Recipes for Living Martha White

My background is St. Charles, Iowa, which means that I have long been acquainted with people who now, like me, make their home in Osceola. Our pastor, Tim Louk, was appointed to St. Charles when I was in junior high. I babysat their first son. Jim used to come to our house and go fishing with my older brother, Ed. I knew our Educational Director, Sandra Smith, because we were both in school at the same time. Leota Broyles was my 8th grade English teacher and recognized me the first time I saw her in Osceola. And Bonnie Smith Kirscher, a cousin, grew up in St. Charles.

I am the 5th child of seven born to Guy and Irma Scrivner and the first in the family to be born in the new Madison County Memorial Hospital in Winterset. The older children were all born at home. Our family of nine squeezed into a two-bedroom house for many years. My oldest sister was 18 when my youngest brother was born. I remember when I was about 8 years old, I thought my dad could do anything, especially when he lifted the house on jacks, dug a big hole underneath and made a basement. He placed each concrete block for walls mixing the cement by hand and working every evening and weekend on the project. Then I remember a big truck coming to pour concrete for the floor, and Dad worked all night getting it smooth. Now that we had a basement that meant one more bedroom, a place for Mom’s wringer washer and rinse tubs, and she could even hang the clothes in the basement to dry in the winter! But still, it was not the most convenient arrangement-we had to go outside and around the corner of the house to the stairway leading to the basement. But it was an improvement-the boys had one bedroom, the girls had one bedroom, and Mom & Dad (and usually a baby) shared the other bedroom.

Our home was on five acres, 1 ½ miles west of St. Charles. That was large enough to raise chickens, a few pigs, a milk cow and calf, and the best garden in Madison County. I remember planting potatoes by 5-gallon bucketsful, and at least two pounds of each peas and green bean seeds. During the summer garden harvest time, Grandma Smith came to help shell peas, snap green beans, and dress chickens. Grandma would keep our attention by creating little contests to see who could get their small bowl filled with shelled peas the quickest or who could empty their bucket of green beans first. Grandma’s smile and "Atta Girl" or "Atta Boy” was the best prize anyone could ask for.

I helped with the garden stuff without too much protest, but when it came time to dress chickens, I always found something else to do-like watch my baby brothers and keep them out of the way of the workers, or fix lunch, or run whatever errands were needed! I was often accused by my older brothers and sisters of being very creative in "finding" ways to get out of work! As a matter of fact, I was accused of a lot of things by my older brothers and sisters! My mother had a strict rule: the boys do the outside work such as feeding animals, milking cows, and mowing the lawn, and the girls do the inside work such as cooking, housecleaning, laundry, and caring for the little ones. A lot of things have changed in the past 40 years, and I'm not so sure I
agree with Mom's rule in today's world. I am convinced boys also need to learn how to keep a household going and girls certainly need to know the basics of the traditional "boy" outdoor chores as well.

My brothers and sisters, in order of their births, are: Barbara, now Barbara Adkins, who is married and lives on the home place at St. Charles. Ed is deceased and his wife, Betty, also a St. Charles girl who lives in Osceola, is now the wife of Dean Chaney. Bill lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is employed as a computer programmer for the Department of Agriculture. Becky, now Becky Cole, is an attorney living in Baltimore, Maryland. I came next and then Tim, who lives in Des Moines and is self-employed in construction-type work, as is Jerry, the youngest, whose address is St. Charles.

The 1980's decade was a nightmare for our family: Brother Jim had a daughter, Katie, with Down's syndrome. It became necessary for her to have heart surgery and they put in a pace maker. Her lungs were not strong enough to stand the ordeal and she died at the age of 23 months and was buried on Mom’s birthday, November 26, 1981. Dad died of colon cancer in the fall of 1983 and in the spring of 1984, Mom was diagnosed with leukemia. She died in 1990. My brother Ed was diagnosed with cancer on the anniversary of Dad's death in 1985, and died January 31, 1986. Then in June of 1986, my father-in-law, Nelson Simmerman, died suddenly of a heart condition.

At that time I was working for Jan Reynoldson. She was amazing! She continued to work in spite of her cancer illness. She took chemo, which she called poison, and then an antidote to combat side effects. She lost her hair, put on a wig and kept working; her hair grew back, curly, and when it was about an inch long, she took off the wig and kept on working. She worked until they put her in the hospital the last time. She died on Valentine's Day, 1986. Jan was in the same hospital, on the same floor and sometimes in the room next to my brother Ed. They died within two weeks of each other.

There is no magic formula for coping with death. We come to see it as part of life and learn to accept it. The only explanation my children could understand after my dad’s death was that he had to go to heaven to take care of Katie. After all, Katie wasn’t yet two years old when she died, and she needed Grandpa.

My dad had been a welder, belonging to the Iron Worker's Union, and he was proud to be a veteran of the Navy from World War II. He worked on construction sites for many commercial buildings in Des Moines and some surrounding cities. He loved to ride the Sky glider at the State Fair and look out over the city of Des Moines explaining certain construction details about each building. He was on the construction crew that built the present day Clarke County Courthouse, and also the athletic center on the Graceland College Campus in Lamoni.

We didn't have running water until the summer of 1963. Believe me, that was a big event! Prior to that time we had a well about 50 feet from the house and we carried buckets of drinking water, bath and laundry water. We had a gas stove in the basement and Dad built a tub that would cover all four burners. Mom fired up the stove and we kids helped carry buckets of water, pouring them through the window into the tub below, to heat water for laundry and baths.

We always went to church as a family. All nine of us would pile in the car by sitting on each others' laps. Mom and Dad were active in Sunday school, and I remember many Saturday night Soup Suppers in the church basement. Mom always baked pies for those events. I joined the St. Charles Methodist Church in 1963 and enjoyed MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) in both junior high and high school. Our favorite high school MYF activities were making and selling homemade ice cream for Old Settlers and our annual trip to Omaha. The homemade ice cream was always a huge success. We met at the leaders' home on Wednesday before Old Settlers borrowing mixers, buying fresh farm cream, milk and eggs. A few selected girls stirred up the ice cream mixture, and the guys and remaining gals cranked those freezers. As with any teenager activity, it was always fun, and the work was accomplished in no time at all. We sold the ice cream by the bowlful on Saturdays, and always ran out in early afternoon. Our annual trip to Omaha was Saturday afternoon shopping in a mall, dinner and a movie, stay overnight in a motel, church on Sunday morning, and then return home.

I remember only one family vacation. It was the summer before Barbara started nurses' training at Iowa Methodist, and Jerry was just a baby not yet a year old. We loaded the pickup and car with a tent and all the camping equipment for a three-day weekend at the Effigy Mounds at McGregor, Iowa. That is beautiful country and a great place to go hiking, climbing on rocks and things like that. I remember one morning Mom cooked two pounds of bacon for breakfast because it smelled so good and the open air made us so hungry! On this trip the girls slept in the tent, the two older boys in sleeping bags on the ground. Mom and Dad and the two little ones were in the back of the pickup. That was the arrangement until it started raining. The boys "invaded" the tent uninvited and unwelcome. We girls were mad as hornets, but we really didn't want the boys to get sick and ruin our vacation either.

We all started to elementary school at St. Charles. We had the interesting situation that our bus driver owned his own bus, leased it to the school, but drove it himself. He was very protective of his property. When I entered 4th grade, the school had changed. St. Charles had consolidated with Truro and New Virginia to form a new school district called Interstate 35. Ed was a senior in high school and he hated every minute of that year! He could not adjust to the fact that now he had to go to school and play on athletic teams with kids from Truro and New Virginia. They had been arch rivals and it was a bitter pill for him to be required to be their teammates. He was bound and determined he was not going to graduate from Interstate 35, but, of course, he did.

It is always fun to run onto a former teacher. I saw Mr. Duncan, who had been my 9th grade Algebra teacher, when my daughter was playing volley ball at New Virginia and he was one of the officials. I see him now when our brass group plays at New Virginia and he always has a big hug for me.

I graduated from Interstate 35 High School in 1970 and was offered a job at the first place I applied. I accepted the position in the accounting department of Central Life Assurance in Des Moines. On that job I learned to appreciate accuracy as I balanced my cash drawer each day, accounting for all the inflows and outflows.

After a year of commuting to the city, the "American Dream" came to me in a promise of marriage and life on a farm, the best place to raise a family. Bob Simmerman and I were married in 1971. Our two daughters were born in 1972 and 1973: Melinda (Mindi) on February 10, 1972, and Janice on May 23, 1973.

By the time four years had past, the dream I’d had in 1971 became a nightmare of financial difficulties. Bob was hired at the newly opened Jimmy Dean Meat Company in 1973, so we sold the farm and moved to Osceola in 1975.

When the children started to school, I decided I needed outside stimulation and we could well use an extra income. My first concern was whether I could manage the home, family and a job. In 1976 I settled for temporary and part-time employment, for Sears Catalog Company and later in the office of Crossroads Mental Health. The real break came when I landed a job as legal secretary at the Reynoldson Law Firm. I loved that job and continued to learn something new every day for the ten years that I worked there.

At the law firm I was a secretary with no room for advancement without further education of seven years of college and law school. I couldn’t afford to quit my job or pay for college, so I sought other employment. In 1986 the local school district was searching for a secretary for the new superintendent. By this time my children were in junior high and high school, each with extra-curricular activities, so this looked like an opportunity to be employed and even more involved in their lives. They didn't mind, and I think they were even proud that every student in school knew their mom! The problem was that I didn't like the job. By 1989 I realized that it was not challenging to me, that there was a lot of turnover in personnel, and some conflicts that I didn't like being involved in.

There were conflicts in my personal life as well. My marriage ended in divorce in 1987, and, for financial reasons, I was forced to move from my acreage back to a former residence on South Fillmore. During that time I met and married a wonderful man, Dennis White, in 1988. With that marriage, I also gained five more children!

Our new blended family with seven children is a constant challenge. My five step-children are Rick, Kim, Jeannette, Michael and Denise. Their current status is: Rick is a civil engineer with Howard R Green Company. He is now married to Nicki and they have two children, Abby and Jeff. Kim builds prostheses and her husband, Chad Darrah, is an elementary teacher at Chariton. They live in Indianola. Jeannette is an office worker, and her husband, Jared Ogbourne, following the steps of his Osceola father and grandfather, is now a full-time fire fighter for Mason City. They have two children, Dalton and Bailey. Michael, a carpenter and his wife Dena live in Osceola. Both Dena and the youngest step-daughter, Denise, are employed by John Deere Credit in Des Moines. Denise is not married and lives in Osceola.

The job search began again after our marriage and I was offered a job at the Clarke County State Bank as Executive Secretary for the President. My desk was located in the loan department area, and soon I was doing a lot of loan work. The day came when I was asked to make a choice between the loan department and Executive Secretary. It took about two seconds to make up my mind. The loan department involved a lot of things I already knew from the law firm, it presented a challenge to me, and there was room for advancement and a career. I have never regretted that decision. My career has catapulted since that day. I was first promoted to loan documentation auditor and, in 1993, to Assistant Vice President and consumer/residential real estate loan officer.

I began working full-time in Osceola in 1977. It is fascinating to think back to the changes that have taken place in office technology. When I began working at Reynoldson we used manual typewriters and (ugh) carbon paper, and thought, when we had memory typewriters, that we had come a long way. Now we have moved on to computers and wonder how we ever got anything accomplished without them! When I started at the bank we had one P.C. (personal computer) and purchased the second one for me to use. Now there is a computer on every desk, all networked into the mainframe. This gives every employee easy access to all records. We also have inter-office e-mail, which helps with communication among employees’ at all three facilities.

I have recognized the need to continue my education as it fits with my work schedules. I have taken night classes through SWCC and AIB, and am currently enrolled at Simpson College. Through Simpson's Division of Adult Learning, it is possible to get a four-year college degree by attending classes evenings and weekends!

My daughters were educated in Clarke Community schools. After graduation, Mindi went on to UNI (University of Northern Iowa) and graduated in 1994. She and her husband, Brad Ebert, have no children. They live in Indianola where Mindi is currently employed at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home and Brad is an accountant with KVI in Des Moines.

Janice supplemented her education by attending SWCC. She now works in the office at Osceola Foods. Her husband, Brad Howe, is a carpenter, and they live in Murray. Janice has two step-children, Alaina and Bradley, in addition to her own, Luke, Danielle, and Bobby.

My husband, Dennis, worked in the implement business for Maxine Kimball, Rick Barrett, Case International, and most recently Vetter Equipment. He had the same job for 33 years, but the store changed ownership many times and moved to Indianola in 1993.

In 1990 Dennis was chosen to be part of a special task force sent to England to teach the English factory workers how to build a specific model tractors. The assembly had been moved from Germany to England, and the Germans were so upset they wouldn’t give any assistance in the transition. "While in England six weeks the first time, and four weeks the second time, he got to see some of the country and learn a little about the culture.

Dennis is now employed at Osceola Foods with the maintenance department. He enjoys working with the farm equipment repairs and service, but does not like commuting a distance to his jobsite, which is the primary reason he now works in Osceola.

I have been active in church throughout my life. I have taught Sunday school, was the Elementary Education Coordinator, led children's music and sung in church choir. I play the baritone with Celebration Brass and we perform regularly in churches and social and community events. I am currently treasurer for the Osceola United Methodist Church which involves also serving on the Finance Committee and Church Council.

Dennis and I are actively involved in the Osceola Lions Club. I am currently and have been Club Treasurer for several years, and Dennis is a past president. We enjoy the community participation of Lions Club as well as the members.

Dennis is my best friend, and we value our time together. We do wood crafts, walking and country dancing, and when time allows we like to go camping. We plan annually for two weeks at the State Fair with our very best friends, Gary and Norma Hatcher. Now some of our children have campers and they are continuing our tradition. We reserve a campsite at the Iowa State Fair Campground every year.

We enjoy remodeling houses, although we found building a new one was more fun. We take pride in what we can do with our hands. We like to "see" what we can accomplish! The bottom line is that we like doing things together and nothing seems like a chore as long as we are doing it together.

Is there an attitude I would like to leave as a legacy for those who come after me? I think of one thing that Dennis often says, "If you take time to do it right the first time, you don't have to do it over. Preparation is 90% of the job."

In summary, my life is not unlike many others - I grew up in a large family and we learned to live off the land. My mother's job was to raise and care for the children and keep the household running smoothly. Today's world is very different from the one I grew up in. I live in a two-income, two-career household. Our children are grown and on their own, but my life is no more or less full than my mother's, only filled with different activities.