Mary Groth Rochat—Sketchy Memoirs Written in 1990 retyped 9 Oct 2000 dw

[11 23 2020 copy of handwritten MER pages in DEW’s file. First 3 pages are the same format.]

Page 1

1.Introduction to ADR, Jul 4, 1936, Sierra Madre Women’s Club House.

2.Summer work at Mammoth-Benioff. Al with Clarence Lundeen; baptized; stopped at Mammoth on return to Montana to teach.

3. School for Mary with frequent letters-Al came to graduation Pasadena Jr. Coll 1500 grads—visit to Benioff-character check!

4.Summer work at Sherwood Camp (Elliots). Long Beach WA. Al was Robin Hood. Mary cook’s helper & dishwasher for 80. Day off at Island.

5.August 1937 stopped at Uncle Charles Delepine, Hood River, OR, on way to WW.

Marriage in WW, Mojonniers. Aunt Mathilde & Anna Jean Mojonnier put on wedding. Mother came. Ice cream like calla lilies. Harp. Pastor spoke, lawn wedding. 4 Berney boys lined up for 2^nd kiss! Beautiful dress and a wool going away suit. [go to p. 2 LIFE TOGETHER]

Next 2 pages may not follow.

(1) “Not to ourselves we owe; That we O God are Thine. Jesus the Lord our night broke through And gave us light divine” #117

[ Augustus Montague Toplady, 1740-1778]

Al’s birth on the St. Joe River

His father hand built a 2-story home. His father prayed more for “Albert” than any other, he said. His father’s undaunted love for his mother has been handed by example to his son over the years. Faithfulness to his God and his wife were riches far exceeding dollars of the day. His mother taught him to read & to think. She encouraged higher education. She enjoyed singing and playing hymns.

PS. ADR: I was 12 when I knit socks with an automatic knitter. Mother sewed up the toe. A pair of socks in a day. Second year of WWI, my bride-to-be was born in Sierra Madre. (This on the top of p. 3 of “Mamma’s Version”. Perhaps it goes here dw)

Mary’s birth in Sierra Madre

In a 2-story hospital her father built. He was a righteous man, felt he must be responsible for the poor as well as his family. He especially enjoyed Dr. Luke as well as the father and son in

(2) the story of Abraham. The harmony of the Godhead, the beauty of the Word and the unworthiness of man were overwhelming to Him. Mother was a happy singer and worker in my day. She gave freely of home-made bread and garden produce in spite of eight children at home. She kept the Little Flock Hymnbook above the sink open.

6 years in Wallace

15 yrs in Kennewick

20 yr in Walla Walla

Fringe benefits Desert Hot Springs Amen.

top of p. 6 Mom's Ancient History 1928: We took nine in an old Hudson car to Vancouver, Canada to visit Uncle Gottie and family. He rewarded us with a bottle of pop each! First time treat. He held a group of deaf mutes in a gospel effort in Vancouver. It was a thrill to see their interest.

At Portland we had breakfast at the Frank Gill’s home. She (Mrs. Gill) served a huge roast salmon most delicious. This was the 1928 conference time.

p. 2 Life together

Life in Four Lakes WA, 2 yr. Cottage: wallpaper, 1 bed, 1 daveno, radio, Monarch wood stove. Made wood & garden. Had kind neighbors, school programs. Summer school I Cheney Normal.

8 Aug 1938 Don & Kathryn passed through and were married at our house. Gladiolas, 50 cent wedding cake. Local pastor. Such excitement. Then honeymoon in St. Joe valley in barn full of hay.

Winter 1938 full of school programs, decorating, box socials, and achievement tests.

Four wheel trailer-answer to wandering couple—Adventure.

Off to Brooklyn, WA for a year. Here we drove to Hoquiam mtg and met the Kilcups. What a fun bunch. Sunday picnics, etc.

p. 3 Brooklyn is perhaps the rainiest place in the nation--__inches per year. I wasn’t well. Al put me on the train for my father & Sierra Madre. He forgot to give me the ticket and chased the train with ’35 Chev. The wireless message had the train wait until he caught up. He probably did 30 mph!

We worked with Dad that summer. Howard and Al painted the Monrovia house while I was pregnant (frown face) (or later?)

Somehow a red Irish setter dog became our friend. Returning to WA I Aug 1939- dog on running board, packed car. Lots of love packed into parcels. School in Burbank. Marilyn born. Live in water district office. Converted cardboard walls. Piped in water. Killed porcupine for Thanksgiving roast.

p. 4 Made mattresses in school basement for WPA poor. Local SS led by woman. Mrs. Dahl-egg lady—wonderful, young, abt 30yo, died of heart problem.

Took trip through Glacier with trailer to visit Rochats in Hamilton (summer 1940). I was pregnant again. Al’s mother raised strawberries and small 8 mo. Marilyn always in the way. Elsie & Don working at Chamber of Commerce. Very successful, well-liked. His father, a reader, kept old magazines and newspapers in piles as well as Bible books all over his room. He came to see “Mama” for meals. He enjoyed singing in parts with her—old Swiss hymns.

Back to Burbank school. Roger born in Nov 1940. Difficult baby—cry, cry-allergic, uncomfortable. Ernie Storrer gave us a double

p. 5 oil barrel stove. It heated the huge office building quite well. Two babies, high ceilings, no furniture. My father came in summer 1941 and built a rocking love seat out of an old car seat and back! Company furniture!

Elsie and Stewart bought a saw mill. We were off again to Lime Lake to help them make lumber! We purchased corner lot, house, and well: $300—lasted 3 mo. Again pregnant with two babies with whooping cough. Lumber business went broke.

Elsie & Steward moved to shipyards to repay debts. We took off for Trent St., Spokane. Al knocked on doors for employment. Finally packed meat for Carstens (Oct-Nov 1941) until a job opened at Medical Lake Correction School. Worked as shop instructor. 7am to 9pm. Drove a bike. [moved to Castle]

p. 6

3 dozen diapers-2 babies, no refrigerator. Treadle sewing machine, gasoline washer. Oh, Marilyn at 2 yr always into mud puddles, pies, and trouble. Roger clean and sick.

Marilee born in January, healthy and happy. Coldest January known so enjoyed the barrel heater. Diapers drying all around living quarters.

Home was the “castle” built by a political outcast of England in 1880-3 stories, full basement, ballroom on top floor with grand piano. Full city block surrounded with brick wall. Place for a garden. All the pillars were hand chipped brick to make round pillars. Wall to wall carpet. Large room sized plate glass mirrors. Brass lion heads to hold light bulbs at entry way. Rent $15/mo.

p. 7

It took many trailer loads of wood and many Dutch oven picnics to prepare us for winter. It wasn’t bad-outdoor picnics are still fun. Two years in the “castle” and we found a smaller house we called “Josephine’s” $25/mo.

Here at Josephine’s we had rabbits. Grandfather William Rochat came to live with us. The two men worked at Geiger Air Force base and again I was pregnant. Grandpa R helped with rabbits and babies—quiet, kindly 75 hear old.

Dorothy Esther was born on Marilyn’s fifth birthday. She was most contented. She didn’t know of the II World War. She was loved by 2 sisters and a brother!

The Ed Moss family took interest in us there and surely provided loving care often. Al & Ed worked

p. 8 at the air base until the end of the war. Myrtle and I would chat, sew, and “baby” together. She had four, also. She taught me many things and often proved that “tender love” was the answer to many problems.

Then we bought the farm at Four Lakes. [Hayford-went to Fours Lakes to doctor]. A rock house built by prisoners of Spokane City. Dorothy was nine months old. Marilyn 6; Roger not quite 5 in 1^st grade. School began. Marilyn & Roger packed lunches and carried them 1 mile to red school house. Next year Marilee joined them. Often Roger came home beaten by big boys. We taught the children not to fight and now came the test. Two sisters to defend with his lunch pail.

There were 20 acres to the rocky land. We planted alfalfa for the cows.

[end of MER numbered 2-8 pages]

Mamma’s Version, 1990:

p.1

Four Lakes, WA proved a challenge to a S. Calif gal. No neighbors, wood stove, no sisters and brothers and a brand new husband! Oh yes, I had a pump organ with 2 ½ octave notes to help pass the time of day and a garden out back where I buried the unusable culinary efforts.

There was a time I purchased 25 cents worth of leather bits and pieces. With this I pieced a jacket for my tall dark and handsome man!! A major achievement on a treadle sewing machine. The jacket had a zipper!

p. 2

Uncle Don and Aunt Kathryn were married in our tiny living room a year and month later. The only time someone had the knot tied in our home. Fifty two years have passed since this momentous event.

During our first year together I remember an elderly neighbor that brought a fresh bag of string beans to our door. Such an act of friendship was unknown to me Such a delightful example for me. Next, there was a house fire during the night. Two eighty year olds were without a home and belongings in a couple hours. They were so adaptable they calcimined their chicken coop for a home, neighbors donated a little furniture and they were ready for winter. They were given a piglet

p. 3

to raise behind the kitchen stove! It was a happy time to visit the Morrows and see hope in their eyes. The place was spotless, embroidered pillow cases on the bed, rag rugs, a bucket of water and a tiny friend behind the airtight stove. There were “friends” in those days, too. Toward spring we raked the weeds and burned them in piles. Just a busy, fun work day. At eleven that night a bang on the door. A granger going home found our garage roof on fire. People swarmed through

p. 4 our place. (We did have running water.) Soon the fire was out. The house was saved but the garage was gone. A spark from the bonfire caught the shingles ablaze.

The Lord was telling us we weren’t as smart as we thought we were. We still have lessons to learn.

The summer of 1938 Al and I attended summer school at “Cheney Normal.” He completed his BA degree and I found his diet was 50% fat. (It’s not much less now.) Just a nice course in home economics equipped me for my homemaking career.

For adventure in the fall we moved in our 4-wheel trailer to Brooklyn, WA. Ouch! I was placed in a teacher’s cottage overgrown with blackberries, fungus, and spiders.

p. 5 Al rode the bus 10 miles to school. Our near neighbor was a poaching black family. I didn’t adapt too well.

Al was happy. There was work to do. He cleared the land of blackberries before planting a garden. He made a wooden bath tub. He built a hot water heater of a 50 gal oil drum behind the wood stove. All this fun stopped when I became sick. Al sent me home to my father. He gave us the good news that we would have a baby in five months.

In these times teachers changed jobs often so that rural schools would have fresh ideas each year. WE signed up for Burbank, WA. Oct 25, 1939 our little kewpie arrived. Dr. Spock was the authority on child care at the time and I’m afraid I was a religious fanatic on child care.

p. 6 Surely the native didn’t follow that book. Why was I? The children would have been more content if I had been, I am sure.

In the summer of 1941 Elsie’s husband started making lumber. WE were invited to come work. Off we went with the four-wheel trailer, our new little son and daughter to Lime Lake, WA For $300 we purchased a corner lot with “well” and small house.

[top of p. 6 has Mom’s paragraph of 1928 Ancient History-trip to Vanc.BC]

p. 7 The lumber industry went bankrupt. It was October, too late to look for school jobs. The two little ones had whooping cough and a third child on the way. Our 1935 Chev was stolen. We cried to the Lord in a small way for He knew just what we needed.

After living two months in a one room apartment on Trent St., Spokane, a job opened in Medical Lake correctional school. (Police had located our stolen car.) Again we moved. Three times during this pregnancy.

This time we had a three story brick house. Very spooky! Huge lion heads for light fixtures, 20 ft rooms, wall to wall carpets, no refrigerator, no furniture, full basement, a ball room to lose a two and a one year old child.

p. 8

It was the largest snowfall in the northwest. More than five feet when we left for Opportunity, WA to have our third baby, little Marilee. She was a happy baby. There was coughing at the castle, no medicine. When I remembered Mary Stovel who had 3 births in one year and 2 deaths, I thought God can handle whooping cough.

The manual training work that Al was teaching proved a wonderful experience. He learned as much as the pupils. He made beds for the children, hobby horses, and toys. He was gifted in this work.

Sometimes he would bring a student or two home to give them a taste of life off “campus”. They were lacking in some areas but gifted in others. One could play the piano from

p. 9 hearing a piece once. A fantastic memory!

Two years in the castle and again uprooted. (Heaven must be our home.) A small cottage closer to the school. All this time WW II was rumbling. Three children made us exempt. Then it was necessary for all to help in war work. Al transferred to Geiger Air Force base and worked on airplane motors. A routine job, not mechanical. The wages were phenomenal $1.50/hr!

During this time we had a series of children’s diseases: measles, mumps and chicken pox. I felt like we had plagues as they came and went with diapers hanging over our heads.

I had conquered the wood

p. 10

by now. It was a little pitch, dry wood and a stick or two to hold the fire while making cornbread or cookies. It was always special to have homemade bread.

There were rabbits to tend. There was wood to make. There was snow to shovel. On the porch a sturdy porch swing made in the shape of a horse. The “horse” held two children.

Uncle Art called one day to tell us God loves us. Also, he gave us a lesson on the tabernacle. The Moss family joined us for this. They were dear friends of ours.

When we had unexpected visits from our brethren we were cheered from our mundane life. One summer Grandpa Wm Rochat

p. 11

came to live with us. He had a little job as janitor at the air base. One time when we were unthoughtful we left the radio on while thanking the Lord for food. Grandpa lost his meal!

Grandpa was very kind to the little ones and animals. A very willing quiet helper.

The war is over. Dorothy Esther was born in Spokane, WA on Marilyns’ fifth birthday. Such a happy baby. We moved again and with Grandpa Groth’s help began to buy 20 acres of land at Hayford, WA. There was a rock house, a barn, four cows, a barn for rabbits and a chicken coop. $3500.

We had a couple cows to milk, alfalfa to plant, water to carry, chicks to feed. Projects galore and Daddy without work periodically. We weren’t farmers. Marilee caught pyelitis—an infection that gave her a very high fever, 106. We took her to the hospital in Spokane.

p. 12

We weren’t business people. We were going in debt. Al tried carpentry, janitorial work, etc, to no avail. Through sister Elsie, he was urged to apply for teaching again in Wallace, Idaho.

Picnic lunches have always been the center of the family interest. Six of us in our 1939 Plymouth started for Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and finally, Wallace, ID for lunch. [Driving from Spokane to Wallace we went over Mullan Pass to Wallace. We ate our lunch in the car ADR talked to the superintendent. Jewish , Miss Kolocotrones] We sat on the school house lawn for our rest stop while Al applied for work with Supt. Jones. He was hired on the spot to teach sixth grade as well as principalship of twelve teachers. This began a six year adventure with a mining community.

One of the students told Al of a house with 5 lots for sale on the last switchback up the mountain side. 305 Pearl St. $1500.

p. 13

Marilyn was now a 5^th grader, Roger 4^th, Marilee 2nd and Dorothy with no kindergarten. In October Roger and I moved most of our belongings, including a piano from Hayford, WA. (Not too much sanity but determination.) School had begun. Al taught six weeks before the family joined him.

It wasn’t long until Marilyn and Roger had paper routes up and down the mountain. They enjoyed sharing the time from 5-7 AM throwing newspapers. There wasn’t space available for athletics at school. The paper routs provided exercise. I had my hands full baking bread for hungry, busy children.

Also the house was a very small two bedroom log cabin. In our spare hours we tore down an old building and added two room spaces, and a root

p. 14 cellar. Somehow we dug in the mountain a 4x6 ft space where Al made shelves for canned fruit. Then a bedroom and a dining room.

Sketch: see below

We were more comfortable with two instead of four in a room.

Monthly we drove to Spokane for meetings. We were able to get printed messages from conferences that we used for study helps at other times. How well the Lord cared for us to provide food and shelter on $3000/year.

Our outings were wood gathering, ice skating on the river, visits to st. Joe and Aunt Elsie and picnics. We had a piano for singing as well as learning music.

p. 15 It was possible in winter for the children to slide from our roof down the hill on snow. Often we had to dig out the window areas. The six hens out the rear bedroom window had a pen on stilts. A light bulb kept them warm. We enjoyed fresh eggs. There was an excellent city snow removal so that our streets were cleaned rapidly. The snow was dumped in the river.

Often I prayed that we could find work closer to our brethren. The children needed fellowship, too. Instead of a move we had a little boy, John. He was pushed around in a doll buggy by his loving family. More diapers (and bottles) with wool soakers. Plastic wasn’t used or invented. Rubber sheets protected mattresses which were made of cotton. (They were made of straw when I was young.)

p. 16

Every summer we did some school work and carpentry. Our wages were paid in nine months. No wages in summer. After six years Al completed his Masters degree. This was a special time. We took a family holiday. Al and Roger built a “top carrier” of plywood to have sleeping bags and tent for six. John was three and Roger 14. We took plenty of time driving from Wallace, ID to Utah. The copper-mines, the caves, the marvelous parks were on our route south. Ten days to S. California in our 1948 Olds. Mother died before we arrived. (Did Al work with Howard Groth this trip?? [Howard: I worked with your father doing construction work, on the LaVina Sanitarium in Altadena. Clarence Lunden was the foreman.

Dave Lunden: 1936

I first saw him 30 feet above me, a dark spider of a man, silhouetted on a web of steel. La Vina sanitarium was taking shape at the head of Fair Oaks Ave in Pasadena. I was only 10, but was allowed to “go to work” with Dad, sup’t of the job for Lattisteel Corp. A face-to face handshake confirmed what I had heard: Al Rochat, brother to Gladys Smith, was down from Idaho, to help build the TB sanitarium.]

I don’t know why my father was so kind to give us work for the summer. He was in his eighties and we were six hungry people.

In the Fall of 1960 [1955 rwr] we moved to Kennewick , WA only 50 miles from Walla Walla. The children had work picking fruit, carrying papers, library, and

p. 17

hospital. Since we were on First St we were walking distance to all of these areas. School for Al was two miles away. This was the first time we had space in our home for the family. Life was so much simpler for all of us. Space to study, work and play. What do the folk do that have 3-4 families to a house?