jon retired in 2002 but when a new addition was added to the office, his wife made sure he still had an office to go to. He also enjoyed his many morning walks to Daniels to be with his coffee buddies in order to solve “world problems.” Jon was very interested in history and saved articles of events from the DCI newspaper for years.
If you wanted to know something about the history of Kasson or Mantorville, Jon was the one to ask.  He would disappear for a while and then come back with a big scrapbook to tell you all about the event. When the old stone Kasson water tower was considered being removed, he took a very active and financial role in its restoration. Jon was involved in many other community projects including the Kasson EDA, the Kasson Cemetery board, the Masons, Dodge County Historical Society, St. Peters Episcopal Church and many others.
Jon was very involved in keeping the Zumbro Valley Golf course in operation. Mary and Beth said they used to play golf at the course growing up. They also enjoyed sledding activities on the big hills for years. They wanted to keep the golf course available for people to use and did not want to see this land developed.
When asked how the Tollefson’s became so involved giving back to the community, they said, “It’s important to give back to those (customers) who have helped make the company successful over the years.” They feel philanthropy is a core value for them.
In the early days of the cellular business, the company was an investor in Midwest Wireless. When the company eventually sold, they decided to put part of the profits into a donor advised fund with the Rochester Area Foundation. This fund is used for philanthropy throughout the area. This foundation will continue into the future even when the sisters may not be part of the operation anymore.
Mary and Beth manage the telephone company today and state that it works because they each have their own separate responsibilities. Beth manages the accounting side while Mary takes care of the employee and customer side of the business. This separation of responsibilities works well for them.
The telephone operation has changed a great deal in the last 20 years with the arrival of internet and over-the-top services. They have a staff of 21 employees and are able to do most things in house. The company has put fiber optic cable in Kasson and Mantorville and are now in the process of building out to the rural areas.  Plowing fiber is a very capital intensive business and they have been building as quickly as funding resources allow. Their goal is to provide excellent service to their customers at a fair price. No longer the monopoly of the past, customers now have different options when it comes to their communication services. Customers know that when they call KM Telecom, you will talk to a live, local person rather than someone who does not even know where you are located.
In 1956, their parents purchased 35 acres of land and built their home. Since that time they have added an additional 150 acres to the property. They planted 3,000 trees on what was once farmland and also planted native grasses and flowers. Conservation of the land has been very important to the family. They also built a pond on the acreage area for additional recreation and erosion control.
Their mother, Dee started working at KM schools around 1980 as a tutor and then with Title One.  There she helped students for over 20 years continuing on as a “Grandma” helper in her grandkids classrooms.  Today, she continues to help others by visiting and being a friend to others who can’t get out. The family has helped with the St. Peters Episcopal Church “Place at the Table” which provides meals on Wednesday evenings for families in need.
Mary says she enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking golf and basically anything outdoors. Beth likes to hike in the woods with her German Short Hair “Maggie.” She also spends much of her time tending to the woods and prairie.
Both sisters enjoy cross country skiing, snowmobiling, getting out the chain saw and cutting wood (they still have all their fingers) as dad taught them well. They also enjoy going up to Lake Kabetogama near International Falls to fish, which is another tradition that has been in their family for generations.
Their dad, Jon, passed away from cancer in September 2019. The Tollefson family tradition of philanthropy continues on with the hope that they will be able to contribute to the KM area for many more years to come!