GLEN AND MAURINE POORE FAMILY

Glen Edward Poore was born on August 13, 1921 to Ralph and Goldie (Bryant Poore) on a farm near Beaconsfield, Iowa.  He was the eldest of five children: Glen, Betty Boylan of Des Moines, Howard, who died shortly after birth, Oleta Hickman, who died on August 9, 2000, and Ruby Waffle of Atlanta, Georgia.

Glen's parents owned and operated a restaurant and grocery store in Beaconsfield around 1929. However, the building burned down about two years later. The fire was believed to have started in fireworks which were legal at that time and were being sold at the store. The family then moved to a farm on the Decatur County line.

Glen was educated in Beaconsfield. He played basketball and softball in high school. After graduation in 1939, Glen attended Simpson College for one semester, and then helped his dad on a farm north of Beaconsfield.

Maurine (Overholtzer) Poore was born on May 22, 1920 to Walter Franklin and Gladys (Boles) Overholtzer in Grand River, Iowa. She was one of three daughters: Merna McDowell of Maryville, Missouri, Maurine, and Eula Williamson of Clearwater, Florida.

Their parents owned and operated the Overholtzer Cafe in Grand River from 1923 to 1941, so Maurine grew up helping in the cafe. Samples of prices on the menu in those days are as follows: coffee 5¢, hamburgers 5¢, other sandwiches 10¢, double dip ice cream cones 5¢, soup 20¢, homemade pie 10¢, T-bone steak dinner 40¢.

Maurine attended Grand River High School where she played clarinet in the band, sang in the glee club, and acted in school plays before graduating in 1937. However, because she was only 17 years old, and the minimum age for teaching school was 18, she went back to high school half days in the fall of 1937, and took typing and bookkeeping. During the summer of 1938 she attended Iowa State Teacher's College in Cedar Falls, then taught country school for four years.

Glen and Maurine began dating in December 1940, and were married a year later. They had planned to have their wedding in her parents' home in Grand River (in Decatur County) until it was discovered that they had purchased their marriage license at the courthouse in Mt. Ayr (Ringgold County). The law in those days required that the wedding take place in the county where the license was bought, so they were married in the Beaconsfield Methodist Church on December 26, 1941. Because of the wintry Iowa weather, many guests had to travel to the wedding by bobsled. The couple drove on a glare of ice to honeymoon in Lincoln, Nebraska, and then returned to live on a farm near Beaconsfield.

Glen served in the U.S. Army from the fall of 1942 until February 1946. Their son, Martel Edward (Marty) was born on November 7, 1944, while Glen was home on leave. During 1945, Glen served in France and Germany, and while he was overseas, Maurine and the baby lived in Grand River. One day she had the scare of her life when she saw the depot agent coming up the sidewalk carrying a telegram. She had heard too many stories of wives receiving telegrams bearing bad news, but it turned out that her husband had chosen that way to send her Easter greetings.

After Glen was discharged from the Army, the family moved to Hastings, Nebraska where he worked in a munitions depot for about one year before returning to Beaconsfield. He and Maurine farmed there for about a year, then in 1948, they moved to a farm owned by Bill Campbell, south of Grand River. Glen raised crops and entered into a partnership with Mr. Campbell to raise Polled Hereford cattle. In addition to his farm work, Glen was active in the Grand River Methodist Church, Lion's Club, and the American Legion. The couple's daughters, Marleta Glee and Marcia Eileen were born while the family lived on the Campbell farm Marleta on March 29, 1951 and Marcia on December 8, 1953.

In February 1958, Glen and Maurine left Grand River and moved the family to Osceola into a house they built on East McLane. Glen went into partnership with Ralph Andrew in Andrew Construction Company, which moved dirt and built roads. In 1960 he began working at Underwood Auto Supply. He later became their outside salesman and served in that capacity until he retired in November, 1985.

Maurine began working as a part-time bookkeeper for Smith Oil Company in 1958 and continued employment there until 1980. During these years they were very involved in their children's activities and were active in the Osceola United Methodist Church. They both s mg in the choir and Glen chaired the building committee when the current church building was constructed.

Since retirement Glen and Maurine are usually seen together. She served for nearly ten years as a Pink Lady at the hospital-from November 1990 to mid-year of 2000-and is a member of T.T.T. Society. In the summer of 1999 they decided they needed to downsize and move into something easier to maintain. They sold their home of 41 years to their grandson Eric Lange and his fiancé, Kris Ehler. Glen and Maurine now live in an apartment just off the square on Washington Street. The family felt good about having the house stay in the family, and believed that it made the transition easier for Glen and Maurine.

Marty

In his youth Marty played Little League baseball and helped with the livestock on the farm. He enjoyed fishing in the Grand River that ran next to the farm. The family's move to Osceola when he was in seventh grade was difficult for him because he had developed close friends in the Grand River school system. He kept those friendships and returned often for activities in that community. During his school years in Osceola he played baseball and could often interest his younger sister, Marcia, in playing catch with him in the front yard, seeing which could throw the ball the hardest. Marty also loved to challenge his grandpa Overholtzer to a game of croquet.   

In high school Marty worked at Rindy's Super Valu. He also bagged ice to be sold at a service station owned by Smith Oil Company. An icehouse used to stand where Kale's parking lot is now, and Marty's job was to run blocks of ice through a crusher then bag it. His sisters recall that this actually became a "family project.'' They also remember how he liked to try to catch people off guard by answering the family phone saying, "This is the Poore house."

After graduating from Clarke Community High School in 1963, Marty attended Iowa Barber College in Des Moines. After nine months of school, he did an 18-month apprenticeship at a barber shop near Drake University. This was during the Vietnam War era, so when he completed his apprenticeship and became a master barber, he lost his student deferment and was due to be drafted. Instead, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and left for basic training in February 1966. He was stationed at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota as a jet mechanic. From there he saw tours of duty in Guam, Okinawa, and twice in Thailand. While Marty was in South Dakota, he met Beverly Schmidt, a native· of Dalton, Nebraska, who was attending the National College of Business in Rapid City. They were married on August 31, 1969, just before his final tour in Thailand perhaps.

After being discharged from the service in February 1970, Marty and Bev located in Des Moines and he bought a barbershop near the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Although the shop has moved a few blocks south of its original location, he still owns and operates Marty's Barbershop. Bevis an auditor with John Deere Credit. They are members of St. John's Lutheran Church in downtown Des Moines, where she serves as wedding coordinator and is a member of the Altar Guild and WELCA (women's society). She serves on the board of directors for the American Business Women’s Association and the American Society of Women Accountants. Marty and Bev are big fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes, holding football season tickets for many years. They have three children who graduated from Roosevelt High School.

Shawntel Marie (born December 27, 1970) has degrees in accounting and political science from the University of Iowa. She is a licensed EMT Intermediate and works in the emergency department at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines. She is currently taking classes at Drake University with plans to attend medical school.

Trenton Ames (born November 14, 1978) attended Minot State University in Bottineau, North Dakota and earned a two-year degree in water quality technology. He is employed by the Des Moines Water Works as a lead operator.

Alisha Jean (born September 29, 1980) is about to complete her second year at Des Moines Area Community College and plans to go to a four-year college to earn a degree.

Marleta

Marleta remembers the culture shock of coming from the "little bitty town" of Grand River to Osceola in the middle of her first grade year. In Grand River, grades kindergartens to 12 were in one building. She remembers feeling overwhelmed by the size of East Elementary School. Her childhood memories include tap dancing, baton, piano, and swimming lessons, Brownie and Girl Scouts, and being "required" to work in the family's large vegetable garden. Her very earliest memory, however, is the day her baby sister came home from the hospital. She remembers her parents carried the baby into the house in a wicker bassinet and set it on the kitchen table. Curiosity won out and she had to crawl up on the table to get a good look at this "thing" that was causing so much excitement!

Marleta loved school and all the activities. In junior high she went out for basketball and was a football cheerleader. During her freshman year of high school, she was pompom girl in the marching band. She was a varsity cheerleader from her sophomore through senior years. She was on the Student Council, in school plays, on the yearbook and newspaper staffs, and a member of the National Honor Society. During high school, she held part-time jobs at the Dairy Queen and Hy-Vee. In 1969, during her senior year, she was on the homecoming court and graduated in the top 10% of her class.

Marleta attended Iowa State University with the idea of becoming an English teacher but quickly decided that was not mean to be. Even though her high school sweetheart was attending there, she left the University after one semester. She worked as a receptionist at Iowa Power and Light Company in Des Moines and lived in Esther Hall, which was a Methodist supported residence hall for young working women. After a few months she was offered a full-time cashier's job at the Osceola HyVee, so she moved back to Osceola and lived at home in order to save money toward getting married.

Marleta married Dale E. Scritchfield on August 15, 1971. (The story of his family is in the second Recipe for Living book.) They lived in Ames while he completed his final year at ISU. He graduated with degrees in marketing and computer science, and then went to work for Hy-Vee, which precipitated moves to Charles City, Des Moines, LeMars, and back to Des Moines over the course of seven years. In 1980 Dale left Hy-Vee and was employed in the food brokerage business for the next 20 years. He left the brokerage firm in July 2000, and is now working for Hyde Telecom Partners, Inc., which provides business phone systems.

Marleta was a stay-at-home mom when their two children were young, then went to work for Hy-Vee in Des Moines area stores from 1979-1993. She also worked part-time from September 1993 to July 2000 at the food brokerage where Dale was employed.

On July 9, 1992, while she was at work, Marleta developed a horrific headache and was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. She has no recollection from the time she was loaded into the ambulance until she came to in the intensive care unit several hours later. Her husband told her that she was to have brain surgery the next morning. She and Dale had plans to take a trip to Germany in October, and they had recently had their passport pictures taken. Her first remark on hearing of her pending surgery was, "I suppose there goes our trip to Germany!" Dale reassured her that the neurosurgeon thought she would be well enough to make the trip by then.

Her next remark was, "I suppose they will have to shave my head!" It was some time later, after her family had gone home for the night, that she finally put things into perspective. "Why am I worrying about a trip or having my head shaved? I could die in the morning!" It made for a very long night and "some serious praying." The next morning she underwent a six­ hour surgery to clamp off the aneurysm. She was unaware that the neurosurgeon had prepared the family for some ugly possibilities such as blindness, deafness, seizures, permanent memory loss, or paralysis. She feels truly blessed that she didn't experience any of those possible side effects and is thankful for the wonderful support she experienced from family and friends. It was a life­ changing experience that made her learn to appreciate each day God has given her!

Marleta and Dale have been very involved in St. John’s United Methodist Church on Des Moines’ south side from singing in the choir, to committee work, to teaching Sunday School. Marleta is an officer in United Methodist Women, and Dale has led Advent and Lenten Bible Studies. He regularly sings solos in their church.

Marleta and Dale have two children who are graduates from Lincoln High School. Megan Eileen (born April2, 1973) has a biology degree from Iowa State University and attended one year of schooling at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines to become a licensed medical technologist. Megan married Andrew Ramspott, a native of Alden, Iowa on August 3, 1996. He had an engineering degree from ISU and has nearly completed course work for a master's degree in business while working for Rockwell Automation. They live in St. Louis and are expecting Glen and Maurine's first great-grandchild (a boy) in November.

Tyler Bryant (born June 4, 1976) attended Iowa State University and is employed as a customer service representative for Ford Motor Credit in Omaha, Nebraska. He married Molly Stubben on March 31, 2001. She is a native of Fremont, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in biology. She is employed as an account coordinator at ConAgra.

Marcia

Marcia was four years old when the family moved to Osceola. Her early memories include walking to school at East Elementary with Lynne (Lewis) George, who lived three doors away and became her best friend. One childhood observation she recalls is that there were a generous number of pictures of Marty in the family album, fewer of Marleta, but a scarce number of her as the third child!

Although she preferred outdoor activities, Marcia also belonged to Brownie and Girl Scouts, and took baton and piano lessons. She and Marleta were both members of Rainbow Girls, the young girls' Eastern Star, and Yvonne Perry was their Mother Advisor. In the summer months Marcia "lived at" the pool. She loved the water and earned a life-saving badge. She also mowed lawns for two elderly neighbors.

Marcia's outstanding memories of school include track and basketball in junior and senior high. However, her junior year was marked by injuries. She shut her thumb in the car door and tore ligaments in her ankle, which effectively ended her athletic endeavors.

Marcia recalls the first ever Earth Day and being one of several Clarke High students who were bussed to the junior college in Marshalltown to put on skits and be a part of a video about Earth Day. Marcia served on the Student Council and laughs now to remember that they were instrumental in getting the dress code changed. When her older sister, Marleta, was in high school there was a strict dress code that didn't allow students to wear jeans or females even to wear slacks!

Both sisters remark at the differences between now and then: in junior high the principal had a paddle in his office (and used it if necessary) and young people weren’t afraid to go to school for fear of bomb threats or violence from gun-toting classmates.

Marcia remembers her class as close-knit. It was different when her sons went to school. She felt their classes had too many cliques, with kids from one group not speaking to kids in other groups. "They don't realize what they missed!" She jokes that it's pretty scary to realize that her high school teachers are retired now-Mr. Keeler, Mr. Myers, and Mr. Swaney and two members of the school board were her classmates. "Who would have thought?"

Marcia began dating Don Lange in her sophomore year. He graduated from high school in 1971, and she graduated the following year. They were married on July 21, 1972 at the Osceola United Methodist Church and like her sister; their wedding reception was held at the church with refreshments of cake and punch. It was not like the custom is now, with sit-down dinners and dances. It was a simpler time.

The newlyweds moved into the mobile home court on East McLane where they lived for two years before building and moving into present home located north of Osceola on highway 69. Don began his career with Clarke Electric after high school and recently completed his 30th year in that employment.

Marcia worked at Hy-Vee full-time after they were married, and except for about a year­ and-a-half after their oldest son was born, continued employment there until January 1994. She then began working in the Clarke County Treasurer's office. In January 2000, the treasurer's office began issuing driver's licenses and Marcia took eight weeks of schooling at several locations around the state to be one of two employees trained to issue licenses.

Aside from their jobs, Don and Marcia raise quarter horses and are members of the Saddle Club. She was on the Kiddie Karousel board of directors when her sons were enrolled. She is an active member of the T.T.T. Society and serves on the church’s Outreach Committee. Don has served as a 4-H leader, a director on the board of the Iowa Quarter Horse Association, and on the Clarke County Fair board.

Don and Marcia have two sons who are graduates of Clarke Community High School. Eric Alan (born December 24, 1974) attended Iowa State University for one year, and then worked for a relative doing maintenance work at nursing homes. During that time he met Kris Ehler. Eric now works for Chapman Metering Company, traveling to calibrate electric meters. He and his fiancé, Kris, have done extensive remodeling on the home they purchased from Glen and Maurine. Kris is the administrator of the Osceola Nursing and Rehab Center and has two children, Victoria and Jeremy.

Kyle Andrew (born May 6, 1979) is a junior at ISU. He is majoring in Ag Business and did an internship with Pioneer Hi-bred International during the past school year.

Glen and Maurine’s children are grateful for the old-fashioned Midwest values they experience during childhood. They cherish their memories of growing up in a close-knit family and fondly recall the frequent gatherings and dinners with aunts, uncles, and cousins. They often reflect on growing up in a time when Sunday was a family day- businesses were closed and there were no children's ballgames being played- and think our society today would be better off if we could return to that "day of rest" so families could reconnect!

Return to main page for Recipes for Living 2001 by Fern Underwood

Last Revised August 13, 2012