2-11-2007
SENIOR CITIZEN REPORT BY BARNEY ZIMMERMAN
The story I'm going to tell happened about 1946. Anyway, at that
time baseball was a popular sport and there were good teams in each town
of the area. There was Portsmouth, Panama, Earling, Defiance and
Westphalia and we count Jacksonville also. Harlan had a salaried team
whose manager was Neil Knap and they "were just too good to fool with the
the small towns" of the area.
But Westphalia had the Wageman brothers, Tony, Charley, Johnny and
Frank, all pitchers. I was a catcher and did the job for the elder three
of them. I was also a neighbor of the Wagemans and know that they
practiced throwing every day at home. Frank Caporal had a sporting goods
store in Harlan - he had been in professional baseball and at one time he
was a room mate of Babe Ruth. He also had a weekly column in the Harlan
paper and we ball players from Westphalia used to go to his store and
listen to his yarns.
Johnny was our pitcher for the Westphalia Red Socks
, 1946, and he decided that we were good enough to challenge that touted
Harlan professional team. Neil Knap was humble enough to take this
challenge and that year, our Red Sox and Harlan played five games,
Harlan won three and we won two, but the difference was always by only
one score.
The fifth game was a night game in Harlan. The competition of the
two teams was so well known that the crowd at the game was overflowing.
Bill Ryan, the Earling banker was even there - he hollered instructions
to me as catcher from the grandstand all through the game. This was the
final game with the Harlan team and we won it. What a thrill! We went to
the Westphalia club house to celebrate. When I tell my kids, now at 92,
how many beers I drank that night, they tell me not to mention it - it
might scandalize the young people.
I go to the Haven at Earling everyday to see my dear wife - then I
see Johnny Wageman and Lefty Loehr also. Lefty is now 97 years old, walks
with a walker - he lost his speed of yesteryear when in 1928 the
Defiance high school basketball team won the tournament in the new
Westphalia Hall. He also threw the baseball that Alphonse Stracke hit for
a towering home run against the corncrib in center field in a final
tournament game. Lefty may have lost his speed, but not the gleam in his
eye when we talk of the feats.
Times have surely changed since my youth. We used to plant our corn
with a two row planter, now you see these twenty four row mega planters.
We had large families that milked ten cows by hand, although when the
milking machines came, grade A herds increased to forty or fifty cows.
But that was fine, they were still "family farms." I think it is time to
quit these lamentations - the old days will never return.
Joke time
When a clock goes hungry - it goes back four seconds.
If you don't pay your exorcist - you get repossessed.
The "Peace keeping Meeting" has been canceled, due to a conflict.
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There were
lessons in so much of what my dog did,
but the key one surely was the importance of living in the moment -
of extracting all the joy possible from each experience.
- Mariska van
Aalst |
2-11-07
Subject: Nicole Moved
The new address for Nicole M. Pierce is
5455 Appomattox # 12
Davenport, IA. 52806.
(Peter, Sylvester, Nancy, Nicole Duvall Pierce, for the (Gaul Family Tree).
Submitted by Dennis & Nancy Duvall
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" Every exit is an
entry
somewhere else. "
Tom Stoppard |
2-4-07
Dear Family,
I just wanted to let you know that Steph and Emil had their baby this
morning. Evelina Frances Tchalamov was born at 7:53 am.
She was 7lbs and 20 inches long. Everyone is doing fine. I am heading
down there to stay for a week to help out. I will take lots of
pictures.
Love, Marge
She was born in
Los Gatos, California.
(Peter, Sylvester,
Margaret, Stephanie, Evelina)
This from my
niece, Margaret (Gaul) Remedios, announcing the birth of her grand
daughter.
Pete
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" God will not look
you over for
medals, degrees or diplomas,
but for scars. "
Elbert Hubbard |
2-1-07
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Francis Paul Gaul |
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| 1922
- 2007 |
 Francis
Paul Gaul of Longview died at Hospice on
January 30 at the age of 84. He was born in Earling, Iowa, on
February 20, 1922. He graduated from St. Joseph High School in
Earling in 1941 then enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was
stationed in England during World War II. He married Kathleen
Claire Ahart in 1945 in Charter Oak, Iowa.
After a brief stay in California, the couple moved to Longview
in May 1946. Francis worked for Weyerhaeuser in pulp engineering
and maintenance for 36 years and retired in 1982. He and his
wife enjoyed traveling the US and Mexico with their fifth-wheel
trailer for many years. Francis was a handyman extraordinaire
who left his mark on the homes of his children and grandchildren
and many friends and relatives. He was a member of St. Rose
Church and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He is survived by his wife, Claire; six children and their
spouses, Mark (Mac) and Sally Gaul of Vader, Connie Jones, Donna
Gaul, Kenneth (Butch) and Suzanne Gaul, Dennis and LoRetta Gaul
of Longview, Sharon and Russell Netter of Spanaway; 15
grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; four brothers and one
sister. He is preceded in death by five brothers.
The rosary will be said at St. Rose Church on Friday, February
2, at 10:00 AM and a funeral Mass at 11:00 AM. Viewing will be
at Steele Funeral Home on Thursday, February 1, from 3:00-7:00
PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to
Community Home Health and Hospice or St. Rose School. Steele
Chapel at Longview Memorial Park is in charge of arrangements.
Published in The Daily News on 2/1/2007.
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Guest Book •
Funeral home info •
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" They say that what
you don't know won't hurt you -
and some of you haven't felt a twinge of pain in years. "
Fletcher Knebel |
1-29-07
Grandmother, Adelaide Croghan, reports that
Jason
Richard Croghan, son of Richard and Janie Croghan was born January 2,
2007, at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (Peter, Adelaide,
Richard, Jason)
Richard and Janie Lynn (Ellison)
Croghan have four children:
1) Shelby Lynn (girl) born May 17th, 1993 at Myrtue
Memorial Hospital in Harlan;
2) Kyle Richard, born February 20th, 1996 at Mercy Hospital
in Co. Bluffs, IA.
3) Jacob Richard, born November 2, 1998 at Mercy Hospital in Co.
Bluffs;
4) new baby, Jason Richard born January 2, 2007 at Mercy
Hospital in Co. Bluffs.
Richard and Janie were married February 29th 1992 at St. Mary of the
Assumption church in Panama; Janie's birthday, July 30, 1971--born at
Souix City, IA; Janie, parents Gary and Frankie (Runyon) Ellison live in
Dunlap.
Pete
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" Too much of
anything, however sweet,
will always have the reverse effect. "
Marshall McLuhan |
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1-23-07
Hi Bill & Alex,
Let me start by saying thanks for taking on the task of the family news
and history. I am sure that I can say everyone really appreciates it.
Thanks to Pete - you did a great job
with the newsletter and the family history book. I don't know if many
people knew that Pete not only did the Gaul history and newsletter, he
also did the Grote history and news letter for as many years. His wife
Hilary was the daughter of William and Julia Grote.
You have my permission to put my
information on the Family Commnuicator web site.
I hope that we are able to link up
sometime. Sharon and I plan to be in Iowa late July this year. We will be
there for a family reunion for my mother's family and Sharon's uncle will
be celebrating his 90th birthday. I may even have a class reunion to
attend if the times work out.
William I Gaul
Tucson, Arizona
Editors Note: Thanks for the
e-mail. Alex & I plan to be in Iowa in late May or early June. We would
love to see you. If not, we can always use this fabulous
technology to keep in touch.
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" Much education
today is monumentally ineffective.
All too often we are giving young people cut flowers
when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. "
John W. Gardner |
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Editor's Note: Click
the link below to view a letter recently received from Judy Weis.
 Click
here to view in adobe reader |
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The
greatest obstacle to discovery
is not ignorance -
It is the illusion of knowledge.
(Daniel Boorstin) |
[12-25-06
in response to inquiry regarding authentication problem]
Hello Bunnee,
Very nice to hear from you. Any news/photos that you would wish to share with our family is welcome.
My son, Alex, and I have struggled to get this website up and running. We still have much to do to finish what we have planned and it seems that I must wait for extended holidays (like Christmas, Fall and Spring Break and Summer) to do any real work on this project. Alex is very patient with me and currently works on updating our school website,
www.andersonschool.net,
which he worked on several hours last night. He got to bed about 5 a.m. this morning, so I dare not ask much of him until later this afternoon, at which time I will whisper (you simply must be careful with the younger generation!) the problem you mentioned regarding an authentication request.
We are currently having problems with our webserver and they are closed for the holidays - so we will contact them soon to seek salvation, forgiveness or whatever they require. I have encountered this problem periodically, and Alex has advised me to simply click "CANCEL" several times and all my troubles, including physical ailments, will just go away. It does work, but I seem to acquire new psychological maladies every time I do that.
It's a mystery. Actually, everything technological is a mystery. Sort of makes one long for the good old days of black and white TV with reception on *one* channel. Now those were the good old days. I actually had something to look forward to and really watch (like Superman). Today, I have several hundred channels and must rent a movie, because I can't find anything to watch on the darn tube! I am still trying to find out why. Perhaps I am so old, that I have simply seen everything.
Sort of reminds me of when I was a teenager and knew everything. Now my
son has informed me that I know next to nothing.
Please keep in touch and do share your news, updates and photos with us.
Personal Regards and Best Wishes for a Great Christmas,
William Anderson
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Unroof any
house
and you must find there -
Confusion.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson) |
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" We expect teachers to
handle teenage pregnancy,
substance abuse and the failings of the family.
Then we expect them to educate our children. "
John Sculley |
Our thanks to Pete and Hilliary and Dewie and everyone else involved in compiling and mailing each of us Gauls a news letter all of those years. We truly enjoyed reading about all of our family members.
Now we welcome and thank Bill for taking on the task of keeping track of us Gauls. He has a big job, but we'll do our best to help.
Here are a couple of events from our family:
In October, Julie (Gaul) and Kevin Allemagne and Cecilia and Jonathon surprised her parents, Bob and Joan Gaul, for their 60th birthdays. This took place at Kevin and Julies in Monroe, Wi. What a surprise for their birthdays will be in February 2007!
Their son, Steve, and his wife, Marie, and their daughter, Leyni, had flown in from Florida. All of Bobs brothers and Sisters were there to help! They are:
1) Jerry and Nancy Gaul, Albuquerque, N.M.;
2) Bill Gaul from Tucson, Az.;
3) Ray and Maxine (Gaul) Book from Harlan, Ia:
4) Rick and Mary (Gaul) Huss from Omaha, Ne and
5) Donna (Gaul) Wright from Omaha, Ne.
We (Lawrence and Esther's family) held our annual "Gaul Christmas" get-together here at our home (Ray and Maxine (Gaul) Book) rural Harlan, Ia. on Dec. 10th. Guests were Bob and Joan Gaul from Plattsmouth, Ne.; Rick and Mary (Gaul) Huss and family, Jen and Matt Anderson, Joe Huss; Mike and Donna( Gaul) Wright and sons Matt and Ben all from Omaha, Ne.
Also our daughters and their families: Cathy Robertson from Clear Lake S.D., Rose and Tracy Klein, Michael, Taylor and Marcus, Harlan, Ia.; Deb and Paul Campbell and Emily and Anna from Audubon, Ia. and Patty and Bob Brue and Bradley from Harlan, Ia.
As with all Gaul get-together we had a great time visiting lots of good food and the gifts were "wonderful"!
Again Bill and Alex, A BIG THANKS, and good luck in this new endeavor.
Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to All !!!!!
Ray and Maxine (William, Lawrence Gaul) Book
Editor's Note:
Thanks for the news and the warm welcome to the task at hand in keeping up with us. Your contributions are appreciated. I have many fond memories of being with Lawrence and Esther and their family over the years as my mother, Marie, and I made our annual Christmas sojourns to visit. I was always made to feel like a member of each family we visited. Thank you! You will all forever be in my heart. - Bill (Skip) Anderson |
When we give of
what we have
we are ready to receive
what we really need.
(Douglas M. Lawson) |
CONGRATULATIONS
On December 16, 2006 Stephanie Gaul
graduated from the University of Iowa
with a degree in theater arts.
From: Gene Gaul (John, Verner, Gene, Stephanie)
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Often the best way
to win -
is to forget to keep the score.
(M. E. Murphy) |
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There is
more hunger
for love and appreciation
in this world
than for bread.
(Mother Teresa) |
12-22-06
Hello William,
My sister forwarded the new "Gaul News Letter" thanks so much for doing it.
It downloaded perfectly. I can only imagine how much work it was to restart
the news letter. Thanks also to Peter for doing it for all those years and
helping restart it. We saved every issue, what a wonderful resource to have.
Could you add our name to your list of people receiving it.
Thanks again for all your efforts,
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year
Larry Gaul |
Hi and Merry Christmas
My name is Joseph Gaul. I am retired and live in Benson Arizona. I will be 79 years old Christmas day. I am the son of Paul & Lena Gaul of Earling ,Iowa. Lillie is my wife.
We received this e-mail from cousin Pete and Hilary Mae today telling about you working on the Gaul clan history. Glad to see some one is going to be working on it. Good luck and keep in touch. I will pass the word on to the family.
Love to all Joe & Lillie Gaul
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