Edward

Mom and Dad lived 2 miles north of Pomeroy Iowa. They had four children, Gordon, Ronald, Marlene and Harold. Gordon passed away in 1963. Having purchased the farm, where they lived for nearly 20 years, somewhere between the years of 1940 and 1960. When they moved to the farm it was not an easy task as the farm had no electricity and set 1/2 mile from the road. In the winter sometimes it was a real hassle to get from the farm to the road. Often in the winter, Dad would leave the car at the north road in the hayfield and would have to take the tractor and trailer to get the family back and forth from the road to the house. This was the only means to get the family to church and to school as the kids attended a rural school. Before long things got a lot easier because they got electricity but that didn’t help the lane problem. Dad, like most farmers of that time had mostly 2 row equipment to farm with. They also had livestock to take care of and they were always fixing on the place. At one time with good friends they jacked up the house and put a basement under it. While doing this, Dad had to dig a 6 foot deep drainage ditch out to the creek. While doing this he was down in the ditch and it decided to cave in on him. It buried him clear up to his chest. Mon’s cousin Clarence was there visiting and was out at the ditch with him. When it caved in he went for help. Some neighbors came over and helped dig him out. He received several cracked ribs and had it caved in a few seconds sooner it could have been real bad because he had been bent over in the ditch. Dad was very sore for quite a while but said he was grateful to be alive.

The family never took any of what you would call vacations but they always managed to get to church and the kids would get to go to some movies and roller skating every Sunday night at Twin Lakes. They always had a good time skating as kids would come from towns from a 30 mile radius. Going skating was a big thing and if they misbehaved Dad and Mom threatened not to let them go. Also Mom and Dad socialized with family and neighbors, something that doesn’t seem to be done much anymore. They would take the kids along and they would play with the other children, often there cousins, while the parents would either visit or play cards.

In 1960 Dad and Mom sold the farm and purchased The New Palmer Café a restaurant in Palmer Iowa. They moved there and had a very good business. Mom was famous for her big meals and delicious pie. At the time they were building the new elevator in Palmer and that was a wonderful place for the men to go to eat. Also the opening day of pheasant season she would have many people stop there and eat dinner. Most of them had been there the year before and would say that they had been looking forward to stopping back all year.

They ran the café for 12 years, then sold out and retired in Palmer. Mon and dad both passed away in 1985. Mom died in May of cancer. Dad died in December of pneumonia. Dad had lung cancer. They caught it early but the doctor told him that pneumonia would be his worst enemy. Us kids always said that Dad died of a broken heart after losing Mom. Mom had always been so healthy.