DICK AND BETTY EIS

In reflecting on our lives, we have a choice of whether to remember all the good things that have happened, or all the negatives, because every life has both. That was Betty's observation in anticipation of writing the Eis' life story. It is guaranteed that time spent with Dick and Betty will include a rich mixture of laughter and the best interpretation of events.

Rev. Richard Eis was pastor of the Osceola United Methodist Church from 1978 to 1983. His ministry here is remembered for his outstanding children's sermons, often inspired by something he had seen on his way to church that morning, and often about little animals which invariably were named "Freddie", after Betty’s brother.  They joked about Betty always being cold and Dick always too warm.  Dick impressed the Administrative Board by refusing a raise in salary in order to help meet budget needs.  Those who attended the weekly prayer breakfasts at a restaurant on the square recall the mixture of concerns, discussion, and good humor.

At least one member (the one editing this material) remembers that Dick served here at the time he chaired the Conference Board of Church and Society. That is the group that continues the emphasis of Methodism's founder, John Wesley, in concern for the disadvantaged. This reinforced and encouraged Dick's liberal views that often conflicted with the editor's conservative ones.  At last tally neither the liberal nor the conservative has been able to change the opinions of the other but the friendship endured the differences.

There are five children in the Eis family. During the time they lived in Osceola, Keith and Beth were employed in Des Moines. During those five years, both married-Keith married Nancy Moffitt and Beth married Jeff Sherman. Karen and Ann were in college, and Carol received her education in Clarke Community School from eighth grade through high school.

Dick was born in 1927 to Clarence and DeEtt Rockafellow Eis.  To his knowledge, Dick's mother and one grandniece were the only two people in the world who had that name. Genealogy that dates back to 1723 reveals a Rockafellow family's distant relationship to the Rockefeller family, and Dick's grandfather was a third cousin to John D.  Dick observed that somewhere between there and here the money disappeared.

The family lived in the Muscatine area, where Clarence had a small farm, which he inherited in 1947.  There were three children-Dick, the oldest, and two sisters, Alice and Beverly, three and six years younger respectively.  Alice, now Alice Parks lives in Mt. Pleasant, and Beverly Eis Sage lives on a farm near Waterloo.

Dick attended a one-room country school, which has been moved to the Wildcat Den State Park in Muscatine County.  When he had completed eight grades, he attended and graduated from Muscatine High School.  During his school years he was very active in 4-H.  He was the county president at the same time that his sister was county president of the girls’ 4-H clubs.  Dick was also deeply involved in FFA (Future Farmers of America) and was named a State Farmer.  This is an achievement award given by the state and Dick was the only one in his high school class to win it that year. Somewhere along the way, Dick lost the pin he had been given, but an agriculture teacher in New Virginia learned about it and presented Dick with a replacement.

The other main activity during Dick's high school years was dramatics.  That gave him the ability to think on his feet, "a good preparation for preaching." One particular incident was when he was in the pulpit one Sunday morning, looked out into the congregation, and saw a lady from a former appointment.  She was to be the subject of an illustration he planned to use.  So while he was continuing to lead the congregation in worship, his mind was questioning: Do I use that illustration or not? He had about two seconds to decide, but because he had become accustomed to ad-libbing in high school dramatics, he was able to decide to include the illustration.  There were no repercussions.

But Dick chose to write her and beginning then, through lots of pony-express letters, hitch-hiking, and invitations in 1948 and 1949 to the ISU VEISHEA event, their relationship flourished.

They well remember what happened in July 1950.  Betty's parents lived near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Dick and Betty announced their engagement by mail.  The parents jumped into their car and drove pell mell to Yankton, where Betty and Dick were in summer school. With Betty in the front seat between her parents, Dick in the back, they went to Inspiration Point and parked the car.  Betty’s mother detailed her objections.  She had several but one of the main ones was that she didn't think she could handle their 25th anniversary in February, Betty and Dick's wedding in June, and Betty's grandparents' 50th anniversary in July.

Both mother and daughter made pronouncements.  Betty's mother said that they weren't going to leave until Betty agreed with them. Betty replied that it was going to be a long wait. When they realized that Betty was not going to change her mind, the parents asked that she complete her Master's degree. Later, when Betty’s father had an opportunity to be alone with her, he said, "You have to be patient with your mom.  Dick seems like a nice young man." In the next few months, Betty’s mother tried to get her to break the engagement and forget Dick.  In February, 1951, the engagement was formally announced, and Dick and Betty were married June 10, 1951. Betty's parents paid her tuition for the four quarters she needed to finish and further helped Dick and Betty with a loan to buy their first car two years later.

In the fall of 1951, Dick and Betty entered seminary at Garrett Biblical Institute (now Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary) in Evanston, Illinois. Betty's courses were at Garrett and Northwestern University, as she worked toward her Master's degree in Christian Education. Betty graduated in 1953, but began working in an office in Chicago's Loop in the fall of 1952, while getting her "P.H.T. (Putting Hubby Through) degree."

Dick was in a three-year program, from which he graduated in 1954.  He had been appointed to the Bonaparte/Bentonsport charge in June 1953.  In order to fulfill his two commitments, he commuted the 300 miles to serve those churches on weekends, returning for classes from Tuesday through Friday morning.  Every Sunday Dick spoke in the Bonaparte church and every other Sunday also at Bentonsport, but after awhile he decided that since it would require no additional preparation, he would go every Sunday to both churches.

In 1953, Dick and Betty were delighted that Dick was officially appointed to the Bonaparte /Bentonsport charge.  Originally they were told they would be there for one year but at the close of the year they asked to stay on and remained for 3 ½ years. During that time Keith was born and the Bonaparte church added a basement.  In those days new graduates started in smaller churches and worked their way up.  In 1954, the minimum salary in the Iowa Conference was $3,000.  The two churches paid $2,800 with the conference paying the remaining $200 to meet the minimum.

The custom is that appointments are made in June.  The only time that was not the case for Dick and Betty was when they were moved in November 1957, to the New Virginia parish. The charge included New Virginia, Medford, Medora, and Liberty.  In 1960, Pleasant Hill was added to the four, thus increasing his responsibility for five churches.  Dick was assisted by a college student and had secretarial help.

Between 1957 and 1961, Beth, Karen, and Ann were born.  Betty very much appreciated that they were close enough to Des Moines that she had access to obstetricians and pediatricians.

Even though Dick had no desire to gain a reputation for building, and in fact never was given an appointment that led to building a church, as had been the case in the former appointment, under his pastorate the Medora congregation added a basement to their structure. Camping was a big conference emphasis during those years and all pastors were required to serve on the staff of a camp, as directors or counselors.  In this way Dick became involved in camping, which became a family recreation years later.

In 1961, Dick was appointed to Milton, Cantril, and Mt. Sterling.  This was a realignment of churches in the county and these three combined for first time. That carried with it some baggage that had to be overcome, but it went relatively smoothly. There was, however, another innovation.  In past cases of realignment, ministers were paid according to their former salary, but at this time the requirement was that each church continue the amount they had been paying. This resulted in Dick receiving a substantial raise.  He took precaution not to mention this to his friends in the same profession because there could have been resentment. A new parsonage was built during that appointment, but the Eis family lived in it for just one year.

In 1964, an opportunity came along to buy 28 acres of land in the Bonaparte area.  It was being sold at auction, and Dick and Betty made the investment. They wanted their kids to have a permanent place; somewhere they could feel they had roots.

In 1965, Dick served an E.U.B. (Evangelical United Brethren) church in Cranston and a Methodist church at Letts.  This was leading up to the time of the merger that came about in 1968, between Methodists and E.U.B.s.  Methodist churches were already a union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church South, and Methodist Protestant churches. The Evangelical Church had merged with the United Brethren.  From that time the denomination has correctly been known as the United Methodist Church.  Because Dick was serving an E.U.B. church, he attended many of their district and conference meetings and became acquainted with their pastors.  That made the transition easier for him and the congregations he served than was true in some cases.

Carol was born in 1965, about five weeks after the family moved to Letts.  During the next five years, plans were made and money raised for a new parsonage, which was built the summer they left that appointment.  In 1970, the family was moved to rural Hubbard, while Dick served St. John's Church in Radcliffe, along with Ellsworth, and Evergreen.  They were in that appointment at the time of their 25th wedding anniversary, and the Radcliffe charge had a big celebration.  It was also in that appointment that Dick successfully merged two congregations, a United Methodist and an E.U.B.  It was there that he instituted his Christmas in July sermons.  A year after he preached the first of those, the organist asked if he planned to do it again.  If so, she would plan the music accordingly.  Thus the tradition began.  The family was there for eight years, the longest pastorate in Dick's career.

This opportunity to live in open country delighted Dick and Betty, for they could raise the oldest kids through high school in that setting. They were able to give the children some learning experiences that probably would not have been possible in a zoned community.  They bought a used rabbit hutch and, along with the care of dogs and cats, the children learned to raise bunnies. There came a time when it seemed wise to reduce the number of rabbits. Consumption seemed an advantageous way to accomplish that and in order to ease the process, Betty purchased a rabbit elsewhere and served it to the family.  The children eyed it suspiciously and asked what it was.  Dick and Betty stalled, simply saying, "Eat it.  It is good.  You'll like it." However, persuading them was a lost cause, and Carol actually dashed out to the hutch to count the rabbits!

However, both Edna and I joined the agricultural division of 4-H.  That was more fun anyway because it was girls AND boys. Our project was raising Holsteins, which was natural because we were raised on a dairy farm.  We also entered garden produce and chickens at the fair.  Mom was in charge of vegetable displays and was good about taking us wherever we needed to go to participate in these activities.

You know from Dick's story that I have a brother, Fred, who was born when I was eight years old.  He is now retired and spent the major part of his career-28 years-with the Federal Land Banks in Omaha.

Our home was near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and we attended school all 12 years in the Harrisburg Consolidated School District. They did not have kindergarten, nor did they have girls' athletics. I took part in dramatics, speech, band, chorus, and was co-editor of the school newspaper.  There were 18 in my graduating class.  Edna was a year behind me.  She went on to become an elementary teacher until her children, were born.  Edna died at age 41 of Hodgkin’s Disease, while we were at Radcliffe.

We attended the large downtown Congregational Christian Church in Sioux Falls, and I was active in the usual things-Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and youth group. In the latter, after my sophomore year, I was asked to play the organ for their meetings.  The arrangement was that I could have free organ lessons during the summer and begin to play in the fall. You can imagine what a poor organist I was after one summer, but they accepted me.  After that I continued to take organ lessons at the church on a three-manual (three full keyboards) pipe organ.  In my senior year of high school, I gave a piano and organ recital.

I attended church camp, and was a local, state, and national officer for the Congregational youth organization, Pilgrim Fellowship.  Mom also drove so that I could attend those meetings. In April, after my sophomore year, the state director of Christian Education of the Congregational Church gave a program about high school girls teaching Bible School in rural South Dakota. When I said that I would like to do that "next summer," she said, "Why not this summer?" So I did. Another girl and I went as a team for one week of training then conducted Bible schools for a week each in three different locations.  I did that for three summers and Edna was my partner the last two.  Edna worked with the younger children and I the older.  In one place a set of parents prevailed upon Edna, asking that a child, who was younger than we usually accepted, be allowed to attend.  Poor Edna!  She couldn't interest him in anything.  All he wanted to do was crawl under the pews.  Each week concluded with a Friday night program and that didn’t come any too soon to suit her in that experience.

I was a teenager at that time with some teenage opinions.  I didn't think much of one of the women who had been director of Christian Education in our local church. I might have had a different reaction if she had tried to recruit me, but I admired the woman who challenged me to enter into the Bible School venture.  Then, because of the positive reaction of the adults, I decided that I had a call to be a Christian Education worker.

The folks gave me a choice between Sioux Falls College and the C.C. (Congregational Christian) college at Yankton.  The latter being 80 miles from home, I chose it.  I thought I could get a four-year program, majoring in religious education, but when I met with my advisor he explained that it would be better to choose a different major and go to graduate school.  Yankton didn’t offer a major in religious education and I wasn’t smart enough to realize that I could have gone somewhere else.  I think now that Morningside may have had what I wanted, but I was "green."  An illustration of just how green is that I thought it was unusual that so many of the men in responsible positions in the college had the same first name: "Dean.”  I didn't realize it. was a title until I discovered there was also a woman named Dean.

Being a p.k. is not easy.  There were pluses and minuses for them in the appointment system.  There were frequent moves, but they learned to make new friends and had friends they would never have known if we had always stayed in the same place. There is a family joke about the number of meetings Dick had to attend.  When he was due to return from a three-day event, I remarked to the kids, "Daddy will be home tonight," and one of them asked, "Has he been gone?''  But Dick and I tried to let our kids know that each of them was loved and very special. There were times when one of them tried to make a case that I had shown favoritism in this or that instance and I eventually developed this response, "We treat you all alike.  We've always done the best we knew how with the resources available to us at the time."

They seemed to survive the mistakes Dick and I made along the way, but I took heart one weekend when we were living in Emmetsburg. All five children had come home and as I reflected on that time together, I realized that they had enjoyed one another and there had not been a single disagreement! Further evidence of their congeniality was a time in recent years that they planned to vacation together in the Black Hills to give their children the experience. Dick and I were invited but chose to let them have that time to themselves.

We treasure the Christmas gatherings at the various homes.  The hostess coordinates the menu and names are drawn for gifts. They are lovely, useful, frivolous, and silly-like unmatched gloves for Dick, and caps for milk gallon jugs for Nancy so that she would have one when the original was misplaced. One year Dick and I received an empty TV box. While we were on our way to Des Moines, Keith and Carol had made a trip to our home and hooked up a new set for us.  Another time, Keith kept unwrapping t-shirts, only to discover later that it was only one shirt that was rewrapped while he opened other packages.

Even though I might have done things differently (better housekeeping, more scrubbing, fewer wisecracks just for the laugh, more time having good fun with the family) the children have matured well either because of or in spite of us. We are pleased that we were able to assist all five with undergraduate college expenses.  Beth has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Spanish.  Keith has an Associate Degree in Electronic Engineering Technology. Ann is a Certified Public Accountant; Carol’s undergraduate majors were in Computer Science and Library Science.  Karen majored in Library Science.  She and Carol furthered their education, each earning a Master's Degree in Library Science.

Our in-law kids are special also.  Nancy carried extra responsibilities when Keith earned his associate degree and then it was Keith's turn to help more at home while she completed a Master's degree. Steve has extra responsibilities during Ann’s busy tax season, and then she becomes more of a farm wife the rest of the year and works only part-time at the CPA office.

We are pleased that they are all busy with their work, active in their churches, and check in now and then on their "aged parents." Our Christmas letter for the year 2000 reported that all our children except Ann are in the Des Moines area.  Keith and Nancy have a daughter, Erica, in sixth grade; Austin in first.  Beth Sherman has two children-Carla, a high school senior, and Dan in eighth grade. Karen is a cataloguer at the Iowa Department for the Blind.  Ann married Steve Mallams and they live near Mt. Pleasant.  Their children are Julie, ninth grade, Jessica, fifth, and Jacob, second.  Carol is an accountant at 310 Credit Union.  I would like to tell about all their achievements and awards but I will leave that for them to tell when they write their own histories.

I treasure the many good times our family has had.  Most of our vacations were spent visiting the grandparents or at our acreage. On some vacations we went camping with our VW bus. We camped in the Black Hills, Colorado, Kentucky, and Minnesota. We camped in an Indian earth lodge in North Dakota.  The kids camped in a teepee at Porcupine, South Dakota, and we in our tent near them.  We also camped during annual conference near other ministers' families. The BUB church had a summer church camp which their ministers were required to attend. The camp continued after the merger with the Methodist church, and although attendance was no longer a requirement, we attended for several years.

One year for our anniversary I decided to surprise Dick by having friends come for strawberry shortcake at our home after choir practice. The kids helped me get things prepared. What they knew and I did not was that Dick planned a surprise for me that same evening.  He invited some of our neighbors and lined up refreshments of sandwiches.  Everyone had fun, we had plenty to eat, and Dick and I were both surprised.

Being in ministry has been a great blessing for our family.  I treasure our friends and many good memories of the year we shared. I am grateful to the congregations for the Christian fellowship and encouragement as together we all worked in our churches. We are grateful, too, for congregations that provided a community of "aunts, uncles, grandparents, and siblings" to our five as they were growing up. Some people complain about the appointment system in the United Methodist Church because we go wherever the pastor is appointed. I always say that we need to remember that although we give up some power of selection, we gain greatly in that there is never a single month without a paycheck.  That is a pretty good bargain.

As I look back on my life, I think of things I wish that I had known sooner:

(1) I admired Elsie Dinsmore, the heroine in a series I read as I was growing up.  Elsie always accepted the advice of her father or husband. I tried that but discovered that being a "yes, yes, dear" type wife was not who I was. Eventually I. came to trust my own judgment in many things and didn’t always ask Dick for his opinion.  I even learned to negotiate if our ideas differed.

(2) There are times when it is better to be quiet than to offer a "helpful suggestion" unless it is a matter of extreme importance.

(3) It is wise to be selective in what I say; being aware that it may be repeated by the person to whom I am speaking, on to someone else, perhaps many times with various interpretations.

(4) It is not rude to go ahead with necessary housework if a parishioner drops in unexpectedly anticipating a day-long visit.

(5) It is important to know what church members expect of a pastor's wife, but impossible to please every one.  The most important aspect in decision-making is seeking God's will and not getting "bent out of shape" over criticisms.                                                                                                                       

(6) When there are many things to be done, do the most important first.  God expects only 24 hours of service, not more than that, and some of those hours he intends for me to sleep.

Many things about money became ingrained in me as I was growing up.  I was influenced by sayings I may have read in Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, Proverbs in the Bible, Shakespeare, or somewhere-"A fool and his money are soon parted," "A penny saved is a penny earned," etc. Whatever its origin, I was certain that to borrow money, going into debt, was wrong-a person should have saved enough money in advance of making any purchase. When it came time to finance car purchases or trade-ins, Dick usually had to use all his persuasive powers to get me to agree. We gardened, the girls sewed, we attended auctions, garage sales, and we budgeted.  It all helped us in managing our money.  I wish we had found some way for Dick to take additional courses at one of the seminaries as he would have liked to do. It was a matter of time and cost, and never got done.

Sources of strength for me have been scripture, prayer, listening to good sermons, the words of hymns, playing the piano or organ, biographies of Christians, local church members whose faith saw them through various situations, letters from and visits with Christian friends. These scripture verses particularly have helped me: 1 Cor. 10:13: "No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." And 16:14: "Let all that you do be done in love."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Philippians 4:8-13: "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things...  have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty...I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  And Joshua 1:9: "...Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Occasional migraine headaches troubled me for over 30 years but I had them no more after 1973, when I had a hysterectomy and gall bladder surgery. When I reached 70 some new problems appeared.  I have had TIA’s (small strokes) and have a mitral valve prolapse.  One morning at 7:00a.m. I rolled over in bed hurrying to answer the phone.  I crashed to the floor and spent six days in the hospital because of two compressed vertebrae, but the doctor assured me that I would heal and to my surprise, I learned he was right.  Basically, I consider myself to be in good health.

We have been retired for nearly 11 years and I enjoy owning our home at 22489 Rte W 40, Bonaparte, 52620-8045.  Our hot water heating system and other parts of the environment of our home have freed me from allergies that plagued me in seven of our nine parsonage homes. In our own home can do as I wish with colors.  I continue to spend my time in household chores but at a slower pace.  My mother died in 1991 and in just the last year I completed my share of the work of dealing with her finances and estate.  That took a lot of my time.  Our kids gave me a computer and I use it for letters, writing reports and minutes, genealogy research, and financial records.  The research in genealogy has me interested in reading about the political and religious conditions my ancestors experienced.  Life continues to be exciting and challenging.

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Last Revised August 12, 2012