I was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on October 23, 1887. My folks, Daniel and Martha Bedford, had moved that year from their farm in Lincoln Township. When I was six months old, father, mother and I went to California where father and his three brothers, Drs. Alfred, Lyman and Edwin Bedford, had bought a hotel in Corona. The venture proved unprofitable after a year and we returned to Waterloo. The next year father bought the "Ward" farm ½ mile Southwest of Hudson on the old Eldora road. It was a pleasant place within walking distance of school and church. I remember we had a surrey "with fringe around the top" drawn by a spirited team of horses. By this time there were seven children so the three boys walked to church while the rest of us rode.
I started to school in Hudson when I was six. No busses in those days. I remember walking on top of the snow drifts, often breaking through. The teacher would have to thaw out our hands in a basin of cold water or snow. Kate Bowen was my first teacher. I had a habit of standing by my desk with my knee resting on the seat. She made me stand that way a whole day. I think it cured me! The schoolhouse was a two-storied building, containing four rooms. It originally had only eight grades. My class went on to the ninth grade and I was proud to be in the first graduating class.
In 1898 we moved to Hudson, where father had built a beautiful home on the corner across from the Community Church, where Art Hollis now lives. We had hard wood floors, a fireplace, beautiful oak and curly pine woodwork. We had our own water system, a large water storage tank in the attic. The boys had to pump water into the tank every Saturday night so we would have enough water for our baths.
Just when mother and father were all settled and enjoying their new home, my younger sister Helen was stricken with appendicitis and died in a few days. That was before they operated for this dread disease. Then in 1900 father was taken sick with a brain tumor and he passed away. So mother was left with the full responsibility of a large family. Mother believed all should have a good education. Clara graduated at the Cedar Falls Normal School and after teaching a year in Reinbeck, she married Dr. Vander Veer there. Jo attended the Normal School also, then spent a year at the Art Institute in Chicago. We have many of her paintings. Lyman, Will and Carl all attended the Normal School. Lyman went on to Iowa City and graduated there in 1904. Carl became the Cashier of Hudson State Bank. Will was also in the Bank at Cedar Falls and Janesville before moving to California. I remember when the boys were attending Normal School they would stay at boarding houses during the week, then we would drive up and get them so they could be home over the week-end. That was before the hills were cut down on the Cedar Falls road and some of them were plenty steep. They also could go by train, changing at Wilson Junction and continuing on the "Plug" to Cedar Falls.
We used to drive to Waterloo to attend Chatauqua every summer. We heard many fine speakers including Billy Sunday, William Jennings Bryan and others. There was always good music. I remember one year we rented a tent on the Chautauqua grounds and stayed the whole week. Another time I stayed with Carl and Nelle at the San Souci Hotel over the weekend. That was a thrill!
I attended Cedar Falls High School during my Sophomore year, staying in the home of sister Clara and Dr. Vander Veer. In 1904 Carl and Nelle Loonan were married and Mother and I moved to Waterloo where I finished High School at West High, graduating in 1906. Mother had built a lovely home on South Street. After graduation, I went on to Grinnell. I stayed at the Clark House. That was before the girl's dormitory was erected. Two Reinbeck girls, Estelle and Victoria Swan also stayed there and it was a fine group of girls. I was a charter member of Girls Glee Club and the Drama Club. I also joined the Calocogathia Literary Society. My major was Public School Music. I studied piano, voice, composition, French and German, English, etc. I sang in the Vesper Choir and played the part of Puck in the musical version of "Midsummer Night's Dream". This was a thrill! I enjoyed my two and one-half years at Grinnell. I had to return home when my mother had to go to Rochester for an operation. I always regretted not returning and finishing my schooling at Grinnell. It's a wonderful school!
Our family always attended the Baptist Church in Hudson. Mother was an active member of their Ladies Aid Society. I remember when I was just a little girl, at one of their meetings they had a missionary talk, who had just returned from China. She wanted to re-enact a Chinese wedding ceremony. I was chosen to be the bride and Lloyd was the groom. The ceremony consisted of drinking out of a double spouted tea pot. First I would drink and then Lloyd. That is my first recollection of Lloyd, who was to become my husband many years later. When I was in High School, Lloyd was the only boy Mother would let me date.
Lloyd and I dated some during high school but hardly saw each other while we were both in college. He graduated from Normal College in Cedar Falls in 1907 and then went to Iowa State at Ames for a year. When I came home from college in 1909 there he was at the depot to meet me. We began to go steady. in the spring of 1911 I spent six months with Lyman and Hazel in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. their Dan was about six months old then and I helped Hazel take care of him. I was wearing my diamond engagement ring but wasn't real sure about marrying. When I came home in June I had made up my mind and we began to make plans for our wedding.
Lloyd and I were married August 23, 1911. It was a simple home wedding before Mother's fireplace. Our only attendant was Helene, who made a cute little ring bearer. My dress was of heavy white satin, trimmed with hand-made Brussels lace. It had a short train. Lloyd wore tails. My trousseau was made by a dressmaker in Cedar Falls (no ready-mades in those days). We left by train for a six weeks honeymoon, making many stops. The first was at Lethbridge, Canada, where we stayed a few days with Lyman and Hazel. Then on to Banff and Lake Louise by Canadian Pacific. Lake Louise is the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It is high in the mountains and we went by stage coach from the railroad station. The view from the shore in the morning as the sun shone on the blue water was magnificent. We stayed there a couple of days and we thought we were acting very dignified and like an old married couple. But as we rode down the mountain the second morning, a little old man handed me an orange and Said in a loud whisper, "For the little bride."
The Canadian Pacific winds its way through the mountains on the way to the Pacific through beautiful scenery that I am unable to describe. The Canadian Pacific had their own beautiful hotels in all the larger Canadian cities. We stayed in one at Victoria, B.C. which had lovely massive mahogany furniture and wonderful meals. We took a steamship from Victoria to Seattle, then to San Francisco. This wasn't too many years after the great earthquake which did so much damage there. It was not entirely rebuilt at that time. I remember the cable cars and China Town which we visited. We stayed at the St. Frances Hotel. We visited my uncles, Drs. Edmund, Lyman, and Alfred and Aunt Mina in the Los Angeles area. There were no paved roads or streets at that time and I recall how deep the dust was in the streets.
We stopped in Denver and Colorado Springs on our way home. Our money was running low and I remember the peeling paper in the room which we had at a low-cost hotel in Denver. Not much like the Canadian Pacific hotels where we had started out our honeymoon.
Lloyd and his father had built a beautiful new home the year before we were married. We lived there two years, then bought the old Thomas Loonan homestead. Martha was born in the new house. The other children were born in the other house. Lloyd and his father were partners in raising purebred Percheron horses. The firm name was James Loonan and Son. The house was set back a long ways from the road and there was always a pasture in front of the house where the huge draft horses were raised. There were often as many as fifty of these mares and their colts. Every year we had a sale at the Cedar Falls auction barn. The neighbors were kind enough to help lead the horses to Cedar Falls. That was before the days of trucks. We would make hundreds of sandwiches and gallons of coffee to feed the men who helped and the buyers who came. We always had an auctioneer, Fred Ruppert, from Detroit, and also local auctioneers. One year we sold our herd stallion, Superior, for $20,000 to a Canadian buyer who paid mostly in land which turned out to be not too profitable. Another herd sire was "Jalap", an imported stallion that won many awards at the International Live Stock Show.
Several years after we were farming on our own, Lloyd decided to go into the dairy business. He acquired a herd of purebred Polled Shorthorns. These were a dual- purpose breed, both dairy and beef. Lloyd joined the State Testing Association and he had to keep each cow's production record. Once a month the cow tester would come. He always stayed all night so he could weigh and test the milk both evening and morning. He was only one of many over-night guests. There were horse buyers and cattle buyers. We always kept one or more "hired men" and in harvest time or corn picking we would have at least three extra men. I usually had a "hired girl" while the children were small. She did the cleaning and washing and ironing. I always did the cooking. It's a good thing I like to cook. We didn't have fancy meals but plenty of the basic foods. I remember once then Lloyd expected a cattle buyer who was Jewish. I had heard that Jews didn't eat pork but it was all I had on hand. It was a delicious pork roast. He ate it and seemed to enjoy it immensely. Maybe he thought it was beef. I don't remember whether Lloyd sold any cattle that day.
Grandpa and Grandma Loonan were a wonderful couple. I don't remember ever hearing either one of them say a cross word to either Lloyd or me. They were both very fond of their grandchildren and the grandchildren adored them. Grandma was my official baby-sitter and whenever a new baby was expected or had just arrived, the whole gang would go over and stay with grandma for a couple of weeks. They never wanted to come home.
They were always ready to help us on special days. In those days a crew of men with their threshing machine would come and stay until our oats was threshed. If it was rainy, it might take a week. Oats was always shocked and it didn't matter so much if there was a delay. Not like the modern combine which combines the oats when it is in just the right condition to keep safely. The neighbors all helped on threshing day. In fact they traded work of many kinds. Cliff and Lola Loonan and their four boys always came, with probably a hired man too. In fact we would have about thirty all together, counting our own family. It took a lot of food, but with lots of help we had a good time. When the "toot" of the threshing engine sounded down the road, the children especially, went wild with anticipation of the good times ahead.
In corn husking time we always had extra men to help. We used horse-drawn wagons and the men picked each ear by hand. We always tried to get through picking corn by Thanksgiving. I remember several times we just made it by noon on Thanksgiving Day. And then did we ever celebrate with a turkey and all the trimmings!
Then there was the saving of seed corn for planting the following year. Lloyd examined each ear which he thought would make good seed. They had to be firm and of good size and he had a rack on which each ear was dried separately.
I think the thing I dreaded most was the ordeal of butchering. In about the last of February of every year, we would butcher four or five hogs. This was to be our meat through the summer and until cold weather, when we could do it all over again. The men did the butchering themselves and cut up the carcasses. They also rendered the lard in a large iron kettle outdoors. Of course we had to trim the hams and shoulders of most of the fat and cut the fat into inch size pieces so the fat could be rendered. We made head cheese out of the meat on the heads. We made our own casings for the sausage which was made of odds and ends of the meat. This was ground and seasoned. Then we would use the sausage stuffer and finally cook it in roasters in the oven, pack it in stone jars, and cover it with melted lard. This sausage would keep for several months and was really good. We also cooked the chops the same way and these were especially good. The hams and shoulders and bacon were either salted down in barrels or we would place them on planks in an ice cold room and rub them every day with smoked salt. Later we sent the hams to be cured in a commercial smoke house. We also cold-packed jars and jars of the better cuts, cooking these for about three hours. These were very handy to have when you had to get up a dinner in a hurry for unexpected guests.
We cold-packed chickens, too, and these made wonderful chicken and noodles or chicken pies. We made gallons and gallons of apple butter, partly from our own apples and from bushels given to us by neighbors. To make the apple butter, we would quarter the apples, discarding the core, and cook in a big copper boiler on the laundry stove. We would run the apples through a sieve, discarding the skins and then cooking down the apple sauce in the boiler and adding sugar and spices. We had to stir this constantly with a wooden paddle mounted on a long wooden handle. When of the right consistency we pour the apple butter in earthen gallon jars and covered it with paraffin. The apple butter would then keep indefinitely in a cool place.
The house than Grandpa built in 1911 was modern in every way. They had their own gas plant which ran the lights and a gas stove in the kitchen. The only drawback was that the gas usually ran out at the most inconvenient times--like when we had company or a lot of men to cook for. We had a dumb waiter in the kitchen. This was a round metal cylinder with shelves which lowered by a crank into the basement or below. This was our refrigerator and it worked fine. Kept food nice and cold. Later we put up an ice house and had our own ice for the ice box. We often made our own ice cream. Have made it using new snow also.
Martha was born in 1913 while we lived with Grandpa and Grandma Loonan. She was sure a cute baby with lots of black hair and blue eyes. Real Irish. The grandparents thought she was about perfect. We did too. When Martha was about six months old we moved to the old Thomas Loonan homestead. Here all the other children were born--James, Dan, Ruth, Jean, and Lloyd. My brother-in law, Dr. Vander Veer was my doctor for all the babies. None were born in a hospital. I always had good help. Usually a young hired girl and Grandma Wyatt came and stayed a couple of weeks when several of the children were born. And of course Grandma Loonan would come every day. She sure was always good to us.
These were busy times. Our children didn't have the variety of toys that children of modern times have. They always had one or more ponies to ride and learned to amuse themselves. We never missed going to Sunday School and church at the Baptist Church in Hudson. We always had a Christmas program on Christmas Eve. There was always a large tree and everyone took presents for their own children. There was a Santa Claus and treats for everyone. We often had to go in a sled but couldn't miss this program. We always had a Christmas tree at home, too. One year we hadn't been able to get to town to get a tree. Christmas morning there was a great commotion on the back porch. There were James and Dan with a small evergreen which they had chopped down in our new windbreak which Lloyd had just planted that year. Needless to say we always saw to it that there was a Christmas tree after that.
We got our mail from Waterloo. The mail man drove a horse and buggy when we first lived on the old place. He would always stop and water his horse at our water tank. A few years later when he obtained a model T-Ford, sure enough he still stopped to fill up the water tank in his car. It was usually boiling when he drove into the yard.
In 1927 our little world went to pieces. It was the beginning of the Great Depression. The Hudson Bank was one of the first to close. All loans from the Bank and Insurance companies were called it. Both Grandpa and Lloyd were caught in the squeeze, so both of our farms had to go. Many other farmers suffered the same loss. It was a great blow and tragedy. I remember when Lloyd came home from Hudson and told of the bank closing. I asked him how it would affect us. "We will lose our farm," was his reply. I just couldn't believe it. We rented the Krog farm one mile west of Cedar Falls on Highway 57. We stayed there just a year. We had such wonderful neighbors. Martha and James attended the Campus School at the college while Dan, Ruth and Jean attended a country school.
In 1929 we bought the Walter Faulknew farm two miles south of Hudson and moved there. It had a nice house but no modern conveniences. We put in a bathroom, electric lights and a water system. Lloyd built a barn which was quite modern and we began to get back on our feet. The children went by bus to the Hudson Consolidated School. Lloyd was a director. When Grandpa and Grandma Loonan moved to Hudson they wanted to have Jean with them so she stayed with them for several years.
Martha graduated from high school in 1931 and after taking a course of teacher training in summer school at I.S.T.C. in Cedar Falls she taught a country school, three miles east of our home. Part of the time she rode a horse to school and it was quite an experience for an 18 year old girl. One day the pony came home without Martha. We were worried that she had been hurt but she soon came walking down the road--she had stopped to pick wild flowers and the pony went on home.
On February 11, 1932 Lloyd went hunting for rabbits on our farm. When he didn't come home, a search discovered that he had been shot by his own gun while climbing through a fence. I can't remember those awful days. I think I was in a daze or shock. I do not know what I would have done without the help of Grandpa Loonan and George. George was appointed administrator. We had wonderful neighbors too. Martha was 18, James 16, Dan 15, Ruth 12, Jean 10, and Lloyd, Jr. 8, when I was left with the responsibility of the farm and bringing up my family alone. We always used horses in our farm operation. James and Dan helped with the farm work. We had a hired man, too. Lloyd Strayer stayed with us several years and was such a help.
Martha drove back and forth to Cedar Falls for her college education. She graduated with a B.A. in English in 1936 and taught English and was Principal at Mt. Auburn for two years. James and Dan both attended Iowa State. James graduated in 1941 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He took a job with the Grinnell Reinsurance Company for a few months, then he was called into service. He went in as a second Lieutenant since he had had R.O.T.C. at Iowa State. Jim was in World War II for four years, going to Ireland, England, North Africa and Italy. He ranked as a Major at the close of the war. He was lucky not to suffer any serious injury. He was married at Norman, Oklahoma after he returned from overseas to Betty King of Trenton, N.J., whom he had met in the East before he went overseas.
Dan attended college at Ames for 2½ years. Then he got a job as cow tester in the Ames area. He married Bernadine Cooper in Ames in 1941.
After teaching two years in Mt. Auburn, Martha was married on June 10, 1938 to Harold Nation of Geneseo. They took over operation of our farm and I moved to an apartment in Grandpa Loonan's house in town. Lloyd, Jr. made his home with Martha and Harold until he graduated from Hudson in 1942. I was glad to relinquish the responsibility of the farm. Harold was a good farmer and was the first to use a tractor on our farm. They farmed for four years when Dan wanted to try his turn at farming. He and his family stayed seven years when they moved to a farm near Gilbert.
Lloyd, Jr., or Bub as everyone called him, graduated from Hudson High in 1942. He was a member of the basketball team which went to the state finals. He went to Iowa State at Ames for part of a year. It was during World War II and of course so many of the young men were enlisting. Lloyd enlisted too in spite of James' counsel to stay out of it as long as he could. James was in the thick of it by that time. Lloyd entered service at Camp Dodge, February 23, 1943 and trained at Ft. Pierce, Florida, Camp Pickett, Virginia, and Ft. Dix, New Jersey for 10 months, then was shipped overseas to England. He was in the D Day crossing and was lucky to come through safely. He went on through France, Holland, Belgium and Germany. He was at Antwerp, Belgium in June 14, 1945 ready to be sent home on furlough when word was received that the war was over. He arrived in Boston on December 11, and was discharged at Camp Grant, Illinois on December 16, 1945. That was an anxious time for all of us. I remember going over to the church for a prayer service at 6 A.M. on D Day. We were so thankful when the war was over and James and Lloyd were home again. Lloyd married Margaret Richards on January 26, 1947. They have two girls, Carol and Lee Ann. They have lived on my farm for many years.
James was married to Betty King of Trenton, New Jersey, whom he had met in the East before he went overseas. They were married in August, 1945 at Norman, Oklahoma. Some of us drove down for the wedding. James got an engineering job at Detroit, then moved to Philadelphia where he has been with the Catalytic Construction Company for many years. Most of their work is government work and James has been sent to many locations to set up jobs. They were in Colorado a year where his company was building a missile site. He was also sent to Canada and West Germany. They have just returned from Charlotte, North Carolina where the company set up a new branch. They have two children, Beth and James.
Dan was married to Bernadine Cooper of Gilbert on June 18, 1941. They lived in Ames for a year, then moved to my farm where they stayed seven years. They then returned to the Ames area where they rented a farm near Gilbert. They had five children: Phyllis, Patricia, Nancy, Jim and Joseph. After an illness for two years with cancer, Bernadine passed away. They had built a house in Gilbert and Dan was assistant manager of the Coop there. Dan tried to keep his family together but after the two oldest girls were married they had a hard time. In 1963 Dan remarried and the family is getting along fine now. His wife is a former Hudson girl, Mavis Hinson, whose husband had passed away several years before. We all love her very much. Dan worked in Ames as manager of an elevator and feed mill owned by his brother-in-law, Pete Cooper. He now works in the Botany Department of Iowa State University.
Jean Catherine was born June 19, 1921. I remember her as a baby with dark hair, contrasting with Ruth, who was much fairer. She lived with Grandma and Grandpa Loonan for several years after they moved to the old Loonan home in Hudson. I think they had a great influence on Jean. They were a wonderful couple. Jean graduated from Hudson High in 1939 and attended Iowa State for one year. She and Gene Taylor were married August 8, 1940. When their son Jim was six months old, the Gene's, as we always call them, moved to California, where Gene had worked. I went to see them while they lived in Clearwater. In fact, Ruth and I rode out with a Mr. Mark from Cedar Falls. While we were there Pearl Harbor was bombed. It was on a Sunday and sailors were on leave from the base at San Diego. Of course they were all called back to base and we saw cars and truck after truck filled with sailors going by on their way back. The next day we drove to San Diego, thought we would see some of the excitement. Not a sailor to be seen. They were all on ships guarding the harbor and coast. We came home after dark and wondered why all the cars we met blinked their lights at us. We were only supposed to drive with parking lights. The towns were all blacked out along the coast. It was an anxious time.
I went out to Jean's again before Sandi was born. They had moved to Alhambra by that time and had a nice home. I had quite a time looking after the new baby and Jimmy, Jean was in bed seven weeks. Jimmy got away one day and crossed the four lane highway which ran in front of their home. I found him in a Super Market with his hands full of gum and candy. We always tied him with a long rope when he was outdoors after that.
Gene joined the navy and Jean and her two youngsters came home and stayed until the war was over. They lived in an apartment over the bank until they bought a home. Gene formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, R.C. Isenhower and his brother Mark: The Taylor-Isenhower, Contractors. They have built many bridges across the state. Gene's father, Stanley Taylor, was a bridge contractor and has been a great help to the firm.
Jim Taylor, after graduating from Hudson High, attended Iowa State where he majored in Business Administration. He was quite active in dramatics while there. He graduated in January, 1964 and obtained a position with the Alcoa Aluminum Co., in Davenport. He was married in April, 1964 to Joydell Lybarger from Davenport, who had also attended Iowa State. Sandi graduated from Hudson High in 1961 and attended Upper Iowa University at Fayette for one year. She married Dave Rogers and they have two little girls, Cheryl and Christine. Dave studied art at Iowa Wesleyan in Mt. Pleasant. Both Sandi and Dave work in a munitions plant in Burlington, but they still live at Mt. Pleasant.
Ruth was born June 9, 1919. She was a pretty little blonde with curly hair, our only blonde. She and Jean were inseparable when they were little. When the other children were all married and had homes of their own, Ruth stayed with me. She went to California with me a couple of times. She married Paul Hahn, May 20, 1950. They were divorced and she married Henry Thompson January 30, 1965. They live north of Cedar Falls. He works for the Highway Department as a maintenance man.
When Lloyd and I were married his father had an Auburn touring car, no top, but quite impressive. When we went to farming on our own farm, we bought a Model T Ford. I will always remember when Lloyd had a top put on the Ford, with curtains we could pull down in inclement weather. It was on my birthday, October 23, and it was snowing that day so the top came in handy.
I took my first airplane ride when I went to Philadelphia to see Jim and his family. It was in about 1950 when Beth was a baby. The day was cloudy and rainy and I was pretty jittery about going up. After the Plane flew above the clouds, the sun was shining. I turned to my seat mate and said, "Oh, the sun has come out!" he said, "Lady, the sun is always shining up here." It is a good thing to remember that the sun is "always shining up there."
We had to use ear phones with our first radio. Took turns Listening. Seems like the only station we could get was Marshalltown. I wondered how they could afford to hire the orchestras we heard. Learned Later that they were recordings. I had only had my television set about ten years but do not know how I got along without it. It brings the whole world into my living room and is such a comfort and companion now that I live alone. I don't like the Westerns and horror pictures but there are many excellent programs.
The third important event was the civil rights demonstration in Alabama. More than 300 civil rights leaders, both white and black, walked fifty miles from Selma, Alabama to the state capital in Montgomery, to protest voting discrimination against the Negro. It took five day for the journey. They were joined outside Montgomery by 25 thousand civil rights sympathizers. Dr. Martin Luther King gave the principal address. A civil rights bill is before congress which will grant any citizen of voting age the right to vote. There have been demonstrations all over the United States. Later-- Dr. King was assassinated. Also President John Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy, who was running for the presidency,
Martha and Harold have two children, Cathlene and David. Cathlene is a graduate of Iowa State and is teaching Junior High Home Ec. at Oak Park, Illinois. She was married to Jan De Young of Ames on June 10, 1967. Jan received a degree from Iowa State in Business Administration. He entered the Army in January, 1968 and was sent to Vietnam in November. Jan and Cathy plan to meet in Hawaii for his R and R on August 24 and he hopes to be discharged from service in November. David is a senior at Iowa State and is majoring in Computer Science. He was married to Jean Bielefeldt of Cedar Falls on August 9, 1969. They will live in Ankeny, where Jean will be teaching sixth grade. Jean just graduated from UNI, having completed her B.A. in three years.
James and Betty have two children, Beth and Jim. Beth completed her freshman year at Colorado State U. in Fort Collins. She is a beautiful girl with black hair and brown eyes. Beth will be married on September 6, 1969 to Walter Bane in Charlotte, North Carolina. They both plan to attend a University in Texas. Jim is a freshman in high school in Philadelphia where they live.
Dan has five children with Bernadine as their Mother, Phyllis, Patricia, Nancy, Jim and Joe. Dan's second wife has three children which I also claim as grandchildren, Cathy, Cheryl, and Craig Hinson. Phyllis is married to Dr. Phil Conran, a veterinarian. They have two children Kevin and Kimberley. After doing research while in the Army, Phil did research for the Dow Chemical Co. in Michigan. Next year he plans to start on his Doctor of Philosophy Degree at a University in Michigan. Pat married Richard DeBerg from Ames. He has just been discharged from the army after serving in Germany. Pat joined him there and they have many interesting experiences to tell about Germany and surrounding countries. They live in Palatine, Illinois. Nancy will graduate this month as a laboratory Technician and Therapist from the University of Iowa. She will be working at the hospital in Iowa City this fall. Jim is still in high school and is active in football and basketball. He will graduate next spring. Joe also likes football and will make a good player.
Cathy Hinson is married to Boyd Antill and they have a new little baby, Brent, whom I haven't seen but from his picture, he is a fine little fellow. Both Cathy and Boyd attended Iowa State and Boyd graduated in June in Business Administration. Cheryl will graduate next year from Gilbert High and is very interested in girl's basketball. Craig is a fine looking boy and will make his mark someday.
Jean and Gene have two children, James and Sandra. Jim is a graduate of Iowa State in business administration and has a fine job with Alcoa in Davenport. He is married to Joy Lybarger. Sandra attended college in Fayette and is married to Dave Rogers. They have three darling little girls, Cheryl, Christine, and Stephanie. Cherly and Chris are both doing well in school. Stephanie will soon be two years old. She is such a bright little girl. They all are and I am very proud of them. They live in Mt. Pleasant.
Lloyd and Margaret also have two children, Carol and Lee Ann. Carol will be a Junior at U.N.I. and is majoring in elementary education. She likes her course so much and will make a fine teacher. She has worked with the Home Start program in Waterloo the past year and enjoys it very much. Lee Ann will be a senior next year in Hudson High and is active in many school activities. They are both such attractive and pretty girls.
I have lived in a wonderful age. I cannot begin to enumerate all the scientific discoveries which have benefited all mankind, let alone our own homes and country. I hope in the next generation all the advantages we enjoy will bring peace to the world and we will have no more wars.