My mother was a homemaker during our early growing up years. She worked for JC Penney as seasonal help and then took a job with the Spencer Community School District in the food hot lunch program. This was a great job for our family as mom was home by the time we got home from school, holidays, weekends and summers. After our move to Sac City, mom was again employed by the school in the food program.

Brother Steve and I were good buddies and found many ways to be a challenge for mom. On one occasion we found the peanut butter and jelly and proceeded to paint each other. We were known to wrap the house with the toilet paper (still on the dispenser in the bathroom), round and round we'd go hallway, living room, kitchen, hall, until we ran out of paper or were caught.

When I was five years old my sister Joann at age one was hospitalized with pneumonia. What I remember is when she came home she had to learn to walk again, because she had so many injections in her thighs that for a time she wouldn't even stand, but before long she was running with us.

I attended Lincoln Elementary School grades K-4. A new school was built near our home where I attended Johnson Elementary School for fifth grade. Some of my classmates from Lincoln moved, and we met some new classmates from Jefferson Elementary. This helped to broaden the friend pool before moving on to Junior High School.

We didn't have a television until I was in fifth grade, and I felt really left out of my classmates' conversations about shows they had seen. Each Saturday I would hurry with my chores so I could go across the street to a neighbor's and watch cartoons on their television. I'm not sure what my siblings did for their TV fix.

My Grandmother Martha Harjes died the late fall of my fourth grade year. It was a very difficult time for me losing someone I loved and facing death for the first time. Grandma had been ill for some time and we children weren't allowed to see her toward the end of her life. I now know that she was dying of cancer, but at the time it was all very confusing. Mom and Dad were gone a lot and had secret conversations. We were often sent to a friend's house after school until Mom and Dad returned home.

The summer after my fifth grade year the family took our first real vacation to Iron River, Wisconsin. We drove to Wisconsin with our grandparents and had to endure four adults and three children in Grandpa's green Nash car. It was crowded to say the least. My Great-Uncle Wes Rhinehart owned and operated a fishing lodge, and we were going to help around the lodge. It all seemed like fun to me. We learned how to row a boat, sort bottles for pickup, swimming, watch for bears getting into the garbage, and stay out of the bar after suppertime.

We also did some sightseeing. This led to the story of Grandpa at Lake Superior. We were all looking at the lake and rocks while Grandpa was trying to get his camera working to photograph history in the making. Things weren't going very well. He was saying things, and Grandma was saying, "Now, Ralph, remember the children." The next minute there came an expletive as Grandpa threw his new camera into Lake Superior. Then he tried to recapture it, but it was too far out, therefore, we don't have too many pictures to document our first vacation.

Junior High sent me back to Lincoln School which was now a junior high school, so it didn't seem too intimidating as it was all familiar. Grades six, seven and eight were pretty uneventful. I remember it as being a time of homework, sporting events, meeting boys at the movies on Friday nights and some house parties where we practiced THE TWIST, and of course, slow dancing. After completing a course on Babysitting and Safety at the YMCA, I earned money by babysitting for four families starting at 25c an hour.

High School...brand new ... is located by the field house and football field. Our class of 1967, would be the first class to attend all four grades at the school before graduation. School and school spirit were the focus of my life. We formed a pep club and all wore navy colored blazer and white shirts to all the games and sat together as a group in the center of the bleachers. There were pep rallies, homecomings, proms, YMCA dances after home games, pep bus rides around our conference AND books, homework, term papers, and tests. Summers were spent at the pool, Okoboji boating, and The Roof Garden teen dances. I continued babysitting, worked pulling corn-out-of-beans, detassling corn, and worked at an ice cream stand at the Clay County Fair each September.

During my junior year my dad took a job in another community that would require the family to move. The family stayed in Spencer until the house sold, while my father rented a room in Sac City and traveled home on the weekends. By the end of our first semester the house had sold. In the meantime, my Grandfather had a stroke, and Grandma needed help taking care of him and the household. The beginning of 1966, the family moved to Sac City, and I moved in with my Grandparents and continued in school at Spencer. My grandmother did not drive, so I learned to grocery shop, cook, clean house, run errands and drive Grandpa to rehab.

June 2, 1966, my grandfather died from a stroke; it was also the last day of my junior year at Spencer High School. Grandma sold her house, and,we moved to Sac City late that June. I reluctantly began my senior year at Sac City High School and graduated in May 1967. The best thing that happened to me during this time was that I re-met my future husband.

Church was always a part of my family's life. My father was a Missouri Synod Lutheran and my mother was Methodist, so she joined the Lutheran church after they were married. We attended church most Sundays and always Sunday school. During each summer there were two weeks of Vacation Bible School held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a community elementary school. Confirmation class was taught grades six, seven and eight on Saturday mornings during the regular school year. Church membership followed confirmation. After the move to Sac City we were not good church goers, but still attended occasionally when parents insisted.

Charlie and I had met at Lake Okoboji the summer of 1965, and spent some time riding the wooden roller coaster and walking around Arnold's Park. My friend Julie and I returned to the teen dance at the Roof Garden, while Charlie and friend Tom went their way. January 1967, we were introduced by a mutual friend at a Cobblestone (Stotts Lake) dance. We spent the night dancing and the romance began. We also frequented dances at The Lakewood in Lake View. That summer Charlie worked for Brower Construction working on I-80 west of Des Moines, and I worked at Carnine's Grocery Store in Sac City. By August we became engaged, and November, 25, 1967, we were married at the Little Brown Church, Nashua, Iowa.

We made our first home in Odebolt, Iowa, where Charlie worked in his father's autobody shop, and I began working at the Rexall Drug Store. We had bought a mobile home from Charlie's sister and had it located in Charlie's parent's backyard. Married life was good.

Son(name redacted) was born on (date redacted), and when he began to walk, the mobile home quickly became too small. We rented a large house, while we waited to close on the house we were buying. On January 27, 1972, our only daughter Kristina Lee was born; and August 20, 1973, our son John Charles was born, as were the other two, at Horn Memorial Hospital, Ida Grove, IA.

CHARLES (Charlie) DOWNING

I was born November 15, 1948, in Carroll, Iowa. Mother (Edna Marion Collin) was 40, and I was born by Caesarian Section. On the way to the hospital, she heard the announcement of the birth of Prince Charles on the radio, and she told my father, "I named this boy of ours before he came to press." I was told that when I was born the doctor took ahold of my little foot, patted me on my little behind, cut the cord and said, "It's a boy and he's a prince." The name doesn't come from anything but familial connections. My grandfather was Charles so I was named for him; my other grandfather was Joel, so I am Charles Joel.

I came home to a family in which my sister was six years older than I. My father (Robert Lee Downing) had been in WWII and had been with the Amphibians and in London for some time training to take the little boats across on D-day and his orders were rescinded for which I say "Thank you God, because I am here." His training was also in welding so he worked around the harbor as a machinist, a welder, and a mechanic with the boats. He and his company marched through Brussels and Robert saw Paris with his Army buddies.

He was discharged and came home, bought an acreage outside of Odebolt, Iowa where he had a huge garden, always. It was something he took pride in, my mother canned, and we had good nutritious food. I remember when I was just a little shaver, we moved into the house across the street from the school — Maple Street, Odebolt, Iowa. We lived there all of my days until I was married.

Mom graduated from Iowa State University in 1932. She was a member of a sorority, had a major in Home Economics, a minor in fine art, had her degree and taught one year before her mother got sick. She went back to their little farm in Silver Creek Township, to take care of her mother. Her brother and sister were married and had families. After her mother had passed, she met my dad, and they were married. My mother was always the caretaker in the family, took care of my grandfather (Joel Collin) after a stroke, until he passed. My grandfather lived with us in the house on Maple Street for some time.

Church was always important to Mom. She attended the little church out in the country, in Silver Creek Township, where many years later I was privileged to serve. My parents were always involved in the church, so when she stopped teaching, she taught my sister and me. She always was a Circle leader. My father was active in the church in other ways. He always helped the ministers with their cars, including Rev. Lyle Leider with some of his antique cars.

When I was 12, I had a definite call to ministry. Mother was always there, my dad was always supportive of me, saw that I attended, and he did other things for the church that needed to be done along with tending his body shop. There were always leaders who taught Sunday School and the youth program, who supported me in that church.

One of the things I clearly remember was picking up a brochure on church vocation. I remember reading it at an early age and thought about how I could go to Africa as a missionary. I thought about going to people who had never heard the word. I was always impressed by the Odebolt Church because each year they supported a missionary, year after year. At 12, Lyle Leider was my confirmation pastor and was influential in my life at that time.

I went to Odebolt Arthur School all my days and graduated from Odebolt Arthur High in 1966, with a big smile on my face. I loved participating in sports most of the time, football especially, was also involved in track. I sang in the men's glee club, mixed chorus, and played trumpet. In grade school days, my mother tried teaching me piano but even though I should have, I didn't stay with it. I was in high school band, involved in drama, loved being in some of the musicals,and plays. I was General Snippet in "The Mouse that Roared," also liked the part of Jigger in "Carousel."

I went off to Estherville Junior College when I was 17. I had so much fun that after one semester they invited me to come home and do something else with my life. I left with 2 hours of credits for chorus and a GPA (Grade Point Average) of .08. I went to work in my father's body shop where I worked 7 1/2 years full time. During those years, I was married and had three babies. I met Karlee when I was 17, and she has written about our first home and the birth of our children. They were full, wonderful years and it wasn't until I was standing in that church for my son John's baptism that I reflected on my call at age 12. At this time the lights went on, the call came more definitely and it became clear to me at 25, with three children, I had to go back to college. I put our home up for sale and there was nothing stopping me from going on to college, working toward my degree so I could go on to seminary. It all fell into place.

Tom Woodin, Everett Staats, Tom Hotle, Dwight Vogel, Grant Baumberger — all those people were influential in those early days of making decisions, choosing a seminary, putting it all together when I had college to finish, and seminary to look forward. to. Finishing at Westmar College, Karlee remembers moving into an apartment. It was a huge change from living in our own home to dealing with a landlord and tenants on the upper level of an old two-story house. Karlee remembers only one good thing about this apartment, it was located across the street from a city park, so the children had an outlet for all that energy. One semester was all I lasted being alone all day with three preschool children. We were able to move into married student housing on the east edge of campus where I was able to make friends with other married students and the children had playmates. This allowed Charlie to slip home between classes, and I was able to take some college classes, too. Charlie graduated in December 1976.

Charlie was enrolled in Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. to work a on getting his Masters degree in Religious Education. Karlee clearly remembers that in January 1977, we loaded our family of five into a station wagon, our belongings in a u-haul trailer, and headed out for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. When we got to the Washington D.C. area, we encountered rain turning to ice and snow, so of course, we slowed down as the rest of the traffic continued at their neck-breaking speed passing us with hand gestures that made our children cry.

We stopped at District Superintendent, the Rev. Felton May's home in Easton, Maryland, to get directions to the parsonage. John, then three years old, had a high fever and we made a quick trip to a doctor for medicine for an ear infection. Eventually we arrived at Fishing Creek, Hooper's Island, MD, where a small group of church members welcomed us with food. It had been a long trip, but upon initial inspection the parsonage would suit our needs just fine. We lived in a cape-cod style home with four bedrooms and bath on the second floor and living room, dining room, laundry room, kitchen and office on the main floor...no basements on an island.

Our car had an engine heater; island rumor said we had an electric car. Charlie had the flu one Sunday; island rumor said he was homesick and was moving back to Iowa. A snow storm of around four inches was expected, so I parked the car at the end of the drive; and people called to see if I was having car trouble.

That was a memorable period of our lives. Hurricane David happened in 1978. The storm came in at Jacksonville, Florida, traveled up the eastern coast to Norfolk, Virginia, and slipped up the Chesapeake Bay and landfall. By the time it got to the island, winds were 90 miles per hour. High tide came in and the rain, driven by the wind, flooded the island. There were tornados all around, so I made the children sleep in their sleeping bags in the closet under the stairs. The people used boats to travel the roads the next day. It was an experience!

Charlie was just fmishing seminary when his father became ill with lung cancer and passed away in 1980, in Sioux City at St. Joseph's Hospital. Charlie is grateful that he was able to tell him that he had been appointed as youth pastor and Christian Educator at First Church Sioux City while we were still on the east coast. I would be close enough to help take care of my mother. Karlee's father died in 1998.

We were there 3 1/2 years, while Charlie earned his degrees — Masters degree in Religious Education in 1980, Masters in Divinity in 1981, and he also served two churches. The Hooper's Island Charge consisted of Hosier Memorial United Methodist Church at Fishing Creek was right across the street from the parsonage; and Hooper Memorial United Methodist Church at Hoopersville, Maryland, which was on the lower island. He picks up the story saying it was an interesting time and a great experience learning how to be involved in being a pastor. I didn't get to see my wife and my children as much as a husband and father probably should, but Karlee carried on. She saw to it that ministry continued to happen while I was taking care of my duties elsewhere.

My oldest son and I remember the days along Chesapeake Bay doing crab netting on a trout line with a 21' flat-bottom boat. It was a wonderful time to learn and grow, to fish Chesapeake Bay and feast on the blue crabs that we caught.

I was at Sioux City First Church for 2 years and had a great time serving under the watchful eye of Alex Washington. After serving there, I was called by Wilbur Wilcox to serve with him as Minister of Education at First Church in Iowa City. I stayed on staff at Iowa City First for 8 years. While I was there, Andrew was born. Two of our children benefited greatly from that time. The oldest went on an Appalachia Service Project, and our daughter was involved in another kind of experience where she thought she might stay with it. She was working with a group who were helping disadvantaged youth at a half-way house. Both of them were able to experience mission in action and something beyond the local church.

Also during that time, our second son, at age 11, was diagnosed with diabetes Type I. He had excellent care in Iowa City. He got to know firsthand doctors and nurses and it is interesting that he now works for the same hospital that actually saved his life.

While I was serving at Iowa City, the Director of Bands at Iowa State University became good fiends with our son(name redacted), who had just moved to Iowa City and was sporting a brand new Iowa State University leather jacket he liked to wear. He kept wearing it to church and, of course, I thought it was a great delight to see him coming to church wearing that jacket. This went on for about six weeks into the fall of my first year and finally the ushers could stand it no more, took up a collection and brought me a note filled with cash that said, "Pastor Charlie, please buy your son a new jacket, preferably a University of Iowa jacket. Thank you." Of course son(name redacted) thought it was great, bought a new jacket and became a great fan during the Hayden Frey/Chuck Long era.

So, good times there, but the call came to leave when Rueben Job (Bishop) called and said, "Charlie, we want you to stay. We are still in the middle of campaigning for more funds for the church remodeling. Wilbur Wilcox is about to retire and we want you to stay another year, and when that year had passed, Rueben Job said, "We want you to stay another year and help the new senior pastor get on board." One thing I was never able to do was tell Rueben Job no. So I stayed those two years and after 8 years in Iowa City, I became the Senior Pastor at Atlantic, Iowa, where I served happily for 11 years.

While I was there we watched our daughter graduate from Nurses' Training at Jenny Edmondson; we watched our son participate in grade school and junior high, and up to his senior year at Atlantic, Iowa. He actually graduated a year early, and we got to witness all that. We were able to see our son John graduate from the University of Iowa with his degree, and our oldest son joined the Air Force and while we were in Atlantic, was sent to serve in the Gulf War.

We enjoyed ourselves and our wood-burning stove. My wife worked outside the home and met another whole circle of friends we were able to enjoy just as people in the community. During that time, also, we remodeled the church building, We had to put in a new gym floor, a new roof on the building and remodeled the sanctuary, which was a major job. During that time the church grew and we became involved in being a place known for its music and friendliness.

After the days in Atlantic, we moved to Waterloo where I served for six years. It was a situation in which the District Superintendent left early. During that time our son graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, and our oldest son came back to the community after serving in the Air Force with his wife who was still in active duty. She became a recruiter in the Waterloo area. So we had lots of family time. Our son John relocated from Franklin, Kentucky. He came back to Iowa City so our family that had been scattered for awhile returned to the area, living either in or close to Waterloo.

Andrew married Lindsay Herrick, a girl from Atlantic, Iowa. While I was in Waterloo, in 2007, I was able to assist in the marriage ceremony. Also, while I was there, I had time to visit other churches, and Karlee and I did some investigating in how to do a blended worship. We came back to Waterloo and did some Power Point presentations with different forms of music, slide projectors, and that whole aspect which is pretty common today but new then. After that was introduced, I was able to take a nice, healthy vacation in Florence, Alabama. We were looking at pre-retirement properties in 2007. I slipped on a boat dock and seriously injured my knee, which required surgery and slowed me down big time until I decided I needed to move on.

I was still in rehab for my knee when the call came to serve Burlington First Church. I remember meeting with Bill Cotton, District Superintendent, who said to me,"Charlie, whatever you do, when you come to meet the people of Burlington, don't use the walker." So I had to have somebody carry me up the steps. It was a strapping big State Trooper, a member of the Burlington Staff Parish committee, who carried me up three steps so I could smile and not everyone knew that I had used a walker to get into the building.

A sad, sad moment in my life was when I knew that I was probably going to have to retire after serving there and knowing that Art Campney had served them so well. I was so looking forward to being a part of the ministry there, when the church was burned by a young man who was left out of the community and out of the church. His soul was very troubled, when he burned the church. He was charged as an arsonist, and under a hate crime rule, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. That all happened in April before my short reign in Burlington began July 2007.

Karlee was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2007, had surgery December 2007, and chemo treatments January-December 2008. I realized that with Karlee's new discovery, it seemed the best thing for me would be to take a break from ministry and take care of my wife. That is what I did. I sought early retirement in 2008. We purchased a little place near Fort Myers, Florida and spent 6 months there before moving to Sac City, Iowa, where we lived part of the time helping to care for Karlee's mother, who died in February, 2011.

A disappointment for me was to discover, after seeking early retirement and spending time with Karlee was that time with Karlee was well spent, the time taking care of her mother Barbara was well spent, but the other time was unusual for me to have. I began to look for things that would kill that time including work. I applied at numerous places and for numerous positions only to discover there weren't any jobs to be found in the part of Florida where we were living. I had my foot in the door for a possibility of a church and I discovered the only way they could appoint me to a church would be to put me on loan from Iowa, and since Iowa thought I was looking for work they offered me an interim position.

I served Morley and Mechanicsville as interim for only 2 months, but that brought me back to Iowa and into ministry. Following that interim, I served in Hope Parish in Pocahontas (Pocahontas, Havelock and Plover), and was provided housing by a gentleman in the congregation who had moved into an assisted living place. So Karlee and I were able to enjoy his lovely 2-story home, whenever she wanted to get to Pocahontas she could, and we were there every weekend. That was a beautiful experience of meeting people in a parish, preaching three times on Sunday mornings and trying to take care of all the administrative work that goes into trying to take care of 3 churches, all active.

That came around to serving half-time to serving at Galva and Silver Creek before coming to Osceola. As I look back on my ministry, one of the things I enjoy saying, when people asked which place I enjoyed most, I always tell them, "First," because if you look back at my record, it is always First Church I've been called to serve. Little Galva was also a "First Church."

On a more social, community level, George Dane of Iowa City brought me into Kiwanis and I was their president for 1 1/2 terms. I was and am now a Rotarian and recipient of Paul Harris Fellowship Award. I currently am enjoying my part in Clarke Area Arts Council's 2011 production of "Polter-Heist" to be shown October 22.

Karlee has been by my side all the way. When she could be away from caring for the children, she substitute taught K-8 in Dorchester County, Maryland. She worked for Iowa State University Area Office and at Mark's United Methodist Church as Secretary. She has been involved in real estate and commercial loans at First National Bank; attended classes at University of Iowa. She was Century 21 Dement Realty Office Manager from 1990-1997; Lutheran Social Service Office Manager from 1997- 2001; Christian Education Director 2001­2008.

Ministry has been grand. I've followed district superintendents many times and discovered they are no different than any of the rest of us, although I still think they had ought to be because I can remember when some of them were. The friends I've had, the highs and lows in serving has been the most gratifying of any life I could imagine. Truly, God has blessed me with family, friends and a faith that has fueled the fires of ministry for more than 30 years of full time service.

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Last Revised February 2, 2023 DWD