I Believe – My Values

My family consisted of six brothers and one sister, who all preceded me in death.

Ray was the oldest of the boys and was the first to die at age 60 in early January of 1982. He died suddenly in the elevator at the University of Minnesota in Mankato where he worked. He married Helen Ernst and was a hard working father of four children.

Brother Carlyle died in September of 1991 shortly after his retirement at the age of 65. He was married to Esther Bohn and had one natural born daughter and two adopted sons. He so looked forward to retirement, but was not given that opportunity.

Quentin died in early April, 1998. Quentin was married to Goldie Fast and they had one adopted daughter. He battled cancer for 13 years and enjoyed a final visit with his extended family the weekend before he died.

One of the twins, Lowell, died June 1, 2001, at his home at Kidron Bethel Retirement home in North Newton. The majority of his working years were spent in Denver, Colorado, following his 1-W alternative service. He spent many hours at the piano of various places for appreciative audiences. 

Sister Doris, the oldest of the siblings, died following a short illness in early February of 2005.  She was married to Sam Kaufman and they had one son. She was a loving homemaker for her family for many years. 

Brother Roy died in January, 2012, following heart surgery. He married Florence Cramolini and they never had children. He graduated from the University of Minnesota and Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis. He was trained as a machinist and tool and die maker, and turned out many intricate, detailed things during his years as an instructor at Dunwoody.

Leslie, the other twin, passed away in 2018 following a fall and brain bleed. He married Ellen Stucky and they had two sons. He graduated from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, and sang at many occasions. He was a school teacher, creative writer of poetry, woodworker, and friend of many.

I have many good memories of these seven siblings who had varied abilities and talents.

My mother moved to Kansas in 1957—the same year I moved here. I  lived with her in a duplex owned by my brother Carlyle. After a fire there, she moved to a little cottage also owned by Carlyle. Once Orlando and I moved our family out of the house we were renting on 24th Street into our new home on 22nd Street, mother moved into the rental we vacated.

I called her every morning to check on her. One day she didn’t answer the phone so I went to her house to see what was going on. I found her on the bathroom floor and called her doctor to get her checked out. She was hospitalized and diagnosed as having an aneurysm. When she was dismissed, we moved her to our home. After living with us for about a year, she moved to Bethel Nursing Home. She lived there for about six months. One morning I received a phone call with the message that she was probably in the last hours of her life. I took the children next door to the neighbors and went to the nursing home.

I found her to be awake and more cheerful than I’d seen her for a long time. We visited a little bit, then I went back home to check on the kids. After picking them up, I drove in our garage and heard the phone ringing. It was the nursing home. Mom had just died. What a shock!

After getting this news, I started making the phone calls to notify my siblings of her death.

I phoned the funeral home and made arrangements for her body to be flown back to Freeman for her funeral and burial beside her husband.  I also phoned my home church and made arrangements for a time for the funeral.  

After the funeral at the full church, we had a meal and visited with many people.  All my siblings and their families were there, and I had arranged for a local photographer to take our picture.  Later after many shots, we found out he didn’t have any film in his camera.

The life of a wonderful mother and grandmother was now gone.

On May 18, 1959, Orlando and I were at the drive-in movies. I fell asleep during one movie and when I woke up and sat up, my water broke. We hurried home and got to our apartment. I took a shower and we called my doctor. He told us to come to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital in about an hour and I got in the hospital bed. Labor had started but I slept off and on. In the morning my doctor checked me and dilation was pretty low. Because my water broke, I was to stay in bed or sitting. The day progressed and not much was happening. By evening, pains were a little more frequent and dilation progressed. Finally at about 9:00 p.m. I was taken into the delivery room and about 24 hours after it all started, our baby girl, Teresa Lynne, was born. What a long day!

In August, about two and a half years later, I went to the hospital with the anticipation of another birth. Sister Marianna was the only nurse on the floor. I was in bed and my water broke. After getting reprimanded by this same nurse, we hurried on to the delivery room. In a couple hours it was evident that the baby was going to be born soon, without the doctor present. Sister Marianna was pretty upset with me and pushed on my belly to help keep the baby in. Finally the doctor showed up and soon Carolyn Anne made her arrival. She was in a little stressed but finally cried and her color changed.

When I was dismissed from the hospital I wasn’t greeted by little Teresa in a not so positive way. She wouldn’t talk to me or come close for a couple days. That soon changed and we were friends again.

In February of 1964 we made plans to move into our new home that we built. I knew that baby number 3 would be born soon. It was a sloppy day but we got everything moved and in place. When we were done about mid-evening I put the coffee pot on and we were about to sit down and have coffee and a piece of apple pie that our neighbor brought over. As soon as I sat down my labor pains came thick and fast. The plans changed and we went to my mother’s house to clean up and head for the hospital. The two girls were there, and we told Mother I was in labor.

I was worn out and after getting to the hospital I went to bed. Except for a severe backache, was able to go to sleep. A helpful nurse rubbed my back and after a couple hours I woke up and it was time. After going to the delivery room it didn’t take long and Cynthia Jo was born.

In November of 1970 I had an appointment with my doctor, and since this baby was late I told him I was coming in with my suitcase and wasn’t going home. He broke my bag of waters and took me through the tunnel from the clinic to the hospital. My pains which had started now stopped and we were in a holding pattern over the noon hour. They labor paints started up around 1:00 p.m. and after an easy labor and birth, Sandra Kyle was born at about 4:30 p.m.

I hadn’t eaten all day and was very hungry.  The people in the kitchen fixed me a nice meal of pork chops and the fixings.  Boy, did that hit the spot!

Our family was now complete!

I met Orlando Goertzen at a community chorus in Newton, Kansas. We dated a while and married on August 8, 1958. We moved into a basement apartment in North Newton, and after college Orlando got a job at the Mennonite Press in North Newton.

In May of 1959, our first daughter Teresa Lynne, was born. During my pregnancy I continued working but after she was born I stayed home. When the General Conference had work I could do at home, I would help them out.

Teresa was a very content baby, slept well and if her tummy was full, she was happy. A great beginning for my first child.

On August 31, 1961, Carolyn Anne came on the scene. We needed more room, so we moved our family to a four-room house on 24th Street in North Newton. We put both girls in one room, and we had a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The house had a full, unfinished basement, so we had plenty of room. We had a garden area and a play swing in the side yard.

After a couple years of living there, we decided to have a house built a few blocks away on 22nd Street. On February 16, 1964, our third daughter, Cynthia Jo, was born. She basically arrived on moving day. We had a number of people help us move, and after a day was done we headed to the hospital. She was born shortly after midnight the next day.

Six years later, on November 12, 1970, Sandra Kyle was born so once again our bedrooms were full.

Four daughters, each very different from the others. Teresa was the studious one, loved to read, and as a young child was happy with a book in her hands.  Carolyn was a little more active, athletic, and a little more like a tomboy. Cindy was into singing, reading, and looking after her little sister. Sandra, also a singer, was vying for attention from whoever gave it to her. They have all grown up to be wonderful women and have found their places in the world.

My first job as a teenager was babysitting for four children of our neighbor in town. Ray and Eunice Rice had a dance band who had a long gig on many weekends. This meant giving the children supper, playing with them, giving them a bath and getting them ready for bed. Ray and Eunice were out quite late so I often slept at their house.

My second job was at the John Deere store in town. They had contacted the school for a girl about sixteen who knew something about bookkeeping and I was hired. The job consisted of some bookkeeping on a sales ledger and dusting when that work was done. I worked on a full-keyboard adding machine and wrote in a large ledger. I enjoyed this job.

After a year of college I moved to a town about 150 miles from Freeman where my sister and her husband lived. My sister Doris was expecting a baby so I helped her with housework. I also had a part-time job at a clothing store as a sales clerk. After their baby was born I helped take care of him.

Early the next year I moved to Denver, Colorado and applied for a job at a large hospital. I had two brothers there and lived with one of them. Through church I learned to know a couple girls who were looking for a roommate. I moved in with them which was near the hospital where I worked. It was a job operating a large electric posting machine where I posted patient charges on a daily basis. This job was a good fit for me. My supervisor was a tall, black lady and I learned to really appreciate her.

After working there about a year, I had a call from a brother in Newton, Kansas and he encouraged me to apply for a job in the building where he worked. I had a telephone interview with Walt Unrau who was in charge of a branch of the Board of Education and Publication of the General Conference of the Mennonite Church. I got that job so after giving the hospital notice I moved to Kansas. I was hired as a production typist, which suited me well.

During that time I joined a community choir and met Orlando Goertzen whom I later married. After about a year at this job and my wedding I became pregnant. Near the time of this first baby’s birth I quit my job.  I made many contacts at this job and I did typing at home on a part-time basis.

After eleven years working at The Mennonite Press in North Newton, Orlando had the opportunity to buy a printing business in Newton. My job there was proofreader and doing some bookkeeping. When the office supply store in front of the print shop became for sale, we bought that also. We hired two clerks and I managed the store and worked part time when the children were in school.

We owned these businesses for 28 years and then we sold the business and became semi-retired. I took on another job as I was too young to retire and Orlando worked at Mennonite Central Committee.

My next job was in Hesston, Kansas working for Mennonite Aid Union insurance company. It was a small office and employed only me and the manager. We had about 20 sales people, or district secretaries as they were called, and about 3,500 policies. I worked there for about eight years and did enjoy this work.

Since I retired from this job I took on volunteer jobs working at the Et Cetera Shop thrift shop and several jobs at the Bethel College Mennonite Church. Now I work one morning a week at Mennonite Central Committee and am treasurer of our Women’s Fellowship at church.

It was late October 1950 and it was a normal school day for me. My father and brother Lowell were shelling corn. Suddenly my father was not feeling well, and soon was on the ground in pain. Lowell ran to the house and told Mom and a doctor was called. By the time the doctor arrived my father was no longer breathing. They carried him to the house and he was pronounced dead.

Lowell walked to the school and knocked on my classroom door. He gave the message to Alice Walter, my teacher, and she called me out and gave me the news.  I was in disbelief because my father had told me, when he dropped me off at school, that we would go to town when school was out and buy me some new shoes and a dress. We slowly walked home and when we got there the hearse and undertaker were on the yard. I walked in the house and uncovered the sheet from my father’s head and took a last look at his face.

Then the undertaker loaded my father up and proceeded to take him to the hearse. Our faithful old German shepherd dog saw what was happening and bit the undertaker in the leg.  No way was he going to let this man carry my father away! Plans were made for the funeral, and life for my family was changed. My father was not a man who attended church, but we did have the funeral there. There was a large crowd in attendance at the service and at the meal following.

The decision was made to move back to our house in town in the spring. My twin brothers were still at home but they left that winter for 1-W service in Denver, so my mother and I were the only ones left to move.

I was 13 so I had my high school years left to be at home with my mother. We had a renter in our house in town so we notified her we would need the house back in the spring.  My mother never drove the car, and I was too young to drive. Soon I got my license and drove when necessary.  

Holidays were never a big deal when I was growing up. We celebrated some, but others we just let slide by.

New Year’s Day – the beginning of a new year. The only thing I remember was my mother making Nee Yosh Koka (New Years Cookies) a yeast dough with raisins. The dough was made, more like a heavy batter and was left to rise. When it was about doubled, she spooned off the dough and fritters were fried in deep fat until brown and done.  Then they were glazed in a sugar glaze and eaten throughout the day.

Valentine’s Day – When I was in grade school we exchanged Valentine cards and had some sort of party on the day. When my children were that age we made sure we had enough cards for each member of their grades and they were prepared to be put in the children’s boxes in school. These often contained a stick of gum or sucker with each card.

St. Patrick’s Day – not really celebrated, but maybe remembered by wearing green and sharing with each other if we had some Irish blood.

May Day – We made baskets out of construction paper and on the morning of May Day we gathered whatever flowers were blooming at the time and filled the baskets with them and some candy to go around. Then we would sneak around to friends’ homes and put them near their front door.

Fourth of July – When I was growing up we had little money to buy fireworks, but maybe had a few sparklers or snakes. It wasn’t a big deal, but we may have watched fireworks. The same when my children were young, but occasionally we went to a fireworks display in another town.

Labor Day – Just a day off school but no celebration.

Thanksgiving – The beginning of the real holidays, usually it was observed with a big meal and giving thanks for what we had. Families often gathered together to celebrate.

Christmas – When I was growing up, the main event of Christmas was our church program which we practiced for every Sunday afternoon for a number of weeks. I loved the music of this holiday so that was special for me. When my children were young they were involved in church Christmas programs and a festive Christmas Eve service, often followed by a fondue party with friends. Sacks of fruit and candy were given out at church after the service. Growing up gifts were not a highlight because money was short. My children looked forward to Christmas morning and were the first ones out of bed to wake us and begin opening presents. The Christmas story was read before gifts were distributed and this was a yearly event. We often went to my husband’s parents for a celebration and noon meal together with other families.

So this is what happened on holidays. Today it is somewhat different.

About a half mile from the farm was the school. I started grade school at age six. I don’t recall in detail those earlier days. The school building was a two-story brick structure that housed all eight grades of grade school and four of high school, and a gym. There were four rooms of two grades each. My grade school teachers were Miss Herbst in first and second, Miss Twedten in third and fourth, Clara Gross in fifth and sixth, and Alice Walters in grades seven and eight.

As I remember I loved school. Learning to read opened a new world for me and later math, and numbers in general, interested me. My first and second grade teacher was like a mother hen. She was so kind and treated us like her children. I remember Miss Twedten always carried nose drops in her pocket. Several times a day she tilted her head back, and dropped nose drops in her nose. Clara Gross was a strict teacher but I remember learning so much in her class.

Diagramming sentences stands out as one thing I mastered in grades seven and eight. One day one of my brothers came to my classroom door to tell me our father had died of a heart attack. My teacher said her father had also died that week.

The grade school rooms were all on ground floor around the sunken gym. The music room was also on the main floor and high school on second floor.

High school years were full of excitement for me. So much new stuff to learn along with a play given each year. Coming from a musical family it was exciting that in later years we learned and performed operettas. This was definitely a highlight. I had started in band during seventh and eighth grades and continued into high school. Being chosen for girls octet, sextet and mixed chorus offered so much music into my life.

Of all the high school classes, I disliked history the most. Learning dates of certain events was of no interest to me. This continued the rest of my life. Typing, bookkeeping and all things related to office work was where my interest lay. These classes and the teachers in them were all special to me and that showed up in my grades.

Junior and senior proms were fun times as we chose themes and decorated the gym for them. I was sad when my high school years were over. It’s strange that I don’t remember too much about graduation. For our class of 23 students, we had the graduation ceremony indoors. I do remember getting some pearl earrings as a gift from my mother and some money from others.

My plans for after high school were to go to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, about 50 miles away. I attended there only one year and did not continue on because money was in short supply. I always regretted that because I loved school so much.

The wonderful smells of pies out of the oven and the hustle and bustle of activity in the kitchen were all indications of preparation being made for food for the harvest crew due to arrive that morning.

Neighbor men were called into action to help with harvest at our farm. The equipment was all checked to be in working order and soon the wagons went into the field to gather the bundles of wheat and oats ready to be threshed. The threshing machine was shared among the Spomer, Kleinsasser and Groves families, and it was our turn today.

For me it was an exciting time as the day began. The coffee and cinnamon rolls were ready for the crew to sustain their bodies for the morning work.

The threshing machine and tractor were ready and soon bundles of grain were thrown on and harvest began. All went well in the morning, and before we knew it the dinner bell rang and it was time to clean up for the noon meal.

On the bench in the yard were dishpans of soapy water and towels for washing up. Then the men gathered around our generous table, all talking and laughing and discussing the morning work.

Out of the kitchen came platters of fried chicken just butchered that morning, bowls of steaming mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans flavored with bacon and onion, plates of summer dill pickles and baskets of freshly baked bread. All was quiet as the men ate. The plates were then removed and out came the pies for dessert.

After everyone had their fill and had a short rest, the harvest started up again. By later that afternoon they were ready to shut down for the day and returned to the yard for coffee, sandwiches and chocolate cake.

Soon the neighbor men returned to their homes to do their chores and have a rest. Tomorrow was another day of harvest.

There was always plenty of food to feed our large family. We had two large gardens, one with potatoes, sweet corn, kohlrabi, turnips, and cucumbers. The garden near the house had peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, and onions. The small orchard contained cherries, plums, apples, and mulberries.  Throughout the year we were kept busy picking, cleaning, and preparing fruit for canning, all for winter use.

There was always the supply of eggs, fresh chickens, ducks, and geese. In addition, in the winter months we butchered a couple of pigs and a steer for our meat supply. These butchering days were always busy. From the gunshots killing the animals to the last packages of meat being wrapped and jars ready to can, we worked from early morning to night.

After the pigs were cut in half, the intestines were removed and the halves were hung, skinned, and ready to lay on the table for cutting. The excess fat was removed, cut in small pieces and put in the rendering kettle to cook down into lard. Roasts and chops were cut up, the upper parts of legs were ready to be cured for hams, and bacon was sliced. Any scraps were ground, seasoned and stuffed into casings for sausage. Lard was drained off, and cracklings were pressed, all ready for winter. For supper that night my mother always fried pork loin.

The beef was skinned, hung, and cut up for roasts and steaks. The beef scraps were ground up for hamburger. The heart, liver and tongue were portioned out and with the rest of the meat readied for the locker to quick freeze the meat in town where the meat was frozen for winter.

Throughout the year we butchered chickens as we needed them. My father chopped off the heads and we removed the feathers after scalding (dipping in boiling water). The birds’ intestines were removed and then the meat was cut up for baking or frying.

Our grocery lists were rather small because of all the vegetables, fruit, and meat. We bought flour, yeast, sugar, and salt regularly.

Baking bread was an every-other-day activity. My mother was an expert in doing this along with cakes and cookies.