Obituary:

Lola Alice Hales, 92, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, passed away Monday, November 27, 2000, at her home.
Funeral Services will be 11 A.M. Saturday, December 2, at D. W. Newcomer's Sons Floral Hills Chapel; buried in Floral Hills Memorial Gardens, Kansas City, Missouri. visitation will be 10-11 A.M. Saturday at the chapel.
Mrs Hales was born December 2, 1907 in Longton, Kansas, the daughter of Albert Byrd Bretches and Cora (Beathe) Bretches. She was a honemaker and a very active member in the Church of God for 60 years. She was married to Thomas W. Hales, who preceded her in death in 1967. she was also preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, Orval Bretches, Everett Bretches and Lloyd Bretches and five sisters, Ada Muzingo, Lydia Dickens, Hazel Morgan, Mable Murphy and Ethel Morgan. Mrs. Hales is surivied by a son, Loyde W. Hales, Aloha, Oregon, daughter Norma Jean Hall of the home; sister, Edna Parker, Raytown, Missouri and five grandchildren.
KANSAS CITY STAR, November 30, 2000

The following was recorded on Tuesday, July 29, 1987 at the home of Edna (Bretches) Parker:

LOLA'S COMMENTS ON HER CHILDHOOD

Lola: "I didn't like to play with dolls. I was a tom-boy when I was a kid. I like to get out and catch frogs and kill snakes. Track down guineas, trying to find the guineas' eggs. I ever found the guineas' eggs. All the years I lived on the farm, I couldn't find the stupid things. They go right to their nest but they built it where you couldn't find it and then of course, I had to help mom pick geese. I had to hold their stupid heads so they wouldn't bite her. I always played outside. I like to build houses. Edna, you know that old maple grove we had?"
Edna: "Oh, yes".
Lola: "Ethel and I would play in there. And we would build houses. When I got my built, I go down and chase the guineas or something. Ethel wanted to make dolls and beds and things. None of that for me. I didn't want to play house. I get up in one of those maple tree and swing from one to the other. There was a whole grove of trees and they were limber and I just went swinging from one to the other".

CHRISTMAS TIME

Edna: "Lola, did you have a Christmas when you were young?"
Lola: "Oh, yes! We didn't have any cedars there. Remember down the farm? There were no cedars trees. Dad would say, ""We won't have no Christmas cause we don't have any tree."" I would, ""I'll help you find one."" I was always handy and all. So, I went with him and picked out a tree and then we made this paper chains and put on it whatever we could find, you know. and we were pleased to have this. We always got a pretty nice Christmas under our tree for us kids. We had to have tablets for school, pencils, canyons and we got all them things for Christmas presents. Things we had to have for school. So, we felt like we had an awful nice Christmas."
Edna: "We had cedars on the place. We had cedars up the lane for a while."
Norma (Lola's daughter): "But he wouldn't cut those down?"
Edna: "No! Now, it's possible when Lola was little that the cedars weren't that big. There's six and a half years between us, you know. Six and a half years the cedars trees can grow considerable. Dad loved Christmas and until the girls came to Kansas City and sent packages home. Mom would buy a couple pounds of nuts and a couple pounds of hard candy. Dad was thrilled to death. He loved Christmas."
RECORDED AND TRANSCRIBED BY RICHARD PARKER. July 1997.