(Note by editor: Goals for these books have been, first that we come to know one another better; and second, that we might be an encouragement to one another. The title, Recipes for Living, was chosen with the realization that everyone has trials sometime in their lives. How did they cope? What was their recipe? Betty's life is a demonstration of victory against odds. She tells:)

BETTY WALLACE

First, I would like to pay tribute to my parents, Clyde and Anga Waller, whose lives were far from easy, which, in my opinion, made them even better parents. In the days when their first child was born, mothers were kept in bed for at least two weeks. When the baby was only a few days old, the house caught fire. Mother smelled smoke, called a neighbor, who told her to take a chair outside, wrap the baby, and sit there until someone came. The fire was put out but there was a great deal of damage. When the child was 14 months old, he died of pneumonia. The night before he died, my sister was born prematurely. She weighed less than three pounds, and it was the doctor's opinion that he could not save the baby, so he would put his efforts toward saving my mother. My grandmother was there and said that as long as there was breath in the baby, they would not give up on saving her. This was Ellouise, who lived to be 93 years old.

My parents lived in Decatur County and prospered quite well, but they decided to move to northern Minnesota, where I was born February 22, 1925. I was the youngest of the living children - four girls and a boy. One sister, Mildred, was married while we were in Minnesota, so she stayed with her husband. They had a little boy who was only five years younger than I. Ellouise came to Iowa with us, but was engaged before we left. Her fiancé came to Iowa where they were married on July 31,1932. They returned to Akeley and both sisters lived in northern Minnesota all their lives. This left my sister, Veta, my brother, Doyle, and me.

I don't remember a lot about our time in Minnesota. I started to school but went a very short time, because we moved back to Iowa in 1930. The Crash, which preceded the Depression, struck in 1929, and my parents lost everything. It must have taken a lot of courage to return to southern Iowa with nothing, when they had left with a substantial amount of property, but many were in the same situation. We lived on Highway 2, on a rented farm south of Humeston, and on many days individuals or families with several children came by with all their belongings piled in wagons. Even though we didn't have a lot, my mother never turned away anyone who asked for food. If she had just baked cookies or a cake, she gave it all to them. We kids didn't think that was right, but she said those people had less than we did.

From there we moved to a farm five miles north of Leon. I really liked our four years of living there. The family then moved to a farm near Lucas and were there two years before we moved south of Osceola at the time I was graduating from rural school. My first eight years were in were in rural schools, which I think was great. There is much talk now about how much teachers in large schools have to do, but at that time, rural school teachers had all eight grades. I consider it an advantage that the lower grades learned a lot by listening to what the older grades were saying in class. In the fall of 1940, I started to high school in Osceola. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked, and our whole life style changed. My brother soon went into the Army, and our friends went into some branch of the military.

High school was quite different from what it is now. No transportation was provided, so those of us, who lived in the country, roomed and boarded in town during the week, and went home on weekends. I roomed with Berniel McClintic who later married my brother Doyle and became my sister-in-law. We roomed two different places in my freshman and sophomore years, and throughout my high school years, I had several jobs. The first was for Nellie Allison in their drug store in the 100 block on north Main, doing inventory for 15¢ an hour. Between my sophomore and junior years I worked for Armour Creamery. They had a contract with the military, killing and dressing chickens. This was done on an assembly line and my job was to take out the entrails, which were disposed of. They also had a contract for eggs. That was a very tedious job. We stood all day long with two five-gallon containers, one to put the yolks in, and one for the whites. They went on down the line to be frozen. That was the worst job I ever had, and to this day I can hardly stand to cook my own eggs.

My church upbringing, however, was irregular. During my childhood, my parents were Baptists, who don't baptize until children reach the age of accountability. By that time we had moved to the farm near Leon and didn't attend church regularly. In 1942 my parents moved to Osceola and I began attending church wherever my friends happened to go. Marvin's family, however, were great Methodist church people. It was a given that you went to church on Sunday morning, no excuse. So after I was married, we became regular attenders, and I was baptized in the Weldon Methodist Church. It was a strong church at that time. The pews were filled with families every Sunday. It still seems as though something is wrong if I am not in church on Sunday. I feel very badly that so many people in our country are trying to take any expression of God or Christ out of our lives, our schools, our court houses, and other public places. I am especially offended when it is no longer "politically correct" to wish one another a Merry Christmas. I think we all need to wake up, and that's my sermon for today.

In 1963, when Fred was eleven and Edgar was five, I became ill. In the early part of May, a week before Mother's Day, I was admitted to Dr. Harken's Hospital in Osceola. I grew steadily worse. Dr. Harken was pretty sure it was encephalitis, but realizing the long-term effects, wanted another opinion. He sent us to Des Moines to see a specialist. On Saturday morning I was taken to Des Moines, terribly sick, seeing double, and in a lot of pain. I was sure it was the end and asked, "Why are they taking me to Des Moines to die? I can die here just as well." They put me through a lot of miserable tests.

In these days there are many stories of near-death experiences and it happened to me. On Sunday morning, I had the sensation of going down. There were a lot of people. They didn't seem to have feet but just kind of floated along. They were in all eras of dress, from medieval to the present day. I didn't know where I was going and I remember it being such a struggle. Everything was an obstacle.

I didn't hear voices but there seemed to be a communication. They kept letting me know they would help me and there were two who helped the most - a tall man and a heavy set woman carrying a baby. In the distance was a single Indian riding a horse. He never came close to us but never left us.

After what seemed an endless journey through a wooded, rough terrain, we came to a clearing. There was a body of water with a sand beach. The colors were intense! The water and the sky were the bluest blue and the vegetation the greenest green I have ever seen. The sand was almost white.

When we reached the clearing, my companions said they couldn't go any further but said, "They will come to get you." So I walked along the sand and when I looked back, they were gone, but they had left no footprints. I sat down on a log, and as I sat there the water gradually receded. Then I became aware that I was in my room in the hospital. I thought, "Oh, this is Sunday morning. It must be about time for dinner." I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten anything for a week. I knew then I wasn't going to die. I was going home.

I have thought about this a lot and feel the ones I met may have been my ancestors. My grandfather was tall and slender and my grandmother was heavy set. The baby may have been my oldest brother who died in infancy. And I do have Indian ancestry. I have been glad this happened before all the books such as Life After Life came out, in which case people might think I just imagined or dreamed it. But one thing it has done - it removed any fear of death. I would not hurry it, but I am ready - for me or my people - if it came this very minute.

When I was in in the hospital in Des Moines, the doctors tried to tell me that my life would be different from then on. I would not be the same, but I was in denial. I didn't hear what they were saying. Again, back in Osceola, Dr. Harken said the same thing, but again I didn't hear until he sat down and said, ''Now, you have two choices. You can go home and do the best you can with what you have, or you can go home and be an invalid." I didn't think being an invalid sounded appealing, so I made up my mind that I would see what my limitations were and live within them. If I couldn't do the things I liked to do, I would like to do the things I could do.

I was in the hospital until mid-September. On our first trip to town, something happened that I feel was significant. We went to Moore's Shoe Store to buy shoes for me. Several people came to talk, telling me how glad they were to see me. I had a real panic attack and felt I had to get home. Marvin said, "I thought you wanted to go to Robinsons." I said, "You can get anything we need. Let's go home." He put his arm around me and said, "Come on, Mommy, we can make it together." I believe if he had let me go home, I would never have gone out again. God was my spiritual strength, Marvin and the boys were my earthly strength. I couldn't let them down.

I don't know how other people view my life, but I think I have done well. I have continued to be very active in church, and while the boys were in school, I attended most of their activities. But a very interesting truth became apparent to me. I had wondered what would happen to all the things I thought I had an important part in. How would they continue? Edgar would be starting school, and I didn't think that could happen without me. It wasn't long before I realized that everything would go on quite well. It was a humbling thought.

When he was old enough, during the summers, Fred did farm work for various farmers. For two summers, he mowed the cemeteries in Green Bay Township and continued for one year after graduating from Osceola in 1970. Another year, he went to Oklahoma and worked in the wheat fields. He returned and worked for Farm Service in Weldon. Now, for 20 years, he has been an over-the-road semi-truck driver. He and his wife Debby live at Grand River. He has three grown children, Debby has two grown daughters, and between them they have eight grandchildren. They are very good to me. They take me to town for groceries, doctors' appointments, wherever else I need to go, and do things I need help with around the house. I am very fortunate to have them close by.

From the time he was four years old, Edgar wanted to be a minister. He never considered any other career. We attended the Weldon United Methodist Church until he was about ten years old, but because the congregation was small, with very few children, we changed to the Osceola United Methodist.  Beyond attending, I was only involved in Sunday School, but Edgar was active in the youth group on the local and state levels. In his sophomore year, six young people from different parts of the state went on a youth caravan, and in 1974 he was part of a group that toured Israel.

After graduation from high school, Edgar went on to Morningside College, a Methodist school. As young people do, on Sundays they visited various churches and he was impressed by the Episcopal church. He discovered he preferred their more formal ritual. He went on to Seabury Western Seminary in Chicago and is presently Rector at the St. Mathias Episcopal Church at Minocqua, Wisconsin.

At the time Edgar was about to graduate from Seabury Western Seminary in Chicago, Marvin died on February 26, 1984. He had been ill for three years. While he was in the hospital, it appeared the end was very near, and Ed felt he should come home for a few days. Fred lived nearby, so we were each able to say our goodbyes, which was very important to me. The following spring Edgar was ordained a deacon. I went to the ceremony in Sioux City and to his graduation in Chicago. I attended his ordination into the priesthood in Ada, Oklahoma on March 29, 1985. I didn't have time to feel sorry for myself being left alone.

I hadn't driven a car from the time I was sick until Marvin died. The boys said, "Even though you haven't driven for 20 years, there is no reason you can't drive. We'll get the book so you can study and take the test for a drivers' license." We were going to Osceola the next day and I said, "I am going in to take the test." They said, "You haven't even looked at the book. You won't pass." I said, ''No, I don't expect to, but then I'll know the type of questions they ask." I went in, took the test and passed it. Both the boys had failed on their first try! I love this story! I drove for several years and enjoyed it, but then I decided it was time to give it up.

Genealogy is still my most consuming hobby and it could be a book in itself I have done a lot of research on the internet but there is much more to do. To assist me, I have a computer, printer, scanner, two copy machines - one is black and white and one is color. Fred reminds me, "Mom, you've got more equipment than most offices." But I use it all.

I have outlived many of my family members. My father died in April 1950. He had been in ill health for several years, but was only 64 when he died. My mother died in 1968. Mildred, Ellouise, Doyle, and Bernie!, are all gone. My sister, Veta, is still living in Dallas, Texas. After Marvin died, until 2000, I spent my winters with her there.

It is possible I inherited some of the determined spirit of the ancestor who remained loyal to the king, and, if so, it has served me well. I left the hospital in 1963 with the aid of a walker. That means that I have been on a walker or in a wheelchair more years that I was without them, but my life wasn't over and isn't. There is more to come and I am eager to know what it will be. I wholeheartedly agree with a saying I have had on my refrigerator for years, "May I live every day of my life." That is my prayer.

FR. R. EDGAR WALLACE
(From an article in the Lakeland Times by feature writer Joyce Laabs, April 15, 2005)

"I think that people are taking the question of spirituality more seriously today," said Father Edgar Wallace of Minocqua's St. Matthias Episcopal Church. "They are looking for spiritual depth and meaning for their lives."

And Father Wallace should know whereof he speaks - as his congregation recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of his ordination with a surprise party at Norwood Pines in Minocqua.  "It was a complete shock when I walked in and saw all the people there," he continued. "I had no idea. There were some 65 congregants and friends there, including my mother who had come in from Iowa, and Bishop Russell Jacobus of the Fond du Lac Diocese."

Father Wallace, a native of Weldon, Iowa, was ordained March 29, 1985, after studying for three years at Seabury Western Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. "I had thought about going into the ministry from the time I was a little kid. I grew up in the Methodist Church and went to a Methodist College- Morningside in Sioux City, Iowa- majoring in religious studies and music. "But as many college students do, I looked at other religions and attended other churches. I went to the Episcopal Church and immediately felt at home. I like the beauty of the worship and the people were very friendly and welcoming. I became an Episcopalian."

Wallace completed college at Morningside and then went on to seminary. "As I was finishing our seminary training, the Bishop of an Oklahoma diocese had contacted Seabury and said he was looking for a seminarian to come to Oklahoma. He said, "I need someone who loves the smell of new mown hay." Of course, knowing I was from Iowa, they told him they had just the seminarian for them. That is how I happened to go to Ada, Oklahoma. "I was the assistant at the church in Ada and the Vicar at Paul's Valley Church," Father Wallace remembered. "I served in two worlds - the world of a large church - and other world of a small church. I found joy in the small church with its small church family. Although I had to rush away each Sunday to get to the large church, I was able to enjoy potluck with my small congregation every Thursday evening and that was a neat experience." According to Father Wallace, the first placement in a church is usually for two years - and it was no different for him.

"When I was in seminary I had attended retreats, etc., at the Sisters of Holy Nativity in Fond du Lac. Sister Boniface and I became good friends. In fact, she was present at my ordination. When she learned the bishop was looking for an assistant to the priest at St. Paul's Cathedral in Fond du Lac, she put my name in as a candidate." Father Wallace spent the next four years in St. Paul's, a part of the Fond du Lac Diocese, the same diocese as St. Matthias. "Then Bishop Stevens of the diocese said that the church in Minocqua, which was a mission church supported by the diocese, was looking for candidates to interview for consideration as the priest at St. Matthias.

"I drove up, looked around the town and the area, and attended the church. The next weekend I drove up again. I didn't know much about the area, but I liked it - it was beautiful and I liked the church. The bishop gave my name to the congregation to consider and the late Dr. Arthur Jacobsen came to Fond du Lac to interview me. He asked if I would come to Minocqua to meet the vestry of the church. I did and was invited to come and serve the St. Matthias congregation." Father Wallace arrived in Minocqua January 1, 1990 to begin his duties.

"There have been many changes in the 15 years I've been at St. Matthias. In 1991, we built an addition to the church. We became a parish in 1993, which meant that we were now self-supporting. Many members of our congregation have passed away in the intervening years, but our membership has grown and we have lots of new faces."

But the biggest physical change for the church is still ahead. They will build a new worship area at the south end of the original building. "The Thrift Shop that now stands in the house next to the church will move into the former Minocqua Furniture warehouse building on East Front Street," Wallace explained. "That house will then be torn down, as will the house next door to it. This is where the new worship area will be built. The current worship area will become the Parish Hall, and the current Parish Hall will become classrooms. We will keep the look of an old church with the beams, etc.

"The cost of the new church is $1.3 million and it will seat 200. The fund-raising campaign is completed and construction will begin in late summer or early fall, with completion set for the summer of 2006. The architectural concept has been completed and detailed construction drawings are underway, so we are right on schedule."

Father Wallace still finds time to keep alive his love of music. "I have been involved in music since I came to Minocqua I sing in the Community Chorus and have always been   involved in the Aurora Borealis celebration- and have just finished my service on the board of the Conservatory of the Arts in Woodruff. In fact we will be holding our first fund-raiser for this year's Aurora Borealis at Holy Family Church on Saturday, April16 at 7:00 p.m. We will have the well-known Land of Lakes Boys Choir from Minnesota present a musical program. Cost of the event is $10 for adults and $2.50 for children."

Music aside - there still remains many challenges in the church. "Parishioners no longer become Episcopalian because their parents were - there is no 'name brand' loyalty in religion. They now come to the Episcopal Church because of what they find there. People are seeking answers, and one of the challenges of the church is to be responsive to what they are looking for. We must present the gospel in ways that speak to the people. They are trying to make sense of world happenings and we must help them. We live in a smaller world now and know what is going on the minute it happens. Much of the population in the Lakeland area is elderly - so we must address death and dying - end of life issues as the world changes. However, soon we will have an influx of baby boomers to the area and we must meet their spiritual needs - so the multiple challenges to our church continue."

A few years ago St. Matthias associated with Ascension Lutheran Church in several areas. Father Wallace said that has worked out well. "It is a good relationship and both congregations feel comfortable with it. I have absolutely no regret over my decision to come to St. Matthias," Father Wallace concluded.  "In fact, I hope to remain with this church until I retire."

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