Katherine Rockenmeyer was orphaned at age 18 when my grandfather Nicholas Rockenmeyer died.  Her mother had died when she was six. Nicholas reared their seven children including baby Josephine.  Mother said her daddy had explained that he did not think it fair for him to marry again with that many children. I suspect he did not want to subject the children to the possible mistreatment of a stepmother. Aunt Mary had barely turned 14 when her mother died, and I know she worked long and hard to see that her younger siblings survived. I will always be grateful to her for that.  

Mother (Katherine) had not been able to go to high school because of finances.  One of her stories that always put a lump in my throat was her telling of her last day of elementary school.  She loved school and was an excellent student.  I am sure that when her mother died, Mother's first grade teacher comforted her and probably fell in love with this pretty little bright brown-eyed girl.  Early on Mother knew she wanted to be a teacher. The family was living in Mt. Vernon rather than at the farm when she finished 8th grade.  So since she could not afford any of the extra expenses thought to go with high school, she had continued attending the 8th grade a second time.  Then the family had to leave town and move back to the farm in the middle of that school year.  As she walked to the farm that day, she grieved that it was the last day of her school life. 

Going to Work as a Mother's Helper

She went to work at an early age helping in the homes of Mt. Vernon residents.  She was a mother's helper with one family who summered in Minnesota, and she had a great collection of photographs of the youth gatherings they enjoyed at the lake that summer.  It sounded delightful.

Later she went to work for William and Myrtle (Martin) Ball and their little boys while Uncle William taught at Mt. Vernon High School.  I'm not sure if Aunt Myrtle was teaching there or not.  It was Aunt Myrtle who introduced her brother to my mother. 

When Aunt Myrtle and Uncle William went back to Southern Illinois Teachers College at Carbondale for more education, Aunt Myrtle persuaded my mother to go with them.  Aunt Myrtle was always a great encourager of people pursuing education, and I have tried to follow that example. 

Since Mother did not have high school, she took classes at the teacher training  school on campus. She also took college classes, so her early transcript was a hodge-podge of secondary and college credits. 

To earn her keep, Mother was taking care of baby Joe while Aunt Myrtle went to class.  When it was time for Mother's class, she would carry Joe half way to meet Aunt Myrtle, who was coming home from class. and he was handed from one caretaker to the other. Mother and Myrtle joined the Socratic Society and had some great times with those activities, as Aunt Myrtle was always an actress.

Daddy Wins Mother's Hand

Eventually Daddy won out over Mother's other suitors, and they were married.  Mother was teaching that first year of their marriage at Dietz School north of Carbondale and boarding with a family there.  She remembered potatoes on the menu at breakfast and supper and in different forms at the same meal.   Daddy was teaching in Carterville, and on weekends they were together.

The next year Mother stayed with Daddy in Carterville and they rented one side of a house from the Scobeys. My sister and brother were born during the Carterville years, where Daddy was superintendent of schools.