ForeverMissed
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Her Life

2000-2014:

March 15, 2014

LaVina continued to serve in her community, her condo association and was very active socially. It wasn't uncommon to see her out late with friends and even when she stopped driving ( 2006 ) you would see her out visiting neighbors and friends in her scooter. 

Traveling & Roadtrips:

March 15, 2014

Meanwhile, I have a lot of albums of all the pictures of my trips. On most of my trips I put the pictures in separate albums. On   my trips I did the most I could do and did everything to make the most of every trip that I took. I even saw the imperial palace in Japan! 

One day, I decided to go on a cruise by myself and had a great time.  John & Ann were one of the couples that I met.  There were two other couples and a married gal who was there without her husband.  I had such a good time that I wanted to travel more.  I was going to go on another trip with John & Ann, but Ann died.  John kept calling me to go on a trip with him, but he never showed up.  I think he was drunk.  Then about 4 years later, he called me again and came & got me and we went to Las Vegas, then to California to visit LaVaan.  Then we went to Acapulco. 

In 1979, Mildred, Hazel & MaryAnn, went to Honolulu.  We had a great time.  We flew to Maui and rented a car & drove all around the island.  We went to Hanna which was a very dangerous drive.  MaryAnn & I did the driving in a Volkswagen. There were many windy roads!

On January 4, 1981, I went on the SS Norway for a Caribbean Cruise with Mari Ann McClain. We went to St. Thomas.  We were gone until January 11th.  I did a lot of playing cards & dancing.

On August 1981, I went to the Orient, Philippines, Singapore & Japan, and Tokyo with MaryAnn McClain.  It was a 23 day trip.   .

On Sept 22, 1981 I had cataract surgery, but no implant; I had to wear contact lenses all the time.

On Nov 15, 1981, I went to Africa with Dolores & Helen Moxley.   Susan, who lived in Africa with her family, came to town to visit her mom Helen Moxley.  Susan invited me to go on the trip with her Mom to Africa.  On Nov 16, 1981, I left for Africa.  We flew to Chicago and boarded a 747 for Hamburg, Germany.  In Hamburg we ate dinner and then left for Nairobi, Africa.  

Susan was not there to pick us up at the airport.   Someone got a hold of her and she did come eventually.  We stopped to see her husband, Jim, who worked in a building with iron gates for protection. We had to walk through them to get to the elevator and see Bill’s office. The elevator stopped half way up and we had to be pulled out or we would have been trapped for the day.   

After visiting Bill’s office we went to their house.  It was surrounded by a security gate with a security guard. The security guard carried a Billy club. He used to lie down and sleep throughout the day, so I’m not sure if he was that efficient in protecting the family. She had a cook, a house boy, and a gardener.  All of our meals were wonderful. Susan did everything for us. 

When we went to bed at night they boarded up the windows in the living room and set a burglar alarm. The alarm wouldn’t help though because there weren’t any police that would respond. We also had great big bolts on our doors, so if we heard anything we could bolt the door shut.   The windows had security on them as well.  I felt pretty safe.

We were up every morning at six o’clock to have breakfast. The house boy would wash all the clothes we had. The gardener didn’t stay there but the house boy and the cook stayed in a little house with two rooms and a kitchen in the middle.  The house boy had a wife and children that lived somewhere else.

Susan’s house didn’t have an address.  It was just known by the last name of the previous owners. This was the only house in Africa that Susan could bring her mother to visit that was safe.

Susan had an old Volkswagen whose starter didn’t work most of the time. But, we still went everyplace in it.  We went to the reserve in Nairobi. She drove us all around and would drive off the road at night and shoot the lights to see the wild animals. It was a little scary.  You couldn’t buy a new car in Africa. You had to order it somewhere else. A lot of people drove old cars there for that reason.

On Nov 23, we departed for Tree Top We first drove to Fig Tree, had lunch and then on to Tree Top.  The trip to Fig Tree cost $42.00.  We then boarded another bus for $79.00 and headed to Tree Tops to arrive before dusk to watch all the wild large and small animals come in to water at the pond.  Low and behold Ralph Alcere and his wife Delores were on the bus at Fig Tree.  He thought that I was dead, but I was clearly still alive!

Tree Top is a hotel that was built about 40 feet above ground and sits on stilts. From the bus stop you then walked about a half mile to the grounds.  The compound is surrounded by a wall so you can get behind to protect yourself from the animals.  We went to the top of the building to watch the baboons and you had to be careful because they would take anything they could get their hands on.  We saw rhino, hippos, wart hogs, water buffaloes, baboons, and elephants.  One of the tiny elephants came with its mother and that was so very cute.  

Doris and I had a little room with two beds in it and then a bath that everyone shared. We had dinner in the dining room that had a long table with all the food in the middle of it. Across from us were two young men that had worked with two famous people that were writing a book. One of them was from England. He was very nice and gave us some of his wine from England. This person that was across from us, that worked with the famous couple, told us that some woman had died from a lion attack and that the husband was murdered. 

Tree Tops is where the Queen Elizabeth was when her father died and she was made the Queen of England. 

Susan knew everywhere to go in Africa and she kept us very busy. We had to shop different places for meat and vegetables. You had to bring your own packages for the meat. We went shopping at a market. We went to the African stores and I bought 30 baskets for my friends that were all handmade. I think I paid five dollars a basket. 

We drove everywhere in the Volkswagen that didn’t have a starter believe it or not. We went up to Lake Nevisian where they had a sail boat. Coming back, one time, we came into the reserve and the car stopped.  A fella gave us a push to get started. Susan slowed down and we stopped again. We got another push from the same guy and we started again. I told Susan that she better drive fast this time so we wouldn’t stop again. We stopped at the first filling station we could. They were all African. They had to put in a new kind of part (the stations there don’t have any repair parts so you have to bring in your own parts).We arrived back at our house and the cook was very worried about us because it is dangerous for white people to be out at night. 

When we went through the ditch there was a great big lake with tons a hippos in it. I kept thinking if we got stuck in the ditch, we would be attacked by hippos!

People in Africa sell rabbits and all sorts of animals on the side of the road which is an extremely different experience from living in the USA.  We took the bus downtown and people would carry all sorts of things on top of their heads and carry big things of straw. 

We went to the Massai country. We rented a van for this trip so we didn’t have to worry about the car staling. Jim drove Susan, Doris, Helen and I.   We all had to sleep in tents. Animals were all over the place. That was scary because the toilet was a part of the tent, but animals could get inside. There was a monkey that took food out of the kitchen so they tied him up until after dinner. 

When we were in the Massai country we saw hyenas, great big ant hills, herds of zebra, water buck, gazelle, wilder beast, impala, Silver and black jackals.  The female hyenas would kick out the male hyenas. We saw lions, buffalo, giraffes, foxes, and hippos. We crossed over a great big ditch. Tim got out of the car to make sure we could get through. It scared me to death.  When we went through the ditch there was a great big lake close by with tons a hippos in it. I kept thinking if we got stuck in the ditch, we would be attacked by hippos!

We saw rabbits, purple and green lizards, a golden eagle, three kinds of vultures, a green snake, ostrich, and all kinds of animals. We saw leopards. We didn’t see the lions right away, so we hired someone to take us to see the lions. Now the lions won’t run from you. Neither will the elephants. The other animals run away. The lions will wait for you to get close and then just attack you. I don’t know how Tim found his way around, because there were just dirt paths going around. Out of all my trips, that was the most interesting because everything was completely different. 

We also went to a show there, “Little Miss Market.” All Kenyans were in it. The Indians were the ones that were most predominant. They were the owners of the buildings and the shops, not the Africans.  We always drank soda or canned drinks because we couldn’t drink the water. I even drank beer, which I wasn’t used to. 

Helen, Pearl, Doris and I played cards every Friday night. 

Every time we saw any white person, Susan knew them. Otherwise it was all black. We stopped at the filling station to get the car fixed, there was a family there that had a little girl that had to go to the bathroom. she didnt have any pants or diapers on and she just squatted and went.

We watched some African shows where they had African dancers. African women had all these beads around there necks to stretch them out, so they all had long necks. The men had orange clothes that they wrapped around themselves. And they had their animals that they would put in brush enclosures. They also slept in little thatch shacks that they made.

It seems to me that I spent around $2,000 dollars total on this trip but possibly more.  A little over a thousand on airfare and a little over a thousand while in Africa.   

Jim and Susan used to come to Minneapolis to buy up loads of food and other things you couldn’t buy in Africa. They also shipped their sail boat to Africa. You couldn’t send food in the mail. It would be stolen before it arrived. 

At the end of our month long wonderful trip in Africa we were planning our trip home. Susan talked to the taxi driver and paid him to take us to the airport. It is very dangerous at the airport. Every few feet there were armed guards!

1983: We left at 11:45 pm for Hamburg, Germany and arrived at 6:30. We had dinner at the Crest Hotel. 

We went on a tour. We drove to Copenhagen and went on a castle tour.  

We then drove on to Stockholm and took the ferry ride. We ate at the hotel and had a delicious steak dinner. 

We went to Norway and toured the beautiful city. We had dinner at the hotel and went on a Viking ship.  We did a cruise on the Forges. We did a lot of shopping.  People in Norway ride bikes a lot and have pet dogs.   They are allowed to bring the dogs into the hotels and dining rooms as well. 

On Aug 11th, 1983 we drove to Gothenburg, Sweden. We ate at a cute place on the lake. We did a city tour and shopped all day.  The next day we were at Augushurst, Denmark. Then, the next day, we went to Hanover.  Next, we went to Lego Land in Germany.

We stopped in the Netherlands, Amsterdam. We were at the Ibis hotel and had a very good fish dinner. We spent all day in Amsterdam. We went on a canal tour and saw a mausoleum. We went on the boulder dam and saw lots of cows and sheep. We had a very good dinner at Weinershnitzels. 

We left for Frankfurt, Germany and stopped in Cologne and went to the Lindbergh Cathedral and then to the airport to leave for home.  We were on the plane for 24 hours. Mildred picked us up at the airport.

That was on the trip when Virginia was with me and when we arrived at my house and we drove up to Brainerd’s so she could see Silvia. We stayed at the Holiday Motel.  Our room was next to a bunch of drunks and the cops were called so we switched rooms. When we got back from Brainerd we went to see Helen and we ate at Shum Ackers.

I did a lot of babysitting for Hal during that time too.  I saw Brenda and Bonnie and also Chris. I was playing a lot of cards during this time with Pearl and Edna.

Sept 29th 1983, Kermit’s Mother died. My mother died exactly one year earlier on Sept 29th 1982.

I used to take little Sarah when I went to play cards with Doris and Brownie. I also saw George Carpenter, Bev, and Roger. I use to see Peggy, Gloria, Bob, and Brownie. I had quite a few dinner parties at the house, too. 

In Oct of 1983 I had Milly, Anne, Connie and Jim, Marguerite and Mary Reid over for dinner. I had stuffed turkey and wild rice and the works. I did that quite a bit.  I played a lot of cards.  I had a shampoo bowl in my laundry room and a hydraulic chair and a hairdryer. I did all my friend’s hair. I was kept very busy with all of them.

Christmas of 1983 I left for California. I drove through snow storms and arrived safely in San Diego California to see Grandchildren.

On Sept 15th 1989 I went on the star princess with Doris, Ed, and Marcella.  We had a very good time touring the little islands. I went on the Panama Canal.

Then, in 1995, I went on cruise to Vancouver and Anchorage, Alaska. I went with Gerry and her husband, Doris, Rita, Sally Harris, and her husband.

In 2000 I went to Australia to see my grandson and wife, Chris and Lisa Wilson who were living there. I had a wonderful time. 


 

1949 to 1975:

March 15, 2014

In 1949 we bought a home at 721 West Minnehaha Parkway. We paid $18,000.00 for this home.

Kermit decided he wanted to go into business for himself and he wanted me to help him. Kermit spent many hours working on inventing space saving mobile tables.  It was right after the war and there was a need in schools for tables for the baby boomers.  I did not know the first thing about typing or bookkeeping, sales or shipping.  I set out to learn and taught myself to type in one day.  During this time, Kermit was suffering from high blood pressure and the doctor recommended he take dance lessons for exercise.  This was before treadmills, gyms and walking became popular. Kermit started taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray and bought a lifetime course for me where Woody Wilson was my dance teacher.  I took 400 hours of dance lessons and received a bronze medal doing 10 steps and 6 dances.  Kermit’s blood pressure went down.

I developed allergies. I believe due to the stress of starting a business, raising children, and taking care of the house.  Back in those days women stayed at home to care for the family.  We started our own business and called it Seating Incorporated. Kermit invented and patented a mobile folding space saving table for schools. That was the beginning of Sico, Inc.

We hired Woody Wilson to work with me and soon Clair Mellang came on board.  They were all former Arthur Murray Dance teachers. Glenn Lynn was hired as the engineer and Clair was the bookkeeper.  Wally Westberg was eventually hired for sales.  Our office was on Excelsior Blvd.  We worked many hours and my Mother came to live with us to help out with the house and kids.  

While Kermit was on the road selling I was handling the bookkeeping, and shipping, everything that had to be done in the office. The first 6 tables we made, we had to take back, because they weren’t right.  We took on doing bleachers until we got the tables right.  

In 1955 we moved to 5509 Merritt Circle, Edina, Minnesota, so we were closer to where our Company was located.  

Harold married his High School Sweetheart, Janice Ward when he was 19 years old. The reception was at our house.  The reception was not catered but put on solely by Jeannie Wilson, my best friend and me. I sewed all the bride maids dresses for Hal’s wedding except the brides dress

We bought a lot on Wilson Bay on Gull Lake, Brainerd, Minnesota.   We built a cabin that I designed and it turned out to be a 3 bedroom home.  Every weekend we would drive to the cabin and invite 17-19 of our friends and employees for a fun weekend.   Everyone would bring food and have a good time.  This is where Wally Westburg jumped off the dock & broke his neck. Our phone was out of order and so was the phone at Maddens Resort, so I drove 100 miles per hour into Brainerd to get an ambulance.  Kermit & one of our neighbors were on the golf course. When Kermit arrived at the cabin he made a collar for Wally until the ambulance arrived. Wally lived for 5 days and then passed away leaving a wife Sally, & 3 children.  Lavaan babysat for the Westbergs 3 young children often making .25cents per hour.

We saw Woody and Jean Wilson a lot because Woody worked for us. I would rush home and prepare a big meal for about twenty people to come over for dinner.  Kermit and I did a lot of entertaining.

1960:  In the meantime, Kermit went back to taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray to manage his high blood pressure and LaVonne Hipshire was his dance teacher.   I was not interested in taking dance lessons

The spring and summer of 1961, LaVonne Hipshire, and her two children, Michael and Tereasa moved into our home and stayed in our recreation room downstairs. This was a very rough time for us.  Kermit and I also started a Dance School where LaVonne and Jock Binder were teachers.  Jock and LaVonne both taught at Arthur Murray and were friends.  

August 1961 Kermit suffered a heart attack while at the cabin. He was admitted into the hospital in Brainerd, Minnesota. To take the stress off at home, Lavaan found an apartment at Meadow Brook Manor for LaVonne Hipshire and Mike and Tere.  

The fall 1961 Lavaan went to U of M and moved into a dorm at Comstock Hall at the U of M.   Kermit after 25 years of marriage Kermit asked for a divorce.  I was devastated because I felt that we had a good marriage. We had gone through struggles together, raised 3 children, started a business, Sico, and he was my childhood sweetheart, my sun and my mood. I was devastated by the failure and decided I would never get married again.

1962: My mother was mad at me for getting a divorce and I felt I didn’t have any friends.   I moved over to Virginia Avenue into a little 2 bedroom apartment with my little dog, Muffy.  I rented an apartment from a fellow that I went to school with.  I couldn’t adjust to living in Minneapolis alone so decided to move to St. Louis, Missouri.   The reason I picked St. Louis was for this reason: While driving through St. Louis with a friend, Mary Mangun, after vacationing in Florida, we met a very nice police man who helped us and I had a very good feeling about the town of St Louis.  

1964:  Jock Binder decided he was going to move to Missouri with me.  I bought a brick house with a nice fireplace and basement on Gannon St.  When I moved to St. Louis I bought a franchise to try to sell courses.  But that didn’t work out as expected and I went into the beauty shop business.  Jock moved to help me with my franchise business but his first night there I had to call a doctor to come and get him and he was admitted into the hospital.  He was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to have emergency surgery.  After Jocks surgery he found himself an apartment and was there for about 1 1/2 years.  He then had a second surgery but never really recovered.  I moved all of Jock’s personal things into my house and put up a hospital bed in the living room.  

Bonnie and the neighbor next door helped me care for Jock with shots for pain.  Jock died in 1965.  Jock wanted to be buried in Minneapolis, so I paid for his funeral and expense to ship his body there.  

My Minnesota beauty license was not recognized in Missouri so I went back to school to get my state license. When I got my license I opened a shop in Clayton, Missouri.  I hired the teacher from the school to work for me.  I also had a person by the name of Paul Strange working for me.  He told me that the person I had working for me was cheating me.  I gave up the shop.  I then decided to move to Arizona where my daughter Lavaan and her husband were planning to move. 

I sold my house in Missouri and moved to Paradise Valley, AZ.  I bought Catharine Biddle’s home on Mummy Mountain, which was a very beautiful home.  I had a whole view of the city of Scottsdale, AZ.  With much persuasion my mother came and stayed for a week.  But she was having a lot of health problems and refused to stay any longer so she flew back to Minnesota.  I then had to go back to beauty school in Arizona to get my license.  I have 3 State Licenses, Minnesota, Missouri and Arizona.

A famous Hall of Fame baseball umpire by the name of  John (Jocko) Conlan lived next door to me.  He would come over with his big German shepherd dog when I had visitors to make sure I was ok.   He was a very nice man.  

Paul moved to Arizona for a short time and stayed with me.   He wanted me to go with him somewhere, but I didn’t want to and he got mad & moved back to St. Louis. This was May 21, 1969.  Paul did come back one time but didn’t stay long.  I cherish his phone calls and updates, he has been a friend for a long time.

The security guard hired by the Homeowners Association on Mummy Mountain told me if I hired him he would look under my bed every night. I was so scared after that conversation I decided to sell my home.

I sold my house in Paradise Valley on Mummy Mountain and bought a home on 5124 78th Street, Phoenix, Arizona and lived next door to Raleigh Hilton, a millionaire.  His wife had died and he lived alone.  Betty was a good friend of mine and she met Raleigh and they were married.  At his time I worked part-time at Goldwater’s Department Store.

LaVaan and her husband, Jeff never did move to Arizona but moved to Chicago December of 1970 and was there for 1 ½ years.  August of 1973, Lavaan moved to San Diego, CA with Karen and Steve after she and Jeff were divorced.  Her divorce was final February, 1974

In 1971 I did have some men friends.  I met Jane & her husband.  Bill was from England.  Joe was from St. Louis, Gene and Ron from Minneapolis.   I got along fine with all of them.  I was living most of the time at my Mom’s in Robbinsdale and spent a lot of time driving from Scottsdale to Minneapolis to care for my Mother who was very sick.  My mother passed away Sept 29, 1972.   I lived at her house for a while, but that didn’t really work out too well.

While living in Minneapolis I worked a short time at the Holiday Inn. The manager was drunk most of the time and booking people into rooms that were already booked.  He let me go because I told him he was double booking and it was not right.  I was glad because I couldn’t work with someone who was drunk.

I worked at the hospital in Minneapolis and did about 6 people’s hair a week. I worked at Dayton’s Department Store.  I worked on the Lauder Line.  Afterwards she put me on Elizabeth Arden line.  

In 1975 I decided I had to move back up to Minnesota and take care of my grandchildren, Hal and Bonnie’s Children.  I bought a nice house in Golden Valley, Minnesota. 


The International Sun Shine Society:

March 15, 2014

In 1945/46/47 we were living in Robinsdale.  We were all young then, having babies and our children were all young.  We wanted to find a way to help others less fortunate.   We started a branch of the International Sunshine Society.  It was an organization that would find and help a family in need.  I was made president!  

I read in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about a blind woman named Marie Schleppegrell.  She came into town on a bus with her 4 children and was living in a filling station (gas station).  Al Jesko, the County Attorney had done a little to help this family.   I had this idea to find her an apartment or a trailer to live in. The filling station wasn’t a good place for her to live with four kids.

I knew a man, Fred Rogers, who was a friend of Cedric Adams, who was a popular radio commentator and had a popular newspaper column in the Minneapolis Tribune.   So I asked Fred Rogers and a couple of other people, how we should attack our goal of getting Cedric to put us in his column and help us raise money for this family.   We met at Harry’s downtown for lunch and Fred gave us a lot of good ideas on how to approach Cedric Adams. Joyce took all the notes down on short hand.  Cedric Adams agreed to give me ½ hour of his time.   We met with Cedric and he said that he would run a penny parade, where people would send in pennies to help this family

So Cedric ran his penny parade and we had 5 people down at the Radio Station for five weeks. We had a whole pile of donations. We even had donations for meals at Charlie’s a wonderful resturant at that time. We had donations from the Labor Unions and even Henry Albrecht was in on it. We had a big group of important men that helped out also. Some people give $100 dollars and a few people that gave $500 dollars. We had a ton of pennies and nickels. Then a truck from the Star Tribune went around and picked it all up. We also had dances and paper sales to raise money for the family.

What an accomplishment, we ended up building a lovely three bedroom house for them. It was completely furnished! We ran into one problem, though. We had a lady that was a thief. She had set out a 500 dollar mirror and expected us to pay for it, it was a con. Everything was given. Even the furniture was given. 

It came time for the presentation to Marie Schleppegrell.  During this time I was expecting my third child Bonnie. I was very pregnant.  I was so pregnant I didn’t want anything to do with the radio program presentation. So Lilly Anne took my place and was on the radio when they presented all this to Marie. There were pictures of Marie everywhere. Then we had $28,000 left over and we gave it to Marie to live on.  

Marie used to play the piano and was given a baby grand piano. She played it beautifully.  I used to pick Marie up and take her groceries shopping and would tell her what the things were. She used to just feel the things and know what they were. She used to clean her own house, but she said that she would scrub things over and over and not know if it was clean or not.

We kept seeing Marie after her home was built and she joined our Sunshine group.  She ended up marrying a man that was also blind who ran his own business and had a personal driver. One of her children had polio. All of Marie’s children turned out to be wonderful citizens.  Even though Marie Schleppegrell was blind, she did everything herself.  You would never know that she was blind!

Later in life she ended up moving to Arizona and she had guide dogs that lead her around. She went everyplace. She lived on Delmar blvd. which was a very busy street. One of her dogs got out one time and got hit by a car. She would go everywhere and she would give her dog a walk every morning and night.

Finally when she got older, late 70’s, she died and it was a very sad thing.


My Married Years & Children:

March 15, 2014

Kermit and I were married July 18, 1936 in Fremont Congregational Church by Dr. Johns.  We both had just turned 20 years old.  We had the reception in the basement of the church.  My roommate Grace Carpenter, from St. Joe was my maid of honor, and Emily Hanley and Virginia Schie were my bride’s maids.   Dave Conover was Kermit’s best man.

After Kermit and I married, we rented a cabin on Lake Minnetonka for 3 months.  Kermit was working for Cargill Grain Company.  A man by the name of Jim Hayhoe, a Vice President at Cargill, got him the job. It was an office job, a good job, but very boring for him. 

In the fall we moved to 3200 Girard Ave North into an upstairs apartment owned by the Hoopers.  The apartment had two rooms with a tiny kitchen that was once a closet. 

After we married, Kermit’s Mother Grace, needed financial help, so I took my check for a time and helped her.  Grace then married George Schultz who was from Germany.

We then rented a very nice duplex on Humboldt Ave. North and went out and bought a house full of furniture for $400.00. While working in the office Kermit was spotted by Lew Crosby (a guy in the marketing division), who wanted Kermit to be track buyer in Fairmont, Minnesota.  Kermit was told not to pass over a promotion or he would be passed over forever so he took the job, even though he felt he was not suited for it. While there, he did Elevator work, track buyer, unloading boxcars, sweeping floors, and doing whatever needed to be done. 

I stayed behind with my Folks until the furniture was all paid off.  I also bought a refrigerator so the total owing was $450.00. I was making about $28.00 per week because I was on piece work and that was considered a good salary in those days.  After the furniture and refrigerator were paid off, I quit my job and moved to Fairmont, Minnesota to be with Kermit. 

In Fairmont we became good friends with Charlie and Gladys Frazier.   They married and Kermit and I were their best man and bride’s maid.  They wanted us to go on their honeymoon with them and so we did.  We went up to Northern Minnesota.   We had a lot of fun with them while living in Fairmont.  We had many parties and played lots of games.  This was all before the television and people used their imaginations more.

The job in Fairmont lasted about two year and then Cargill sent Kermit back to Minneapolis where he worked doing clerical work in the office.  In 1940, once again, an officer in the company spotted Kermit and he was transferred to Albany New York to work as a shore captain on the barges and ships on the Erie Canal.  I stayed behind because I was pregnant with Harold.  So once again I moved in with my Mom and Dad and stayed with them until Hal was born.  Cargill let Kermit come back for Harold’s delivery but I had to stay with my folks for another six weeks until I could travel.

Harold was born in, 1940.  I was in labor for 72 hours and had a rough time.  Dr. Pennington was my Dr. and he sat with me for hours.  After Harold’s delivery I was in the hospital for 10 days.  In those days you could hardly sit up and they always kept one in the hospital for 10 days.

After 6 weeks I was able to leave and Cargill paid for my train ride to Albany, NY.  It took 3 days and 2 nights on a train with a 6 week old infant and our cute little black and white terrier, Bozo.  I do not know how I did it, but I did.  

We stayed in Albany for about two years (1940 and 1941) while Kermit was at Cargill and lived in the town of Delmar, N.Y. 

When the war came in 1942 Kermit was transferred back to Minneapolis to work in Savage, Minnesota building ships for the war and working as purchasing agent.  With the war, Cargill went into the ship building business.   

When the war ended, Kermit and Henry Albrecht wanted to go into the manufacturing business together.

Henry also worked for Cargill as Assistant Purchasing Agent and had a construction business and was fairly wealthy. We weren’t.  Kermit was still working for Cargill when Henry and Kermit decided to build steel runner sleds.  They rented the basement of the Milk House at Lake Street and Highway 7.  Between Labor Day and Christmas 7,000 steel runner sleds (the Red Rocket) were made and sold.  At the end of summer of the following year Kermit left Cargill with a separation pay of $2,500.00.  It was with this money that Kermit and Henry were able to start Wilson-Albrecht Company, Inc. (WACO).  That ended Kermit’s 11 year career with Cargill. 

Kermit and Henry started manufacturing patented doorknob ironing boards named “Handy Ann”.  They also came up with an idea of a new style of scaffolding.

Lavaan was born in 1943,  Bonnita Mae was born in 1947. I made all my clothes for my little children. I remember I made thirteen little dresses for LaVaan because she didn’t wear slacks. She wore dresses all the time because she was just a pretty little girl. In those days girls wore dresses and boys wore pants.  I never really wore slacks either because they just weren’t popular. 

Back then, all the clothes used to be hung out to dry on a clothesline. When I lived in New York with Kermit and he was working on the ship yard on the Erie Canal, I had a clothes line that went out the window.  There was a post in the yard that held up the other end. You would hang the clothes on the line and pull the line to hang them outside and when dry, pull the clothes line back through the window


My Working Years:

March 15, 2014

It was during the depression when I graduated from North High School, June of 1934.  

I always thought that I would be a nurse, but when I got out of school I got a job right away. I couldn’t leave my job to go to nursing school so I just stayed working and never became a nurse. 

I got my first job at Strutwear Knitting Company. I waited in a line three blocks long to finally get up for my interview and then they put me in another line and waited in line again and finally ended up getting a job. I was fortunate to get a job right away. I sewed the seams on the foot and legs of nylon stockings.  I did that until they went on strike. One day while working at Strutwear, the management told us we had to get out right away because the strikers were outside rioting.  They told us to stay in the middle of the street and when it appeared we could slip out of the line, to do so, to avoid the rioters.   It was very scary.  There were so many people out of work and jobs were so hard to get.  

When Strutwear went on strike I got a job at Woolworths, Dayton’s and Powers, so I was able to keep working.  Dayton’s taught me how to drive the elevator, which at that time you had to pass a test and get a license to operate. You actually had to drive the elevator by hand, which I also did at Powers for 3 weeks. 

Then, Strutwear called and offered me a job in St. Joe, Missouri, where they had a plant. I would have to relocate.   With jobs hard to find I eagerly took the job.   Emily Hanley, Virginia Schie and Grace Carpenter were also offered jobs and Strutwear paid for our bus tickets and apartment arrangements.  We were roommates for 6 months until the strike was settled and we were able to move back to Minneapolis. 

When I was leaving for St. Joe, Kermit ran out right away quick to buy me a diamond ring so that we would be engaged before I left.  He bought me a ring for 25 dollars. I had that diamond ring until our 25th wedding anniversary and then he bought me a 1 1/2 carat diamond ring but that was when he wanted a divorce, so it was rough. 

While working, I bought my Mother her first washing machine.  Before that, she used 2 large tubes to do the, one for washing and one for rinsing the clothes. All the wash was done by hand.  She used a wash board to scrub the stains out.    I still have the wash board.  She had to wring the clothes out by hand and boil the white clothes and hang them outside to dry.  There were no clothes dryers back then.  She hung the clothes out summer and winter!  The clothes always smelled so fresh and clean.


My High School Years and Meeting Kermit Wilson:

March 15, 2014

I met Kermit H. Wilson, when I was 15 and in the 10th grade at North High School. He asked me out of the clear if I would go to and see the play “Elijah” with him.  My friend Delilah told me to go, that she knew he was a nice boy and I did.  We went together throughout high school. See Photo: Letter from Kermit to LaVina in her Yearbook, before they got serious.


Childhood and Growing Up Memories:

March 15, 2014

Back in 1916’s houses were built with an attic, a dirt floor basement, and a root cellar for storing potatoes and garden vegetables. I imagine we stored all the food that we could.  

I loved to pick hazel nuts below the hill by our house. My Mother had a garden and we grew most of our food.  She loved to work in her garden growing vegetables and planting flowers.  I had a precious baby ring, I loved it and wanted to plant it to make it grow just like Mothers vegtibles!  So I went across the road and planted it under a tree.  When my Mother found out she was furious with me.  We did find the ring and I learned a lesson.

We had a white faced Mow-Lee cow. It did not have horns. It did not like men and only liked women, so my Mom and I were the only ones that could milk her. 

I was also given a "pet" rabbit that I loved.  One day I came home and my Mom had cooked my pet rabbit!  We were hungry and did not have money for food, that was the best tasting "pet" we ate...sadly.  This was during the depression and very hard times for everyone.  One time, I remember my Uncle Matt (my Mom’s brother) bringing us cereal so we would have food to eat. 

I also had a pet goose that followed me everywhere I went.  We had a cage in the house for it to sleep in at night, so I guess I can't complain that Bonnie lets her chickens in her house. One day I sat on the cage. It broke and I killed my dear pet goose! 

Over the years, I experienced lots of farm animals, chickens, cats, and sheep.  These were my pets.  My parents built a chicken coop in the back where they raised chickens so we would have eggs.  My Mom would have to kill the chickens and that is why she never liked chicken meat. To this day my favorite breckfast is eggs over easy with soft hash browns. 

When we lived on Bass Lake Road the Munds family lived about 1 mile behind us.  There was a long driveway that ran by our house to their house.  I used to play with the 4 Munds boys.  They had a little pony.

I went to Bass Lake School, a little one room school house grades 1-7th grade.   I had to walk three miles to school.   In 1927 when I was 11, My Father moved the house to 4110 Yates Ave North, Robbinsdale, Minnesota.   I went to the 8th grade in Robbinsdale and then to North High School grades 9-12.  North High was quite a distance from our home and I had to take a street car to school after I walked one mile. 

I remember when I was a girl and my dad drove home in a Model T Ford. My Dad worked for Kunz Oil Company.  He delivered oil and gas to filling Stations. 

My mother use to get my clothes from Cleo Snider. Cleo’s mother would buy her real nice clothes and then when Cleo was tired of her clothes, her mother would give them to my mother for me. My mother used to take them apart and sew them back together. So I grew up with pretty nice clothes although we were pretty poor. Back then most everyone was poor.

I bought my mother a set of dishes at Sears. I’ll never forget walking out of Sears with the dishes and they were very heavy.  A man walked up to me and asked me where I lived. I said, “Robbinsdale.” Then, he said, “you can’t take those all the way. I will drive you home.”   I was going to take a street car home.  Back then you could trust people and people were always ready to help. So he gave me a ride home and I gave my Mom and Dad the dishes. 

While I was home and growing up we never had running water or a toilet in the house. The toilet was outside in back of the garage. After I got married my mother and dad finished off the house and put an indoor toilet inside. We only had two rooms in our house at the time.

My Parents & Birth:

March 15, 2014

LaVina started recording her memories on casset tape in 2007. She told us not to fuss with the words "just pust down what I say on tape, I want it to be real...my words not yours" So here it goes:


I was born, June 22, 1916 on a Thursday at 10:15 a.m. I weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz.   Dr. Donald Colp delivered me.  At that time there were not many hospitals so his West Broadway home was also his office and hospital.  (By 1952, his residence had become a rest home.) 

I was brought home to 2642 Bryant Avenue North, North Minneapolis, Minnesota. My mother could not have any other children so I grew up as an only child.  

My mother, Verena Blumer, was born October 11, 1890 in Osseo, Minnesota. She had 9 siblings. Both her parents, Jacob Blumer and Verena Zophi were born in Schwanden, Glarus, Switzerland.  (My son Harold Wilson has traveled to Glarus, Switzerland to do family genealogy.)  My Mom was ill with arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, and I cared for her for two years. When I could no longer care for her, Mom was admitted to New Hope Nursing Home.  She passed away one month later, 12 days short of her 82nd birthday, on September 29, 1972. 

My Dad was born Jesse Richard Blatterman, on August 19, 1886 in Maple Grove, Minnesota. My father had 3 siblings, one brother Oscar, and two sisters, Rhoda and Lillie. My father’s father, Richard Blatterman was born in Germany.  When he died Grandma Blatterman married a Mr. Craig.  (I always knew her fondly as Grandma Craig.)  At age 67, Dad suffered a stroke, entered St Barnabas Hospital and passed away on Jan 12, 1953.                  

 My parent’s marriage of 41 years began on March 28, 1912.  My Mother was 22 and my Father was 26. They lived on Queen Ave North, Minneapolis.   After they were married my parents moved in with Bert & Annie Giebenhaim and worked on their Farm.

 My Dad bought a piece of property, about an acre from his mother, Grandma Craig on Bass Lake.  He built a little 2 room house that did not have electricity or a bathroom.  We used kerosene for light and had an outdoor toilet. There was a barn on the property. I do not know if my Dad built the barn or if it was on the property when he bought it.  The front room of the house was the living room and at night it was converted into my parent’s bedroom where they slept on a pull out davenport.  The second room was used as a kitchen and my bedroom which had a commode and a dresser.  A drape divided my room from the kitchen.  Lavaan has this very dresser in her bedroom now.