1972 - 1973
July, A Month That Became An Inflictor Of Great Pain

Opal and Bill were both working which left George home alone. We could look next door and see him walking along so slowly that he seemed to have aged about twenty years! He was still actively grieving three years later. It was apparent that he felt hopeless; and his children didn’t care to have him with them.

So, of the morning of July 20, which was especially gloomy, I glanced out of my kitchen window toward their house, and thought about George being there by himself. Seeing his bedroom window, I thought of him sitting, despondent in his room. I hoped he was feeling all right in spite of the dark day. Then I went off to work.

When Opal returned from work, she wondered, "Where is George?" She looked out in the garden and in and around the barn but could not find him. So she called Phyl to see if Phyl had taken him somewhere, to the doctor, maybe . . . Phyl said, No, I haven't seen him."

Then, Opal thought to look in the basement and went downstairs. That is where she found him. He had hanged himself. Terrified, she fled upstairs. She called Leo and Phyl, and me at work.

When we all came to her support, she was the one who told us, "Don' t go down there! You don' t want to see him!" She wished to spare us the horror. Later that evening, Opal undertook to call Dennis and Florence in San Jose to tell them the bad news. Florence said, "Well, I have bad news, too! Dennis suffered a stroke at 8 p.m. today." This was my healthy, older brother! Dennis had just in the past month of June on his birthday, completed a physical through his employment at Stanford University, and was pronounced in excellent health.

He was in the hospital and unconscious. One week later, he passed away without regaining consciousness.

After George's funeral, his three children, Melvin, Del, and Bea, told Opal that she should have the money George had dutifully accumulated for them. But, when they left for their homes on the Coast, they left their addresses with Opal so that they could receive their due inheritance. Need I say that George had absolutely no assets when he entered into marriage with Mom . . . only his ingenuity?

Walker's Grocery

To explain, George worked for a moving company when they were first married; then he and Mom went into the grocery business, and had a URM store first at 1514 North Monroe. Next they located on Fifth and Sherman, and finally a location on East Trent, then to Trent and Butler. George also dealt a lot with the buying and selling used items.

Goerge's funeral was July 24, and exactly one week later, we were in San Jose for Dennis' funeral.

Opal, Leo, Bob and I drove to San Jose. I grieved more for this brother more than I ever had for my father, my mother, or my grandparents. He was of my generation, and I felt a closeness despite our 10 years difference in age. I was even shook up when, at his funeral, I noticed that he had a mustache! It seemed odd that I had not known that. My grief was such that I felt I couldn't control my sobbing, and I didn't even care. Florence tried to console me somewhat by saying, "We shouldn't feel so bad -- he could have lost his life during World War II when at Pearl Harbor, or anytime after that. Instead, he lived to have a family and four children."

Darlene and Cindy each picked a rose from a nearby floral arrangement and put them in his casket.

Cindy and Darlene

His was a military funeral. At the cemetery, Naval officers removed their white gloves and placed them on his casket before it was lowered. Taps were played and guns saluted. We were choked up; proud of him, and also sorry for the end of our brother's time with us. The cemetery was Oak Hill, and he was buried in the military section.

After the service, Florence insisted that we stay. Neighbors had sent food.

Colleen Keener

Colleen was such a gorgeous child, just seven years old. Dennis had made her a little dollhouse which was set up in the family room. And the swing under the roof of the patio -- When someone asked her, "Where did you get that nice swing?" she said, "My daddy made it for me." Dennis always had a soft spot in his heart for girls. Could Opal and I have been responsible for this?

It was great to see Tom. He had a new car, and was readily responsive to our hugs.

While at Dennis and Florence's I peeked into what was obviously Dennis' closet, and saw that all of his clothes had been labeled -- "Casual" "Work" "Dress" etc. I couldn't guess whether it was Dennis or Florence who was so methodical.

Going back to Spokane, the four of us were still very uptight. We stopped at a gift shop along the way, and Leo bought a pair of myrtlewood earrings for Phyl. As we were driving along, he noticed that the earrings were for pierced ears (which Phyl didn't have). Leo said (and we all thought it was hilarious) "Well. . ." (We thought he was going to say he would just have to modify the earrings, or Phyl would have to get her ears pierced.) Instead, "Well . . . I guess I'll just have to trade her in for a woman with punched ears!" Laughing about this, it removed a lot of our built-up tension for the rest of the trip home.

I began to find out more about what a wonderful big brother I had. Phyl received a letter from Gladys, Dennis' first wife. In it Gladys told Phyl how sorry she was to learn about his death. She said she had always loved him. We were a little surprised, because she was so adamant about not letting Mom or any of us see Johnny. So she could forget our entire family.

And where I worked, there was a young boy by the name of Dennis Schmauch. His father had been stationed on board the U.S.S. San Francisco years ago with Dennis. This man had thought so highly of Dennis that he named his first son after him!

Shortly after Dennis passed away, Aunt Ida was very sick. She was in the hospital, and it wasn't certain that she would live. When we visited her, she was incoherent, and said, "It sure is bright . . ." And then said, "There's Dennis!" She did recover, but it was quite startling to hear her say those words!

Opal and Bill with their one-third of the property inheritance, decided to buy Mom's house. They (and Leo) always considered this was "home."

Bob tried working again with Norm's TV in Coeur d'Alene in August and stayed there until December, 1973. This time, he commuted and did not feel that we must move there.

Dean had his fifth birthday and we drove to Palouse to celebrate with him.

Dorothy and I took a speed reading class. I didn't actually get any speedier.

Dorothy and I had lots of laughs; especially when I sat behind her in this class and saw her shoulders shaking as she tried to control her amusement at what she was reading. Then, after one of these sessions, we tried to get into someone else's Volkswagen bug that was parked just about where we thought we had left hers.

Dorothy

One day Dorothy came back to work from lunch and told me an unusual story. She said she had gone swimming, and had hung her swimsuit out on the line to dry. Then, when she went lunch time to take it in, she told me while laughing, "A bird had built a nest in the crotch of my swimsuit!" I, trying to be logical, said, "Gee, Dorothy, I don't think birds build their nests that fast, and especially I don't think they build their nests at this time of the year!" It was September! As a joke, her next-door friend had put the bird's nest there!

Karyl Keener

People began to remark about this time that Karyl, my niece, and I "really do look alike!" She looked more to be my daughter than Nikki did. And I looked more to be her mother than Phyl did. To my amazement, this always seemed to please her. It was more of a compliment to me. She was so extremely pretty.

A few years ago, when Karyl was about 10 or 11 years old, an old school friend of mine told her, "I know whose daughter you are. You're Leta's Nikki!"

Karyl Keener

We had the Aldens for next door neighbors. Charlie was not at all well, in fact he was confined to a wheelchair. Ruth, on the other hand, was daily drunk. She would, on a warm summer evening, put on a show for the whole neighborhood with her rowdiness. The thing that got to me most was that she started haranguing about "the big broad next door." Saying, "Whatever happened to Lee-tah? I know she's been whoring around. Leta and her big job!" ad infinitum . . . Lots and lots of vulgar words! She seemed to be accusing Charlie of having an affair with me -- he in his wheelchair. Verrry tricky!

One summer evening, as her vehemence interrupted the neighborhood calm, Bob was pondering in their backyard. He was trying to decide whether he should confront her. It was his wont to try to play things down in order to keep neighborhood peace.

Charlie happened to see Bob standing out there, and said, "Bob, is that you? Did you want something?"

Bob said to him, "I was just wondering what it is Ruth has against Lee."

This was not sufficient to quiet her down. She enjoyed her drink, and the boisterous behavior. I truly felt that she was jealous of me -- probably because I had a job and she didn't. She was a large, athletic woman and very strong. Formerly she taught tennis and swimming. In a few years, I was to have a knock-down (honest) run-in with this big woman.

Gary's tenure at college was very short -- he went for one semester and then just wanted to get a job so he and Gerri could get married. Weren't they too young -- both of them just out of high-school? And shouldn't Gary have ahead of him a successful career with a degree in Electrical Engineering? Of course, things work out as they are supposed to, right? These two proved to be most compatible. They knew what they were doing and Bob and I didn't!

During this brief time at the University, Gary rode his motorcycle to and from school. He was stopped several times by policemen to tell him he had the wrong kind of muffler on his bike. So he would get the type recommended to him, and then again would be pulled over to tell him he had the wrong kind! The police did like picking on young men on motorcycles.

Lakeland Village asked for people to volunteer as sponsors of the residents. Dorothy, Barbara Aubrey, and I decided to do it. Dorothy got a couple who soon were married. I had a girl named Retha Hammer. I don't remember who Barbara was assigned to.

Being a sponsor didn't involve much of a commitment -- just sending cards on special occasions. We, however, did a little more. Retha was invited to spend holidays with us, and I took gifts out to her at Lakeland for Christmas and her birthday. In years past, I had sponsored a young girl in India named Sheik Fatima. And we sent a monthly sum for her. She was finally reunited with relatives there, and so I wasn't needed any longer. Much the same happened with Retha. Only she was moved to an environment where she was able to function on her own -- I could carry on with the little I did, or not. I chose not.

On April 14, Gary and Gerri were married at the Valley Foursquare Church in Millwood. Gerri's mother did one fantastic job with the preparations.

The rehearsal dinner was at our house, catered by a woman I had heard was very good, Vesta Prather. She brought the food which I chose, and all the serving pieces, and cleaned it all up afterwards.

The ceremony had few hitches -- other than the cute flower girl, Bernice, thought it was her responsibility to hand flower petals to all those sitting along her way. This slowed things down a bit. Then Gary dropped the ring he was presenting to Gerri. That was all, except, at some point in the ceremony, I felt sort of overcome. My heart began pounding, and I was afraid I would faint. I could feel a thudding against the pew where I sat. I was able to control myself. I would have been so mortified if I had created a scene.

The reception was at Carlos and Darlene's, Gerri's parents.

Barry and Susan had our fourth grandson. Aaron Paul was born May 24. Barry Jr. was now almost four years old.

July, Bob and I drove across the new Cascade Highway. It had just opened, and it was said that the mountains along this highway were similar to the Swiss Alps.

Bob was active with Amateur Radio and relayed numerous messages "phone patches" to connect relatives with each other during disasters such as a huge earthquake and tidal wave in Alaska. He was a member of Civil Defense, a unit in which the hams were part of the "search and rescue" sector. We went to a CD Banquet. I made a floor-length purple dress. It was a simple slim-skirted dress with a slit in front, sleeveless, and it had orange and purple "jewels" on a gold-braid trim around the neck.

Taji

Another of Dorothy's neighbors had a Siamese kitten to give away. When Bob saw it sauntering into our kitchen, he said, "What's that?" The name I had chosen was "Taji," so I told him, "That's Taji." He was inured to our bringing pets into our home -- remember the little dog (who looked like a skunk) and was named "Dog?" We kept Taji until I discovered I had an allergy. My eyes became red, swollen and itchy.

I went to the emergency room at the Valley General Hospital, not knowing what my affliction was. The emergency room Doctor asked me, "Can you tell me what you had your hands in before you rubbed your eyes?" I answered, "Well, yes, I was petting a kitten." That meant getting rid of our new Taji.

August Bob worked on the wiring for the new church building on Park that was the building where the Valley Foursquare Church was to be located. .

We had wills drawn up by Jim Banta.

August 20, Susan's sister, Ann, was married. I was asked to modify Susan's dress as Matron-of-honor a little to fit a pregnant Susan. She was expecting again in the latter part of May.

August 25 through September 1 we went on a vacation to San Diego and Tijuana with Opal and Bill. We went to Disneyland. We also saw the Capistrano Mission. However, we were feeling a little "cut-short" during this vacation when it seemed Bill was hankering to get back to his big, old, lovable St. Bernard, Oliver, and to get back working in his garden.

December we were given the fateful news that the papermill was cutting back on its number of employees. Because of the two strikes in the seven years I worked there, and some new innovations, "Management" installed this high-speed machinery. Therefore, only one-third of the men were necessary, now reducing the work force to 100 employees. The office help was halved. From six to three. I had less seniority than the three who stayed, so I was going to be without a job come December 31.

December I had a physical examination. Dr. Saxon found that my thyroid was still over-active. I said, "At the end of the year I won 't have this good medical coverage -- Medical Service Corporation -- if there's anything that needs done. . ."

So Doctor sent me for tests at Valley General. The results indicated that I had 40% more iodine in my thyroid than was normal. A capsule was delivered by a specially-insulated van to Valley General, and this capsule had to be put directly into my hands from a lead container. I was to ingest this capsule and return the next day for an isotope scan. Finding the results, Dr. Saxon recommended a thyroidectomy.

With the end of my employment imminent, I told a salesman who used to call on us at work that I would be needing to find another job. I had known him earlier when I worked for Anderson-Miller Mfg. Co. He told Clare Osborne, my supervisor while I was working there, that I was looking for employment, and I soon heard from her. She said she could sure use me!

But, another door was opening. Having a haircut from a barber located next to a TV Sales and Service shop, alerted Bob that they were looking for a partner. After talking to the owners, Sam and Helen Montoya, he was convinced that this would be a good investment for us, and we could both work at it. The business needed our money, Bob' s equipment, and Bob's expertise and credibility.

We decided to do it, and helped Sam and Helen take inventory on December 29. We set up the partnership agreement to become effective on January 1, 1974.