Recipes for Living Nancy Kathrym Boblenz Kerstein Friday

Many people reading this book will be wondering who I am because I am a new member of the Osceola community. Noel Friday and I were married in 2007; thus, Osceola is now my permanent home. Osceola is full of good people and I have been graciously welcomed into the community. Living here is delightful.

My family history began when my father's father, Carl Lothar Boblenz, came to Iowa from Germany in 1893. He became a citizen of the United States and always called himself an American. For many years, my grandfather's area in Germany was behind the Iron Curtain so there was no way to contact current members of the family.

I had always assumed that the Boblenz family was a "potato and cabbage" group of Germans. In the 1960s or 1970s, my aunt Madge, who has now died and whom I strongly favor, did some research of the family genealogy. She and her husband visited family members in Germany as did my sister and her husband.

One member of our family tree was a professor at the Institute founded by the German philosopher Goethe. Our information indicates that at the time of Goethe's death the professor became the director of the Institute. Due to the musical connections of our great-grandmother, Jenny Thon Boblenz, at the Court of Weimar, it is more than a reasonable assumption that she took her piano studies under the renowned pianist/composer Franz Liszt who directed the musical forces of the Ducal Court of Weimar from 1848 to 1861. There are a number of other artists and musicians in our family tree, and I was surprised to learn of this group of cultured ancestors. We have drawings and paintings which were created by our family members.

Because the name is so rare we thought until the 1950s, that we were the only Boblenz family in the United States. Finally we found a Boblenz family group in Marion, Ohio. There is a possibility that going back in history to the Thon family a connection exists between the Ohio Boblenz people and our family in Iowa.

Grandpa Boblenz married Etta Nancy Casebolt from Monroe County and they settled near Melrose, Iowa to farm and raise their family. They had six living children; my father, Herbert Thomas, was third in the family. The Boblenz kids all attended school in Melrose. As I understand it, Melrose was one of the rare communities in the United States where the Catholic church, i.e., the priests and the nuns, actually ran the public school. Melrose is an Irish/Catholic community which is greatly proud of its Irish heritage.

I have been told that at one time there was a Protestant church in Melrose but it burned. Apparently there was not a large enough congregation to rebuild the church so my father's family did not attend church. My father's brother was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1931 and Daddy remarked that the procession to the cemetery was over a mile long. Our Boblenz and Casebolt family members are buried in Russell because Melrose had no Protestant cemetery.

My dad was a quiet man and very honest, probably "honest to a fault". At the visitation for his funeral, a man told me a story about Daddy. Both of them were members of a civic club and at one of the meetings a lengthy discussion had developed over a somewhat controversial subject. Apparently Daddy did not believe the group was on the right track so he finally rose and spoke his opinion by saying quietly, "That's not right," and sat down. I was told the discussion ended then and there. Apparently, when he spoke, it was like E. F. Hutton — people listened.

My mother, Doris Marie Pennington, grew up in Moravia, Iowa and always lived in town. Her parents were Roscoe and Gladsie and as children, we called them Grandpa and Grandma Penny because we could not say Pennington. Grandma was born a "lady" and Grandpa was always loads of fun. Mother was always close to them because her only sister, Daphen, died in 1936 at age 18, when Mother was a senior in high school. Antibiotics, which are so common to us today, would have saved her life had they existed.

Mother took Normal Training in high school which prepared her to be a country school teacher. She was 4'11" and weighed 96 pounds so was smaller than many of her students. In many ways, Mother was always a teacher. One of the most valuable lessons we learned from her was the value of our family, and that we should always stand together and support each other, which we do to this day. She made beautiful clothing for my sister and me and prepared really good meals for our family. I don't know how she did it!

Mother and Daddy were marred in her parents' living room which was typical in those days. They had lovely big wicker baskets of flowers for their wedding; we used those same baskets at Mother's funeral. They moved to the family farm in Melrose which was a huge culture shock to Mother. However, she loved farm living.

I am the oldest of three children. My brother, Jerry, is 13 months younger than me and is a wonderful man. People called Jerry "Young Herb" when he was in high school because he and Daddy were so much alike. I always said Daddy and Jerry could sit in a room, not say a word, and have a wonderful conversation because they were so in tune with each other.

Our sister, Connie, was born 2 1/2 years after Jerry. She is the baby of the family and has gorgeous big, blue eyes. And she has the most charming personality. So, she was always cute as a button while I was the big sister, bossy and in charge. My brother was the middle child but, because he was a boy, did not seem to get caught up in the "middle child syndrome." Collectively, we are parents of seven sons — our parents had no granddaughters. However, all of our married sons have daughters so we finally have girls in the family!

We moved from Melrose to a farm near Moravia when I was four years old. The farm is still in our family. When I was about 4 1/2, I was taken ill and the diagnosis was spinal meningitis. My mother had a vision during a prayer session for me in which Jesus appeared before her. She told me she knew then that I would recover. I have never had any side affects from the meningitis.

The doctor would not let me return home until my parents had a refrigerator. Even though we had electricity on our faun, this was just after WWII and appliances were not readily available. I stayed with my grandparents until Mother and Daddy finally bought a refrigerator from a woman who had purchased hers in anticipation of the Rural Electric Association coming through her neighborhood. She told my parents that she wanted "their little girl to be home with her Mother and Daddy" and sold them the refrigerator which we used for many years.

Our family attended Wesley Chapel Methodist Church, a very small white country church on a country crossroads. The church building no longer exists but we feel close to anyone who grew up with us there. The three of us were heavily involved in MYF, Bible School and summer church camp. Many times our little church had the most kids from a single congregation at summer camp sessions. Our parents had lots of ice cream socials and bake sales to fund the camp fees. The first minister I remember was Reverend Wauneita McConnell. Imagine my shock when I learned that her sisters are from Osceola.

We attended Coulson country school until I finished sixth grade when the school was closed. We started riding the school bus to Moravia and each of us graduated from Moravia High School. I was active in band, FHA, FBLA and Rainbow Girls. I was not a good athlete so never played sports except as required in P.E. class. As incredible as it seems to me, I have just celebrated my 50th high school class reunion!

Jerry, Connie and I were greatly involved in 4-H and each of us was a county officer in Appanoose County. Each of us was also chosen as an outstanding 4-H member. The reward was a train trip to Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend, which was at the same time as the Chicago stockyards cattle show.

After my graduation from high school at age 16, I took a job with Central Life Assurance Company in Des Moines. During my first year I was asked to become "backup" for the woman in the Payroll Department. It was a manual system and I learned the process. During her vacations, I put out the payroll for over 200 people. I did a great job but it still amazes me that they had faith in me and my skills when I was so young.

I met John Kirstein in Des Moines — he was driving a pink 1957 Thunderbird and I like '57 Thunderbirds to this day. He had graduated from Mason City High School, attended Drake University for two years and was working in Des Moines and living with his grandparents to save money. Johnie and I were married in the Methodist Church in Moravia. He worked for a company which eventually became Ortho Chemicals.

After about 2 years, they had a corporate shakeup and, although he kept his job, everyone was demoted. We decided then that he should finish college because we believed that would give him greater assurance of keeping his job in the future. By that time, our oldest son, Jay, had arrived and I was a stay-at-home mom. I changed my life style by going back to work and we saved money for college. Johnie returned to Drake, graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1965, and we moved to Minneapolis for him to work at Pillsbury. A comment on the changing times — when he graduated, he had six job offers which was not at all unusual.

During Johnie's college years, his health had begun to give him problems such as double vision, tunnel vision and numbness in his hands. He was eventually diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which turned out to have a devastating impact on our family.

Our second son, Jeff, was born on Maundy Thursday in Minneapolis with a serious lung problem. We were thrilled when the doctors told us on Easter Sunday night that he would survive. Although he had several bouts with illness as a baby and toddler, he recovered and has had a busy and healthy life.

It finally became necessary for me to go back to work to help support our family. I had hoped that my working would be temporary but that was not to be. I worked as an executive secretary and accumulated more knowledge and experience with each job I had. My work life was satisfying to me in so many ways and provided many great experiences. I have had lunch with dignitaries and traveled with great pleasure, both domestically and to foreign soil.

Johnie's health deteriorated and in 1980 he took retirement. In 1983, he entered a nursing home where he lived until his death in 1987, just 11 weeks after my father died. Johnie was a fine and intelligent man who loved his family dearly. He had a great sense of humor which, coupled with a huge smile, brought many long-lasting friendships into his life. His illness and death took a huge toll on all of us but through the years we have each coped to the very best of our ability. His mother, Janie, and I have always been close and continue to be so now. She is almost 94 and I am grateful to have had her as my second mother for most of my life.

My life is blessed with two wonderful sons and their families. My daughters-in-law are wonderfully talented and remarkable women. We have a truly loving family relationship and loads of good fun.

Jay has a successful brick masonry business in the Detroit area. He and his wife, Darlene, have a blended family with four wonderful children, Trisha, John, Kyle and Katie. Darlene is a cosmetologist and has always regarded her work as a ministry to those she serves. She and Jay are a happy couple and are greatly involved in their church, particularly their small group which is a Bible Study. Jay has been in the National Guard over 20 years and has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and Qatar.

Jeff and his wife, Reiko, live in the Dallas area and have two wonderful kids, Kathryn and Brian. Jeff is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and an ordained Baptist pastor and Reiko is the Christian Education Director for a Chinese Baptist Church. She is Japanese and grew up in a home where her father was a Baptist pastor which is extremely unusual in the Japanese Shinto/ Buddhist culture. Reiko's brother and family serve as pastor and missionaries to the Japanese community in Lima, Peru. Her younger brother and family live in Australia where he is an ophthalmologist and her sister is married to a Baptist pastor in Japan. Jeff and Reiko have served as missionaries in Japan and Honolulu. I visited them in both places and have hosted Reiko's parents and other Japanese friends in my home.

My marriage to Noel also brought his children and grandchildren into my life and I am blessed for it. Suzanne and her children are in Lamoni. They are Lance, Miles, Savannah, Raphael, Simeon, Isaiah and Prairie Dawn. Linnea Hernandez lives in Texas with her good husband, Adrian. John and his children, Sam and Libby, live in Virginia. John and the kids were here in 2009 to ride across Iowa on RAGBRAI. We are so glad to see each of them when we can.

As I am aging, I have been pondering the verse from Ecclesiastes in the Bible which reads, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven". I have heard this passage read at funeral services so often that I believed the Biblical writer was talking only about life and death. However, I see now that he tells us that the seasons apply to the panorama of life itself. Many of our friendships, jobs, club memberships, etc. last for only a season of life — even our "hands on" parenting of our children is a seasonal job.

There is great beauty in maturity which we see exhibited each year during our Fall season. At this season of my life, I am so grateful God has blessed me with excellent parents who instilled great family values in each one of us. My mother and I were such good friends until she died in 2007. She and my mother-in-law plus my new friends from Osceola, Fern Underwood and Dorothy DeHaan, have provided me with the "game plan" for aging gracefully. I am sorry that I did not know Noel's mother because I believe she would have been the same kind of role model for me.

Retirement and a wonderful marriage have brought a special glow to my life. Noel and I truly enjoy our families but they are so busy with their own activities and responsibilities that they do not need us, which is appropriate. I love to cook and I have experienced great satisfaction in cooking for us and also for events at our church.

Noel has spent his life being greatly involved in the restoration of antique automobiles. I have come to love these cars also and I especially enjoy the friendships which have come to me through the car clubs and activities. I am beginning to recognize that restoration of these cars is much more than a hobby. It is actually a preservation of a part of America's history and the restored automobiles are jewels which will outlive all of us. When future generations view these restored treasures, I believe that automotive history will come alive for them.

We love to travel and do so a great deal. Our major conflict with traveling is that we must leave our little Beagle friend, Patches, at home and we miss her when we are gone. When we are at home, Patches and I love to sit in the evening while Noel plays the piano and organ for us. Noel keeps a fire going in the fireplace every night of the fall and winter so our home has a cozy atmosphere. We love to entertain and want our family and friends to know they are always welcome in our home.