David was born and raised on his family’s farm southeast of Perry. He attended school until the eighth grade when his parents removed him to work on the farm. He was deferred from the army for the same reason. His wife of 57 years proceeded him in death. His obituary describes in as honest, kind and gentle. With limited education, it was said he was an accomplish electrician and could have been an engineer had he not been needed on the farm. What is known is that David started to make metal painted signs when the authorities wouldn’t help me and he demanded answers for injustices perpetrated against his family.

Kelly Ludwig (kellyludwig.com) writes, “Just from reading the signs, the story seems to go like this: David Nemechek and his family moved to Noble County in the mid 70s. During that time, something happened that got him and the law at cross-purposes. Was it something to do with their Czech heritage versus the German heritage of their neighbors, as one sign describes? No matter the origins, strange things began to happen: Cattle were mutilated and murdered, harassing phone calls, threats on his family’s lives, and other things. (As a side bar of coincidence, during the same period of time, 1973, just down the road in Crescent, OK, Karen Silkwood was blowing the whistle on the Kerr-McGee Chemical Plant, later to die mysteriously.)

David fought back the only way he knew how: by posting signs in his front yard. Lots of them. Then around 1993, the sheriff, accused in the signs of wrongdoing, won a libel lawsuit against the Nemecheks and the next year had their property seized to satisfy the judgment.

Beyond the mystery of the story, the signs themselves are works of art. Color blocks accent various segments of neatly lettered discourse. The rhythm of the different colors are captivating, although the accents are placed on every word. And it seems that the Nemechek’s aren’t angry with everyone, there is even a sign that reads: “Thank you for stopping please drive carefully.”

After the lawsuit, David did not take down his signs. However, many of the signs were lost when the highway was widened in 2012, and the last of them disappeared after David died.

PHOTOS by Kelly Ludwig, courtesy of SPACES–Saving and Preserving Arts and Cultural Environments and John Michael Kohler Arts Center

SOURCES: memorialsstrodefh.com, RoadsideAmerica.com, Kelly Ludwig from kellyludwig.com and spacesarchives.com