Recipes for Living Gladys Leona De Bok Goodman

Gladys was born in 1903 in Cordova, Iowa, where her father, Henry DeBok, had also been born. Gladys said, "under Red Rock Lake", because that community, south of Knoxville, no longer exists. It and others were sacrificed when the Des Moines River was flooded to create the Red Rock dam, lake, and recreation area. There are other DeBok families in southern Iowa, whom Gladys does not know; but they called for information about their ancestors when grandparents died. One time, when Gladys and Oky were traveling in Holland, she saw the name on a sign. Her mother, Sarah Elizabeth DeBok, had been born in England.

Henry DeBok didn't like farming and traded his farm for a general store, the only one in Cordova. It also housed the post office. He lost that business and the family moved to Newton where there were three washing machine factories, Automatic, Maytag and one other. Gladys' father was employed as an electrician at the Automatic Washing Machine Company.

The DeBok family had three children-Clyde, one year older than Gladys; and Vera who was two years younger than she. Gladys started and continued her schooling at Newton. In high school she played guard position on the six-girl basketball team. In those days they played on a three-court plan, the guards never assuming the forwards' role of shooting baskets. There were no games with other schools. The only competition was intra-mural. The girls made their own uniforms of middies and bloomers. Gladys says there was so much material in the balloon bloomers that if she had fallen into a puddle, the weight of them would have dragged her down and she'd have drowned.

Tent revival meetings were popular and Gladys and her sister went every time they had the opportunity. Every night they went forward for the altar call so Gladys and Vera were saved and saved and saved. Their parents were Episcopalian but Gladys and Vera went to the Christian Church because that church had a swimming pool in the basement. Gladys was baptized by immersion in the Christian Church baptistery.

Gladys lived in an era of momentous change that greatly affected life styles. Their early homes had nothing of what today's culture considers necessities. When she was five- or six years-old, her father put in electricity-a single bulb on a cord that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. Next they had a telephone, but no indoor plumbing until she was in high school.

When Gladys was 10 or 12 years-of-age, she saw her first airplane and couldn't imagine what it was. However, years later, when she heard that there would be a plane coming to town to take riders, she took money she had been saving and went to the Fairgrounds to wait for it. The pilot had room for two passengers and a boy and Gladys took the ride. She had not told her parents, but there were her mother and father sitting on the ground on a blanket when they came down. Gladys also liked to ride the Ferris wheel, so this adventure was not out of character for her.

Her first car ride was when she was in high school. A girl friend had access to her father's car. The other girls would tell their parents they were going to the library, then meet and ride around the square. If the driver went slowly enough, or stopped, boys would hop onto the running board. That came to an end when they were told that, if they continued, they could just buy the gas.

Whenever she went anywhere at night, her brother followed her. Neither she nor her family knew about this until one night her mother called that it was time for Gladys to come in, not knowing she was talking to her own son.

The choice of careers for girls at that time was limited. Gladys knew that she didn't want to teach school so she opted for a secretarial course in high school. The teacher was impressed with her skill so she gave her name to the Maytag Company and Gladys went to work there.

Gladys worked for five years during which time she met Oky Goodman. Prior to their meeting, Gladys' mother had been on the look-out for a nice young man for her. She told Gladys about a fine looking blond, curly-headed fellow, whom she might like to meet. Gladys said she wasn't looking for a blond but if she found a fellow with black curly hair, she might be interested. She became interested when she met Oky.

Oky's parents had come to America from Sweden. His father had been working in coal mines in which they had to stand in water up to their chests. Before his death, the doctors diagnosed his health problem as tuberculosis, but it was actually Black Lung Disease, which was not uncommon for coal miners. They began hearing about America, where conditions were so much better. The family settled in Colfax and Oky's father became a member of the United Mine Workers Union.

Oky's family was gifted in music and art. His father played the violin to pay his way to America. Oky's brother played the clarinet and was educated at the Julliard School of Music. Oky earned his way in college by playing in a dance band for various functions-sorority parties, etc. He played piano by ear and could play anything.

Even though the move was an advantage for the rest of the family, Oky's mother was never happy here. What she had left behind weighed heavily-her entire family, whom she never saw again, and their beautiful, large, two-story home with a rose garden. She never had an opportunity to go back. Oky and Gladys found the house when they went to Sweden. His father had painted a picture of it and the painting is still in the family. He was painting a mural in a home and Oky was helping him about the time he and Gladys met.

Oky had come to America with his parents when he was five-years-old. Other family members had come ahead of him. Oky could not speak a word of English, of course, and, when he started to school, the other children made fun of him and physically picked on him. There was one black family in town and they lived on Oky's route home from school. The mother rescued him many times by bringing him into the house until the other kids had gone.

Oky graduated from high school and went on to college. He felt the need to drop out when his mother became so broken hearted over the death of his brother. That was the reason he was on hand to help his father paint.

Friends of Oky and Gladys persuaded each of them to accept a blind date and thus their relationship began. That Oky made a fine appearance was attested to recently when a nurse in the Long Term Care unit of Clarke County Hospital saw Gladys' picture of Oky. She asked, "Who is that handsome fellow? He looks like a movie star! And just look at those lips! I'll bet he was a great kisser!"

On their first date, the friends took Gladys and Oky to Kellogg, a short distance east of Newton, and a piano was available. His friend encouraged Oky to play, and that is when Gladys discovered Oky's line of work. It was in the days of silent movies when pianists were hired to create the mood that is now achieved by background music built into the sound system. Oky was given a copy of the script ahead of time so that he could be familiar with the plot. He would study it and be prepared with appropriate music for the various scenes. Oky's life-long hobby was ham radio.

They dated about a year, anticipating that they would be married when Oky had saved $1,000. They eloped in 1927, encountering difficulties along the way. Oky and a friend had purchased the "The Polka Dot Theater'' in Fort Dodge; Gladys was working at Maytag Company in Newton. At that particular time her mother was quarantined with scarlet fever.

Gladys arranged for someone to take her to Des Moines to catch the bus for Fort Dodge. That person was late and by the time they arrived, the last bus had gone. It was a very uneasy situation for an inexperienced traveler, but Gladys was carrying her suitcase and had the ingenuity to find a hotel in which to spend the night. The next morning she caught the bus.

Gladys and Oky found a Justice of the Peace and were married by him, with witnesses being whomever he could round up. Gladys thinks one of them was a custodian of the building. It was a beautiful day so, after the brief ceremony, the newlyweds went to the park, sat on a bench and held hands while Gladys waited for the bus to take her back in order for her to be at work the next morning.

About this time the Depression hit and Oky and his friend lost the theater. It was necessary to live with Oky's parents and Gladys was not happy with the arrangement. When that became evident to Oky's father, he built them a little five-room home in Newton.

The A. H. Blank Theater Corporation owned theaters throughout the midwest and hired Oky as their theater manager. That began many moves, for they kept transferring him, first to Fremont, Nebraska; then Burlington, Chariton, and Rockwell City in Iowa. The family relocated each time and Oky always became involved in Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. The family remembers his telling that, as he was saying goodbye to one such group, he briefly recounted his life. He said that he and Gladys were married in October and their daughter was born in November. Their laughter reminded him that he needed to add that their daughter was born one year later in November.

Gene Eloise was born in 1928, her name so spelled in spite of that usually being the spelling of a boy's name. Gladys wanted the same G.G. initials that she had. At the time Gladys and Oky lived in Fort Dodge. Thomas James was born in 1931, when they lived in Chariton; and Jon Oky was born in 1937, when they lived in Rockwell City. When the family finally had a car, it was an old Model T one seater. Oky had to take Gladys to the doctor and when they were leaving the doctor advised them that, when the kids started hanging out the sides, they might want to get a two-seater.

Oky bought a theater in Villisca in southwest Iowa, where the children grew up and went through school. During their high school years the three children helped in the theater. Gene sold popcorn and the boys ran the film. Oky was beyond draft age but did his part for the war effort through bond drives. He required that people buy war bonds for admittance to the theater, and nearly every night played Kate Smith's recording of "God Bless America'' as people came in. The general public was very patriotic during that war, willing to support the boys in service.

While the family lived in Villisca, Gladys became very active in the church. There was a three-woman committee that was responsible for dinners. Their duties rotated each year and the third year Gladys was in charge of a dinner honoring graduates, the Harvest Home dinner and others. It was up to her to recruit workers and plan the entire event. She remembers how nervous she was. She went home after each dinner, sat on the bed and counted the money to make sure she could account for every penny.

In 1950 Oky bought a theater in Oskaloosa, where he and Gladys lived before coming to Osceola. Gladys had always hoped to go to Hawaii and they made the trip during that time. They traveled with the twins who operated the Twins' Shop in Osceola. Later the Goodmans went to Europe, specificalto Sweden, Norway and Holland. After moving to Osceola, they went on a Butterfields' tour to see the fall foliage in the northeastern states.

Gladys has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Gene and Russ Froyd have three daughters: Vicki, Jenny and Sara. Vicki has two boys and one girl. She married Lance Crawford who had a dental practice in Osceola for a short while. There was no housing for them in Osceola so they lived in Chariton and he commuted. They and Jenny presently live in Ames. Jennifer (Jenny) has two daughters and she was remarried at the end of August, 1999, in the Rose Garden at the Art Center. Sara has a son and daughter and she, too, was remarried in the summer of 1999. She lives in West Des Moines. Tom has two sons and two daughters; they have no children. Jon has two daughters who have two boys.

It was through Lance that the family came to settle in Osceola. Russ had always wanted to build a house in the country. This area presented great possibilities and Russ called Oky and Gladys, suggesting that they also consider the idea. By that time Oky and Gladys were living in retirement. It sounded like a good idea to them and the two couples built houses side by side. Another couple, Gary and Sharon Urich from Iowa City, chose that area at the same time. It became known as ''Poverty Ridge", and was so generally known by that name that at the turn west onto the first graveled road just beyond the nursing home north of town, there is an identifying sign on the fence.

Gene and Russ had been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, but there was no Presbyterian minister for the Osceola congregation. Gene had sung in the choir and there was no choir. They were very impressed by their first visitors, Shirley Woods and Ruth Lathrop, from the United Methodist Church. They attended a time or two and then Russ developed physical problems which resulted in quadruple by-pass surgery. Rev. Ivan and Mrs. Ada Bys were there during surgery and regularly during recovery. Those kindnesses are not forgotten; the Goodmans and Froyds became members of the United Methodist Church in Osceola, and Gladys and Gene were members of Ruth Circle. In future crises Rev. Dick Eis and Rev. Judy Miller were available to them, and they appreciate the on-going ministry of Rev. Duane Churchman and Rev. Jim Louk.

Oky passed away in 1989, while he and Gladys were spending several winter months in Arizona. His remains were sent back to Iowa for burial in Colfax. Rev. Cliff Haider conducted the graveside service.

When it became unwise for Gladys to live alone, she moved to an apartment in Casual Living on South Fillmore in Osceola. She was there for three years when she moved to Long Term Care of Clarke County Hospital. She quietly states that when one lives to be 96 years-of age, it is to be expected that watchful care will be needed. Gladys' hands have always been busy with quilting, sewing and knitting. All the granddaughters have quilts and she has knitted for them coats and dresses. She always made Easter coats for church. She also knitted dolls with old fashioned bonnets and capes. She has accepted the transition to a different kind of diversion. She is grateful for a good activities director, who has something planned for each day at 10:00 a.m. and at 3:00 p.m., and Gladys participates in it all.

Would that everyone who reaches the age of 96 could contribute to the lives of those around her as beautifully and graciously as Gladys.