John receives his 2006 Minnesota Actioneers Association Hall of Fame Award!
The following is the letter of nomination Larry Mages sent to the Minnesota State Auctioneer’s Association when John was selected into the MSAA Hall of Fame. You can see John has wonderful credentials.
When I was a boy, I went with my Dad to lots of auctions. Many things on our farm were bought at auctions, from farm machinery to livestock. After you go to enough auctions, you begin to know the auctioneers. I remember John Goelz auctioneering at the Walnut Grove auction barn and the Belle Plaine auction barn. The year was 1962. When I really got to know John was when he joined Myron Nelson in about 1968. Nelson and Goelz literally had nearly every auction for many years in our area. It seemed if you were going to an auction, they were the auctioneers. I asked John about 5 years ago how many auctions he thought he has done in his life. At that time he figured with the auction barns and him and Nelson, and then when I joined him when Myron Nelson retired in 1994, he had done approximately 3000-3500 auctions in his life. Well, I can tell you John is still going strong. We celebrated his 40th year in the auction business last year. He’s still a very strong auctioneer and is certainly one of the best at working his crowd into a frenzy of quick bidding and getting people to pay more for an item than they were planning on. I consider John as one of the premier auctioneers of Minnesota and the nation for that matter. There are only a handful of auctioneers in the state, now or ever with the experience and auctions under their belt that John Goelz has. If you work with John you better be willing to donate your time to benefit auctions. John does about 15 benefit auctions per year for churchs, schools, county fair 4-H auctions and anybody with a cause. Not only is John an excellent auctioneer, but he’s also a wonderful caring person. Sometimes I just gotta shake my head and smile. Here is a man that will wear an everyday coat until there are holes in both sleeves and couple more somewhere else to boot, but when there is someone in need, I’ve seen John give huge dollars to help them out. John and his wife Alice have an especially huge heart for anyone that has a special needs child, and are always ready to help. Their daughter Louise is mentally handicapped and can be a real hand full, but I’ve never once ever heard John or Alice complain about the cross they bear. As a matter of fact, they feel they are blessed to have such a beautiful child. They have also had the heartbreak of losing a child at the age of 12 of a heart problem. And of course they’re very proud of their son Larry, who is a veterinarian and part owner of the Pipestone Vet Clinic. John and Alice have farmed their whole lives. They also have a Limosine cattle operation, as well as hogs and sheep. The Goelz’s have sold breeding stock for decades from all three of their livestock operations. I’ve watched John at many livestock auctions and 4-H auctions, and I don’t know of anyone that knows livestock and pedigrees better. I am proud to nominate a very qualified and deserving John Goelz for The Minnesota State Auctioneers Association Hall Of Fame.
