My grandmother was the sixth child of her father and his second wife. Her mother had six children in 11 1/2 years, and it wore her out. She was ill for eight months, and then died. My grandmother considered her sister Bessie to be her "mother", since Bessie raised her. Bessie was 12 when their mother died. All of Iva's subsequent stepmothers disliked and abused her. Bessie took over.
When Iva was 14, the current stepmother tossed her out on the street to make her own living. In 1914, this was not an easy thing for a girl to do. She got a job working in a restaurant twelve hours a day, six days a week. Her cheap shoes and extended hours on her still-forming foot bones caused her to have deformities which pained her for the rest of her life. She usually ended up having to cut holes in her shoes to let her bunions out, and more than once considered having some toes removed, as they were completely underneath the other toes. She never did, though.
Another job she had was rolling cigars. This was in Havana, Illinois, where she lived at the time. Cigars were assembled by hand, and they were rolled on the naked thighs of the women who assembled them. I have wondered whether this was necessary, or whether it was a selling point for the men who bought the cigars.
When she was 16, her father prevailed upon her to marry a wealthy young man in the town, although he had a well-deserved bad reputation. She married him. He was a police officer, and they lived with his mother, who had Parkinson's Disease. They were married ten years before she had her child; she had to have corrective surgery to be able to have him.
Ernie was six years old when Iva realized she could not allow him to be raised by his father. At the heighth of the Depression in 1932, she and her little boy left Eilert and moved to Lockport, IL, and lived with her eldest sister Bessie Bell and her family.
I don't know how she met him, but she met a handsome bachelor from Woodstock, Illinois, and married him in around 1934. She and Richard were married until he died in 1970. In all of my life I never heard her speak harshly to him, raise her voice to him, or speak ill of him behind his back. It was wonderful that after a rough young life, she found love with a good man. She treated him like a king, and he was unfailingly kind and loving to her, and an excellent and well-loved stepfather to her son, and a doting grandfather to their grandchildren.
Richard was older than Iva, and was crippled by a stroke after a life of manual labor. He limped and walked with a cane for the rest of his life after the stroke. While he was retired, Iva continued to work at part-time jobs. She worked in the office of a local veterinarian in Sycamore, IL, she babysat, and she cleaned for her daughter-in-law and son.
After Richard died, Iva was still in good health, but the house was a little much to care for as she aged. She sold out, and moved into the senior citizens' high rise in Sycamore, IL. She made friends there, and was able to continue the card parties which had been a part of her young married life, and of her retirement in middle age. Richard had always been able to beat everyone at Pinochle, but Iva could clean house on the room with Canasta. Bunko, a dice game, was also one of her favorite pastimes.
Iva had to leave school after eighth grade, but she was passionate about reading, and read incessantly when she had the time, until her eyes gave out on her in old age. Then she got a machine to listen to books on tape. Education was so important to her that she raised a son who went to college and became a teacher and college professor.
In her 70's and 80's, she took trips abroad with the local community college's tour group. She went to England, Holland, France, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and Hawaii, and loved seeing the world.
She died in 1993, after a long life of toil. She was a strong, brave, honest woman, who lived her life by the old rules, did the best she could under every circumstance, and helped everyone she could help. I lived with my grandparents in Missouri and then in southern Illinois many summers of my childhood. She was a good friend, as well as my grandmother. I miss her yet.
If you leave her some virtual flowers, her favorite color all her life was red.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone just asked me for my favorite childhood memory. This is it:
Starting when I was three, and continuing until I was thirteen, I spent my summers living with my grandparents, first in Camdenton, Missouri, and then in Vermont, Illinois. Both are small towns, and I made friends in both places. But my best memories are of all the time I spent with my grandmother. We did everything together. The best thing was that most evenings, we took a walk around town in the hour before sunset. The town had those old herringbone pattern brick sidewalks, and we walked, and we talked. Having the undivided attention of my grandmother and learning the family history she taught me is one of my best memories.
She took me to the family graveyard and showed me my ancestors. She told me stories about when my father was a little boy. She told me where I came from, and she was my friend. I am older now than she was then, but I will remember those days forever. (When I was thirteen, my grandparents moved into the house next door to us. I had them for a good many years after that yet.)
When Iva was 14, the current stepmother tossed her out on the street to make her own living. In 1914, this was not an easy thing for a girl to do. She got a job working in a restaurant twelve hours a day, six days a week. Her cheap shoes and extended hours on her still-forming foot bones caused her to have deformities which pained her for the rest of her life. She usually ended up having to cut holes in her shoes to let her bunions out, and more than once considered having some toes removed, as they were completely underneath the other toes. She never did, though.
Another job she had was rolling cigars. This was in Havana, Illinois, where she lived at the time. Cigars were assembled by hand, and they were rolled on the naked thighs of the women who assembled them. I have wondered whether this was necessary, or whether it was a selling point for the men who bought the cigars.
When she was 16, her father prevailed upon her to marry a wealthy young man in the town, although he had a well-deserved bad reputation. She married him. He was a police officer, and they lived with his mother, who had Parkinson's Disease. They were married ten years before she had her child; she had to have corrective surgery to be able to have him.
Ernie was six years old when Iva realized she could not allow him to be raised by his father. At the heighth of the Depression in 1932, she and her little boy left Eilert and moved to Lockport, IL, and lived with her eldest sister Bessie Bell and her family.
I don't know how she met him, but she met a handsome bachelor from Woodstock, Illinois, and married him in around 1934. She and Richard were married until he died in 1970. In all of my life I never heard her speak harshly to him, raise her voice to him, or speak ill of him behind his back. It was wonderful that after a rough young life, she found love with a good man. She treated him like a king, and he was unfailingly kind and loving to her, and an excellent and well-loved stepfather to her son, and a doting grandfather to their grandchildren.
Richard was older than Iva, and was crippled by a stroke after a life of manual labor. He limped and walked with a cane for the rest of his life after the stroke. While he was retired, Iva continued to work at part-time jobs. She worked in the office of a local veterinarian in Sycamore, IL, she babysat, and she cleaned for her daughter-in-law and son.
After Richard died, Iva was still in good health, but the house was a little much to care for as she aged. She sold out, and moved into the senior citizens' high rise in Sycamore, IL. She made friends there, and was able to continue the card parties which had been a part of her young married life, and of her retirement in middle age. Richard had always been able to beat everyone at Pinochle, but Iva could clean house on the room with Canasta. Bunko, a dice game, was also one of her favorite pastimes.
Iva had to leave school after eighth grade, but she was passionate about reading, and read incessantly when she had the time, until her eyes gave out on her in old age. Then she got a machine to listen to books on tape. Education was so important to her that she raised a son who went to college and became a teacher and college professor.
In her 70's and 80's, she took trips abroad with the local community college's tour group. She went to England, Holland, France, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and Hawaii, and loved seeing the world.
She died in 1993, after a long life of toil. She was a strong, brave, honest woman, who lived her life by the old rules, did the best she could under every circumstance, and helped everyone she could help. I lived with my grandparents in Missouri and then in southern Illinois many summers of my childhood. She was a good friend, as well as my grandmother. I miss her yet.
If you leave her some virtual flowers, her favorite color all her life was red.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone just asked me for my favorite childhood memory. This is it:
Starting when I was three, and continuing until I was thirteen, I spent my summers living with my grandparents, first in Camdenton, Missouri, and then in Vermont, Illinois. Both are small towns, and I made friends in both places. But my best memories are of all the time I spent with my grandmother. We did everything together. The best thing was that most evenings, we took a walk around town in the hour before sunset. The town had those old herringbone pattern brick sidewalks, and we walked, and we talked. Having the undivided attention of my grandmother and learning the family history she taught me is one of my best memories.
She took me to the family graveyard and showed me my ancestors. She told me stories about when my father was a little boy. She told me where I came from, and she was my friend. I am older now than she was then, but I will remember those days forever. (When I was thirteen, my grandparents moved into the house next door to us. I had them for a good many years after that yet.)
My grandmother was the sixth child of her father and his second wife. Her mother had six children in 11 1/2 years, and it wore her out. She was ill for eight months, and then died. My grandmother considered her sister Bessie to be her "mother", since Bessie raised her. Bessie was 12 when their mother died. All of Iva's subsequent stepmothers disliked and abused her. Bessie took over.
When Iva was 14, the current stepmother tossed her out on the street to make her own living. In 1914, this was not an easy thing for a girl to do. She got a job working in a restaurant twelve hours a day, six days a week. Her cheap shoes and extended hours on her still-forming foot bones caused her to have deformities which pained her for the rest of her life. She usually ended up having to cut holes in her shoes to let her bunions out, and more than once considered having some toes removed, as they were completely underneath the other toes. She never did, though.
Another job she had was rolling cigars. This was in Havana, Illinois, where she lived at the time. Cigars were assembled by hand, and they were rolled on the naked thighs of the women who assembled them. I have wondered whether this was necessary, or whether it was a selling point for the men who bought the cigars.
When she was 16, her father prevailed upon her to marry a wealthy young man in the town, although he had a well-deserved bad reputation. She married him. He was a police officer, and they lived with his mother, who had Parkinson's Disease. They were married ten years before she had her child; she had to have corrective surgery to be able to have him.
Ernie was six years old when Iva realized she could not allow him to be raised by his father. At the heighth of the Depression in 1932, she and her little boy left Eilert and moved to Lockport, IL, and lived with her eldest sister Bessie Bell and her family.
I don't know how she met him, but she met a handsome bachelor from Woodstock, Illinois, and married him in around 1934. She and Richard were married until he died in 1970. In all of my life I never heard her speak harshly to him, raise her voice to him, or speak ill of him behind his back. It was wonderful that after a rough young life, she found love with a good man. She treated him like a king, and he was unfailingly kind and loving to her, and an excellent and well-loved stepfather to her son, and a doting grandfather to their grandchildren.
Richard was older than Iva, and was crippled by a stroke after a life of manual labor. He limped and walked with a cane for the rest of his life after the stroke. While he was retired, Iva continued to work at part-time jobs. She worked in the office of a local veterinarian in Sycamore, IL, she babysat, and she cleaned for her daughter-in-law and son.
After Richard died, Iva was still in good health, but the house was a little much to care for as she aged. She sold out, and moved into the senior citizens' high rise in Sycamore, IL. She made friends there, and was able to continue the card parties which had been a part of her young married life, and of her retirement in middle age. Richard had always been able to beat everyone at Pinochle, but Iva could clean house on the room with Canasta. Bunko, a dice game, was also one of her favorite pastimes.
Iva had to leave school after eighth grade, but she was passionate about reading, and read incessantly when she had the time, until her eyes gave out on her in old age. Then she got a machine to listen to books on tape. Education was so important to her that she raised a son who went to college and became a teacher and college professor.
In her 70's and 80's, she took trips abroad with the local community college's tour group. She went to England, Holland, France, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and Hawaii, and loved seeing the world.
She died in 1993, after a long life of toil. She was a strong, brave, honest woman, who lived her life by the old rules, did the best she could under every circumstance, and helped everyone she could help. I lived with my grandparents in Missouri and then in southern Illinois many summers of my childhood. She was a good friend, as well as my grandmother. I miss her yet.
If you leave her some virtual flowers, her favorite color all her life was red.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone just asked me for my favorite childhood memory. This is it:
Starting when I was three, and continuing until I was thirteen, I spent my summers living with my grandparents, first in Camdenton, Missouri, and then in Vermont, Illinois. Both are small towns, and I made friends in both places. But my best memories are of all the time I spent with my grandmother. We did everything together. The best thing was that most evenings, we took a walk around town in the hour before sunset. The town had those old herringbone pattern brick sidewalks, and we walked, and we talked. Having the undivided attention of my grandmother and learning the family history she taught me is one of my best memories.
She took me to the family graveyard and showed me my ancestors. She told me stories about when my father was a little boy. She told me where I came from, and she was my friend. I am older now than she was then, but I will remember those days forever. (When I was thirteen, my grandparents moved into the house next door to us. I had them for a good many years after that yet.)
When Iva was 14, the current stepmother tossed her out on the street to make her own living. In 1914, this was not an easy thing for a girl to do. She got a job working in a restaurant twelve hours a day, six days a week. Her cheap shoes and extended hours on her still-forming foot bones caused her to have deformities which pained her for the rest of her life. She usually ended up having to cut holes in her shoes to let her bunions out, and more than once considered having some toes removed, as they were completely underneath the other toes. She never did, though.
Another job she had was rolling cigars. This was in Havana, Illinois, where she lived at the time. Cigars were assembled by hand, and they were rolled on the naked thighs of the women who assembled them. I have wondered whether this was necessary, or whether it was a selling point for the men who bought the cigars.
When she was 16, her father prevailed upon her to marry a wealthy young man in the town, although he had a well-deserved bad reputation. She married him. He was a police officer, and they lived with his mother, who had Parkinson's Disease. They were married ten years before she had her child; she had to have corrective surgery to be able to have him.
Ernie was six years old when Iva realized she could not allow him to be raised by his father. At the heighth of the Depression in 1932, she and her little boy left Eilert and moved to Lockport, IL, and lived with her eldest sister Bessie Bell and her family.
I don't know how she met him, but she met a handsome bachelor from Woodstock, Illinois, and married him in around 1934. She and Richard were married until he died in 1970. In all of my life I never heard her speak harshly to him, raise her voice to him, or speak ill of him behind his back. It was wonderful that after a rough young life, she found love with a good man. She treated him like a king, and he was unfailingly kind and loving to her, and an excellent and well-loved stepfather to her son, and a doting grandfather to their grandchildren.
Richard was older than Iva, and was crippled by a stroke after a life of manual labor. He limped and walked with a cane for the rest of his life after the stroke. While he was retired, Iva continued to work at part-time jobs. She worked in the office of a local veterinarian in Sycamore, IL, she babysat, and she cleaned for her daughter-in-law and son.
After Richard died, Iva was still in good health, but the house was a little much to care for as she aged. She sold out, and moved into the senior citizens' high rise in Sycamore, IL. She made friends there, and was able to continue the card parties which had been a part of her young married life, and of her retirement in middle age. Richard had always been able to beat everyone at Pinochle, but Iva could clean house on the room with Canasta. Bunko, a dice game, was also one of her favorite pastimes.
Iva had to leave school after eighth grade, but she was passionate about reading, and read incessantly when she had the time, until her eyes gave out on her in old age. Then she got a machine to listen to books on tape. Education was so important to her that she raised a son who went to college and became a teacher and college professor.
In her 70's and 80's, she took trips abroad with the local community college's tour group. She went to England, Holland, France, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and Hawaii, and loved seeing the world.
She died in 1993, after a long life of toil. She was a strong, brave, honest woman, who lived her life by the old rules, did the best she could under every circumstance, and helped everyone she could help. I lived with my grandparents in Missouri and then in southern Illinois many summers of my childhood. She was a good friend, as well as my grandmother. I miss her yet.
If you leave her some virtual flowers, her favorite color all her life was red.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone just asked me for my favorite childhood memory. This is it:
Starting when I was three, and continuing until I was thirteen, I spent my summers living with my grandparents, first in Camdenton, Missouri, and then in Vermont, Illinois. Both are small towns, and I made friends in both places. But my best memories are of all the time I spent with my grandmother. We did everything together. The best thing was that most evenings, we took a walk around town in the hour before sunset. The town had those old herringbone pattern brick sidewalks, and we walked, and we talked. Having the undivided attention of my grandmother and learning the family history she taught me is one of my best memories.
She took me to the family graveyard and showed me my ancestors. She told me stories about when my father was a little boy. She told me where I came from, and she was my friend. I am older now than she was then, but I will remember those days forever. (When I was thirteen, my grandparents moved into the house next door to us. I had them for a good many years after that yet.)
Gravesite Details
Her grave is near the southeast corner of the cemetery.
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