Tag Archives: Gladys R. (Foster) Yegerlehner

Listening to the News (Roscoe)

5 Replies

June 6, 1944 envelope

Letter transcription:

June 6, 1944, p. 1

6/6/44
NFPS
LIBERTY MO

Dear Mother,

Most of the day was spent by the radio listening to the radio news. There is a radio in sick bay and we used it most all day.

I’m just wondering what day you have for reservations or rather what day you plan on coming. We may have to park you and the boys in the streets. The Dr. here isn’t planning on leaving until the 14^th or 15^th and then the lady wants a couple of days to redecorate before she vacates the house for us. This hotel is so crowded. I got the only room vacant Sun. but if you come before the house is ready I guess we can do something.

I talked to the supply officer and we think best that you buy your tickets and ship the stuff and then we will put in for your expenses later. If we knew which train, etc., we could get the tickets but we believe it best for you to get your tickets which best suit you as to time and route.

I’m listening to the radio and scratching ciggers and I’m not able to concentrate. And I might say the ciggers have an almost upper hand. I’m going to try to devise something to keep the little pests away if and when we have another garden party.

June 6, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] It has been so cool here since Sunday. I was really cold all day. Guess I’ll get warm in bed tonight.

Our house is one Kansas street and I think the number is 324 but I’d better check that before I give that to you for our permanent address. I got a letter from Mom, one that was sent to USNH Great Lakes today. So far no letter from you but maybe you haven’t written since we made the telephone calls.

As soon as you can tell me when you have your train reservations I’ll see what and how I can arrange to take care of you until the house is available.

Well, the news goes on and one. Most of it now is repeat but one keeps the radio one in case something new comes on.

Up to now this is about all I can think of tonight so
Lots of Love
Daddy

342 W. Kansas Street, Liberty, MO (Image courtesy of Google street view)

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/02/23/listening-to-the-news-roscoe/

Cokes Would Be In Order (Gladys)

1 Reply

June 4, 1944 envelope

Letter transcription:

June 4, 1944, p. 1

Kentland Ind.
June 4 – 1944

Dear Daddy –

Will start a letter this evening and maybe I’ll have something to add tomorrow – Howard & Ursula came to see me this afternoon. Helen is home and is going to come over and see me. She lived in Kansas City, Mo., 10 yrs. If she comes tomorrow I’ll tell you anything that might be of help to us. Howard asked me if we would rent our house. I told them our little attempt with Smiths – They agreed with me our house is well worth $45.00 – said they were getting $40.00 for theirs in the country. Mrs. W. said she thought our house should be worth $50.00 – The new

June 4, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] Ag teacher is looking for a place & Mrs. Z. asked me if we were considering renting. I told her I didn’t know yet – we would have to see about “Mo.” first.

Arlene came up and Lucile brought Jimmy so we really had “open yard” this afternoon. Mark got the idea cokes would be in order so he & Virginia loaded up some bottles and went to the Station and bought cokes with his money – without consulting me. I had the same idea so was glad he had acted before I told him to. Jimmy Ed & David both got a share of their mother’s cokes – Jimmy is a veteran coke drinker but David seems to like the stuff pretty well too – Arlene has a new girl – one that seems to be the answer to all her desires for a helper – She even lives there and so Arlene has a little more time off.

June 4, 1944, p. 3

[page 3] When Arlene loaned us the “Thum” bottle, she decided to pour a little out in something in case she might want to dab a little on Donnie “in case” – The only thing she saw at the time was a “shot glass” so poured some in it. She told Bill what she had done and he told everyone she was trying to break him by putting “Thum” in his glass. I am certain that would break anybody of anything – after getting the tiny bit in my eye.

I wrote to Ruth M. today. You should drop your folks a line now and let them know you are in your new location. As soon as I get news from you of a house I’ll call for train reservations.

Love Mother

June 4, 1944, p. 4

[page 4] Monday afternoon –
So far I haven’t talked to Helen. I saw Coke this morning and strange as it may seem they haven’t any K.C. connections. I thought perhaps they would know someone there.

I cleaned half the basement this morning – Try to finish the other this evening. David got an ink bottle this morning and spilled ink from davenport to kitchen so J. & M. cleaned living room & dining room floors – however it needed to be done. The house looks like the one at Lake Forest – I have rugs all over the place to catch the black marks –

Hoping to see you soon –
Love Mother

David, Jimmy Ed Johnson & Donald Funk, dated June 4, 1944

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/02/21/cokes-would-be-in-order-gladys/

Liberty, Missouri (Roscoe)

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: June 4, 1944 envelope front

: June 4, 1944 envelope back

Letter transcription:

June 4, 1944, p. 1

Colonial Hotel
Liberty Mo.
June 4, 1944

Dear Mother,

Just back from the party I told you about on the phone. I met most of the officers, their wives and children. It seems the medical department is composed of me and that is the dependants care as well as anything else navy that comes up. It was interesting meeting all the outfit in one group. About all types and kinds were represented. The skipper and his wife are ex farmers from Southern Ill. And seem to be very fine. There is also the flashy type who sorta feel they should demand attention, and I might say the children are all types and kinds also. It se

It seems they have parties like this rather frequent. It was an outdoor

June 4, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] hamburger fry with salads, onions, olives, cake, ice cream, etc. Just a harmless get together. Outside of hot weather, I believe the duty here should be OK but that remains to be seen.

I hope a room here at the hotel without bath. There are none with bath available. The price of the room is $1.25 per day. There is a lavatory in the room but the bath is community and a tub. There is a shower at the sick bay so I’ll have my bath there.

I have to be at the base by 7:45 and after sick call it’s more or less here and there.

The Dr. I’m relieving is still here. They have 3 children, the oldest of which is about 3 years old. They seem to be very well thought of and a little hard to follow maybe because they were well liked, but we shall see.

Well, I’ll write more tomorrow night but the night letter of tomorrow night should get there first –

Lots of Love
Daddy

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/02/20/liberty-missouri-roscoe/

May 1944

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[There are no further letters during the month of May since Gladys and the boys moved to Lake Forest on May 8th. Their stay by the Lake was short-lived however.]

Baby book – May 23, 1944

May 23 – 1944

David’s 20th month. 26 1/2 lbs. – 34″ tall

On May 8 we went to Lake Forest to live. There were chickens in the back yard and David put his finger thru the fence and a hen pecked it – He cried but went back and tried to entice the hen again. We took David to the beach and he had lots of fun playing in the sand and throwing rocks in the lake. We had a cottage on the lake near Zion but Daddy was ordered to Liberty, Mo., so we had just one day to play on the beach. David is getting a good coat of tan. He tries to say anything but doesn’t say everything correctly. He acts like he is playing the piano, can point to his nose, ears, eyes, hair, mouth, tummy, feet and where he gets spanked when we ask him to.

Roscoe’s new orders were written on May 26th and delivered on May 30th. He had five days to report to Liberty, Missouri. His new duties were at the Naval Flight Preparatory School at William Jewell College.

: Change of orders, p. 1

: Change of orders, p. 2

: Change of orders, p. 3

: Compliance of Orders

A Family Tragedy

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After May 2nd, 1944, the letters go silent for a week. While Roscoe and Gladys were writing letters to each other further north, in Clay City, Indiana, a family tragedy was taking place. During the day, Roscoe’s oldest brother Sam fell off the back of a truck while working on his farm. He fractured his skull during the fall and died several hours later. At this point, it is unknown whether or not Roscoe, Gladys & the children traveled to Clay City for the funeral. Romaine, the daughter of Ruth (Yegerlehner) Mutchler, does not recall attending the funeral, although she does remember the sadness which accompanied the tragedy. With gas rationing and other travel limitations in effect during WWII, it is hard to say whether or not the family did go. However, the lack of letters would indicate that Roscoe and Gladys were together.

SAMUEL A. YEGERLEHNER

CLAY CITY, Ind., May 3. – -(Special)- – Samuel A. Yegerlehner, 53 years old, died at 8:30 last night at the Clay County Hospital from a fractured skull sustained Tuesday morning when he fell from a truck two miles east of Clay city. Mr. Yegerlehner is survived by the widow, Esther; the parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Yegerlehner of clay City; two sons, Paul and Earl of Clay city; one sister, Mrs. Ruth Hutchler of Wilmington, Ill.; four brothers, Clarence and Ralph of Clay City, Roscoe of the United States Navy at Great Lakes, Ill., and Floyd of Bluffton, and one grandchild. The boys was brought to the Schoppenhorst Funeral Home and will be returned to the residence in Clay City Wednesday afternoon. Short funeral services will be held at the residence at 1:30 o’clock Thurdsay afternoon followed by services at St. Peters Reformed Chruch at 2 o’clock with Rev. Bredeweg officiating. Burial will be in St. Peter’s Reformed cemetery.

YEG1940 - Sam, Esther, Earl, Paul & Leanna

Samuel, Earl, Esther, Leanna and Paul Yegerlehner, c1940s

Romaine’s Commencement (Ruth)

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April 30, 1944, p. 1

[Gladys included this letter from Ruth Mutchler in her May 2nd letter. Ruth was Roscoe’s sister.]

Letter transcription:

Wilmington Ill.
April 30, 1944

Dear folks,

Just a line before I go downtown this morning. I am sewing & must go down to get some thread. It is raining again this morning as usual.

We have been anxious to know what has become of you. In your last letter you said you had been apartment hunting & we have been wondering if you have found one. It will be nice if you can be near Jake while he is stationed there. Romaine & I were in Chicago, all day on Saturday, two weeks ago. We eyed every Naval officer that we saw. Thinking just perhaps

April 30, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] Jake may have been downtown, but – no see –

We went up for her formal. Had a hard time finding one, but finally found one which we think is quite pretty. It is yellow marquisette. She is getting all excited now, the Senior activities are “stepping up.” Had the Senior play Fri. & Sat. nights. She had so hoped grandpa & grandma would come up for commencement, but Mom wrote & said that it wouldn’t be possible for them to come now. She is still counting on you to be here.

Earl & Chuck are trying hard to get their garden in but so much rain keeps

[page 3] them from it. They now have their potatoes, peas & early stuff such as lettuce carrots & onions in. Earl went fishing

April 30, 1944, p. 3

for a little while yesterday after-noon, but too cold for that, got two I think he said. He is so busy at the mine, he hasn’t much time for fishing & gardening.

Must run along now. Let us hear from you, haven’t Jake’s address so can’t write to him, so send it along when you write again. Hope you are all well

Love Ruth

Come for commencement if you can. It is May 26.

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/02/15/romaines-commencement-ruth/

Acute Housing Situation (Gladys)

1 Reply

May 2, 1944 envelope

May 2, 1944, p. 1

Letter transcription:

May 2 – 1944

Dear Daddy –

I am enclosing the mail that came for you & Ruth’s letter. I rec’d two letters from you and can’t understand why you didn’t get the letter about David’s accident. Mark mailed it Wed. evening – the day he fell or rather pulled the radio over on himself. His lip still has a scab but the stitches were removed Sat. He made it bleed yesterday. I am not going to touch it, but just let the scab come off as it will. Dr. M. said to take him to the dentist as soon as his mouth is healed. I think the inside has healed entirely.

Just like the radio serial you were comparing our letter to – I wonder if you have found anything yet. Maybe I’ll have to go up and spend a day yet to find something. We should have spent your vacation house hunting. Just keep working on it – something has to be found.

There is a high wind. I washed this morning, then this p.m. put in two woolen blankets and the couch cover. I accidently picked up the red (old drapery) cover and it got washed too. The color runs out of those old drapery curtains and the result is, the couch cover has a new tint. It really is better looking than before. The wind is so strong I brought David back into the house. The wind didn’t bother him, he still wants to go bye-bye.

Mark doesn’t have any school today because of election. He has been mowing Staton’s lawn. They have taken their lawn mower over to their cottage. They must have quite a place over at the lake.

May 2, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] Just retrieved a piece of something from David’s mouth – don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t to eat. He just made a puddle on the floor – right after I had put him on the toidey. I think I am going to have to use a little spanking on the young man if he doesn’t try to cooperate a little better.

I am a little tired. D. woke up before I had a chance to rest any – and after he gets up there isn’t much rest for anyone. Mark being busy with the lawn mower can’t help me right now.

I added a P.S. to yesterday’s letter about Smith. He was here a few minutes to see about the house. He & Mrs. are coming back Sat. He said he would like to lease it for a year. I told him your future was too uncertain to do anything like that. Maybe we can work out something. Helen Bartlett said she used to teach under Smith and says he is a good school man. I know Bart worked to get Smith here. Smith’s own their home in Delphi and Helen said they were interested in buying here. They may find a place for sale but I don’t know where they could rent anything. Alene Miller is coming back to their house – the one Statons used to have, but the people in it now can’t find a place to move.

I’ll certainly be glad when the housing situation isn’t so acute – at least for us.

Love Mother

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/02/14/acute-housing-situation-gladys/

No Children Allowed (Roscoe)

3 Replies

May 1, 1944, p. 1

Letter transcription:

May 2, 1944

Dear Mother,

The letter you wrote of D. accident finally came today – where it was and why I don’t know. It seems that was just like the letters you used to write and wanted them to get there in a hurry.

I thought for a short time this PM I’d have something about a house but it fell thru. It was a furnished home in Libertyville $60.00 per month but the old “Itch boy” that owns it doesn’t want any children in her house – She thought that she could rent it to people without children. I was a little upset when I walked into the ward and the nurse asked me what was troubling me. I told her the lady didn’t want children in the house and she said “well

May 1, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] why?” and that was a little to much – I told her the baby would “pe” on the bed. That slowed her down and even brought color to her face. Probably to mine also. Hope the lady who owns the house has splinters in her pants and one of them point starboard every time she sits down. Maybe there are other punishments just as bad but I won’t whish wish them on her at present. Dr. Glick put me wise to this house.

I’ve got my leave started on the way and should be able to give you the dope tomorrow night. Joe gets off or rather will take off at noon on Sat. and I’m going to try to do likewise. It may not go thru for 12:00 or for that matter maybe not for

[page 3] 4:30 but we will try.

May 1, 1944, p. 3

I sent my blue suit to the cleaner today – so had to wear khaki. It was nice and sunny when we got up but it got foggy and cold later but this eve it was pretty nice again. Khaki is a must for me for the next few days until my blues came back, rain or shine.

We are all set to listen to Fibber in about ½ hour. Right now Gabe Heater [1] is about to come on so I’ll just sign off and say will the splinters punch the lady hard enough and often enough –

Love Daddy

[1] Gabriel Heatter was a radio news commentator. During WWII, he was known for his trademark phrase “Good evening, everyone…there is good news tonight.”

Housing Situation (Gladys)

1 Reply

May 1, 1944 envelope

May 1, 1944, p. 1

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind.
5-1-44

Dear Daddy –

A letter this a.m. You had looked at the cottages with a community pump and chem. Toilets. I told the boys about them and you can imagine John’s reaction. However if we couldn’t do any better I suppose we could struggle along in a cottage, but it would be something to pay $100.00 a month for such unhandy quarters. The water carrying wouldn’t bother me – with J. & M. to furnish transportation. But it would always be the other boy’s turn to carry water you know. David is still taking a nap. It’s 2:30 and I have had 40 winks myself. It is raining so can’t take D. out – unless it clears off. He was out so long yesterday he will miss it today if he has to stay in. He bumped his lip a little again this morning and made a little blood come – about a drop. I’ll be so glad when it’s completely healed. The inside looks like it is healed.

May 1, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] The Carrols are moving here from Brook and taking the house Gerricks live in (Mrs. Shuh’s property). Gerricks are looking for a house but haven’t anything yet. The Greathouses are moving to Fowler – he is manager of a store there – but the Donahue’s are taking the house Greathouses have, and someone already has the Donahue house – so the situation here is as always. Lucile J. asked me how much we could get for ours. I said the payments and she seemed to think that was more than anyone in this town could pay for rent. I imagine Smith’s would pay what we ask to get a place to live. I don’t know whether there are any empty apts. at Kent or not but do know Ira said they were trying to find a place for the Ag teacher too. Tackett didn’t pass his physical, but I don’t know whether he is being hired again this year. He wasn’t very popular with many people and Washburns want to get him off their place. I know if a lot of people around here have their way he won’t be back here to teach next fall.

Last night when I talked to Lila I asked her if she would go to Evanston with me one day, but

May 1, 1944, p. 3

[page 3] she said she didn’t know her way around in Evanston. If I could get someone to go with me and spend the day I should be able to find something but it would have to be someone who knows the town. Dorothy’s mother should be able to help a person out. She lives in her apt. alone – maybe she would let us use a room until we could find something – I am certain we will find something if we try hard enough.

For a few minutes I thought the sun would shine but it’s very cloudy again and looks like rain. We watered the evergreens Sat., but I believe there is enough rain now to keep them damp a day or two. I never did get the dirt loosened up around the shrubbery and spread the manure and now it’s took wet to do much for a few days. Ed was out yesterday, raking and cleaning their yard. They are going to fence in a play yard for Jimmy. They cut out the tree in that little front yard and with it out there will be quite enough space for Jimmy to play in. I do wish we could get a place for the summer with a play yard – but I’ll not complain about anything if we can be together – that’s a promise –

Love Mother

P.S. Smith was here this afternoon – He & Mrs. are coming back Sat. to look at the house.

A Place by the Lakes (Roscoe)

1 Reply

: May 1-2, 1944 envelope front

: May 1-2, 1944 envelope back

Letter transcription:

May 1-2, 1944, p. 1

5-2-44

Dear Mother,

At least there is something to report – Joe found a house – a small but livable and reasonable enough. All for $48 per month but not furnished. He called Mrs. Roberts and I suppose she will call you before this arrives. They were able to get it by a friend in Wilmette writing to a friend in Lake Bluff and these people had a friend whose brother in law had a house so you see how things go. Maybe something will turn up in that way for us. The lady in Wilmette is still looking for one for us.

I’ve thought of this for us – Maybe we could take a place at the lakes for a couple of

May 1-2, 1944, p. 2

[page 2] weeks – and that would allow us to be together and would also give you some time to look around and if nothing turned up at the end of that time you could go back home – what about that? We can talk of that when I come home this weekend. I haven’t asked as yet but will tomorrow.

Somehow I’ve contracted a cold and using a few hankies but it isn’t bad. It’s turned so warm today. I’ll wear khaki tomorrow for the first time and have my blue cleaned & pressed for the weekend.

Well, I hope I’ll be able to write of house news tomorrow eve –
Love Daddy