Recipes for Living Dr. Fred Dehaan

I was born on December 23, 1915 in Pella, Iowa. My father was Harry DeHaan and my mother was Margaret Van Arkel DeHaan, so it was appropriate that I displayed a bumper sticker that read, "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." My parents had not chosen a boy's name and their doctor said that if they would name me Fred, when I was 21, he would buy me a car. That persuaded them and it was safe for him to make the promise. By the time I reached that age, he was long gone.

We lived in Pella for just two weeks after I was born, and moved to Prairie City where my dad and his brother-in-law bought a general merchandise store. Tenhagen and DeHaan was a major business in Prairie City for 50 years. They sold clothing, shoes, groceries, and everything a family might need. I began doing deliveries for them when I was eight years old, beginning with a push-cart, graduating to a bicycle, and finally to a car when I was old enough to drive.

I have an older sister, Lenore Keller who is now 93. She and her husband live in their own home in Waukee but are beginning to think of moving to an assisted living facility. However, they are pretty stubborn — just like me. My younger sister, Ruth, now Ruth Huisman, was born in 1920. She and her husband both taught school in Ar-we-va, which name was derived by a combination of the names of three small towns, Arcadia, Westside, and Vail. Ruth is widowed and still lives in Westside.

In 1925, Mother's oldest brother lost his wife, leaving six children for him to raise. He "farmed out" the three youngest and the folks took Robert (Bob) and raised him. His father wouldn't allow the boys to be adopted, but he had all he could handle raising the three older ones, so he didn't have much to do with the younger ones. Bob was a year younger than Ruth and five years younger than I. He seemed like a brother and our parents raised him as though he was their own child. After his high school education, he went to the University of Northern Iowa and taught at Des Moines Tech and Grand View College. He died in the year 2000.

After all of us were raised and gone from home, the folks took another boy. He had been abandoned by his family and became a ward of the county. The county paid a small pittance for his care and upbringing. Our parents educated him through college and he now has a family, is retired, and lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

I attended Prairie City schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I participated in all the sports that were offered. I was fortunate to have been in school at the time when Prairie City had good athletes. We had excellent teams all through high school. I graduated in 1933 and attended the University of Iowa College of Dentistry for the next five years. It was quite an adjustment from the small Prairie City school to the large university, and there is nothing in particular to say about that time. I just went to college.

In 1938, I entered practice in Pocahontas, Iowa. It was there that I met Dorothy Gipple. She came to teach fourth grade, the same year that I moved to Pocahontas. We were married in 1941, and in 1942 I received a letter from the United States government requesting my presence — body and soul — for military service. My first assignment was Camp Crowder, Missouri, near Joplin. Fortunately, Dorothy could go with me. We were there about a year when I was sent to Camp Carson, Colorado and assigned to a 100-bed hospital. We recruits underwent extensive training both there and in the Mohave Desert area in California, where I was sent next. I had my education for dentistry, but this was training from the military standpoint. For almost six months, I never touched a dental instrument.

After about a year, I was assigned to the 98th company station hospital in Calcutta, India. I was assigned to the B29 Airbase, which was to fly the so-called "hump" between China and Burma. My job was to take care of the dental needs of the personnel of the base. I enjoyed my time there in spite of India being filthy dirty, with poverty beyond belief. We had a young man we called Oscar as our "servant." He did our laundry, polished our shoes, and took care of us in any way we needed. He did excellent work because he knew what a good job he had and wanted to keep it.

At the end of the war, I was discharged in March, 1946. I had spent a total of four years in the service, two in India and two in the States, and was fortunate during the two years in this country to have Dorothy with me. I had 30 days leave coming, during which time my father-in-law put me to work on his farm. As I recall, it was a very wet spring. When my 30-day leave was up, I returned to Pocahontas and resumed my practice.

Michael Ray (Mick) was born the following December; Fred Richard (Rick) was born in 1950, and Jolene Kay in 1953. All three were born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Dorothy's uncle and aunt, Larry and Eula Hagie, lived in Osceola and began urging us to move here, which we did in 1957. Mick was in fourth grade at that time, Rick in first, and Jolene hadn't started school.

During the following years, our lives were very much involved with raising our family. Both Rick and Mick were in all sports. We basically thought the boys were a little mischievous but okay. Later we discovered some things we hadn't known at the time. There was an upstairs window from which they could easily climb onto the porch roof, and leave, which they did from time to time. In those days we didn't lock the doors, so they could pretty much come and go as they pleased.

There were several incidents that we remember from those years. One Sunday when we came home from church, the telephone rang. It was the operator telling us that someone had been calling from our number and when she answered, a child's voice said, "You stink." We couldn't believe the calls could have come from our house because Mick and Rick were nowhere near a phone and Jolene had never done anything like that. She confessed that she had done it. It was the only spanking I ever gave her.

That seems like a very long time ago. Now Mick and Mary Sheldon DeHaan are grandparents. Mick is retired from his business of selling physical therapy equipment. Mary is the social director for a hospital in Omaha. They have two boys, Kenyon and Ryan. Kenyon and his wife Kris have two sons — Korey who is four, and Paige two years old. Kenyon and Kris are both physical therapists. Kenyon's work is in Iowa City and their home is in Tipton. Ryan and Kealy also have two sons, Max and Samuel, also four and two. Ryan is a golf pro at Fort Collins, Colorado, and Kealy is a teacher in the Fort Collins school system.

Rick married Debbie Boogard (another Dutch name). Rick is an optometrist in Storm Lake, and Debbie is a music teacher. She has often played violin solos for church services when they have come to visit. Rick and Debbie have two sons, Tyler and Jeffrey, who are both in Northwestern College in Orange City. They are presently in Prague, Czechoslovakia, having been sent by the school. It is a mission trip during which they are repairing homes and playing football. It probably goes without saying that all the grandchildren are the apples of Dorothy's eye.

Jolene married Mel Raid and they have two daughers — Nicole and Jessica. Nicole is married and teaches school in Ft. Worth, Texas. Jessica is in North Texas State University. Mel and Jolene have their own business, having to do with computers. They are presently living in Tyler, Texas but are building a house in Granbury, which they plan to move into about June, 2003.

In 1979 I lost the lease for my office. I was 63 at the time and didn't feel that I wanted to go into debt to build another. I took the option of retiring. Shortly afterward, Melvin Goeldner gave my name to Dr. John Smith, at that time president of Southwestern Community College, and I was approached about running for their board. Having been surrounded by teachers all my life — my wife, two sisters, a brother, and a brother-in-law, I thought I might qualify. I was elected and served for 15 years. I was on the Osceola Public Library board for 32 years. I've belonged to Rotary for over 50 years. I've been a member of the Osceola Golf and Country Club and the Order of Eastern Star. As a member of the Osceola United Methodist Church, I have been in the choir and served on a wide variety of committees beginning in the old building on the corner of Cass and Main and continuing in the new church since it was built in 1967. I love music, especially gospel and barber shop. I've been a member of several choruses over the years.

Melvin Goeldner used to say that he didn't have many enemies. He had outlived them all. Melvin was the teacher of a large men's Sunday School class for years and it has now been reduced to two of us — Jim Connell and I. We used to meet every Sunday at church and now that it is difficult for me to go, he comes to my house. We use an Adult Bible Series and have some good discussions.

I have resigned from some activities because I was always the oldest one there, and it has been sad to lose some friends. Dorothy and I used to belong to a pot-luck/bridge club with Jessie and Casey Canavan, Don and Aletha Gibson (now Ruble), Cliff and Fern Underwood, Joe and Rosamond Adams, Harold and Alice Young, Jan and Ward Reynoldson — now there are few of us left. Deceased are Jessie and Casey, Don Gibson and Howard Ruble, Cliff Underwood, Harold and Alice Young, and Jan Reynoldson.

I had to give up golf two years ago. I have gout and the doctors have hinted at some form of Parkinson's disease. My legs won't do what my mind wants them to do. I used to golf every day I possibly could with Kenny Persels, Okey Goodman, Beck Roland, Charlie Allison, Jim Connell, and J. D. Patterson. It was a good way to relax after a day's work. My game never got any better, but I got Dorothy interested in playing also. I miss it very much. I don't find much but sports worth watching on television but I read and listen to music.

For 13 years after I retired, Dorothy and I spent the winter months in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, near Weslaco. For two years we went with Stack and Jean Samuelson to Alabama. We rented a condo, enjoyed walking beaches and playing golf. We liked both places very much. We took two trips with Dr. Joe and Rosamond Adams — the Canary Islands and Switzerland. When I was in junior high I defined three places I wanted to see — the Panama Canal, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, and the Hawaiian Islands. Thanks to the Army, I got to see the first two. I haven't seen Hawaii, but I've been told the Canary Islands are similar, so Joe and Rosamond helped me to complete my three-fold wish.

Now I am pretty well housebound. I would repeat what Micky Mantle said, "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." Recently I was comparing my life to a calendar, remarking that I am now in the last weeks of December. Jim Connell reminded me that Christmas is at that time, so maybe there are still some surprises ahead for me. Either way is all right. I have had a good, long, happy life and I wouldn't change any part of it.