Karl Vockert's father was from Germany and moved his family to Corbett in 1941 when Karl was just five years old. Karl helped his father on the family farm until he went off to OSU for a college degree in Agricultural Economics. After graduating, Karl went into the Air Force for 14 years then tranferred to the "intelligence business" of the Army for an additional 16 years! Karl was able to travel all over the world while his parents continued living on the family farm in Corbett. Karl got married in 1972 and came back to Corbett in 1977 when his parents passed so he could take over the family farm. Karl has three grown children that were raised in Corbett and are now living in Alaska, Germany and Korea. Retired now, Karl is living on the large acreage, running cattle on the land. He appreciates that his property is so vast that he can look in any direction and not see a single neighbor. Not that he doesn't like people! He volunteers up at the Grange on a regular basis, and greatly appreciates that his children learned some pretty significant social skills as they played outdoors often and formed life long bonds with their peers. He recalls that one day back in 1977, a bridge needed to be built to get across a creek on some property. So many neighbors showed up to help that it was completely built in a single day! He has always appreciated a strong sense of belonging. Looking back at this family of origin, Karl says that there are several (about 20-25!) veterinarians in the family. He said that his family fled the Communists and had no land, and so went to school to become vets! Karl took a different path but has a brother who became a vet. If any of his cattle need help, he knows just who to call!
