Reading

I remember sitting on my daddy's lap while he read stories from my big ABC book and other animal stories and
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. It was a BIG BOOK. I was taught every Nursery Rhyme in the books and remember them to this day. I remember stories like 
Little Black Sambo http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/sambo.htm

and Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's Garden. Many stories of animals from horses to all farm yard animals
and then those from the Zoo and the wilds too.

My daddy worked many hours in the Shoe Department of
JC Penny Company in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

One day Mother took me downtown with her to visit Daddy at work. He was waiting on a customer fitting her with new shoes. I walked up to where they were and saw her stocking feet and smelled them too and said "pooh tink". My mother and father were both so embarrassed, as they tell it, that they didn't acknowledge me as their daughter. I was about 3 and do remember that day. I was told later not to say that to strangers.

I liked to go with my daddy to the barber shop. His barber's name was Butch, and he was at the big Eau Claire Hotel downtown. I would always get to ride up and down in the barber chair. Mom went down there once in a while too as her friend, Ethel Kasten, worked in the beauty shop next door. I had my first permanent there in her shop. They had really big electric curlers, and stinky solution she put on my hair. I didn't like it in there.  I liked Ethel a lot, but the room was just too stinky!

Permanent Wave Machine

I loved to go to town with mom on the streetcar (we didn't have a car). Once every week after the housework was done we would go downtown where mother would meet her friends and go shopping. We didn't buy anything but did a lot of looking . I liked to go to the Dime store . Often called the 5 & 10¢ Store. There they seemed to sell everything. Even a soda fountain where people could buy sodas or maybe even a hotdog if you had money. We didn't have money for such things.

What we did do was to go to the Four Corners in Eau Claire and stop at Barnstead's Drug Store. Mommy worked at Barnstead's when she was in High School. There was a soda fountain too. We would sit in a booth most of the time. (I loved sitting on a stool in front of the fountain but couldn't reach the floor with my feed nor the bar with my hands so the booth really was better.) Mom would always get a coke as did her friends. I could only drink water. Once in a great while I got to sip from Mothers' coke.

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I was never fed candy and did not know what it was until I was 5 years old. On May Day someone surprised me with a May Basket that had flowers in it. One May Day I know the lady who surprised me (I didn't see her) with a May Basket. She left a cookie in the basket, and I new Wallace's cookies.

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In the 50's when I was in High School, we would sometimes stop at Michelson's drugstore on the way home from school. There I could purchase a nickel coke with lemon at the soda fountain. Now I knew I was growing up because I could have my own coke. Only happened a couple times a month because I only had $5 which paid for all my needs for the month and had to make it last.
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Discipline

" When I was young( 3& 4 years old) and would cry,  I would be put on a chair in front of the mirror in the front hall and made to sit there and look at myself." I was told tears were only for babies.

Spanking was a form of punishment however, I really don't remember getting very many. Dad was strong and we feared his spankings. I remember getting one from mother once and The one I will never forget from my Dad because when he "barked" at me the tears came. It made him so mad that I got the spanking of my life. I was 12 and ready to leave home because I did not understand what happened as I couldn't help the tears.  Mom asked me where I would go and I said Grandma Johnsons.  She said, "You had better ask her first."  I didn't go!

Outdoors was a fun place for me. I had a sand box on the end of the tennis court. I made many a pie and cake and cookies there. It was a wooden sandbox grandpa Haag made. It had wood on each of the four corners for a seat. I would make my pies and bake them under one of the seats. One day I wanted some water. (I was forbidden to go near the fish pond which was just outside the tennis court.) I needed to bake my cakes so I crawled on my tummy to the pond so mother wouldn't see me from the house. I got my water and crawled back and had the best cakes ever.

That was fun but it was a disobedience that I never forgot and never told. When my children were grown I finally was able to confess and receive the forgiveness I needed from God.

Another time I sat on a cactus somewhere out near the fish pond. I still remember laying over mother's knees and Grandma Haag and Mommy picked out all the thorns from my bottom. I was always very careful of where I sat after that.

My legal name is Judith Ann Haag. I was never called Judith Ann unless something was wrong. Therefore, I do not like that name to this day!
There was one year in my life . (Fourth Grade and 9 years old) , when I wanted to be known as Judith, and I wanted to wear glasses. I did both for a year. Then I decided glasses weren't that much of a social benefit, and the name Judith I didn't like anymore.
Since then I have been known as Judy. After 45 years of age I needed glasses for distance until I had cataract surgery at 66. Distance can still use some help, but my eyes are so much better that I seldom ever use my glasses. I do have prescription sunglasses so if I drive I do wear those as I am restricted to the use of glasses. No longer are glasses a fun thing, and I almost forget that I have them a year after my surgery. (2003)
 In 2006 I had cataract surgery for the left eye.  In August of 2007, a frightening retinal tear while in Minnesota appeared with loss of vision. The Minnesota Eye Clinic in St. Cloud saved my eye with laser treatment and today all is good with my eyes. Just watching me for glaucoma every six months.  

Eating

I was taught to eat everything on my plate before being excused from the table. I remember eating the same meal 3 times before I learned to eat all of my food. It didn't taste as good for breakfast or lunch the next day as I recall.

Gardening and food preservation:

My grandmother Dorothy Bucholz Johnson grew enough vegetables in her back yard to can for the winter and store in the cellar under her kitchen. 710 Menomine Street in Eau Claire. The cellar was like a basement room but very small and with a dirt floor and walls. Potatoes and other root veggies and apples were always in the cellar. It was damp and spiders lived there. She and grandpa picked berries on their day off as well as fished for their wonderful fish fries.

My mother also canned but not because she had a garden. She purchased our vegetables and fruits on good sales and spent hours putting them into the canning jars and upon the fruit cellar in the basement where we kept our winter supplies.

Grandparents Life on Farm and During my Parents childhood Their relatives:

My grandfather Benjamin George Haag's brothers and sisters lived on farms. I went with them many times and loved to feed the chickens, ducks and ride the horses.

I liked that better than sitting inside and listening to everyone talking. I remember one farm we went to was a cousin of my father. There were 2 sisters who were dwarfs living there, and they liked me, and I really loved them. We were about the same size, but they were all grown up, just not physically. They were much Older than me but they looked kinda funny because they had such short legs. They couldn't get up on the chair like other grown ups. They had as much trouble as I did. they always gave me cookies, and I loved it because I could have one.  (I didn't get many sweets.)  They were cousins of my Dad and came from the Goetz Family.  It was rural area near Boyd, Wisconsin, & everyone living on the road to the church and cemetery was related. The Church and Family Cemetery is across the street from My Great Grandparents Family Home. Gpa Ben Haag was born in that house.

I didn't live on a farm, but in a cottage behind my grandparents big house on Old Chippewa Road in Rural Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Cottage we always referred to as the "Chicken Coop". It really was a chicken coop that Grandpa renovated into a small home for our family.
Rhubarb and asparagus grew wild behind our house.

I loved rhubarb with sugar on it raw. Just pick, dip in sugar, and eat.

Lilacs were the flowers in bloom on the bushes around our house and to this day I love that fragrance. Rhubarb grew every year and asparagus was free for the picking at our home.

Our Homes

We lived in a small cottage which was made from my grandparents chicken coop. The cottage was always known as the chicken coop as I was growing up. It was quite a cute little place. We had a very small kitchen with a Pull down wall table, & wall ironing board. A sink with running water (cold). Mother warmed water on the hot plate for our dishes and baths. The ice box was built flush to the outside wall extending out with a cover around it outside. This way it did not take room in the kitchen area. Here is where mom cooked everything on a hot plate and baked in a Norelco Oven.

Baths were in the middle of the kitchen in a galvanized washtub. I was first to get a bath and did once a week. The rest of the time mom would clean me up as I sat on the counter and she put water into the sink and used a washcloth to make sure I was clean.

Our toilet was outside in the back of the house. They called it an outhouse. It had a very small hole just for me and bigger ones for the mommy and daddy. Sometimes I sat on my hole while grandma or mommy sat on theirs. If we went to a place where there were only big holes, grandma would hold me so I wouldn't fall in. It was so smelly that I wouldn't have liked that at all. Spiders and flies lived in that outhouse so I didn't like to stay in there very long.
At night we had a pot in the house so we didn't have to go outside. That was especially good in the winter because it was so cold even in the daytime.
When I had an accident and wet the bed it was so embarrassing. I had the sheet put to my nose to see that it didn't smell very good so I shouldn't do that again.

We had an extra large living room with nice windows all across the front looking out into the small yard with tennis court behind and a fishpond off to the side between the big house (my grandparents) and out "chicken coop". The living room had an oil burning stove in the middle which was our source of heat for the entire house. The big chair in our house was one my grandparents gave to my parents. It was a very large overstuffed chair and it would even make into a single bed. Mother made pretty slipcovers for the chair and always said that the furniture was made so well in the older days that "it would never wear out."

Our bedroom. We all slept in the same bedroom was quite large for a small house. Mom and Dad's bed was there as was my youth bed that grandpa Haag made for me.

New House

Next big event was the purchase of the Sherman House about 3 houses down on the Old Chippewa Road R#3 Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (later known as Starr Avenue)

This was my parents first home. I had my own bedroom at this house. Remember Aunt Betty lived with us during the war; so I always shared a room with her. She was like my big sister.

My brothers, Jon and Gene shared the other bedroom upstairs. My parents said the bathroom which we now had indoors and upstairs was "as big as a dance hall." Our garage was underneath our house in the basement area. There was Dad's stockroom, a laundry room and fruit cellar. We had a stoker furnace which was a new invention and easier for my parents. They only filled it with coal once a day & stoked it.

My baby brother, Charles Thomas Haag was born in 1949 after we moved to our new home. We lived on Starr Avenue (formerly Old Chippewa Road) just 2 houses away from the Haag house in what was always known to us as the Sherman House.  My parents told me a baby was coming soon. I had already guessed. 

After the baby was born & it was another boy my mother told me I should not to ask for any more sisters because there wouldn't be anymore children. 

I told them "not to worry because by the time I would be able to talk them into it again I would be old enough to have one of my own." AND I was and I did.  Her name was Wendy Jo Carstens.

 More Parties --  "Stanley Parties"

When I was 9 years old, my mom and dad were starting a new business with Stanley Home Product demonstrations. They called them Parties. Stanley Parties.  I listened to them every night as they demonstrated products to each other in preparation for their parties. After a few months I told my mom that I wanted to put on a party by myself. By this time I had attended several parties that my grandmother was putting on and a few of my own parents.  I was confident that I could do it. 

(Remember my father read to me every day when I was growing up and I memorized all of mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and even the stories of the animals and their families in the back part of that big book.)

Mom asked me who would I get to be my Hostess for the party and I immediately responded, My grandma Johnson (her mother).  She said, "How do you know she will do it, have no asked her?"  "No, but I will".   So it was decided that if I could find a Hostess to invited her guests that I could be the demonstrator.

I asked her, she said, "Yes" and I held a party in her home. The news got around and the manager from St. Paul, Minnesota drove to Eau Claire, took pictures, took notes and wrote up an article for the Standard which was a Newspaper put out by the company for all the employees.  My day of fame led to years of being known as the youngest person to every demonstrate for a Stanley Party.

     PICTURES OF MY     FIRST  PARTY   AT NINE YEARS:

At 11 years I was introduced and shared the podium with the Owner of the Company, Frank Stanley Beverage while at an Annual Pilgrimage to Westfield, Massachusetts at Stanley Park..

At 12 years I spoke, at an Area Meeting in St. Paul Minnesota.  Eddie Forman was the Manager and His brother, Matt Forman was the Regional Manager.  At 16, I received an invitation from Matt to speak at the Convention for the Central Region held at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago that Fall.   Through the years, I attended meeting with Dad, and each time I was recognized for what I had done at 9 years old.

It was also, fun being excused from school for a week to attend this Convention because I was a Key Speaker.  My talk was an hour long and I must have covered everything!!! I think they were happy when I stopped talking. That was only the beginning of many more speaks, debates, contests, and even sermons as a youth.

After College in 1956, I once again took to Stanley Parties now, to earn money so I could be married in the Fall. After moving to Fremont I continued to Party.   ( INSERT PICTURE $100 Party 1956)

While Living in Swedesburg, some 15 years later I began to do Parties again. I loved getting out and meeting people and felt I actually had great opportunities for ministry while working with Hostesses and their guests. It was a great aversion for me from the busy work of the Parish where Del served as Pastor. I was always busy in that ministry but the Parties allowed me to get out among many different people where I felt I was many times able to help them when they really needed an unbiased person to listen.

Prayer Time

Prayer time: Our bedroom. We all slept in the same bedroom was quite large for a small house. Mom and Dad's bed was there as was my youth bed that grandpa made for me. It had sides on it so I wouldn't fall on the floor. Every night before going to bed, Mother would listen to my prayers.

My prayer was:
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God Bless everybody. Bless Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Haag, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, Aunt Beth and Uncle Hank, Aunt Beverly and Uncle Harry, Aunt Betty, Sandra, Connie, Winnie, Margaret, and all the neighbors, and I would name every one I could think of. Amen.

Mother always listened patiently. One Day I just prayed God bless Everybody. Amen After the "Now I lay me."

I asked Mother if that was OK? "God knows everyone. Isn't that right?" I really don't remember her response, but I do know that I continued to pray like that for many years. I remember doing it at nine years of age when I was big enough to pray by my self and Mother and Daddy were working.

My meal time prayer from the time I could talk was "God Bless this food. Amen"

I learned to pray, "God is great and God is Good and we thank Him for this Food. By His hand We all are fed. Thank you God for Daily Bread. Amen."

When Jon and Gene got a bit older we would take turns praying at the table. We always did have a prayer before eating a meal.

Parties

Parties

I had a special birthday party when I was 3 years old. My cousin Sandra and friend Jackie Yudarian were both there. Aunt Connie, Grandma Johnson, Aunt Beverly and Grandma and Grandpa Haag were all there. We 3 little ones had a table all our own in the yard outside and loved our time there alone.

Tricycle for my birthday when I was 4. Grandparents gave me this very big tricycle and it was Red. Later I remember we used it as a popcorn machine by turning it upside down and turning the large front wheel. That was in Stevens Point out by the garage.

When I was 16, my parents gave me a big party with all my school and church friends at the Floyd Park Clubhouse near our home. There we danced and ate and had a great time. Mother bought a case of Pepsi and made Sloppy Joes and potato chips and pickles as well as the traditional birthday cake. I had a friend Jerry Johnson at that time and he gave me a leather belt with a metal medallion on the front which I have to this day. My parents thought that was quite an expensive gift. He was my first Love and we were going steady.

I loved to visit with the adults. Dad said that I never got to be a little girl.. I was always with the adults and there were not any other children. I remember being told that I was such a "big girl" meaning "mature" I am sure as I wasn't big for my age. I loved to visit with "Wallace" who lived in the apartment in the upstairs of the house after Aunt Beth and Uncle Hank moved. I would go up by myself and just visit. She was a very old lady. (Probably in her 80's) I remember she had a big wart on her forehead. She was so nice to me and sometimes we had a little tea and a cookie.

One time I went up to visit with Aunt Beth and Uncle Hank and I locked myself into the bathroom. I must have been about 2-3 years old then. I can still remember looking way up high to a small opening with a window but I couldn't reach it. I called for help and was talked to by Aunt Beth and mother all the while Uncle Hank was getting a ladder set up outside the bathroom window where he had to climb two stories and into the window to rescue me. I was "such a big girl".

Gma and Gpa Haag lived downstairs in the house when we lived in the "Chicken Coop" as it was always called. It was the old chicken coop that Grandpa made into a cottage. I liked to visit with them too. I remember Grandma had Hay Fever very bad and would sneeze all the time. So she took a large handkerchief and tied it around her head over her nose and mouth. Then she could work in the kitchen. Her kitchen stairway led down into the basement where the garage was. They had a car but we didn't.

I liked to go for rides with Grandma and Kastin. The ladies all called each other by their last names. I had to learn to say Mrs. Kastin and Mrs. Fish...One ride I remember having a flat tire in Eau Claire. Grandma had to walk a long way (Maybe a mile) to a telephone so she could call Grandpa and he came and fixed the tire for us. Brother Jon was along that time. It was a long wait.

) behind the tennis court.

It swung very high over a hill and was lots of fun. In the winter I would slide down that hill and up the next on my sled. I had skis too and my Grandmother Haag liked to ski so tried to teach me how. She also went ice skating with me. Sometimes I skated in the front yard when the ice was smooth there. Other times she would take me to the ice rink in the neighbor. Every neighborhood had an outdoor ice rink in Wisconsin. There was a warming house where a stove with a wood fire was kept going so we could get warmed up.

Fun times were those when we went to Half Moon lake in Eau Claire and went swimming and on picnics with mommy and daddy and their friends. Many times we would go visiting to friends houses or they would come to ours. I was always the only child so got lots of attention and learned to listen an speak when it was my turn.
Winnie & Fred, Ardell and Gene Johnson, and Margaret Youdarian, Lad and Ethel Kastin. We were always with one of them. Kastins lived on the Chippewa River and I loved to go there and walk on the dock and sometimes ride in the boat.

Lad Kastin's Mother, known only to me as Kastin was a friend of my grandmother Haag. Sometimes I would ride with them in their car. Grandma called her friends by their last name only. Like Kastin, Fisher...

Travel

My grandmother Haag (Maude Elizabeth Rice) took me with her on the bus to Crooksten, Minnesota to see my Aunt Beth and Uncle "Hank" (later became John) Wampole which was his given name, John Henry Wampole.
I was very young and just had to go to the bathroom. I cried so Grama talked to the bus driver, and we stopped in the middle of nowhere at a bar. She took me inside this very dingy dark smelly room and walked to the restroom in the back. Gma fixed the toilet seat with paper on it so it was cleaner and told me never to sit on a public seat like that. She kinda held me up so I could go. In those days we referred to it as "listening". That is because when mother was potty training me she would say now "listen". So I always had to listen. You see no one on the bus knew what I was talking about except Grandma. I am surely glad she understood me.

When we got to Uncle Hank's and Aunt Beth's we got to look at lots of pictures on the screen.

Uncle Hank had wonderful pictures of wildlife and plantings. He was a Nature man and made it all so interesting for everyone.

I have cassette tapes which Uncle John recorded while listening to birds and identifying them in Wisconsin in the 1970's.

Beth and Hank both taught school in high schools teaching English and History respectively.
I loved that bus ride back then in 1940's, and I visited with all the passengers. I was five years old.

Recently, received a website where Uncle John H. Wampole's research of Birds in Coos Bay, Oregon in 1957-1959 have been recorded. It is http://www.oregonvos.net/~rbayer/j/j545.htm

Valentines Day was a special day because Mommy helped me to make really pretty valentines to give to the neighbors and grandparents. She always had white paper doilies and we would cut out a red heart that we colored and paste it into the middle, and write "You are my Valentine". I loved that. I would always get some cute little ones and sometimes a heart shaped cookie with frosting.

We had an Easter Bunny at our house. Each year I would be more amazed that my father knew exactly how many eggs he had left for me to find. One year when I was about 5 I asked Dad how he knew. "I said does he tell you so they won't get rotten?" Dad agreed. When I was 8, I realized that the Easter Bunny had hid eggs on top of the ceiling light in the middle of the room and on top of the lamp which stood in the corner far above the chair as well as on the floor and window sill area. I said," Daddy I think you are the Easter Bunny because you know so much about those eggs and where they are and no bunny could ever hop that high to hide eggs". He said, "You are right, honey, but don't tell your brothers. Let them have fun until they figure it out for themselves." I didn't ever tell them and it was so much fun watching Jon and Gene grow up and hunting Easter eggs that "the bunny left". Jon and Gene were 4 & 3 years old at that time and that was in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on Center Street.

Grandma Haag brought us a puppy in her purse. A small purse and a smaller puppy. We named him snippy. He was a cross between a toy Pomeranian and a Dashound. Short haired and short. Stayed very tiny. Growled at us so named "Snippy".

Moving to New Homes
When I was five years old my parents left Eau Claire and moved to Stevens Point. We lived in an upstairs apartment on Ellis Street. Aunt Betty came to live with us there as she had married Uncle Gordie when he was home on leave Christmas. She met him and married him in 2 weeks. She was what they called A war bride. This happened with many couples during the Second World War.

War was scary. My father was a block captain and when the sirens would go we had to shut off all our lights. That was called a black out. That was so no airplanes flying overhead would see us.I was so afraid every time a plane went by because I thought they might drop a bomb on us.

When I was 3 almost 4 years old, I was home with my Aunt Beth one night. Aunt Beth came an woke me up from a sound sleep to tell me that I had a baby brother. That was Jon. She told me that Daddy was at the hospital with mommy and they got a baby that the stork brought for our family. I believed every word of it.. Soon Mommy came home with this new bundle. I loved to hold him and help mommy take care of him. His name was Jon Dean Haag
After Jon was born Gma Haag came to visit one day. She had a very tiny white purse. Inside she had a very small little puppy which became our first pet. He was a cross between a toy Pomeranian and a Dashound. See picture. Pets

One night a bit later My Aunt Beth was taking care of us again. She again came to me and this time told me that there was a car accident last night and my mommy was in the hospital. She would get well and come home but not for a long time. (They were riding in the backseat of a friends car and someone hit the car on the backside next to where my mother was sitting, and her Pelvis was broken. She was a month in the hospital with her leg in a sling.)

The next day my Grandma Haag took me along with my brother Jon to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire where my mother was laying in bed with her leg tied to the ceiling. She couldn't move. I was warned by my aunt and grama that she might not look too good, but she had to heal that way. We had to take Jon to be nursed as that is how mommy fed him. Six times a day we made that trip to the hospital. 
(I understand now that the doctors felt this would be the best way to help save my mom's life. Of course it solved a feeding problem too.)

Each time we went to the hospital all the Catholic Sisters would meet us. They wore a black habit which was like a robe with white around the face. The covering covered their entire body except for their face and hands. They made a vow never to be seem in public without their "habit". They were so nice and sweet as they could be. Each time we arrived they came and took care of me and took the baby Jon from grandma right away so he could eat. It was always fun to go there as they treated me so special; and I always heard "what a big /good girl" I was. Why wouldn't I want to go to hear that? That took place for an entire month.

Jon, Judy, and our dog "Snippy". 1942
That's the "Chicken Coop" behind us where we lived.

The next year I remember wheeling Jon around on the sidewalk to the garage sidewalk, and back many times when Aunt Betty came out the back porch and hollered at me. "Judy, "You have a new baby brother."

I couldn't believe it. I had been told that Dad went to the hospital with Mom and the Stork was bringing them another baby. I told Aunt Betty to tell them to "take him back". I wanted a sister." I couldn't understand why they couldn't just wait until the Stork had a girl.

Well, we kept him; and he was so cute that everyone just "ohhhed and ahhed" over this little baby with black hair and eyes. My grandfather Johnson said, "That couldn't be Jean's baby; he is too dark." But it was her Gene Allen Haag, and to this day "He looks very much like his father." If he wasn't Jean's, he surely was Buck's. "Buck" was the name my father went by. After all Waldro Rice Webert Haag was quite a handle for any guy to carry. He carried all the last names in his family.

One day when friends came to see the new baby Gene Allen again, I went into our bathroom and pushed my right hand into the hardware for the door latch and broke the skin. Then I took a lead pencil and worked it into the broken area. Now I went sadly to my parents because I hurt myself. Of course they thought I had a sliver. So up on the table in the middle of the room I went right under the kitchen light bulb. Daddy sterilized a needle and worked on my hand trying to get that sliver out but couldn't find anything. But I was such a "big girl". I got so much attention and so much praise it was worth it. That was the only time I did anything like that but I remember that as if it was last week. It worked! I still have the mark from the lead pencil in my right hand to this day so how could I forget? I confessed, as an adult, to my parents; and they just shook their heads.

Gene was always such a cutie!
He got all of the attention!

  My Uncle Claire (Mother's brother then 33) died. He had cut his fingers at the bakery and got Lockjaw. He lived a week in the hospital they said because he was so healthy. Now Aunt Connie was a widow so young. Uncle Clare is the one who was a carpenter and made my cupboard, table & chairs, ironing board and other toys.

He and Uncle Warner were so much fun to be with. They played airplane with me by holding my arms and legs and swinging me through the air. I loved it.

Uncle Clare was buried on my 5th birthday.

The next year Grandpa Bucholz (grandmother Johnson's father) died. I was six.
That was my 6th birthday! We got to go to his funeral too, and I said he looked like he was just sleeping. They told me he wouldn't wake up and his body was cold. I thought he had a very pretty bed to be buried in.

Gpa Ernest Johnson died in January of 1962 and our Cindy was born in November that year.

Gpa Haag was deceased in 1969

Gma Johnson Dora left us in 1973.

Gma Maude Rice Haag died in 1978.

My Mother was only 69 in July and Died in  August of 1987

My Father Waldro Rice Webert Haag was 79 on July 1 and died in August of 1997.

2004-- Uncle Warner now lives at 93. Aunt Amy is now 83. Living in Aloha, Oregon near their son Terry and Wife Barbara. Bobby lives in Chicago when not traveling around the world for he is working as a National Editor for a Sports Magazine.

2007 Uncle Warner is going on 96 and Amy 86.

2009 Aunt Amy died in June and within 10 day Uncle Warner died. We lost our two wonderful family members within a very short time. Their Son Terry lives in the area with his wife, Barbara. Son Robert is headquartered in the Chicago Area.

2005 - Aunt Betty Deringer (Mother's baby sister) died in Sun City Arizona We celebrated with her on her 80th birthday in June of 2004.

2007 - We drove our Motor Home to Eau Claire, Eleva, Wisconsin  Kilde farm where we celebrated with Aunt Beverly and Uncle Harry for their 70th Wedding Anniversary. 2010 Aunt Bev (My mother's oldest sister) just celebrated another birthday July 2 and Harry will celebrate 100 years in December. They are living in their farm home for over 60 years now. That is over 75 members of their family posing on their special day!   Wow!  

Storms

One summer we had a very bad hail storm. Hail balls were as large as baseballs, "really". My mother and Aunt Betty along with we three kids stayed in the basement during the storm. I was so scared our house would blow away because I had just read the Wizard of OZ ( a very large book given to me by our neighbors who lived next door.) Our house did not blow away, but I really prayed that it would not, too.
After the storm we went outside and waded in warm water up to our knees in places. We had to be careful though because electrical and phone lines were down all over town as were many trees. The JCPenny store my daddy worked in had the front window broken out. Many other stores in town were damaged like that also..

I started kindergarten that year too (1942), and loved school. The report cards show I was a very good student and Mother said, "the teacher is always right, and I don't get credit anymore." Mother was jealous. But I was jealous too. Of Gene. Yes, Gene, because he got all of the attention; and I didn't like being the big girl because I wasn't even noticed.

At school we would take naps on rugs. I hated to have to do that so I pretended that I went to sleep and wouldn't wake up easily when nap time was over. It didn't stop to naptime, but I had fun fooling them. "If you want me to take a nap then let me sleep" I thought. "Why wake me up if you don't want me to sleep don't give me a nap."
I remember learning to sing Steven Foster's songs in the First grade. We had music with the second graders, and I still remember when I learned "Old Black Joe". Of course we learned all the other patriotic songs too.

When I was in second grade we moved to Normal Avenue. It was called that because the Teacher's College in those days had a school known as Normal School.
It was only a few blocks from where we lived so I went to that school which was in a big building that had many classrooms some of which were for those who were studying to be Teachers.
One Day we were all asked "How many did not believe in St.Stanisclaus....I thought that is what they said anyway. That was a Catholic church nearby. My mother and father did not believe in the Catholic church so guess I didn't either. Those who said they did not believe had to go into the teacher's office. While in there we could hear noises out in the classroom. I asked what was going on and we peeked and saw Santa Claus. I asked why we couldn't be in there, and I was told I raised my hand when asked if  I didn't believe in Santa Claus. I told them I didn't say that. I thought they were asking about the Catholic church St. Stanisclaus...(I am not a Catholic and Mom said we didn't believe like they do.)  I was told to go to the principals office and explain. I did! And guess what, I was given a candy cane. I couldn't understand why some of those kids said they didn't believe.

That same summer I took a bus ride to Eau Claire (about 100 miles) to spend some time with my grandparents. I rode all by myself at 7 years of age. The bus driver looked after me. My grandparents met me at the bus. I spent some time with the Grand Haags and then went to spend some time with Grandma and Pa Johnson. Grandma made some sugar cookies and bread while I was there. I like to visit her home. She was always cooking and baking or sewing. Often we visited neighbors. Mrs. Ott and her husband lived on the corner in the other half of the house they lived in. It had been a very large house and was cut in half and sold as separate residences. I loved going to the Ott's house. We would visit and visit. Often I would get a cookie. When I would come home Grandma said I smelled like the Otts. She said they wet their pants and didn't take a bath very often. I knew there was a strange smell but forgot it after going inside and visiting. They were very old and died before I grew up. Melvin's lived next door and I enjoyed them also. Across the street was Doris Buri. We had a big birthday party there one day and I was the only child. I never cared. I always enjoyed being with the adults. (My dad said I never grew up naturally as I was always with adults and grew up quite young.)

We moved again that year to Center Street in Stevens Point. My father was drafted into the Army. Not many were drafted with children but now after many years the War was not over so Dad had to go too. Dad got $75 a month which he sent home to mom and that was our only money. We did get rationing stamps so Mom could buy laundry soap, coffee, butter, and other items on ration.

New Eye Glasses
I was able to fool the doctors and get a much I wanted pair of glasses because all of the kids were getting them it seemed. . I didn't need them, but blinked my eyes continuously during the examination so the Dr. gave me a pair of glasses to help with the light. I wore them for one year and then got tired of the teacher telling me I had to wear them. So I told my parents my eyes were better. I had an examination and no longer needed to wear them.

I remember walking what I though was all over town to find Duz. "Duz does everything.", was the slogan. I actually would buy any soap powder just to have some. I didn't find any. I must have gone to 5 different stores. Corner groceries were on every corner at that time so maybe it wasn't too far, but it must have been at least a block or 2 apart. Gasoline was rationed too, but we didn't have a car so mother would trade those stamps for something else she needed to buy. (Meat, butter, soap, cigarettes?)

I was 8 years old and in the third grade.

Lemonade sales were fun times. We made many pennies.

Clubs
The other big thing was we kids had a club which met every week and we embroidered. We had one boy in our group, and that was unique. I still have the toilet tank scarf that I made then when I was 7 years old.
One day mom let me have a tea party with the china dishes my Uncle Gordie sent to me from Germany where he was stationed in the War. Then my friends mother let her have a tea party for the two of us. We had a candle in the middle of the table. I reached and caught my hair on fire. For a long time they said I smelled badly because of the burned hair.

In the Third grade in school, Miss Debase, my teacher had us write a story. My story was chosen as the best for the week and put on the wall out in the hallway. My mother was so embarrassed! Why? Well listen to this.

I wrote about "The Day my Daddy came home from the Army." I said I heard the doorbell and then didn't hear anything so I quietly crept downstairs and peeked around the corner. I looked at my mommy kissing this soldier. Then I saw my Daddy and said, "Daddy, I thought it was Stan"!

(Real story is we had a neighbor and friend who was also in the army and had come over to visit my mother and aunt when home on leave. His name was Stan. I was innocent and that is all I meant, but when I got such a good grade and had my story posted, my mother was embarrassed and talked about it for a long time.

Of course you know what she thought it sounded like. Stan was a good friend & former neighbor of ours. We kids dearly loved him. One day his cigarette ash fell on our couch and burned a hole in the couch so we never forgot him. Funny things we remember as kids.

The following July after Daddy came home from the army, our family made another move back to Eau Claire.
This happened because my dad listened to his mother who was trying to encourage him to change jobs. She was working for SHP (Stanley Home Products), and she knew he could make more money with this company. Dad decided to give the business one year, and if it didn't prove to be a good move, J.C. Penny Co. would take him back. He was an assistant Manager. He had a title which sounded good, but no money and Many many hours of work every day including Sundays.

So we moved back to EC and lived with my grandparents for a few months until the renters from the "chicken coop" moved out. We moved back into the "chicken coop" as we called the little cottage. But now we were 5 and not the 4 who left 5 years earlier when Jon was a baby.
The kitchen was the same, Our living room became half living area with couch that I slept on at night.

The other half was stock room where Dad put his stock on tables and shelves. The bedroom held mom and dad's bed and bunk beds for my brothers.

We now had an indoor bathroom of sorts. A chemical toilet dad had to empty every few days. The outhouse was still outside, but we had this improvement. Still no shower or tub or running water in the bathroom so the galvanized wash tubs were out again. I always got my bath first because the boys were always dirtier, I think. We all used the same water. It had to be heated in a kettle on top of a hot plate mom used for cooking.

A year later, Mom and Dad purchased their first home. The Sherman house as it was called at that time. It was a lovely 2 story house with a garage under it attached to the basement area.

I had my own bedroom for the first time and Jon and Gene shared a bedroom upstairs. Mom and Dad had a master bedroom downstairs.

After Chuck was born his cradle was at the foot of their bed.

One morning Mom woke up and the baby was gone! Excitement filled our house until they found Baby Charles sound asleep under their bed. He evidently fell out of the cradle which would swing.

I was in the 4th grade now, and again the baby sitter for my brothers as Mom and Dad would go out of town in one car where each of them would have parties. (Demonstrations in homes of Hostesses who shared in the profits by receiving nice gifts.)

We did have a phone and were only a phone call away from my grandparents who lived about 1½ mile away.

New Car

It was because of this job that Dad was able to buy our first car. It was A Studebaker. Arthur Godfrey said, "You can't tell which way it is going."We were so excited and proud and loved the attention we got as people turned around and looked at us when we drove by. I remember driving down the hill by the railroad track and on over to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's home; and we saw people turning around and pointing at our car. I felt like we must be celebrities!

We have a new car!
We only rode in other people's cars before this. Here I was a year old and riding in the rumble seat. 1938.

Prince Charles of England was named after him a few weeks later.

Charles was sick with pneumonia 3 times before he was a year old. Mother cared for him at home making a steam tent over his cradle. She sat next to him all the time and painted some figurines in great detail. We kids moved to grandma and grandpa Haags and went to school from there so mom only had to care for "Baby Charles". We all loved him so much!
One night when Charles was sick dad came home from work and had found a darling puppy from one of the farms. It was a part collie and shepherd. He was so cute, and it gave mom something else to do. Just what she needed! 

We all loved Prince and he was part of our family for 20 years. Jon brought home Mickey ,a Siamese cat, after his fiancées father refused to let Sherry keep him. (Mickey was the only cat dad ever tolerated. Mother loved cats) Before she was married she said that she brought home every stray cat she found to her parent's home.

Click this one out for Dogs, However. Will tell you the importance of dogs. 

Trains, Hobos, Gypsies, Free Rides, Caboose

Right across the road from our house was a major train track line. Trains went by many times a day and we knew it. The dishes rattled in the cupboards and the knick knacks rattled on the wall until it was past. It was fun to wave at the engineers in front and the caboose men in the back. I did get my wish and was able to ride the caboose one time and see what they do. It was lots of fun riding in there with just me and those men. Sometimes other men on the freight cars would wave also. They were the bums known to ride the rails in those days. They just rode from town to town often with no destination in sight. Others rode the rails to get from one place to another. A free ride. Gpa Buck talks about hopping a train one time to get to Eau Claire from Cadott.

He Served in the Civil War and ordered a new rifle after arriving home from the war. When his rifle came in, he walked 50 miles both ways from Cadott to Boyd, Wisconsin to get his rifle. 1860-1865. It was the only means of transportation at that time.
Horse and Wagon was the other means of transportation later in his life.

It wasn't lady like to ride a bike when I got into Jr. High and High School in Sioux City. So for many years it was not ridden. When I graduated from High School, I asked permission to sell my bike and buy a clock radio. Permission was granted, sold for $25 & purchased the radio which I still have today. I wish I had that Bike today!

I also received, I was told "my last doll" from my parents. It was a special magic skin doll. I was so excited because it felt like a real baby. One winter when traveling with my Dad making deliveries all over Wisconsin, I took along my doll. It was cold outside and the face cracked badly. I was so sad, and Daddy felt so badly for me that he wanted to buy me a new one. I refused it because this was my baby doll and I couldn't throw her away.
Now in 2003 I have had hundreds of Dolls in my collection. I have sold a couple hundred dolls in the past few years. Do Not have room for them all in our new home here in Leisure World.

When in the 5th grade I decided there wasn't a Santa Claus.
In 4th grade, Santa came around, and I recognized one of our janitors. I asked if Santa had lots of helpers of which Mr. Green was one. They said "yes". That same year at Christmas I recognized my mother's handwriting on Santa's presents. Later the next year, I asked my parents if Santa was like a story like the Easter Bunny which I had just discovered a couple years earlier. Again I was sworn to secrecy so my brothers could continue to have fun.

It was fun having the secret from them. I was in on it, but I still got presents from Santa Claus! With Mother's handwriting of course.

1949...Age 12 My parents left Eau Claire and Moved to Iowa. Lived McCook Lake, S.D. for brief time (School was rural 3 room, 9 grades, 3 teachers.) I hated the way they treated my brother, Jon, and told my parents I wouldn't go back to school. I hated lots of things about that school. We moved to North side Sioux City and I went to North Jr. Hi.
We were all behind the city school because of that country school. I studied very hard and received help when asking from teachers so was able to catch up. My brothers, Jon and Gene Allen both had to go back a year. I felt so badly for them.

Two years later we moved again to Morningside (East) Sioux City where my parents bought their second new home. 1623 So. Paxton Street. It was a new neighborhood and lots of younger couples lived in that area. Chuck was the baby, My baby brother and I was so proud. This picture inserted was taken while on a date with Del. We liked taking "Baby Charles" along. He was "Baby Charles" to me for many years.

Attended East Jr. and graduated from East High in 1955. Attended Morningside College, lived at home and worked in my Dad's office every day after classes. In December, Del gave me an engagement ring. Our plans then began for our life together.

During the years that followed I received credits from many colleges and Universities in Iowa. Through the years, I took correspondence courses from LBI (Lutheran Bible Institute, and several other college and Universities. Many workshops on communication and sociology, etc. In 1993 I received my certification to be an ordained Minister from World Church correspondence courses. I even accomplished the Dr. of Ministry. (Rather funny! What for? at my age.? However, the wedddings have given us the security we needed while we were officiating at weddings.)  I have officiated at a few wedding requesting a woman, but I would rather do the background work for Del. Having a backup minister and coordinator has helped to make our business successful. 

We work together as a team when officiating at ceremonies. Del officiates, and I take care of all the details during the ceremony and rehearsal. Working together is great!

We love working with all the couples and have been blessed in many more ways than the dollars that supplement our retirement income.

See Judy& Del Family for our lives after 1956.

See Memories

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