Alyce with a "y"

 

 

 

 In the year 1956 the Hector family was living in St. Louis Park.  Lizbeth was born that year, bringing the number of children to four.  We also had cousin Jan living with us so the 2 bedroom expansion house was filled to overflowing.   Dave was employed by F and F Laboratories out of Chicago.  The company sold cough drops...every conceivable flavor including coffee.  It was hard work ( 22 calls a day without fail) and Dave was on the road for two or three weeks at a time.  We hated Sunday afternoon because it meant packing and knowing that he had to leave again on Monday. And the, I found a small ad that was looking for a sales representative in the Hopkins area.  Dave checked on it and was accepted as an agent for Mutual Service Insurance Companies.  It meant studying and passing the state exams for all the lines of insurance but we were confident that he could do it.  It also meant being home.  It was great!  Dave gave notic...

 I was Allamakee County Health Champion ub 1940 and went to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa where I saw FDR and Wendell Wilkie on stage (running for election.) I was disqualified as a State Health Champ because one of the qualifications was that you be 16 years of age (I was 15), but I remember it well because it was my first visit to a Doctor.  I am not counting delivery because that Doctor came to see Mother.  I was terrified. I passed with flying colors and the 4H sent me even though they knew I was under age (Millie was my 4H leader.). I used to have a picture from the local paper, can't find it, went on line and found:     *the 1956 census of Iowa  Two listing Martin More and Julian, Mikel and Patrick ages 1 & 2.  That answers my question....they settled on the Sand Cove.     *I also found the 1930 obituary notice for Fr. Laffan and the thank you card from Maria, Ellen and Patrick; and more.  I stopped in the middle of c...

 It was 1942, I think, cause I was gone the next year. Our hired hand, Bob, was going to the dance and he asked me to go along.  He was meeting Katie there  (at the dance) and we were both lookin g forward to a good time.  It was to be at the Waukon Opera House.  Come evening it was snowing and my ,other asked if we thought we should go.  We did. I was wearing the flared shirt with bobby sox and saddle shoes---pull on boots---no gloves---just a winter coat( knee length.) We headed off toward Waukon via Gruber Ridge Road and taking Spruce Line Rd to Four Mile Drive.  We took a right as a shortcut to Mays Prairie Rd and that was a bad decision.  It was a dark narrow dirt road that was mucky with new snow.  We got stuck---we pushed and we turned around( the little coupe could barely make it as one side was a hill and the other a drop off.  We revised our plan--headed downhill now to #9..  You can see this area on google and take the tr...

  The great war ended in 1945, just 25 days after Dave and I were married.  Six months later, Dave was discharged from the Navy and joined me in Minneapolis where I was living.  I was subletting a furnished lower duplex from Leota and Del while Del was employed at a defense plant in Seattle, Washington. After a brief vacation, Dave returned to his pre-war employment at Janney Semple Hill, a wholesale hardware firm.  Dave had accepted an opportunity to enter the sales training program and was to be assigned an out of state territory at the completion of the course. We were surprised, one day in April, when Leota and Del, Danny and Janet arrived in Minneapolis.  It was good to see them home.  We, of course, said that we would find another  place but they urged us to stay on with them until their expected bundle of Joy arrived.  We stayed on with them through Alan's birth on July 29th. The following month Dave was assigned a territory.  Janne's ...

 

Notes on the Wedding Story The Sullivans were friends of Nora and Arthur when they were living in Dubuque and they kept in touch over the years.  Nora and I went out to LA on a train in 1944 to see Dave when he was transferred to Southern Cal, and we stayed at Sullivan's.  Dave came back and forth to visit and I went over to the University to meet him and also met Lynn (Hubie as Dave used to call him), who was Dave's roommate along with two other guys. Fern Sullivan (daughter-in-law of the Sullivans) lived with them while their son was in the military and she was our matron of honor.  Lynn, Dave's roommate at USC was best man.  The Sullivans and Lynn's red-haired date were our three guests.  No one was Catholic but Dave and I and Father Gallagher.  Lynn was an atheist and nobody asked.  Rules were lifted during wartime. Dave was not on leave, he got a pass into town to meet my train (Thursday) and had to be back on base that night.  He had to stan...

                MY FIRST WEDDING - JULY 21, 1945 This is a story about my marriage to your father.  We had both graduated from High School in 1941.  He took a summer course at the University and he found work at Janney Semple Hill.  December 7th the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  We knew that he would be drafted for military service but he wanted to serve in the Navy so he enlisted on October 28, 1942.  He was called to Active Duty on December 18th, 1942.  He was discharged from the Navy on the secondary of February, 1946. Dave's first leave was when he finished Basic Training.  It was from May 18 to May 26 of 1943.  I came to Minneapolis to spend that time with him.  I stayed at Leota and Del's home and they invited me to stay on and get a job in Minneapolis, so I became a Minnesota girl.  Dave went to Rhode Island, was assigned to the SeaBees or the 92nd Construction Battalion.  He trav...

 I was born in this house just three days before Christmas in 1924.  Our family home had been destroyed by fire in November and my parents and six children had taken refuge in a workshop and garage for the winter. On the morning of December 22nd, my sister Edna remembers waking and peering down the ladder stairway to see our close neighbor sitting by the potbellied stove in his long johns.  My mother had been taken to this house to give birth. The house belonged at that time to Uncle Leonard and Aunt Jo Moore, and it still stands on the Sand Cove near New Albin, Iowa.  It was the home of my grandparents before they retired to New Albin.  You can see them sitting on the edge of the porch in this photo. So this is where the family would have gathered for Christmas and the first opportunity to see the new baby sister.  Aunt Jo was also pregnant, at the time, with my cousin Arnold.  I always think of Mother and Aunt Jo when I hear the story of the Annuncia...