What happened? It was a bittersweet moment as Delaine Achermann recalled events of the past five months since her husband, Peter, went missing. More than anything, she and her family want to know what happened to her Swiss immigrant husband. (Staples World photo by Tom Crawford) How does a family celebrate Christmas when a loved one is missing?

Not missing as in gone away and unable to be home. Missing entirely, without a trace, as in Peter Achermann, a husband, father and grandfather who disappeared July 24 just outside Staples.

“We just don’t know where he went, where he is,” Delaine Achermann said Dec. 18, during a session that alternated between tears and laughter, as she and three of their adult children recalled their beloved husband and father. “If we could just know what happened, know where he is, it would be so much better,” Delaine said, breaking down with tears as she sat at the family’s kitchen table, in Peter and Delaine’s home three miles north of Leader.

She added the family has, along with many others, concluded that Peter is probably not in the Becker Township vicinity where his car was found on July 25. Desiree Greenwaldt and her mother noted they should have found something, his cane, cigar butts, clothes, glasses, or some other evidence he had been there. “An animal is not going to eat those things,” Desiree said. “Why is it we never found those things?”

The family this past week announced a $10,000 reward, to be offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone found responsible for Peter’s disappearance, if it is determined that it happened as a result of foul play. For more information on the reward, people should contact the Cass County Sheriff’s office at 1-800-450-2677.

Still they have not given up hope. This past weekend they planned to join with several members of the Central Minnesota

Search and Rescue members and their dogs to go over some of the frozen ponds in the Becker Township area. The hope is the searchers could cover some areas that were wet and inaccessible on past searches. There are all types of floating bogs in the area, Jorg Achermann said, that prevented people on foot from walking the area this past summer.

Delaine said the days without Peter have been difficult, but she’s become accustomed -- a little. “The weekdays are not so bad. He would normally be gone, seeing people and friends whom he gave rides to or just stopped to visit. On weekends, he was always home... I have had to get used to...”

She took a moment to recover, and then noted that Christmas Eve without going to Mass with Peter will be different. “Peter would not miss Mass at Christmas,” she said, and

that brought both Delaine

and Desiree to laughter. “The one time he missed

Mass was when they changed the Mass times on him. That was last year, in 2008. Boy was he mad.”

Delaine recalled Peter would get the family to Mass despite problems over the years, in spite of extreme cold, cars that would not start, a flat tire or two. “The very first Christmas he came to the U.S., he arrived at a cousin’s home in Illinois, knocked on their door and announced who he was. They went to Catholic Mass that night with neighbors,” Delaine said, repeating a story they had heard from Peter. He emigrated to the U.S. from his native Switzerland in 1947, the hope that he could take up farming here the impetus for leaving family and friends behind.

They laughed at the way Peter grumbled about the change in Mass times.

Now, when sitting in church at St. Michael’s in

Motley, Desiree often listens

for a familiar sound. “You always knew when

Dad was in church. When he was present, there was always this slight cough, just a clearing of his throat. We knew who it was every time. Now I listen for it.”

The kids remember more than one Christmas, Peter coming home the day before with a young man he’d just met. “He was always telling somebody to come and stay with us, at Christmas or Thanksgiving. We just slid over at the table,” Desiree said.

They can recall precise character traits, how he would slowly get out of the car, lean the cane on the vehicle, pull out a cigar, use one match to get it lit and keep the match lit until he knew the cigar was lit, then and only then drop the match. Never waste a match. “Oh, he was tight,” Desiree said. “But generous as well.”

They have the memories. Peter, who was born on May 21, 1927, the same day Lindbergh landed in Paris, always grumbled that Lindbergh got all the publicity that Peter should have received. Peter had grown up as an altar boy at Mass. He spoke German, French and some Italian as a youngster. Peter’s favorite prayer always ended with his German version of “Enjoy the meal, everyone.” He had continued his family traditions, which included singing carols, especially “O Tannenbaum.” The Achermann’s

would read from scriptures,

from Matthew and Mark. “Each of us kids would

hope we could read a small part.”

Delaine said, “I remember one of his sayings. ‘Oh Mutter, you’re a hoot.’ He liked to say to me.”

Asked for a message to others, Delaine said people need to value their time with loved ones. “Enjoy each other. You never know when things will change. Count your blessings.”

Peter’s native tongue came in handy at times. Franz and Jorg, as well as Desiree, recalled back when he was milking cows he’d get kicked or stepped on. “That’s when he would swear, in German. “They didn’t always know what they were saying, but the kids remember the words, in German and in French.

This year they’ve been blessed with so much help, people doing so many things they are unable to acknowledge them all. They thank people for the prayers, for the October benefit, for the people who helped search or helped in any other way.

“Some answers. That’s all. We’d like some answers for Christmas,” Delaine said, noting the plans for a reward.

“The best Christmas present we could have would be to find him,” Desiree said.