Yellow River Pharmacy

Our pharmacy began with the Maser family. Katherine Maser owned the Converse Store from 1938 to 1954. No, we weren’t the start of a famous shoe company. We were a general store, and Dr. Converse had an office in the back. In 1954 Katherine’s son, George, and his wife Lillian Maser, bought the business and changed the name to Maser Drug Store. They owned it for 19 years, and to this day many of the locals come into the pharmacy and share their stories of George and Lil and the soda fountain the store used to have.

In 1973 Jack Samuelson and Pat Kennedy bought the pharmacy from the Masers, and the name changed a final time to Yellow River Pharmacy, as it is still known today. Jack and Pat owned Wood River Pharmacy in Grantsburg, as well. Also around this time my parents, Jim and Marge Olson, were in Grantsburg spending Thanksgiving and deer hunting with my mom’s family. Pops shot his deer on opening day, therefore not having a lot to keep him busy at his in-law’s house. He went into town and introduced himself to Jack at Wood River Pharmacy. Apparently, they hit it off because Pops offered to work so Jack could have a few days off that week, and Jack took him up on it. (I can’t imagine leaving my pharmacy in the care of a stranger, but that’s just me.)