Recipes for Living Dan and Marilyn Foster

In nearly every family, there seems to be a genealogist. If there is also a family historian, they are indeed fortunate. Marilyn Lewis Foster has told the history of the Harold (Pete) and Hazel Lewis' family in a book which is a treasure to the immediate family, and to everyone who is interested in knowing the lifestyle of a loving family living in Midwest rural America in the 1920s onward. Already the towns she mentions to identify the family's location are gone - "I was born on a farm between Leslie and Lacelle in Knox township," but the details will edify younger readers and dredge up pleasant memories for the older generation. Not all aspects of life could be called "the good ol' days." The necessities called for lots of hard work. The tragedy is that values from those days have been lost with the changing times. Marilyn has given permission to share portions of her book titled Lewis History. It is unfortunate that the 60+ pages must be cut for this use.

Alice June (Lewis) Fleming was born in 1922, (Dr.) George 1923, and I (Marilyn) in 1925. In those days, babies were born at home, and Dr. Harken delivered us. A baby brother was born in 1938. I woke up in the night and heard Mother crying, so I knew something was wrong. I was told to stay in bed, and Dad told me the next morning that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and the doctor couldn't save him. The funeral was at our house, as many were at that time. A family friend, Albert Wolfe, and Dad went to Villisca to get the casket and do the embalming. Alice June and George stayed in town to attend school in Osceola, but came home for the funeral. The baby was named Harold Harvey Lewis, Jr. and he is interred in the Griffin plot in Maple Hill Cemetery in Osceola.

I was told that our family house originally had two rooms, and had been a saloon moved to that spot. I don't know when the addition was made, but there were five rooms when our parents were married - two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, and good sized pantry. We had a cistern on the south side of the house and used the water for bathing and washing clothes, but we had to carry drinking water from a well in the pasture, which was about two long blocks from the house. Dad tied a bucket on a rope in the cistern and that was our refrigeration in the summer. Our food storage was under the house. There was a large concrete patio off the kitchen that had a large door which covered stairs to the cellar. It had a dirt floor, and potatoes, apples, and canned goods were stored there. The house did not have central heat - the heating stove was in the dining room. George slept there in the summer and in the living room in the winter. Alice June and I shared a bedroom, which was cold in the winter, but we had big feather tick mattresses that helped keep us warm. We took our baths behind the stove and had to be careful we didn't back into it because it was red hot!

We had a large orchard with apple, peach, pear, and cherry trees, along with grape vines. There was also a strawberry patch. Mother canned the fruit, made applesauce and apple butter. When Alice June and I were old enough, we helped, as did Grandma Griffin and Auntie (Alice). I remember one day after a rain, the road to the strawberry patch was muddy. Grandma slipped and sat down in the mud. She was a jolly fat lady and got us all laughing so hard we could hardly get her up. (There was lots of laughter in those days!)

We always had a large garden and canned peas, carrots, green beans, tomatoes and corn. There were also rows of flowers, too - lots of zinnias. We always raised chickens from the time they were baby chicks to their becoming a platter of Mother's fried chicken, and provided us with eggs in the meantime. We also raised our own pork. Before he went to WWI, Dad raised pure bred hogs. I think he and Uncle Ray formed a partnership so Uncle Ray could take care of the hogs while Dad went to war. What I remember was that Dad butchered a hog every fall. Mother rendered the fat into lard, which she used for cooking and pie crusts. Dad, and George when he was old enough, hunted rabbits and squirrels. They tasted good! George worked mostly with Dad, with the pigs and cattle, while Alice June and I worked in the house, garden, and yard. George also helped Mother with the milking. Dad didn't like to milk and Mother did, so she did a lot of it. I tried it once, but Dad pronounced my effort a lost cause.

A job I really hated was taking care of our beautiful hardwood floor in the living room. Mother was very proud of it and we had to scrub off black marks left by the soles of our shoes. After that was done, we put on paste wax, which then had to be buffed. Sometimes we would scoot around on rags to make it fun. I wonder if it is now covered with carpet.

We had a piano, which Mother insisted be kept in tune. She could play pretty well, and all three of us took lessons one summer. Alice June kept at it for a few years but George and I would not practice so Mother pulled the plug on us. We used to sing a lot in the evenings. Mother had a good voice, as did Uncle Woodie (G. W. Griffin) who came and worked for Dad at least one summer. He had a guitar and played mostly country, when country wasn't "cool."

We had a telephone on a "party line." I'm not sure how many people were on our line but there were several. Our number was two long rings and one short ring. I doubt there were many private conversations. It was a good way for neighbors to keep up on the news. We didn't always have a car. Dad would buy a used Model T Ford when he could afford it. Eventually it would wear out and we had to wait until money was available for another one. He never bought one on credit because of having to make the payments. He borrowed on a mortgage, seed or livestock only. Uncle Carl Lewis, a bachelor who lived with Grandpa and Grandma Lewis, always had a car and helped with transportation when we needed it. Years later, when we were in high school, we had a '35 or '36 Ford. Mother and I got pretty good at patching inner tubes. We also carried a water pump and knew how to install it. Dad didn't ever have a pick-up. Sometimes he would take out the back seat of the car and haul a calf, pig, or sheep to the sale barn.

There was never a lack of something to do. We had a big yard with several big oak trees. We had three tree houses in the one on the north side of the house. George's was the biggest and best, so I used it as often as I could. It was a quiet place where I could be alone. I would take a book and green apples with me, read and make believe. In the winter - one in particular when we had lots of snow and ice - friends and relatives came with sleds and scoop shovels to enjoy sliding on a steep hill west of our barn. George and I were sliding one day when a runner on the sled bent and we were thrown off. I cut my lip and went to the house crying. Dad took off my coat, looked at me and said, "You have a broken arm." It must have been numb because it didn't hurt until he told me it was broken. Dad set it and put on a splint. Uncle Carl took Dad and I to see Dr. Harken, who examined the arm and said Dad had set it perfectly. He put on a new splint and wrapped it up. It didn't even keep me out of school! We had a hamburger at the Club Cafe on the north side of the square, which was a thrill for me, but Mother was unhappy about our going there. I think they served beer.

We had lots of snow. One time we could walk on top of the fences and touch thetelephone lines. I remember once when Dad and the neighbors shoveled out the road all the way to Leslie, which was over a mile. When they finished, the piles were higher than our heads. Once, I think in 1938, we walked three miles to Highway 69 and Gene Ewoldsen picked us up so we could go to high school.

A train went through Leslie. I thought it was very long, but I believe it was usually just a passenger car and one or two other cars. We rode it to Osceola a few times to visit Grandma Griffin. What a thrill!

We had a battery powered radio and we would hurry home from school, and do our chores, so we could listen to our favorites, "Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy," and "Little Orphan Annie." I had a decoder ring so I could decipher secret messages. I think I sent in an Ovaltine label and 10¢ for it. When the battery got low, all we could listen to was the farm market report, news, and "One Man's Family." We also listened to Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly, among others. When I got older, I especially enjoyed "Hit Parade." There was a magazine by the same name and Mother would buy it for me. It had the words of the songs played on the radio and Betty Squier and I, pretending we were singers in the band, would sing them. Betty also had two ponies - a small and a larger one. Sometimes she let me ride the larger one.

Sunday was a day of rest. We went to church in Leslie, and walked there for Sunday school, if we had no car. Each of us kids had a penny for the collection plate. Lots of the time, Mother played the piano, but we had a neighbor who liked to play even though she wasn't as good as Mother. Sometimes she would get there early, plop herself down on the piano stool, and not get up. Occasionally, a preacher came and we had a picnic after church.

Discipline was part of our lives. Dad had a razor strap which he used very seldom, but Mother was the main disciplinarian. She never said, "Wait till your Dad gets home." One time George thought he could outrun her. He couldn't and I think it earned him a few extra swats. Mother always used her hand. No looking around for a switch. I really don't remember very many spankings. I believe we learned early that our parents were in control and we were to follow the rules. Occasionally George would tease Alice June and me while we did the supper dishes. One time Dad had enough and made George do the dishes alone. I don't think he tried that again. If we didn't behave at the supper table, we could be sent to bed without it, but most of the time we were too busy with our chores or playing to argue much. ·

We had a really neat dog, a Collie (or part) called Trixie. She looked like Lassie. Every summer she had a litter of pups, usually six and they were fun to play with. We also had barn cats. Dad was not fond of them, but I guess they helped keep down the mouse population.

We went to dances at Lacelle - square dance, polka, and schottische, which was similar to the polka. We also roller skated and the folks also played cards with neighbors and friends. Of course, everyone took their kids so we all looked forward to going and we learned to dance and play card games early in life. They played mostly bridge and pitch. I remember one night when the game was at our house. A big snow storm came up and everyone spent the night. We kids slept in the house and the adults in the barn.

To help provide for our needs, a Watkins salesman came occasionally. He came driving down the road in a black buggy, always with a black horse, and it seemed to me he always wore black. The first time I saw him, I went screaming into the house, but later I was fascinated by all the products he had for sale - spices, baking and sewing items. We occasionally also had a hobo or tramp who would get off the train when it went through Leslie. Mother would give them a handout - probably bread, which she baked two or three times a week.

When I think back on those years, I think how hard Mother and Dad worked. It wasn't easy raising three kids during the Depression. Neighbors helped each other at threshing time. It seemed like it was always the hottest time of the year. A crew of men was involved and the wives came to help with the food. What a job, cooking those big meals on a wood stove. And the dishes had to be washed right away, so the women and kids could eat what was left after the men were fed. And washing clothes was a terrible job! Mother and Grandmother even made their own soap in a big iron kettle. Lard and lye were two ingredients and I'm not sure what else. On wash day, Mother heated extra water in a big boiler on the range. She washed clothes in a big tub on a washboard. Can you imagine doing sheets, blankets, overalls, and rugs like that? And ringing them out and hanging them on the clothes lines in winter! They sort of freeze dried and finished in the house. I don't know how Mother did it!

Our school was west of our house, up and down two big hills. It was fun walking in nice weather, but a downer when it was bad. Dad very seldom took us in the wagon. I guess he was building our character. My first teacher was Wilma Zika (later Wilma Davenport). There were three of us in kindergarten- my cousin Betty Hunt Carpenter and Mamie Barr. (By editor: It is regrettable that the story must be cut, but except for some personal experiences, in this same edition is a description of rural schools which Marilyn tells in her following pages.)

There were special observances on special days: On Memorial Day we decorated graves of Dad's grandparents and other relatives with iris or peonies. On the 4th of July, we usually got to go to Osceola unless it rained and the roads were muddy. There was a parade, rides, and side shows. We took our lunch, which we ate on a lawn by where we parked the car. I remember having a dime or maybe a quarter to spend. I think the Ferris wheel cost a nickel, and I usually rode it with my cousin, Betty Hunt, who liked to rock the seat and scare me. Halloween was not a big deal. No trick or treating. One time there was a program at Leslie school or church. There was a full moon, a beautiful night. We all walked and on the way home we and some neighbor kids upset a few shocks of corn. We thought that was really daring! No one locked their houses in those days and when we got home we found all of Dad's harness spread over the kitchen floor. When I was in high school, we soaped some store windows and the boys upset a few outhouses.

Our Thanksgiving custom was to go to Grandparents Lewis' house. Other relatives would be there, too. It seems like there was usually snow. Dad put runners on the wagon, so we went "over the creek and hills," but not in a One Horse Open Sleigh. Christmas was sometimes spent at the Lewis house and sometimes at Grandma Griffin's. One year Bob Adamson, a cousin, got a Monopoly game. What fun! We could hardly wait for dinner to be over so we could have the table to play on. One year at the Griffin's, George got a little pool table and a wind-up train set. I can still see Uncle Joe and Uncle Woodie playing with the train and George waiting patiently for his turn. I think it was that year we went for Christmas Eve and stayed all night. I heard sleigh bells and knew it was Santa Claus. It was really Dr. Paul and his sleigh (I think).

Our two families were different. The Lewis' were not very demonstrative. I am sure they loved us but maybe were too busy to show affection. Grandma Lewis made me a wedding ring quilt that is very pretty. It must be at least 60 years old. The Griffins were the opposite - the females, anyway. Hugs and kisses! Grandma was very loving, maybe because Grandpa was killed so young. She really wanted to enjoy the rest of us. Grandpa died by fighting a fire in 1917 so I never knew him, and Auntie was just a baby. Grandma died early, too, from a heart attack in 1934. I think she just had to work too hard to raise seven kids.

Evidently all the hard work and the hardships of the Depression didn't hurt us too much. Not only did Dad and Mother celebrate their many years together, but Dan and I celebrated our 50th in 1993, Alice June and Bus (Fleming) celebrated their 50th in 1994, and George and Norma their 50th in 2000.

One of the biggest, most exciting, most fun ventures of the Lewis family was Lewis Springs. Veterinarian Dr. George told about this in the first Recipes for Living, in 1996. About three blocks south of the house, there was a spring and timber in the pasture. Dad built a dam to supply water for the cattle. Some people found out about it and started sneaking in to swim, so Dad and Uncle Ray decided to develop it. They shared the project. At first, they charged so much a car, but there would be so many people packed into a car or truck that they had to change admission to so much a person. They had no tractors, and used a big scoop pulled by two horses. They made the dam higher, boarded up the south and west sides, and rocked the east. There was sand in the hill that the springs came out of, so they used it to make a beach on the north side and on the bottom of the shallower parts of the pool. My cousin Dwight and I had a really big, nice reddish sand pile. We dug tunnels, made sand castles and such. I don't remember having toys to play with. Three pipes were installed in the southeast comer to carry the spring water to the pool, and it was really good drinking water.

Up the bank on the east side of the pool they made seats with backs out of big rocks. They were great to warm up on if we got a little cool. People sat there to watch the swimmers. On the west side there was a three foot spring diving board, a ten foot spring board and a twenty foot platform board. There were also two ropes to swing out on and jump in the water. There was a stationary raft in the middle of the pool, about 25 yards from the west bank- a good place to get a suntan or burn if we weren't careful. At the northeast corner of the pool, we had a snack shack where we sold candy, pop, gum, and sometimes ice cream while the ice held out. There were bath houses, each with a foot bath to disinfect the feet before they went into the water. The bathhouses were separated by an enclosure where we kept suits, towels, and baskets for the swimmers' clothes. They had no roofs and Dwight and I used to climb up a large tree close by and look in until we got caught. Swimmers paid 10¢ to swim, and 25¢ to rent a wool suit if they didn't bring their own. Of course, the used ones had to be washed and disinfected every day.

Later, we had generator powered lights so we could stay open nights, until 10:00 I think. There was a big pole at the north end with a flood light to cover the pool. When they were fixing this light, someone left the ladder in the water. I think I was five when I climbed on it. The ladder turned over with me under it. Luckily, Uncle Carl saw it and pulled me out. I guess it was then I knew I had to learn to swim. Alice June and George had already learned, but we all became good swimmers. Alice June was also a good diver. We went to a couple swim meets. I remember one at Clarinda. Alice June and George both won ribbons and she got a great newspaper report on her diving. They both became senior life guards and George was on the swim team at Iowa State during his freshman year. The other years, he was too busy to pursue it. I became a junior life guard before we moved away. We always had a life guard on duty at Lewis Springs.

In the winter, the pool froze solid - maybe as much as two feet in some places. The men sawed it into blocks and put it in a shed up at the house. They covered it with sawdust and it lasted well into the summer. We used it to cool pop and keep the ice cream frozen. Mother made excellent ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce - also great with strawberries. There were several picnic tables scattered among the trees. There was usually a good crowd because I think it was the only place to swim in Clarke County.

For a year or two we also had a ball diamond west of the pool across the creek. Teams came from Murray, Van Wert, Weldon, and Osceola. Dad couldn't keep it for longer than that because he probably needed the field for crops.

We had a great childhood at the Springs. I'm sure Mother and Dad had many worries during the Depression but we kids didn't know we were poor. Mother made most of our clothes, some out of feed sacks that came designed with all kinds of print.

On March 1, 1940, we moved to a farm two miles north and a mile east of Ottawa. It was 420 acres with very good outbuildings. The house was much bigger - two stories, five bedrooms and a bathroom!! Because George had never had his own bedroom, he had first pick. He chose a nice room off the stairway. The other three were in a row to the west. Alice June chose the end one, and it was a nice size. I took the one nearest the hall leaving an empty one between her and me. There was a large screened-in porch on the south and a concrete porch to the west. A part cellar, too. The house was pretty old but we enjoyed all the room and especially running water! Dad was so proud of the outbuildings! They seemed newer than the house and were so much better than the ones at the Springs. There was a large two story barn. It had a basement partially cut into the hill for the ground floor and a really big hay mow. There was also a chicken house, hog house, garage, and I think another building - all painted red. Dad had room for more cattle and hogs now. He always said that hogs paid the mortgage, and the cattle and chickens bought other things. George raised sheep for FFA (Future Farmers of America) and 4-H. They helped pay his way through college.

I don't remember when we got electricity. By this time Mother had a gas operated washing machine and when we got electricity, the first thing she bought was a refrigerator. What a luxury!

Grandma Griffin died before we started to high school. Alice June started in the fall of 1936, George in the fall of 1937, and I in the fall of 1938. There was a small high school in Woodburn but Mother wanted us in a larger school with more opportunities so we continued at Osceola. There were no buses at that time, so we had to stay in town during the week, and roomed in various homes.

I enjoyed high school, made good friends, had fun and studied some. I probably averaged about a "B." Mr. Black was my study hall teacher and we had a running battle about chewing gum. That was a no-no. He usually made me spit it out, but I had to stay after school a time or two. My fun was playing tennis or riding double on the bike with my best friend, Helen Kelly. There was a time when we skated upstairs over the Reynoldson Law Office building and later we had a roller rink in a big tent where Fareway is now. One night I won a drawing for a pair of white shoe skates. Was I thrilled! Another time I won $5 at the movies and bought a tennis racket with it. We also played touch football in the fall. Kelly, Andy Jeffreys, and I would be one team and whoever showed up was the other. We usually won, no matter how many were on the other side because we were pretty good at passing and catching. Grandma Kelly wasn't pleased because we wore shorts. She said we were showing too much skin - or something like that.

I enjoyed being in choir and girl's glee club all through school. We went to several contests and won quite a few first ratings. I was also in G.A.A. (Girls' Athletic Association). We played intramural basketball games as well as playing Murray, Weldon, and I think Woodburn, when they came to Osceola. We wanted a team in Osceola, but the wife of one of the board members said it was too hard on girls. I think this was Mrs. McGee, wife of Ralph McGee, Clarke County State Bank president, who later became my boss. It was many years later before the high school had a girl's team.

Dan and I began dating off and on in our junior year. He was considered by some of my classmates to be quite a "catch" - maybe because he had a Model T coupe painted several colors and it had decals on it, later a Model A Ford. One of our friends, Bud Carper, had a Model A with a rumble seat. That was fun. Dan worked Saturdays at Rindy's east side grocery store, so didn't have a lot of money. He bought gas a gallon or two at a time and saved his money for shot gun shells. Later on, Dan could usually use his Dad's Oldsmobile. It was a neat car. Occasionally, before gas rationing, we could get out of town.

We danced in the gym sometimes, music furnished from a nickelodeon up in the bleachers. It was mostly girls dancing with girls. Our happy senior year was changed December 7, 1941. A few of us were decorating a Christmas tree on the assembly hall stage when someone came in and told us about Pearl Harbor. One of my friends and classmates, Marilyn Jeanne Pence, was helping. She rushed home because her brother John was stationed there. He was visiting on the Arizona at the time and went down with the ship. He was the first Clarke County casualty. Of course, we were very upset and subdued, knowing our friends would soon enlist or be drafted. The guys started saying that we could beat the Japs in six months or a year, but by the time we graduated, we knew that was impossible. We had all the traditional senior programs but they were colored by the realization that our older friends had gone into the service. Jerry Kelly and Wes Smith enlisted in the Merchant Marines, which was scary because ships were being sunk all the time by German submarines. My cousin Billy was in North Africa and later Italy, cousin Bob Adamson was a Marine in the South Pacific, Andy was in Honolulu with the Seabees, and Chuck Evans was in the Army in the South Pacific. I wrote to them all.

We at home lived with rationing - I recall gas, tires, rubber, shoes, sugar, silk hose, and eat. It was easier for farmers to get tires and gas because they were necessities, but Dad never took advantage of that. He was very patriotic. When there was a war bond drive, people were told how much they were expected to buy. If Dad didn't have cash, he would borrow to buy his share.

In the summer of 1942, Alice June was going to school at A.I.B.(American Institute of Business) in Des Moines, and George was at Iowa State in veterinary school. He was in the Army but they needed vets, so they didn't call him up. He waited tables at a girls' dorm for which he had to wear white shirts and ties. He sent his laundry home for us to do and one Christmas vacation brought home 25 shirts. He had to have that many because we mailed them back and forth. He hitchhiked home a few times, and people were not afraid to pick up the fellows.

I went to work at Clarke County State Bank in August, 1942, scared to death. I had just turned 17 and it was my first job. I ran one of the posting machines and worked the windows. I really liked my job. The hours were good - the pay wasn't. I started at 40¢ an hour and we got paid once a month. I started in the middle of the month so at payday I only had two weeks' wages to last four weeks. It was hard to pay my share of the rent on the apartment I shared with Betty Adamson. Later I worked up to $80 a month and managed pretty well on that.

Early in 1943, when we were all home for the weekend, Mother told us she was pregnant. She was kind of tearful and afraid we would be upset. It was kind of a shock but we were happy for them. Kathy was born July 29, 1943, a happy little thing and lots of fun. I think she helped keep Mother and Dad young.

Also early in March 1943, Dan entered the service and around the first of June, he started writing and calling. He was stationed in Lexington, Kentucky, going to Engineering School. After writing a few times, he proposed and I said yes. We assumed he would get a leave in a few months, but he was sent to Geiger Field at Spokane, Washington to the Airborne Engineers, to be shipped out in a few weeks, so we decided to be married sooner than originally planned. I was 18 so considered an adult, but because he was only 19, he had to have parental consent. It happened that the Clarke County Sheriff had to go to Washington either to deliver or pick up a prisoner, so Pappy (Lyle) Foster rode along to help. He went to Spokane and signed the necessary papers. I had Mother' and Dad's permission to go to Spokane but I had to stop to see relatives along the way. At my send-off at the depot, Helen gave me her friendship ring to wear on my ring finger.

It was not a comfortable trip. I loved the mountains and enjoyed the scenery, but the train was not clean and the cars were really old. We had to have the windows open to get air, and by the time we arrived in Spokane on Sunday morning at 11:00, I was so dirty and my hair was full of coal dust from the engine. I know I looked a sight, but here was Dan who looked great in his uniform! I had a room at the Milner hotel, cleaned up, and we had lunch. There was so much to talk about from the current happenings to when we would be married to the future. We went shopping for my rings. They were called Sweetheart rings and I wore them thin until Dan gave me new ones in Indianola. We were married in a Presbyterian Church at 4:00. I wore a dress Alice June had made for me. The minister had served in Indianola so we didn't feel quite so alone, but he asked me twice if my parents knew what I was doing.

Dan had two three-day passes while I was there. The rest of the time he was at Geiger Field, but came in about every evening for a couple hours. I stayed pretty close to the hotel. I didn't have money to go shopping and wondered about the women who followed their husbands. There was no way I could find a job that paid enough for me to follow Dan from camp to camp, and his Corporal's salary was only $66 a month. The government took some for insurance, and after we were married they took more, and sent me an allowance of $50 a month. I had a two-week vacation which went by too quickly.

Not long after I returned from Spokane, Dan was accepted into the Army Air Corps. He had an eight-day delay en-route, came home for a few days then went on to Buckley Field, Denver, Colorado. I don't remember what we did while he was home other than being chivareed and seeing friends and relatives. I had to work because I had used my vacation time. After he left, we wrote each other often - short letters because he was busy studying and flying. He was moved around a lot: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri March 3 to May 1, 1943; Lexington, Kentucky May 1 to late July; Spokane, Washington late July to October 18; Denver, Colorado, Buckley Field; Pullman, Washington April 1944 College; Santa Ana, California then Visalia, California September 1944; Tulare, California October 1944; Taft, California November, 1944; Pecos, Texas graduated April, 1945; home on leave for a few days then to Lincoln, Nebraska for B-29 training.

When Dan was in Pullman, Washington, I visited him, and not too much later I began feeling nauseous every morning and was losing an occasional meal. I went to the doctor who confirmed my suspicion. At least to an influential voice behind a bank board member, it was considered improper for the public to be served by an obviously expectant mother, so I was not allowed to continue my employment. David was delivered by Dr. Harken at 3:19p.m. January 14, 1945. In those days new mothers stayed in the hospital for 10 days, which was acceptable. I had no back aches or other troubles when I got home.

After he was born, we went back to the farm, and we went to stay a few days with the Fosters before Dan graduated at Pecos and got his wings on April 15, 1945. He was now a flight officer, which is the same as 2nd Lieutenant. He came home for a nine-day leave on April 19, and when he returned, he was assigned to Lincoln, Nebraska for training in B-29s. We bought a used car which made it possible for me to visit from time to time. He rented a room on the 3rd floor of a big house, which called for lots of sharing when there were four couples and two single girls on the 2nd floor, another couple in the basement, and inadequate bathroom facilities. For about two weeks we had the basement apartment and could have David with us.

Dan's discharge came in October and we returned to Osceola but like most returning veterans there were lots of adjustments to be made. Housing, employment, relationships all presented challenges until Dan went to a six week Patrol School in July 1947, after which he was accepted and ordered to state work in Atlantic on August 14, 1947. We had to start from scratch, on a very low budget, to furnish a house, when we found one. The Federal Government was supposed to pay $50 a month on the G.L bill, but they lost the papers in Des Moines and we didn't know it until the other Troopers got their money. He didn't get reimbursed for the months but luckily the coal dealer trusted Dan and so at least we had coal. The Troopers at Post 3 and their wives were very friendly. We had no car but they gave us rides and when I began getting car sick, I knew Mary was on her way.

We moved to Greenfield in April 1948, to a four room upstairs apartment. There was a tragedy while we lived there. One of two Troopers, who trained Dan during his probation period, Klinkefus, was killed when a semi jack-knifed in front of him. He was only 34. Dan was a pallbearer and I was in charge of flowers. Wives were not permitted to ride in patrol cars but we had no alternative in this case. Wouldn't you know a call came over the radio that there was a robbery at a gas station in Atlantic and Dan gave chase. I slumped lower and lower as cars passed. I was sure people would think I was a gun moll or something. As for the robbers, they couldn't have picked a worse time because all the Troopers were converging on Atlantic for the funeral.

June 10, 1948, David and I went with George, Mother, Dad, and Kathy to see Alice June and Bus in Salinas, California, and Auntie in San Francisco. We had a nice time sightseeing and visiting a cousin, Keith Yates and family, and we stopped in Prescott, Arizona. on the way back to see Uncle Ray and Aunt Pearl, then to Luling, Texas to see Aunt Grace and John Hoskins, Larry, Melvin, and Laura Lee. We were gone three weeks altogether. David and I were glad to get home and Dan was glad to see us.

There was no hospital in Greenfield so Mary Jo (Josephine) was born in Osceola, delivered by Dr. Harken, on December 17, 1948. Another 10 days in the hospital. She was a good baby slept most of the day and awake in the evening, which suited fine because Dan worked lots of nights. I didn't get out much in those days. The grocery store delivered and charged, so other than David and I pushing the buggy the three blocks to go uptown on nice days, it worked well to be home. In October 1949, we bought a car, which we had been without for two years, and in December of that year we moved to a different house. We made some good friends in Greenfield, and had picnics, and penny ante games.

In January, 1950, George and Norma Shannon were married. I was a bridesmaid, David the ring bearer.

Our last home in Greenfield was a brick two story across from the swimming pool in the north part of town. The kids swam every day and David had a paper route in that vicinity. Mary always wanted a pet and finally came home with a cute Cocker Spaniel with a chain and collar, saying it had followed her home. To prevent her being charged with dog-napping sometime in the future, we decided a dog might be a good investment. So we were a usual family, fortunate to bring up good little kids, who did well in school. I was a Den Mother, Mary took dancing lessons, I belonged to a women's bridge club and Dan to Lions. We took inexpensive trips to Billings, Montana, Yellowstone, and Wall, South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore.

Dan was made Sergeant in charge of patrol planes so we had to move to Des Moines. David went to junior high at 48th and Madison; Mary went to Hillis on Hickman. We lived a block south of Hickman and a block east of Merle Hay Road. We did not have friendly neighbors and I was pleased when Dan talked Headquarters into letting us move to Indianola in January 1958. We were able to buy a house and all in all it felt like "home," with a small town atmosphere. The kids grew - David worked at Thackers Super Valu after school and weekends, had a job at the swimming pool, at which time he earned his Senior Life Guard badge, bought a neat Ford Club coupe and later a Volkswagen. Mary was involved with slumber parties and working at the pool, and had a date for her Prom. I had my first permanent by a contraption that had curlers hanging down, then tried the home perm route, both were disasters. I went to the beauty parlor and about that time we decided to cut Mary's pony tail.

I went to work keeping books at a gas station on the corner of Highway 92 and 69. I was there for about a year and then became Deputy County Treasurer of Warren County until we moved to Osceola, which happened when Dan was promoted to Lieutenant in the spring of 1966. We rented the downstairs apartment in Dr. Harken's brick house at 631 South Main, and made a bedroom for Mary in a small room off the kitchen. We bought the house in 1967. I went to work at Clarke County State Bank in January as a teller. Dave managed the pool here, after graduation went to Grandview College in Des Moines, then Simpson in Indianola. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1966 and served four years, getting good work experience as a Lab Technician. He married Sue Ramsey in 1969 and had a baby girl, Andrea. When he was discharged, they moved to Des Moines and he was employed at the Veterans' Hospital. They lived in Indianapolis, which was Sue's home, and Richard was born in April1972. Dave and Sue divorced about that time.

Mary married Mike Dodson August 19, 1967. They moved to Ames where Mike attended Iowa State. With the Vietnam War still going on, Mike decided to enlist in the Air Force. They were in Texas, California, and Florida until he was sent to Panama. Mary came home, worked at the medical clinic and lived upstairs in our apartment. When Mike was discharged, they moved to Denver, Colorado. Sean was born January 16, 1977. They moved to Louisville, Kentucky for awhile and then came back to Osceola.

Dan retired in 1981, and I resigned from the bank when Sean was born. By then I was Assistant Cashier. I was tired of never having any time to see grandkids. A few months later, I became manager for Clarke Community Housing, Inc. The hours on duty were not as demanding. It was good to be back with friends we had been away from. We golfed, became part of a bridge club, among other things.

It was good to be near our parents again, too. Mother and Dad were able to celebrate 62 years of marriage in their own home. Dad wasn't well in the spring and summer of 1985, and he died August 19 of that year. Mother was able to stay at home until the fall of 1994, when she entered the care facility of the hospital; she died February 5, 1997.

We have had a good life, coming from and carrying on a great tradition of "family!" We have done quite a lot of traveling around this great country we live in including, Hawaii and Alaska. With good friends and children who have done well, how could we ask for more?