Though Steve Speltz and the late Brother Charles Severin, FSC, Ph.D., never met each other, they are kindred spirits.
Brother Charles, the founder of Saint Mary’s University’s Biology Department and a renowned ecologist, taught students a profound admiration for trees and all plantlife for six decades — between 1933 and close to his death in 1992. He used the river bottoms, bluffs, and trout streams of the area as his laboratory, and signs of Brother Charles and his work can be found throughout campus.
Speltz, a custom woodworker and master carver from Rollingstone for the past 40 years, runs his business, Custom Hardwoods, alongside his wife and sons. Though he specializes in custom cabinetry, he’s done anything from a balcony railing at Saint Stanislaus Basilica in Winona to a difficult and ornate window repair at a church in the Bronx. “I don’t believe anything has come through the door that I’ve ever said ‘no’ to,” he says. “I’m always thinking, ‘I’ll figure out a way.’ ”
Speltz has completed a number of woodworking projects for the university throughout the years, but one day the university came to him with a special need — a way to preserve Brother Charles’ legacy.
Brother Charles had planted a number of trees, likely not long after his arrival in 1933, around the science building — including walnut trees, and one particularly beautiful and beloved ginkgo tree, a tree so ancient the species is known as a “living fossil.”
When an addition was being planned for the science building, which became known as Aquinas Hall, it became obvious the trees would need to come down to make way for construction.
Jim Bedtke, vice president of facilities, knew how beloved these trees were, so he made a promise the wood would be used and shared on campus. Speltz was enlisted to make hundreds of walnut Lasallian stars and hand-held prayer crosses, which were given to faculty, staff, students, and benefactors during the university’s centennial celebration.
But the mighty trunk of the ginkgo tree remained.
Speltz, a self-taught maker of kubbestols, traditional Scandinavian chairs made from logs, knew the best way to save as much of that wood as possible.
Using a chainsaw, he carefully cut out the chair’s outline from the ginkgo’s trunk and let it dry.
Throughout his career, he estimates he’s made between 15-20 kubbestols, including some through a class he taught through Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School in Decorah, Iowa.
Speltz said he’s 100% self taught because the old fashioned process is somewhat of a closely guarded secret. “I was given some encouragement to not cut my feet, head, or arms off, but after that I was on my own,” he said with a laugh. But Speltz figured out how to construct and carve in the time-honored tradition.
Because the kubbestol is dedicated to Brother Charles, Speltz carefully thought about what he would carve — beginning with the blessed Mother Mary, the patroness of Saint Mary’s. Next, he added a Lasallian star, recognizing Brother Charles’ lifelong dedication to the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Of course, there had to be an ode to science, including a microscope and a genome thread. And, he needed to include what was most important to Brother Charles — a student to depict the many young men and women he taught.
Altogether, though Speltz never kept close count, he estimates he put in more than 150 hours on the project.
“Saint Mary’s has been an important client of ours,” he said. “I always tried to give them everything they wanted plus.
“My wife knows that there has always been donated time because she takes care of the budget. I know budgets are tight. I’ve just always liked the college and the people there.”
Speltz is excited about the Saint Mary’s community, and particularly alumni who remember Brother Charles, seeing the kubbestol, located in Aquinas Hall. “It’s absolutely a one-of-a-kind stool. You’ll probably never see another ginkgo kubbestol,” he said.
And, it’s yet another way that Brother Charles’ legacy will continue to live on at Saint Mary’s, and Speltz is honored to be a part of it.
“His legacy lives on in this piece, in the ginkgo he planted and cared for. That’s it,” Speltz said. “That’s your headline right there.”
