Tag Archives: Chafee Shirk

Calcified Tendinitis

4 Replies

1961-10-24-gry-p-1Letter transcription:

[Wright 533 – Handwritten by David]
October 24, 1961

Dear David:

I had an appointment with Dr. Ferguson yesterday. He said I had injured a tendon in my right arm and he called my injury “calcified tendinitis.” I am taking x-ray treatments – have to go to the Home Hospital in Lafayette every other day this week for 3 ½ minutes of x-ray. So far the hospital here isn’t equipped to give x-ray treatments. I am also taking cortisone (35₵ a tablet). We had some samples. Since we had intended to take a vacation this week and next the appointment book didn’t have much in it and Dad hasn’t been very busy so far this week. Dede went to the hospital last Fri., but nothing happened so Dad sent her back home and so far she is feeling fine and as far as I know hasn’t given any indication of being ready to have her baby. Since I am having to take these treatments, it wouldn’t have been much of a vacation for me this week.

We received word today that Mr. Shirk passed away. He and Sarah had been in Florida on vacation. He had a heart attack last week, but the last word we had was that he was so much improved that he was about ready to start back home.

I hope you received your gloves. Julie talked to me after Sunday school and said you wanted me to send you some. Arvella gave me the same message and I sent you a package last Monday.

The way my arms still feels, it looks like I am going to have to try to find a cleaning woman. Dr. Ferguson told me not to try to wash windows or do any painting.

We had shelved our vacations plans for the time being. I don’t know what we will do about Edna. She was to take hers when we take ours. She has moved and is living across the street from the office.

Dad has been working on Mark’s record player and thinks he might get it fixed.

Love Mother

Newspaper article published on Chafee Shirk’s death can be found here.

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/09/28/calcified-tendinitis/

Snowbound (Gladys)

1 Reply

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind.
2-12-44

Dear Daddy –

Yours of Jan. 29-30-31- & Feb. 1 came today so I feel like writing a long newsy letter – however I won’t promise too much. John is out in the kitchen making preparations to bake a cake. Mark is in the nursery working on the floor with steel wool – David is asleep. He almost went to sleep in his high chair while we ate – He of course had been fed. He still needs help – spills so much on the way. He woke up last night before I went to bed and didn’t seem to feel just right so I put him in bed with me. I think he had a little tummy ache – I could hear gurgling noises, and he would waken after dropping off to sleep but finally settled down. This morning I said I felt like I had slept with one eye open.

[page 2] We are still snow bound. The back yard has drifts in some places feet deep. I want to take a picture of it this afternoon. Would like to put D. out I the snow for a picture but it is too cold to take him out. It was 1 below in Chicago this a.m. at 8. It is supposed to be colder tonight. Our coal pile is getting low and we may have to resort to Ind. coal again for a while until the Coal Co. gets some “Milco.”

I rec’d a valentine card from Jim. It had a stamp size picture of Jim for signature. The card has a picture of a little yellow haired girl with cubby legs watering the family tree – The verse is “There are a lot of Family Trees, Some pretty nice ones too. But there’s on other Family Tree, That’s grown a peach like you.” The boys were discussing the card and Mark

[page 3] said, “Mother you didn’t look like that when you were a little girl, look this girl has fat legs.” So much for my pins.

I finally got the kitchen washed after three hitches. The paint is beginning to show wear in spots from so much washing, but on the whole it still looks as good as new – nice & shining & clean.

I see in the paper that Blanchard Childress and O.E. Powell are new Rotary members. Also that June Swihart Wedgbury has a baby boy – She lives in Remington. Speaking of Remington – They have a Dr. now who doesn’t have a car and charges $5.00 a call when anyone gets so ill they can’t go to the office and the Dr. has to walk abroad in the town – of course a country call where taxi service is necessary costs $15.00 – You can guess he doesn’t have many calls. There was a woman Dr. there but she got married and is having a baby so had

[page 4] to retire from practicing at present. More local news is the election of officers by Chamber of Commerce – Bill Zimmerman, Pres., Chafee Shirk, Vice, and Ed Johnson, Secy., Harry Healy, Treas. The C.C. has decided to transfer the sponsorship to the Rotary Club, of the Boy Scouts. Chet Van Scoyck has been acting as leader due to lack of anyone else willing to assume the roll.

After all the “steel wooling” on the floors this a.m. I am going to have to dust – an endless job, but has to be done once in a while. I can see webs stretched around in different places so will have to swing the wall brush around, too. Getting Mark to keep at a job is a job in itself – I can hear him turning the pages in the new Colliers and know he has deserted his work. I will finish this and go and inspect his work, which I am sure isn’t finished. He wants to go to town and I’ll let him go so he can mail this –

“Love Mother”

YEG1944-02 - Mark in snow

©2015 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2015/12/03/snowbound-gladys/

Christmas Greeting (Gladys)

1 Reply

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind.
Dec. 12 – 1943

Dear Daddy –

Thought I would dash off a note to slip in with my greeting. I went to the Church tonight to hear a Christmas cantata sung by the choir. Mrs. Z. drove her car and I went with her. She had intended to walk (but I hadn’t because of a slight sinus condition) but a lively snow had started and she thought she had better drive. There is such a flu epidemic around now I didn’t want to walk that far thru the cold and get my nose stopped up. So far we haven’t entertained this present flu bug. David still has a little cough from his cold but doesn’t run any temp and so many people have after coughs that hang on. After the service we stopped at Shirks – Sarah is in bed and quite ill with a sinus infection. Terry had the flu and she got it from him. We didn’t see either of them but talked to Chaffe. We wanted to help some way – I thought I could do the washing in the Bendix and Mrs. Z. could help with the ironing, but Mr. Shirk had gotten

[page 2] someone to do the washing and they are getting a school girl tomorrow to help in the house. Before I came back Ruth M. called. She wants to know if we will come there for Christmas. I wrote her we would rather they come here. The way this coal works in the furnace it has to be stirred several times a day or it breaks a pin – We have had three broken pins since using this coal. It seems it clogs up the retort more than the other. At any rate I can’t promise her anything yet. It is colder now than it has been so far and the colder, the more often the furnace needs attention.

The snow tonight was very pretty – the kind we would wish for on Christmas eve. One day this past week we had such a pretty snow – it clung to the trees & shrubs for a while until the sun melted it. I would like to catch a scene like we have around here with a movie technicolor, over on the Kent grounds the snow really makes a beautiful picture. Hope all this snow talk doesn’t make you feel too badly about not getting some under your feet.

It is getting time for us to go to bed. John is practicing. Mark & David are both in bed, and I could use a little extra rest myself – David has such a habit of waking me before I am quite ready – but after all he goes to bed several hours earlier than I do so wants to get up earlier.

Love – Mother

P.S. Mon. Morn – 5 above –

©2015 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2015/08/01/christmas-greeting-gladys/ ‎

Happy Thanksgiving 1943 (Gladys)

1 Reply

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind.
Nov. 25 – 1943

Dear Daddy –

One more year your birthday comes on Thanksgiving Day. Hope you cards have caught up with you by this date. Mark said “life begins at forty.” I said that may be true for Daddy, only I am hoping yours will begin again for your family soon after 39. That may be put crudely, but I think you will get what I mean.

It’s after 4 P.M. and David and his mother slept from 2 till 4. I kept him out in the warm sunshine until he got cross, then decided he should have his nap. He used to take a nap after his bath, orange juice & oil at 10 a.m. but won’t go to sleep any more at that hour so we wait until afternoon now. It has been sunny the past few days so in order to get him out during the best of the sunshine take him out right after lunch. He will stay in his Taylor Tot a while then wants to get out & walk around. His 8th tooth is almost through.

[page 2] I didn’t want to go into the locker because of my sinus & throat condition – which seem pretty good today – so Link said he would be going over. We wanted a chicken for dinner but Link forgot all about going. He had told me he had to go for them. So we had beef roast instead. I made dressing, baked potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, raw carrots, celery, pumpkin pie and tea. I think we fared well enough. J. & M. kept referring to the meat as turkey. The Zells ate with Shirks. Chafee won a 16 lb. turkey at the raffle and couldn’t find anyone to dress it, so Mr. Z. dressed same then Shirks invited Zells to dinner. The Shirks & Zells used to live in Brookville at the same time. Johnsons also won a turkey and dressed it and put it in our locker for Christmas. So far I haven’t planned much for Christmas. I don’t want to plan on going to C.C. I think that is too far to go with D. in cold weather. We may possibly go to Mutch’s or have them come over here if Earl can get the gas. If not we can just remain home. I suppose R. & F. will go to C.C. If it gets as cold this year as it did last I would much rather stay home than try to go visiting. After all with the four of us we can make merry right at home. Of course we would

[page 3] enjoy being with the family, or having a part of the family come here.

I’ll mention again in case those other letters do not reach you – I rec’d two bouquets of flowers. Lt. Palmer wrote a nice letter to Bergens and they passed it on to me. He was very complimentary about you. But why shouldn’t he be – you deserve it.

I rec’d a letter from Dolores. She sent me some pictures of her & Steve. I think he is a nice looking young man. She didn’t mention his present location. He must have had several days off when they were married – she said in her letter she went back to work the day after Steve went back to camp.

I have to make another trip to Laf. to get the lenses for my glasses. I had planned to go Tues. but Mark was home and I couldn’t get Clara to come and stay with Mark and David, so was going to have Arlene get the lenses for me, but they have to have my frames to drill the holes in the right places, so we plan to go tomorrow. School being out J. & M. can take care of David in the car. I will try to do a little Christmas shopping but I know I won’t do much. The stores are jammed and the stocks are low.

[page 4] There seems to be three or four persons to any article for sale. The stores are short of clerks. I don’t like to buy anything I don’t have to. You can hardly imagine the change in business conditions. I want to buy gifts for Jimmy, Bobby, Donald, & the Zell girls and frankly I am “stumped.” The prices on toys are high and the toys offered this year are nothing compared to former years. I am not complaining. It’s just a natural condition arising from circumstances – Just wish I could find something to give that would do as good as toys. I suppose I will if I think hard enough. I told J. & M. I am going to give them money. Of course I will get something else – probably some clothing & wrap it to put under the tree. They have been wanting to know what to get me. That is as much a problem as any, but we will solve all these by Christmas and try to have a Merry Christmas.

Last Thanksgiving was a week earlier than this year and it turned cold and stayed cold all winter. I remember we hung clothes out on the line & they froze. We didn’t hang clothes out today but it was nice & warm.

It’s five o’clock and I have rambled on without saying much but hope it will take up a little of your time
“Love – Mother”

©2015 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2015/06/29/happy-thanksgiving-1943-gladys/