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V. THE
DESCENDENTS OF EARL
CLAUDE BERTHOLF 1877-1964 The
Descendents of
(V.)
EARL CLAUDE BERTHOLF 1877-1964 VA.
MARJORIE ESTHER BERTHOLF
b. 10-11-1914
m. Aubrey McMinimy (div) 19? -1965 (Since I am the one helping to put this book together, I am taking the privilege of writing about some of the cousins I know best.) Marjorie
and I were born a year apart on farms a mile apart and were best
friends all the years we were growing up--and that close friendship has
continued all our lives. Now,
1997, Marjories's health has failed so that we can no longer talk about
our childhood days----so I am going to tell you about two little girls.
I was born in 1913, Marjorie a year and a few days later.
We played with our dolls that we received one Christmas. They
were alike with cloth bodies and tin heads.
Mine was named Polly, hers was Rosey.
I remember that her daddy helped us name them.
We had red-top shoes that were alike, we wore the same kind of
hair-ribbons. We were best
buddies. Our dads, Earl and
Lin, worked together very often, and it was common practice for us to
play together. Our first
nights away from home were spent with each other.
We could walk from one home to the other, or wade up the creek or
ride a horse. The big advantage for me was that Marjorie had brothers,
Lee and Jack--and later Don and later yet, little sister, Carol.
Aunt Lulu put up with a lot of "kid stuff" while she
sewed or ironed or cooked! We played Flinch or Rook or Dominoes around the dining table.
We played "Church" or "school" or "house"
in the living room or upstairs, we played "hide-and-seek” in the
big barn or went to the 2-foot deep "swimming hole" east of
the garden. At our home we
played with our dolls and dishes, made play-houses, climbed trees,
played games on the front porch, and dressed the kittens in doll
clothes. Since the three
Bertholf brothers, Lin, Earl and Harry worked together often, we seven
"older” cousins made a pretty good group for all kinds of games
and activities. We
certainly didn't need an activity director or planned recreation---we
made our own. We
all went to High School in Spivey and had good friends there, along with
friends at church. After
Marjorie graduated, she went awhile to Kansas State University, and
there met Aubrey McMinimy, whom she married.
They lived in Wichita where Aubrey was employed.
Bill McCoy and I were married then and also living in Wichita and
I enjoyed having Marjorie near when we were both young mothers--she with
Corine and I with Roger. Kent and David joined their family and Carolyn joined ours. The
McMinimy family moved to their farm near Conway Springs and we moved to
the farm at Spivey, but we still saw each other often and enjoyed all
the children. After David's
death and Aubrey's death, Marjorie went back to school for additional
work and became a food service director for the Sante Fe Hospital in
Topeka where she worked for many years. The pond on her acres of the
home place at Spivey became a favorite place for her family to camp and
spend vacations. She loved
helping the grandchildren fish. After
retirement she purchased a home in Kingman, which she remodeled and made
it a gathering place for not only her family but for all the relatives.
She was generous with her time and talents, serving the Methodist
Church in many capacities as well as the hospital, meals-on-wheels, EHU
and doing all manner of sewing and handwork for many friends and
relatives. She was generous
with time, money, talents, and just caring about people, always willing
to help, always smiling and a friend to everyone.
For many years she organized the Bertholf family reunions.
Her failing health and abilities she has borne gracefully and although she is unable to respond fully, she is loved by all those that care for her, for her sweet disposition. Address:
Presbyterian Manor #125 4700 W. 13th St. Wichita, Kansas 67212 Joan McMinimy writes about Marjorie: “Marjorie
Esther Bertholf McMinimy lived a healthy and very active life of
leadership in the United Methodist Women’s Society, holding local and
district offices, and in the food service organizations relating to her
occupation. She was a
traveler to Alaska, Nova Scotia, England and many other places. She made beautiful quilts, tatted, crocheted, sewed and made
many arts and crafts projects. She
was a gardener, canner and good cook.
She always kept her family close together and close to the
relatives, knowing that roots are very important.
Marjorie is in a nursing home now in September 1997 with
Alzheimer’s disease.” VA1. Carol
Corine McMinimy b.12-11-1936
m. Alan Gow (div) Corine has lived in Houston, TX. for a number of years and her children are now all in that area. Corine is an Executive Secretary. She loves family gatherings and delights in her grandchildren. When her children were growing up they had wonderful vacations at Grandma Marjorie's pond on the Spivey farm. VA1a. Michael Alan Gow b. 9-9-1960 m. Kelly b. 4-17-1961 Michael
works for a large construction company, Fleur-Daniel. VA1ai. Hanna Victoria Gow b. 9-6-1991 VA1aii. Andrew Michael Gow b. 10-15-1996
VA1b.
Neale Christopher Gow
b. 10-11-1961
Neale has his own moving business in the Houston area. VA1c. Stephanie Lynn Gow b.12-3-1962 m. David Lyn Ashley b. 9-19-59 Stephanie is an LPN and is employed in the home nursing care profession. VA1ci. Amy Lynn Ashley b. 8-28-1990 VA1cii. Christopher Ryan Ashley b. 3-26-1992 VA1d. Bruce Douglas Gow b. 9-17-1964 m. Cathy Bruce
is engaged in the marketing business and his wife, Cathy, has her own
insurance agency. VA1e. Bert Boyd b. 1-25-1950 Bert
is a foster son who has been the family many years and works for a pizza
company. VA2. Aubrey
Kent McMinimy b. 11-15-1938
m. Joan Kay Stearman b. 8-11-1941 Occupation: Intrust Bank Education: Wichita Business College Joan:
Education: WSU Occupation:
Executive secretary – Koch Oil Company. Joan
writes: “We met on a blind date
in January 1963. My brother
had a Model T for sale and the night Kent was to pick it up for the
first time I was not aware that my brother had made arrangements for a
'grubby greasy man’ to come look at the car.
When he came toward the house I thought it was my blind date and
nearly panicked! When Kent
came to the door he really did look good. Maybe God set that up so that
I would fall in love at first sight. Kent and I were married May 2,
1964. It was a fun wedding
though I was so nervous I didn't even notice that the organ had broken
down and they played the wedding march on the piano.
It was a hot, windy Kansas afternoon -- lots of family and
friends made it a special day. I
like to believe that because so many wished us well we have had a very
good marriage thus far. Kent
was working in Oklahoma City and that's where we lived our first year.
Kent worked nights and I worked days.
Since he had only one night off every other week in the middle of
the week, that was a hard way to start out.
Kent was transferred to Tulsa the summer of 1965 to work for
Continental Trailways Bus Company.
Since he was gone a lot, I was very lonesome but got a job at
Cities Service Oil Company and met good friends.
We bought our first home in Tulsa, a small, but cute home with
the luxury of a fireplace. Kent
had a garden there as he has had nearly every year since.
With the birth of our first baby, Nicole Diane, and our new
house, we were one happy family -- only to be transferred four weeks
later to Kansas City, a quick move to a new home.
We lived there 7-1/2 years, making friends in the church and
neighborhood. God was very good to
us. Our joy was increased
with the birth of Kimberly Kay. Both
little girls were healthy and happy.
Nicole was six years old when Kimberly was born so was a big
help. They were both
baptized in the Overland Park Methodist Church, close to where we lived. Good
news came in 1975 when we were transferred back to Wichita.
We had a nice house and were close to school and went to the
First Nazarene Church. In
1977 Kent had another promotion and we moved to Milpitas CA where Kent
drove 45 miles to San Francisco to work every day. We were there two
years and it was a fun way to see California. In 1979 we were moved back
to Wichita, where we still are. Kent and I have had the good fortune the last two years to go on mission trips with our church -- to Huehuetenango, Guatemala to build a church and to Masaya, Nicaragua to build a house for a pastor and his family. Both projects were in neighborhoods where we met and interacted with the people. It is a real blessing to be able to do something special for these people and they were so grateful. We are very thankful that the Lord has provided well for us with good health, family and material things. We are grateful to him and to the wonderful family who has supported us through the years.” Address:
9074 Harvest Court, Wichita, Kansas 67212
VA2a.
Nicole Diane McMinimy b. 5-27-1967
Joan
continues: “Nicole graduated
from Wichita State University in June 1990.
At this writing, she has a good job with a large insurance
company in Wichita and is very active with the singles group at First
Church of the Nazarene. She
has been fortunate to have a very nice roommate who is a travel agent
and they have had many wonderful travels to tell about.
She has Molly, her Cocker Spaniel, to keep her safe from harm.
Nicole has been the ‘Grandma McMinimy’ equal of the family.
She remembers special occasions in the family and sends a card or
remembrance. Nicole worked
hard to transform one of Grandma McMinimy’s old, tired, unrepairable
quilts into seven beautiful Teddy Bears, one for each of Grandma’s
grandchildren. Each bear
had a unique ‘personality’. After
a day out hunting at the farm, we all gathered around the fireplace
where Nicole presented the Teddy Bears to the cousins.
It was a very tearful, but special time.
Grandma was in the nursing home and couldn’t be there.
Now her grandchildren each have a special part of a quilt she
made.” VA2b. Kimberly Kay McMinimy b. 6-8-1973 m. Pete Galusha “Kim
graduated from high school in 1991.
She is a working lady and has a very sweet husband, Pete Galusha.
They were married in March of 1995.
They now live in MaizeKansas, which is a suburb northwest of
Wichita. Kim has her big
buckskin horse, Rebel, and they have two cats, Dock and Tibbs.”
VA3. David Bruce McMinimy
1940-1963
David was born in Wichita and moved with his family to the farm near Conway Sprirgs. He graduated from High School there and was a student at Wichita State University when he died. VB. LEE BERTHOLF 1916-1997 m. Ruth Alice Ritter b. 10-27-1916 Lee
grew up on the family farm, graduated from Spivey High School, then went
to Frends University. There he fell in love with Ruth Alice Ritter, also a student.
Ruth Alice taught in rural schools and later was a school
librarian in a Wichita school. Lee
continued his education at Kansas State University.
Following their marriage, they made their home in Wichita where
Lee worked at Boeing and farmed on the side. Lee
was drafted into the Army during World War II.
While Lee was stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ruth Alice
and little Cliff went to visit. At
this same time, Gene Stearns was also in Colorado Springs, in a Hospital
recovering from battle wounds, and Carol was visiting him.
During their visit, Ruth Alice and Carol went downtown and found
people in the streets, yelling and honking horns with much hilarity
everywhere. In a few
moments they found our why--it was VJ Day--Victory over Japan!
It was a memorable day! Lee
was later sent to the Philippines and Ruth Alice and her sister, Maxine,
along with their three little boys, Cliff, and Maxine’s twin boys,
spent several months in the “little house” near the Bertholf homes
at Spivey. It was an
exciting adventure for the boys and a “pioneer-like” experience for
the mothers! They can
relate many stories about the exploits of the little boys. While
Lee was in the Philippines, he received word of the arrival of his
daughter, Barbara Lu, but it was many months before he saw her.
Ruth Alice relates that when he finally did get home, after a day
with her and the children, he was eager to get out to Spivey to the
farm. (He and Jack had
bought Uncle Harry’s farm). She said he went to the farm the next day “and never did
leave”. As soon as
possible, they moved to the farm and made it their home and raised their
family, which soon included another daughter, Kathleen, for many years.
The farm was lee’s life, and even years later when they moved
to Kingman, and Barbara and Don had taken over the home place, farming
was his special interest. Lee
had an out-going personality and was a friend to many people.
He especially enjoyed mixing with others and had many
“coffee-counter” friends. Ruth
Alice, in addition to being a farm wife and mother, was a librarian in
the Kingman City Library for a number of years.
After retiring from the farm, Lee and Ruth Alice enjoyed several
years of collecting and selling antiques.
They had a shop in Grand Lake, Colorado, where they had a summer
home, and later had a shop in Wichita.
In addition they showed and sold at many atnique fairs in the
area. They taught
themselves the business, were quite successful at it and enjoyed it a
great deal. They sold out
several years ago. Lee died after several months of illness in 1997. Ruth Alice continues to live in their home in Kingman. Address:
312 East Avenue C, Kingman, Kansas 67089 VB1. Clifford Lee Bertholf 10-7-1942 m.
Diana (Dee) Brenner Cliff was born in Wichita but grew up on the family farm near Spivey and attended grade schtool there. He graduated from Attica High school and went on to graduate from Kansas University. He then volunteered for service with the United Methodist Church as a short-term missionary. The first year of his 3-year term was spent in Belgium, studying French, which prepared him for teaching in the secondary schools in the Congo (also called Zaire at one time) for the next two years. He returned to go to Louisana State University to earn his Master's Degree in chemistry, then to law school at Washburn University in Topeka. It was his good fortune to meet his future wife, Diana, and they were married in Lawrence, Kansas. They moved to Wichita where Cliff set up his law practice, and they have made Wichita their home all their married life. Cliff’s hobbies are reading, keeping up on his French and sports. Cliff and Dee are active in the life of First United Methodist Church and Cliff teaches an adult class there. Dee was born in Akron, OH and graduated from the University of Ohio. Her father was a dentist in the area. Dee is a skillful writer and has had one book published, and has written other things. She is very out-going and has spoken to many groups. She has worked at the Midwest Cancer Foundation, and is now employed as a Domestic Mediator in the Domestic Department of the District Court. Her hobbies are reading and crafts. Address: 3830 E, Second St., Wichita, Kansas. 67207 VB1a. Marlee Suzanne Bertholf b. 10-20-1973 Marlee graduated from Wichita State University and is now a law student at Washburn University. VBlb. Christopher Lee Bertholf b. 5-14-1976 Chris is an art student at Wichita State University, where he shows special skills in his major study. VB2. Barbara Lu Bertholf b.5-27-1946 m. Donald Myron Cress b.2-3-1942 Barbara
is a registered nurse and nurse educator with a BS and MS degree from
Wichita State University. She
has taught in various nursing schools.
Don is a farmer and an aerospace engineer.
He has a BS degree in aerospace engineering from KU.
They are currently living in Korea where Don is the Boeing
representative to the Korean Airlines. Address: 101-603 Yonji Hanshan Apt. 322, Yonji-Dong, Pusan-Jinku, Pusan, KOREA 614-070 VB2a. Melissa (Missy) Christine Cress
b. 6-2-1969
m. Mark Allen Molitor Missy
is a Registered Nurse and works at the Kingman Community Hospital. Mark is a mechanic and a farmer. Their big farm home is a busy place with three little girls, the two older ones attending school in Kingman. Address: Rt. 3, Box 978, Kingman, Kansas. 67068 VB2ai. Bethany Ann Molitor VB2aii. Christina Louise Molitor VB2aiii. Danielle Molitor VB2b. Corey Donald Bertholf b. 10-27-1970 m. Ann Marie Molitor b. 3-31-1973 Ann
writes: “This story starts when
Corey's sister, Melissa, married my brother, Mark.
A week after the wedding, Corey and I started dating.
I admit I always had a crush on Corey before we even dated, and
he admits that he realized at their wedding how stunning I was as a
candle lighter and well, the rest is history. We made our first home on the Cress family farm northwest of Spivey, and are still living there (this is the farm where Don and Barbara, Lee and Ruth Alice and Harry and Ethel have lived). We both attended Kansas State University, with my degree completion in May 1996 and Corey's in May 1997. My degree is in kinesiology also known as exercise science. I recently left my job at NovaCare Outpatient Rehabilitation in Wichita in May of 1997 to help out more on the farm, but my interest still lies in returning to work or school to be a part of rehabilitation again or something else that may interest me more. Corey has a degree in elementary education. His desire is to teach math and science and to farm and custom harvest which he has been doing for nine years, and is very good at it. Our hobbies included traveling, playing golf, spending time with our families and just relaxing at home. We haven't started a family yet, but that is something we look forward to doing in the future.” Address:
4534 SW 120th Street, Spivey, Kansas 67142
VB2c.
Laura Beth Cress b.
1-8-76
To be married May 23, 1998 to Jonathan Eric Beall Laura
writes: “Jon and I met each
other via a mutual friend at Kansas State University.
We began dating in April of 1996 and became engaged on our
one-year anniversary. We
are both preparing to graduate fromKansasU in May of 1998, he in
electrical engineering and I in life science. Our wedding date will be
May 23, 1998 in Manhattan, Kansas. Following graduation and the wedding,
we will move somewhere undetermined as of yet. Jon plans to begin work
in sales and consulting, and I plan to attend graduate school for a
career as a health professional, most likely a Physician Assistant.
College successfully limits our spare time, but when we are able,
some things we enjoy are traveling, seeing movies, and visiting friends
and family. Most of all, we prefer and enjoy spending time together.”
VB3. Kathleen
Alice Bertholf b.
12-1-1948
m. Gordon Keith Mackenzie Kathleen
writes about her family: “Kathleen
Bertholf and Keith Mackenzie were married on September 3, 1977 beginning
another branch in our family history. Kathleen and Keith lived for two
years in Seattle while Keith finished a residency in Physical and
Rehabilitation Medicine and Kathleen worked on her Master’s degree in
higher education, thinking that someday she might teach in a physical
therapy program. That plan
was put on hold for awhile when their first child, Ian Keith, was born
in April of 1979. The lure
of the northwest kept the family in Washington and after two years in
Seattle, they settled in Spokane, where Keith started a private practice
and Kathleen worked part time in pediatric physical therapy. Megan
Kathleen was born on March 21, 1981 and shortly thereafter Kathleen
became a full time stay–at-home mom.
Three years later, on January 30th, Kara Elizabeth Alice was
born. The
ensuing years have seen the kids grow into responsible, enterprising
teenagers. Ian's main
interests are music and boxing. He's also quite involved with work. Ian graduated from high school this past year, 1997.
He plans to take next year off from school, work and travel and
start to college in the fall of 1998, probably somewhere in California. Megan
will be a junior in high school in the fall of 1997.
Her interests range from soccer and track to art and friends.
She is also interested in sign language and took a class in it at
the deaf center. This
summer Megan has gone to Malibu; a young life camp in Vancouver, B.C.;
to Laramie, Wyoming as part of the Olympic Development Program for
soccer in Washington; and to South Korea and Japan to visit Barbara and
Don Cress and last, but not least, to Boston and vicinity to visit
prospective colleges. Kara
will be entering the 8th grade in the fall of 1997.
Her interests include soccer, basketball, track, art, and
friends. She also
participated in the Olympic Development Program in soccer for Washington
this year and was also at the camp in Laramie, Wyoming.
Last year Kara was on a basketball team that went to the National
tournament. She is most
looking forward to our trip to Korea and Japan. Kathleen and Keith just try to get enough sleep to keep functioning. Kathleen started back to work seven years ago on a part time basis working in outpatient orthopedic rehabilitation and sports medicine. Both Keith and Kathleen took up soccer (a sport neither had ever seen before) just after Kara was born. Now they both coach Kara's team, a delightful group of 13-year-old girls, which is ever a challenge and reward at the same time. Both also love to read and Keith enjoys his computer.” Address:
1325 E. South Ridge Ln., Spokane, WA 99223
VB3a.
Ian Keith Mackenzie
b. 4-3-1979
VB3b. Megan Kathleen Mackenzie b. 3-21-1981 VB3c. Kara Elizabeth Alice Mackenzie
b. 1-30-1984
VC
JACK BERTHOLF b.8-15-1918
m. LaVera May Long b. 5-20-1918 This
is a story about Jack and LaVera that includes excerpts taken from an
interview by their granddaughter, Lynne, while she was a student at OSU.
Jack’s story is a good example of the life of the “farm
cousins” during that era: “To
obtain the land on which Jack grew up, his grandfather William Hamilton
Bertholf traded in the old family farm for this new acreage.
Jack’s dad, Earl, (who was still single) and Jack’s Uncle Lin
move to the ‘ranch’ and started to set up their farm.
Both a big barn at the home place, and the house at his Uncle
Lin’s place were constructed from cement blocks that they made
themselves. They made the
cement blocks from ‘crick’ (creek) sand and lime cement.
Soon, another of Jack’s uncles (Harry) moved to the area. Jack was raised in a big two-story frame house on a farm north of Spivey. There were five children in the family, including Jack. The house had four bedrooms, and the boys shared a room. When Jack was in High School, they tore down this house and built a new one at the same place.Jack’s
family fortunately did have running water in the house.
It was piped in from a spring on a hill about one-half mile away.
They did have a bathtub, although they lacked a stool.
This brought back memories of the outdoor privy.
He remembered one of the little houses that had big old cracks in
it. Jack claimed that it
was a ‘cold sucker’, although it did let in the fresh air.
It was made with green cottonwood that cracked when it dried.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt came into office and brought about
the WPA Program, new outside privies were built.
They had a cement base with a stool upon it and a lid.
They would then build a halfway tight building to surround the
stool. Although there was a
bathtub in the house, he said that back then no one took a bath or
changed clothes every day. They
never had electricity in Jack’s childhood.
They used lamps and lanterns.
To do the laundry, the water had to be heated on the stove to
warm it up before it was poured into the washing machine that was
powered by a gasoline engine. The
washing was another task that was not done as frequently as we do it
today. This seemed to be
another chore to be done by the mother or women in the household. Jack’s
family did not go to town very often, except to go to church and school.
The families socialized among themselves.
The cousins were a little bit older, so Jack and his brothers and
sisters learned to play with each other.
The kids would play down in the ‘crick’[creek] a lot.
He remembers pulling leeches off of everyone after they were
through either playing or fishing.
The water also gave the kids something to do when it was frozen.
They used to have quite a few ice skating parties where they
would make a fire out on the ice. Other
activities included cart races with a horse pulling the buggy, and
playing tennis on a smoothed out area of the yard. Life
on the farm also included a lot of hard work.
Jack said it was ‘a pretty tough old life’. When
the men were out doing manual labor, Jack remembers that his mom would
be indoors sewing, cooking, washing clothes or dishes, and basically
keeping the house in order. He
said that his mom loved to sew and was a very good seamstress.
He remembers the overalls that she used to make them, and he
thought she probably made their shirts as well.
Since they did not have a refrigerator, his mom would can their
meat and some of the garden vegetables.
One of Jack’s favorite dishes that she would make was rice
pudding. He also recalls
that he ate quite a few potatoes and quite a bit of chicken. One
of Jack’s chores included catching chickens.
He would use a chicken hook that hung out in the chicken yard.
This was a wire with a loop on one end that allowed him to get as
close to the chicken as he could before he hooked it on their legs.
He also had to help mile the cows.
All anyone drank was milk; it was their mainstay.
They would keep the milk and butter, which they churned, in a
bucket down in the cool well. Before
a meal, they would have to go out to the well to pull up their milk.
He also had to help out in the garden.
They would plant huge gardens every year with potatoes, sweet
potatoes, watermelon, cataloupe, peas, and beans. His
first year in school, Jack went to Spivey where they had three grades
under one teacher. To get
to school, they would drive their horse and buggy four miles.
The next year, the school districts changed, so he started school
at Belmont Center. In this
school, there were eight grades in one classroom.
The class that was being taught would sit up in the front on
benches. The classes that
were in the back were supposed to be studying at this time; many of the
brighter students would pay attention to the front and learn ahead.
Jack thought that the teachers had a very hard job in that they
had to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to so many different
classes. Jack
went to High School in Spivey and the horse and buggy was used as
transportation. Jack said
that the horse would need a switching on the way to school, but on the
way home, it hurried. In
High School, athletics became a focal point of his life.
His favorite sport was basketball. The main social event for the family was the trip to church
every Sunday. They always
went unless there was something drastically wrong.
They would then eat their big meal at home after church. The kids always looked forward to the holidays as they would
get to see their relatives from Wichita.
The Fourth of July was the biggest holiday spent with the whole
family. The elders would
freeze ice cream, and the youngsters would set off firecrackers that one
of the uncles brought from Wichita.
Thanksgiving brought the Wichita crew out again.
This time they brought their guns, prepared for the big hunt.
Christmas was the holiday that the immediate family spent
together. Everyone was poor
in those days, so the gifts given and received were all very practical
gifts. His folks usually
gave the boys new traps, socks, and gloves.
All of these were greatly appreciated because they were things
that would be used throughout the year.
Jack
met LaVera in Harper, at the skating rink.
After attending Friends University for one year, Jack won LaVera
over and they were married. In
the spring of 1947, Jack and LaVera moved into a small four-room house
in the middle of a wheat field north of Attica.
The house sat almost in the middle of a section and could not be
seen from the road. Besides
the house, there was an old barn, a chicken house, an outhouse, and a
grainery. The house did not
have electricity or running water.
Wheat had been planted all around the house, even between the
buildings. It took a good
deal of work to make the place livable.
They were also part of a rural cooperative that ran and
maintained a telephone line which tied into the Bell system in Attica,
but it was a dial system. In
a couple of years they were able to get electricity by installing a
32-volt Delco system with the generator out in the grainery.
This system did not power much except lights.
It wasn't until the REA came through that they were able to get
running water and an indoor bathroom.
Even then the water supply was so limited that their first
automatic washer had to have a recycling tank to hold the wash water
while that load rinsed and then pumped it back in to wash the next load.
Once they had electricity many other conveniences were added, an
AM-FM console radio with a record player, a deep freeze, an electric
mixer, an AM radio in the barn, an electric refrigerator to replace the
gas Servel, and a water cooler. Besides
the wheat and beef cattle, they had hens for eggs, bought chicks to
raise as fryers, and milked cows for use in the house and sold grade C
milk. The cows were milked
by hand, strained into a 10- gallon can, which was cooled in a tub of
water. The milk was picked
up by a milk truck. The
farm also saw many changes during this time.
A new barn and silo were built and the corral was enlarged and a
few years later another chicken house was added.
With the addition of the Antrim farm ground, the Bertholf
partnership of Earl, Don, Jack, and Lee needed a new combine to augment
the old 5-foot AC and 12-foot Baldwin.
They purchased a M&M self-propelled combine; however, before
they could run it, a hail storm came through which totally destroyed the
crop at Attica and blew the combine through the corral where it stopped
in the middle of the lot. They
took it to Oklahoma to do some custom cutting in order to help make the
payment. When
Dennis was in the fifth grade and Dean in the third grade, Attica added
school busses. The route was such that they got on about 7:00 AM and rode to
Spivey before returning to Attica.
The boys liked this arrangement, except for getting up, because
they were one of the first ones off in the evening and had time to play. LuAnn
was born in 1954. The two
boys were excited about her arrival, but the house became even more
crowded with the addition of her bed to Jack and LaVera's bedroom.
That year they also traded their little 2-door Ford for a 4-door. Most
of these years the social life of the family revolved around the
families. However many
weekend nights were spent playing cards with neighbors and visiting with
some old high school friends, the Ingrams and Cramers.
The first year after Jack and LaVera bought a TV, the Millers
would bring food, share dinner with the family and watch the Wednesday
night fights. Once the boys
were active in Junior High and High School sports, Jack and LaVera never
missed going to the games. Many
times they took a load of kids with them. During
the drought of the mid-fifties, it became very difficult to make a
living on the farm so Jack and Lee joined with the Vanlandingham's to
form a trucking business. They hauled water to the oil wells and had contracts to haul
saltwater to the disposal wells. In
l958 the brothers decided to dissolve the farming partnership.
They continued to work together some during harvest but basically
each of them ran an independent farming operation. In
1960 the Darnes' ranch became available, and Jack, LaVera, Dean and
LuAnn moved one-half a mile north into a much larger two-story house.
They worked most of the winter remodeling the house.
This move about doubled the amount of farmland Jack had; actually
the first year he had wheat on both the Antrim and the Darnes' places. The 1960s enlarged the family as Dennis married Loretta Olivier in 1962 and Dean married Pat Trotter in 1964. The growth continued when Lynne and Lori, daughters of Dennis and Loretta, and Dave, son of Dean and Pat, were born in 1967. There were two more additions in 1969 when Kevin, son of Dennis and Loretta, and Dan, son of Dean and Pat, were born. In
1978 Jack and LaVera added 400 acres of Kingman county land west of
Spivey to their farming operation.
He also purchased 60 acres of the Darnes' ranch that included the
buildings. They then sold
the house to be moved and built a new house west of the old one. |