As the kids were growing up they loved to visit my parents on the farm because Mom raised baby chickens, Daddy milked cows, and one year they had lambs. That was because my sister's husband had a friend who worked in a slaughtering house, and when a ewe had a lamb before she was slaughtered, he would bring the lamb to my folks to raise it.  The kids loved them!

In June of1970, we moved to Osceola. Fred was meat-market manager of the new Fareway store when they opened. He was here about six weeks living in the Garner Hotel until he could find a house. We moved into Arlie Switzer's house on the road to the quarry. We started going to church when Rev. John McCallum was here and the couple's Sunday school class, the TLC, was started.  Those who came were all new to town at the same time-----Frank and Dianne Riley, Keith and Sharon Tickner, and the Wilsons. There were just a few in the beginning. We met in the kitchen and had coffee and rolls. Soon that few grew to more, but we remained a really close knit group.  Over the course of nearly 30 years, some moved away and others have
moved in but the class has continued. What is really unique about this class is that we all really help one another through times of crisis.

Melissa started school that fall with Ruth Gould as her teacher.  Because we lived in the country, she went all day whereas town kids went only half-days. She thought it was great to ride the bus.  Fritz started his schooling at Kiddie Karousel and I served on the board. When Fritz was ready for kindergarten, Ruth was his teacher also-in fact; all four kids had Ruth for kindergarten. We had told her she couldn't retire until Megan was through that grade.  That, in fact, was when she retired-when Megan was through.

I didn't work during those years. I was a member of the Hospital Auxiliary and was involved in a neat thing-a newcomers' coffee. We would get names of new people in town from the Chamber of Commerce and once a month we would have a coffee at Whiteway Cafe. Fred was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and served as president in 1978. He also had membership in the Jaycees and Lions clubs and was involved in their projects. He was instrumental in getting the East Lake Park area turned over to the County Conservation Board. The Lions built shelter houses out there.  The first was named for Melvin Goeldner, and the second one built has Fred's name. They also built the tower, steps from the recreational level up to the lake and generally improved the area.

Fred left Fareway in 1977 and we bought the store, which we named Redfern Home Furnishings, at 141 South Main, in 1978. He had worked for a short time for Jimmy Dean as kill floor supervisor. He didn't like it and wanted to be back uptown, into retail sales. I also worked at the store.  We bought a farm, moved from the Switzer house in about 1972, and built the house where we live now in 1975.  After buying nine old cows in 1972, we started our Murray Grey Cattle herd. We had read an article in the Des Moines Register written by Keith Kirkpatrick and, with artificial insemination, we had our first 50% registered calves the next spring. After several years our herd grew to about 65 cows. We purchased additional 160 acres of pasture in 1978. Fred was almost as proud of his cattle as. he was of his family.

We gave each of the kids a heifer when they were old enough to join 4-H so they each had their own herd. Megan's herd of 15 cows was the last to be sold in 1994. We all cried when they left. Of course, the kids showed their cattle at the County Fair for many years. In addition, for several years we had our Greys on display at the State Fair's Avenue of Breeds and showed and sold them at the Iowa Beef Expo.

Megan was born in October, 1978.  She was born on a Thursday and I was back at work on Monday morning. Megan stayed in the store until she was about a year old, when she went to the baby sitter's.  Kay England worked in the store from the time we opened and while we had the Sears Catalog Store, which we added in 1983.

Melissa graduated in 1983.  In November of 1982, she married John Parmer and their son, Eric, was born in April.  So we had our first grandchild when Megan was only four years old. I’ve had babies all my life. John is a diesel mechanic.  They lived in Corydon and he worked for Ruan.  Our second grandson, Matthew, was born in August, 1985.  They moved to Eagle Grove before returning to Osceola in 1987.  Heather was born in February, 1990.  I heard her little voice on the phone last night asking if I had the books that I read to her mother when she was little.  "If you do, I would like to read them."  So this weekend I will try to find them and send them to her. John and Melissa are not together now but he is still my son-in-law.

Fritz graduated in 1985 and went to work for Osceola Products. That was the year we closed the furniture store and Fred went to work at Jimmy Dean extracting fetuses of sows.  Fritz was doing the same type of work in Des Moines.  They would drive to Omaha two or three times a week with this product.  Fred continued that work until he got sick and had surgery for colon cancer in 1989.  At that time Fritz came back here to work.

Fred had chemo treatments but he kept on working until he had to give in to the inevitable.  He last worked on May 23. However, he never gave up hope. He was in and out of the hospital three or four times.  We planned to go down to see Shawn and had bought our airline tickets.  When we became convinced that he was too sick to go, we had the tickets transferred so that Shawn and Alison could use them to come here on the 4th of July.

Fred was in the hospital at that time but wanted so badly to come home that Frank and Dianne Riley went to Des Moines to get him. They brought him home in the van on Sunday.  He must have asked a hundred times when Shawn and Alison were to get here.  They arrived at 7:30 p.m. and he died about 1:00 a.m., July 5, 1990.  The whole family was together.  In my mind, if Shawn and Alison had come a day later, he'd have lived a day longer.

Again our Sunday school class went far beyond what could be expected.  They had taken Fred for his chemo treatments and now, under the guidance of John Klein, both fellows and gals cut wood for our wood-burning stove.  Keith and Sharon Tickner had been back to see Fred the weekend before he died and they, along with Frank and Dianne Riley, Bub and Joan Peterson, and Sandye and Bill Kelso, came and the men finished siding the porch.  The women cleaned my house, scrubbed floors, and cleaned the toilets...with friends like that how can you go wrong?  Later that fall the whole, wonderful TLC class came and painted the house for us.  Each couple has had their own difficulties in one way or another and they reached out to me and my family when we needed them so much!

This group started our Supper Club, which we are still continuing.  Originally the Supper Club included Helen and Don Barnett, Keith and Sharon Tickner, Frank and Dianne Riley, and Bub and Joan Peterson. As some moved away others have joined-Bill and Sandye Kelso, Warren and Linda Bachman, and David and Joy Tokheim.

I am sure that I went right back to work after the funeral and continued to run the Sears Catalog part of the business until June, 1992, when Sears closed all their catalog stores.

Shawn graduated in 1987.  She went to Creston for a year then married Jeff Joseph in June, 1988.  He was in the Navy so she followed him to Virginia, and then to Charleston, South Carolina, for about four years.  Our granddaughter, Alison, was born on her daddy's birthday, November 5, 1989, while he was at sea.  I wasn’t with Shawn, either.  I was back here worrying because in addition to the birth, Hurricane Hugo had hit their area just a few weeks before Alison was born.  Their apartment was damaged but Shawn had gone farther inland so she was OK.