Shoeboxes and oven doors.

This week’s question was” Tell me about when, where and special details about when you were born”. As usual, I got carried away and I see I answered some of the questions for following weeks. And since I can’t remember much about my birth, I am going to go with what I have written.

Rose

I was born on Jan 24 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Omaha Nebraska. I forget the year. My mother’s name was Mary Wisnieski Mona and my father’s name was Kashmir Michael Mona. Born my parents were born in Poland, my mother in July 7, 1908 and my father in June 14, 1905. My dad’s family migrated to Canada. My dad found his way to Omaha to work in the packing plants in South Omaha. He worked at the Armour plant. My mother at age 15 and her Dad came to America and stopped in Pennsylvania.  My grandfather, Frank Wisnieski, heard of the building boon in South Omaha and moved there. He was a house builder by trade. The rest of my Mother’s family, her mother Fexila Trojanoski Wisnieski and her five siblings, followed a year later. My parents lived in South Omaha all their adult life and belonged to St. Stanislaus parish in South Omaha.  I grew up in South Omaha and lived there till hubby and I were married. I graduated from St. Stanislaus Elementary school and from St. Joseph High school. Oh, I didn’t really forget the year. It was 1943. Just wasn’t sure I wanted to reveal that fact. There were five of us; I had two older brothers, Cash, Frank and two younger brothers, John and Ron.

Jerry

I was born in Hepburn Iowa on Sept 13, 1939. It was a home birth with a doctor present. Home births were very common at that time in rural Iowa and probably rural America. According to 2010 census, there were 23 people, 8 households and 7 families and in 1939 81 people..Very small town Iowa..  My parents were John Harvey and Lucile Collins Hascall. I was born early and very small. Just over 3 lbs. In order to keep me warm, the oven was lit and I was put in a box, shoebox I was told, and placed on the open oven door. Don’t remember much about my early years as we moved to Shelby when I was around 6. Dad was working for a farmer in the area when he joined the Army during World War 2. When he returned home from war, he became a butcher at the Emerson Iowa Locker plant and we moved to Emerson. The Shelby Locker came up sale and Dad bought it and we moved to Shelby. He not only butchered for local farmers, he opened a meat counter for the public to be able to purchase fresh meat. He ran the Locker in Shelby till he retired. Mom worked with him all those years. My dad could butcher a cow and the blood didn’t bother him but human blood was another story. Mom lost a finger on her hand while tenderizing minute steaks. He almost passed out and the lady that worked for him had to pretty much handle the situation. Mom came through it all with flying colors. The missing finger never bothered her except in the winter. Gloves never did fit right again. She loved to knit and the missing finger didn’t stop her.

There were four of us boys, Darwin Wayne, Dave, myself and 1 girl, Donna Sue. We all graduated from Shelby Tennant Elementary and High School. The school is now closed and being made into 32 apartments. And life goes on.

Look for another question next Sunday.

Take care and have a relaxing Sunday.

Rose