In 1991, Joe Dolphy of Stacy, MN completed a chain of events that took nearly thirty years to finish. This is a story about Joe’s home; how he found it, how he raised his family there, and how he’s now moving on into retirement...

Although he was raised in the Forest Lake Area, Joe and his wife, Beverly, were living in Mounds View with "75 kids in one block" when they decided to return to the country. The Dolphys contacted Realtor Jim Hermes back in 1961 and described the type of home they wanted: blacktop road, short driveway, acreage, lakefront, and a large garage for Joe’s business as a mechanic. Jim showed them several homes, but nothing fit their needs at the time. Joe and Beverly continued to look for homes on what Joe described as a "semi-serious basis."

Approximately four years later, the Dolphys were surprised to get a call from Jim: He had found them a place and wanted to know if they were still interested. "When we drove up the driveway," Joe remembers, "we knew this was the place for us and made the purchase." They closed in August of 1965.

Over the years, Joe and Bev raised six children in that three bedroom home. "Although things were cramped at times, it drew us into close family relationships which continue now that all the children are gone..." Joe Jr. lives and runs a business on adjoining property and one of the daughters also lives next door. Joe kept seeing articles and ads regarding Jim’s success in Real Estate. Occasionally, he would see Jim at church in Forest Lake. Then in 1987, a mutual friend brought Joe and Jim together again at a retreat. Since then, Joe has come to know Jim "more personally as a friend and brother." He adds, "I have always enjoyed sharing with others the story of our meeting and working together."

Some time after Joe’s wife passed away he made the decision to sell his home and make some changes in his life. Now retired, he was spending some of the winter months in Arizona. Joe called Jim Hermes. "Being familiar with Jim and the work he did, I felt that he was the man I wanted to sell my property."

So the story came to a happy ending with a successful sale and closing on the home that Jim had found for Joe and Beverly some 30 years before. There’s another story here too - the one about two men who began a business relationship that lasted three decades. In the meantime, they also became good friends.