Recipes for Living Bill and Jan Short

Jan tells: I as born in Newton, the fifth child of seven. We never had lots of the material things, but our family was never short on love, and we never went hungry. Being born and raised on a farm contributed to that.

My parents were Hoyt and Martha Woody. It is interesting to realize how Dad's and Mom's personalities complemented each other. Dad loved to joke and was very outgoing, to the point that it sometimes embarrassed us kids. He was always introducing himself to people. When we had a graduation reception for one of our kids, he was the one who stood at the front door and greeted the guests.

As we were growing up, Dad was very strict. We always had to account for where we were going and what we were going to be doing. He didn't graduate from high school because of having to quit to help work on the farm, but he was a self-taught man. He did lots of memorization, particularly Kipling, and was often called on to recite. He was very much involved in Masonic work and was Grand Master of Iowa in 1964-'65.

Mother, on other hand, was very quiet-almost shy. She had had a lot of health problems throughout her life. I inherited a lot of the undesirable things with which she had to contend. There were people, who thought I was courageous when I went through my cancer experience, but if I was, I give her the credit. She was gentle and kind, never said anything unkind about anyone. If I am half the person she was, I would be thankful.

I have lots of fond memories of growing up. Our family was close and have remained so. I have four brothers and two sisters. My oldest brother, Bill, lives in Phoenix, and is an electrical an electrical engineer with Lockheed. My oldest sister, Kay, lives in Sioux Center and works for the Sioux Center Newspaper. Jerry is a farmer, having taken over the family farm operation at Reasoner. Joe lives in Webster, New York, and is a financial consultant, having retired from Eastman Kodak Company. Ray is a veterinarian and lives in Fairfield, and Irma is Office Manager for Dr. Gary Richardson in Newton. My dad died in 1988, and my mother in 1995. Following her death my brothers and sisters have planned a yearly family reunion, taking turns hosting the event. Last August the seven of us, plus five spouses, traveled to New York for a weekend.

There was never was a time when I didn't go to church. Mother always took us when we were small. We attended a Christian Church about two miles from our home, until I was in high school. Then, influenced by my best friend, I began attending the Baptist church in Monroe. My favorite teacher, Mrs. Beasley, was a strong Baptist and a role model for me. I continued in and was a member of the Baptist church throughout my college years at the University of Northern Iowa, until I met and married Bill.

Bill picked up with his story: I was born at home on September 8. Mom cooked dinner for threshers, and I was born at 1:30 that afternoon! Dad was a farmer who rented until I was in high school, and always lived on farms in the Stuart/Menlo area. Jan and I had similar beginnings, and I, too, have fond memories of our days at home. Dad was a worrier. He would project all
the things that might happen and Mother was the one who remained calm and had the soothing effect. My oldest sister died two days following her birth. My parents never talked about her. I have an older sister, Norma. For years she lived in Gretna, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. Her husband died in September, 1997, and she now lives in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

My sister, Shirley, is the youngest. She graduated from Iowa State University, and married the summer after graduation. They live in Waunakee, Wisconsin, and he is a recent retiree from Oscar Mayer in Madison.

Dad died in 1982, Mom in 1981. Since their deaths, we too, meet yearly for a reunion, taking turns hosting.

I attended Adel High School, but graduated from Redfield in 1950. I started college at Iowa State University but quit after a quarter, enlisting in the Navy for four years. It was during the Korean conflict, but I never set foot aboard a ship! I was stationed for 43 months at Corpus Christi, Texas, in the Naval Air Station. I worked in the control tower directing the taking off and landing of Navy planes. After I was discharged, I went back to college and finished in 1958, with a degree in animal science.

My church background was kind of sporadic. As a family we had gone to the United Methodist Church in Menlo. On the various farms where we lived, we were sometimes 10 miles from town and seldom attended church. When I was in junior high, I began attending the Adel United Methodist Church, was in the confirmation class and joined the church. The minister was Dr. Arthur Long, who later on was appointed to the UMC in Newton. He married us in 1963, and we have often commented that the Shorts were married by Dr. Long.

After graduation, I began working for the Iowa State University Extension Service in Newton, Iowa. I had belonged to 4-H Dallas County and was greatly influenced by my leader, Don Johnson. He probably had more influence on my career than anyone else, although I need to give some credit to a favorite English teacher, Cleve Leper, whom I had in Redfield High School. She challenged her students, and I needed to be challenged in English, especially to be prepared for English courses at I.S.U.

I worked in Newton from '58 to '65. In the fall of 1963 I met Jan, who was spending her college break working at Maytag Company to earn money to go back to school. She worked in the Traffic Department, and I enjoyed telling people she directed traffic, but she actually kept records of all the freight that was shipped from the company.

Bill and Jan combined in telling that they had a whirlwind courtship. They went together six months and were married. Jan said, “If one of our daughters came home and announced her plans to marry someone she had known for such a short time, we'd have shuddered. But Mother thought I was old enough to know what I was doing, and Dad had found a cribbage partner, so all of us were satisfied.

"Because I had such wonderful memories of having grown up in a large family, I wanted a large family, also; and three months after we were married I was pregnant. Back then, there was a rule in the company that women could not wear maternity clothes to work, so I had to quit; but I was ready to stay home and raise a family. I wanted six children and Bill wanted four; so we compromised and had five." Lori was born in '64; the twins, David and Deanne, in '65; Doug in '67; Lynne in '69. Having five babies in five years meant that our lives were full. When the children were a little older, Jan did additional child care and Bill's Extension work involved many night meetings. We joined the United Methodist Church, attended the TLC Sunday School class, and Jan was involved in the evening Circle; but it left little time for other social life.

It didn't slow as the children grew. We found ourselves coming and going with all the school activities, 4-H Clubs, paper route, and, when they reached high school age, all had part time jobs. Each sport and job seemed to require a uniform or a white shirt, which kept the washer going full time.

After all the kids were in school, Jan went back to work full time, first at Osceola State Bank, then Hyland manufacturing Company, and then began at Clarke County State Bank in 1977, and is presently employed there as Branch Manager. Bill remained in Extension Service until he retired in 1986, after which he worked at Circle D Ag seasonally until 1994. He reflects that they had four kids in college the year he retired. He conceded that it took a lot of nerve, but they had help-student aid, jobs and scholarships.

Our children are grown now, and in homes of their own. Lori attended Southwestern Community College and received a degree. She married Barry Henrichs, and they have two boys, Kurt, 8, and Lance, 4. Barry farms; Lori is a nurse at Clarke County Hospital and teaches CPR classes. The boys are little farmers-they know more about farm equipment than a lot of adults. Lori is just beginning the pattern of following kids' activities, presently watching Kurt play Little League ball.

David is the older of the twins by two minutes. He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Business Management. He lived in Chicago for five years following graduation where he met his wife, Lisa, who was from Arizona and is an Arizona State University graduate. They returned to Des Moines several years ago. They now have a son, Tupper, who is 17 months old. David works for Allied Group and Lisa as a paralegal for a law firm.

Dede is married to Mike McCullough and they have three children-Josh, 11, Nick, 7, and Emily, 16 months. They live in O'Fallon, Missouri, where Mike works for John Deere and Dede teaches 4th grade. Mike graduated from Simpson, and Dede from Drake University. Their lives are busy with work, soccer and baseball.

Doug married Kim Adair, and thy live in Osceola. They have a daughter, Darian, who was three-years-old in July. After two years of college, Doug returned to Osceola, and has worked at the Chaney Twin Service Amoco station ever since. Kim is a part-time student at Simpson, and works two evenings a week at the Iowa Machine Shed Restaurant in Des Moines. Their schedules are complex, but allow the two of them to care for Darian without much outside child care assistance. We are glad when we have an occasional opportunity to keep her.

Lynne graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and received a Master's degree from Drake University all before the age of 25. She taught at Colfax/Mingo four years in Special Education. Last July (1997) she moved to LaGrange, Georgia and has a teaching job as a Special Ed Resource person in elementary school. Lots of special education teachers burn out, but she can't imagine teaching anything else. She loves her work and puts 100% into helping disadvantaged children. She was also assistant girls' basketball coach at LaGrange high school. Lynne has always been interested in athletics and is delighted to live where she can wear shorts all year round. She admits to getting homesick at times-this is the farthest away that she has ever lived.

We are very proud of our children, and we love the opportunities when we can all get together. Both of us grew up in close-knit families, and we are delighted that family means a lot to our children. Now, the kids, grandkids, siblings, work and church activities take up most of our time. We also enjoy bridge and golf and all kinds of sports.

Bill keeps busy refinishing furniture and working in the yard and flower beds. He does odd jobs around the church, recently retired after seven years as church treasurer, has helped with the Lord's portion dinner and auction for three years, and was a trustee for five years. We have each been chairpersons of staff parish committee, and Jan is now chair of the memorial committee. Jan has sung in the choir for over 20 years and both are active in the TLC Sunday School class.

No life is completely free of crises. Bill tells of his car accident in October, 1989. He was taken by ambulance to IMMC (Iowa Methodist Medical Center) in Des Moines, where he was in intensive care for a week, and hospitalized a total of 15 days with facial lacerations, broken sternum, ribs and hip. But, there is Romans 8:28, which says that everything works for good; and the most wonderful thing to come out of this was that Bill quit smoking. He was under oxygen for a week and was convinced this was the time to quit.

Another traumatic time was when Jan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. We were fortunate to find it early, and after five years cancer-free, we are considered survivors. It is at such times as these that the support of family and friends means so much. Along With Dotti Van Werden and Shirley Woods, Jan was instrumental in organizing a cancer support group which meets monthly except from July through September.