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The Radloff family, at least this little part of it, consists mainly of Chris and Dagmar. And Fruitloop and Zoey-pup, of course. A house isn't a home unless there's a litterbox stinkin' up the joint and someone sneezing, you know.
Chris
Being in Le Mars, Iowa (population about 8,000 or so) was a traumatic event for poor Chris. Uncomfortable with the big-city feel of Le Mars, he convinced his parents to move to Merrill, IA (pop. 750) at the age of two. Still unhappy with the constant sound of traffic, sirens and trains, Chris picked up roots again and moved to a farm ten miles west of Le Mars, graciously allowing his parents to come along (being four years old, he needed someone to drive).
.jpg) Growing up on a farm was a good life for a child. But we all grow up eventually, much to our dismay. Chris joined the Iowa Army National Guard, earned his Eagle Scout, and graduated from high school. After getting a degree in history from Teikyo Westmar University in Le Mars, he spent a few years playing bass in various rock and blues bands in the area, working for a while at the newspaper in Webster City, IA as a typesetter. In the early 1990's he found himself working as Art Director at a print shop in Sioux City, IA, a position he held for nearly fifteen years, much to his surprise, before going on his own and founding HippieBoy Design -- a burgeoning web design and photography outfit consisting of, well, Chris.
In 2000 he moved to Sioux City, IA to see the bright lights. Golly. Yep. Sure are bright. That's when he met Dagmar, bought a house, and picked up Fruitloop from the pound.
The past few years Chris has been involved in leadership roles in various charities in the area, notably the Northwest Iowa American Legion Riders, Siouxland Sleep Out, Independent Riders for Children and Charities, The Healing Run. He also designed and maintains the web sites for those organizations and is active in the Patriot Guard, and is a board member of both Leadership Siouxland and the World Peace and Justice Foundation. Ain't that grand?
 Dagmar
Dagmar has had a much more interesting life than Chris, and she's prettier, too.
Dagmar Kopacs-Radloff was born in Vienna, Austria about a year before her first birthday. After her father passed away, Dagmar and her mother relocated to Sioux City, Iowa. Dagmar (at the age of 13) found herself struggling to learn English and understand a culture that’s odd, to say the least. After graduating from high school, she attended college at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. After receiving her B.A. in German with an emphasis on International Business, she returned to Sioux City, where she continued her education at Briar Cliff College, where she received her B.S.W.
Dagmar worked at Lutheran Social Services for a while, and then decided to return to Austria. So, she moved to Imst/Innsbruck where she worked with homeless heroin addicts and mentally ill. (She also lived in Germany for a bit, and lived in Washington D.C. too.) After a few years, she came back to Sioux City, where she worked as the Supervisor of Lutheran Social Services in Sioux City and as a case manager at Siouxland Mental Health. Currently she's working with the mentally challenged for Woodbury County. She’s the most kind-hearted woman I know, and cooks too!
We’ve spent the past eight or so years happily putzing along, working our respective jobs, hugging each other a lot, and laughing. We laugh a lot.
 Fruitloop
The third member of the family is Fruitloop, a small cat of unusual habits. He’s odd, but lovable. Ever the optimist, he often sets out mousetraps, then sits and stares at them with drooling anticipation, ketchup ready to go. So far all he's caught is a spider. And he didn't even eat it.
Oddly enough, poor little Fruity has been diagnosed as diabetic. So we have to give the poor little feller two shots every day. Ever try to give a cat a shot?
Zoey-Dog
 We adopted happy Zoey from the Siouxland Humane Society in the fall of 2008. We're still learning her quirks -- like why does she feel the need to sit on the cat? Why does she always wait until we're roughly sixteen miles from a trash can before she poops? Why does she eat dead bugs on the sidewalk when she knows they make her sick? Why? Why?
She's a fantastic little pooch.
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