RIP Verla Ardis (BLAKEY) Williams (4 May 2026): Memories

Verla A. Williams passed away on the evening of 4 May 2026 surrounded by her family. She and I had earlier completed a Memories document similar to the one she had done with my Grandma Blakey.

MEMORIES

These memories are being shared by Verla A. Williams on 7/22/2021.

Growing Up

I was born in Middletown Township, Jackson County, Minnesota.

My birthdate is 28 Apr 1932.

My parent’s full names and birthdates are: 

• Father: Verland Edward Blakey (10 Sep 1902).
• Mother: Agnes Marie Roe (22 Aug 1909).

 They had the following occupations: 

• Father: Farmer.
• Mother: Housekeeper for Pastor Eastvold.

 The most memorable times we had as a family were:

The people from Middletown Township had picnics where we played with the other cousins and kids. I remember going to Grandma Blakey’s (Lottie Kephart) for Thanksgiving dinner. (“I remember she made the best duck.” – Vince Williams)

 I remember this amusing incident involving my father/mother:

Dad was very quiet usually, but when he said something it could be very funny.

The names and birthdates of my brothers and sisters are:

• Gordon Robert Blakey (16 Dec 1929).
• Averland Virgil Blakey (9 Apr 1934).
• Sharon Joy (Blakey) Asche (20 Feb 1946).
• Pamella Sue (Blakey) Bergan Wilmes (9 Nov 1949).

An interesting story about my brothers, sisters and me is:

When we were going to the country school, Mom had us walk home (just short of two miles). There were a group of six of us, I remember during the winter when there was snow on the ground, but the weather. Three of them parted at the corner of Highway 71 where we had had a snowball fight and gotten our clothes all snowy.

As we were walking home, we would walk single file on the highway by age. Gordon first, then me, then Averland. Our teacher happened to come along and offer us a ride. We didn’t refuse because she was our teacher. She dropped us off at the end of our driveway.

The next day we got called in because the teacher (Mrs. Schluter) was upset that we had gotten snow in her car and as punishment had to stay in for two recesses and the noon hour for several days. The younger kids had to do arithmetic problems. Gordon and I had to memorize some poems. Mom got mad enough that she talked to the teacher. She told her we were walking because of my health and that I needed fresh air and exercise. I was puny, and she figured it would be good for me.

The teacher was finally persuaded that that had been enough and since she couldn’t let just me go, she let us all go.

My grandparent’s names and birthplaces are:

On my mother’s side:

• Albert Roe (8 Nov 1876, Enterprise, Jackson, MN) 
• Mina (Hoganson) Roe (29 Jul 1880, Des Moines, Jackson, MN)

 On my father’s side:

• George Edward Blakey (17 Feb 1863, Portage County, WI)
• Lottie (Kephart) Blakey (9 Mar 1871, Dubuque, Dubuque, IA)

This is where they lived:

The Albert Roe farm was next to the Des Moines River in Section 10 of Des Moines Township, Jackson County.

The George Blakey farm was in the southeast corner of Section 28 of Des Moines Township, Jackson County.

Some things I remember doing with my grandparents are:

I remember several times when we would visit my Grandma Blakey we would look at pictures through a stereoscope. Grandma Blakey also used to have a drawer of buttons that I used to take and string onto a string and play with them.

At the Roe farm when there were family gatherings with the cousins we would play Ante Over.

Other members of my extended family who were important to me include:

I remember visiting my grand aunt and uncle Ella and Ern Pearson.

These were some memories I have of myself as a child:

When we lived north of Jackson we went to a country school. We were almost the same distance to the school in town as to the country school. When the weather was nice we would walk home after school. Once at recess when I was in about first grade, two of the eighth-grade girls would take hold of my hands and run across the school yard with me and my feet would barely touch the ground.

Some humorous or memorable incidents that I remember from my childhood are:

I remember getting a box of candy that I wanted to make last. So the first day I ate one piece. Then the second day I ate another piece. Then the third day I ended up eating all of the rest of the candy.

One day at country school I remember I was with some eighth graders, and we were looking in the hole of a latrine and my tam fell in. They fished it out for me and I can’t imagine what my mom must have said when I brought it home.

I remember once at the farm picking up a tin can, and there was a snake coiled up inside of it. I dropped that can so fast.

When I was a child, this is how my family celebrated Christmas:

I remember we had a Christmas tree with decorations, icicles, and lights. Ella and Bruce, Roland and Elaine Graves, and Grandma and Grandpa Blakey would come to our house. Elaine was in charge of coming up with a Christmas “program” before we could open our presents. The stairway upstairs was partially hidden. We would sit on the steps behind this partial wall and took turns singing Christmas carols and reading the Christmas story.

When I was a child, some of the gifts I received and gave on holidays were:

I remember getting a doll either for Christmas or my birthday. A lot of times in school we would make gifts that we could give to our relatives.

The pets I had as a child, and their names, were:

We had dogs and cats but they weren’t really pets, the dogs helped herd the cows and were guard dogs, and the cats were outside cats that caught mice.

I remember the first movie I was allowed to go to was Lassie Come Home.

When I was a child, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the U.S.

My favorite meal my mother made, and what made it so special, was:

I am not sure I had a favorite meal because we were taught to eat what was placed in front of us, so we might as well like it. We had chicken a lot because we raised them on our farm.

These are some of the things I remember about trips my family took as I was growing up:

Our family didn’t take many trips when I was young during the Depression as it was expensive, and because it was hard to find someone that would be able to do the chores on the farm.

This is how I would describe the house and neighborhood I lived in as I was growing up:

The farm north of Jackson is the first one I remember. It had a very long lane, maybe a half of a mile. The house had two stories and was square. It had a stairway to the second floor that was partly closed off. 

Once we were going to give May baskets to the neighbors that lived across the highway from us. To try to surprise them we hid the May baskets in the ditch. I don’t recall if we ever actually delivered them.

At Christmas Mom would organize a program and we kids would read the Christmas story from the Bible. She would have us do recitations of poems and sing Christmas carols. Usually we celebrate with the Graves family, Grandma and Grandpa Blakey, and Orville. Sometimes Grandpa and Grandma Roe would also join us. We would sit on the stairway behind the wall waiting for our turn to perform.

These are ways that neighborhood has changed over time:

Vince and I drove by the farm sometime within the last 20 years and the house was still standing. It had a lot of trees around it.

When I started school I was five years old. My favorite and least favorite subjects were: 

We didn’t have kindergarten then. I started in the first grade. I remember even going to school with Gordon before I started and remember sitting in the back of the room listening while the other students were reading. I liked school and don’t remember really having a favorite subject.

One of my favorite teachers in elementary school—and why—was:

The first teacher I remember was Leona Tobiason who taught all the grades in our country school. She was nice and not very strict or bossy. I think I had her for first and second grade. The teacher after her was a Mrs. Schluter. Country schools then went through the eighth grade if there were students. I went to that school until we moved to the Windom farm about when I was in sixth grade. Then I went to the school in Bingham Lake.

This is how I got to school each day: 

The country school was about two miles from the farm (a mile and a half north and a half mile west). Mom would give us a ride to that school because she didn’t think we would get there on time. Usually we would walk home.

Things I enjoyed doing most as a child were:

I remember enjoying going to town with Mom and Dad on Saturday night to get groceries and I always got a sack of popcorn­­—my weekly treat.

These are the things I remember most about my teen-age years (friends, activities, school, special events, favorite foods and songs, jobs, heroes, etc.):

Living on the farm during the Depression, I didn’t have a lot of time or money for social activities. I remember mostly family get togethers at the Roe farm. Lucille Pierson and Mavis Garoutte were good friends of mine then, though I would spend time with them separately. I was part of Luther League at Windom Evangelical Church. I sang in the high school choir when I was a freshman and a senior. My high school yearbook for 1949 reminded me that I was in a play called The Gift Perfect. 

This is how I would describe myself when I was a teenager:

My nickname in high school was “Tiny.” Here is my senior picture.

Things that are different now than they were when I was growing up are:

Back then I wouldn’t have been able to talk with my family online and see them. We had a telephone with a party line. If someone else’s phone rang we could listen in. They all had different rings. Our number was 39F21 with the 21 meaning two long rings and a short ring. Sometimes we would “rubberneck” and listen to other phone calls and find out what the neighbors were doing.

Employment

My first job was:

The first job I remember was working at a grocery store. The owner was a Joe Moede. I think that was in Windom. I was about 14 and worked Saturdays. I would get a ride there either from Gordon or my folks.

The work that I did in that job involved: 

People would call in an order. I would go around and pick up the stuff and assemble it. They would come in and pick it up and pay for it.

Other employment I have had over the years included: 

I helped Mom and Dad on the farm with chores like gathering eggs. After high school I went to Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis and finished in 1951. I wasn’t finding a job, but knew a lady from Windom who was working for Lutheran Brotherhood Insurance. She told me they had a job available as a typist.

I had my name in as a parish worker, and soon after I was offered a job in East Grand Forks, MN. I worked there for a few years. I think they had a change of pastors and I thought I needed a change too. I went back home for a while.

In the fall of 1954 I started work at First Lutheran Church in Decorah, Iowa, as a parish secretary working for both the pastor and congregation.

The jobs I liked the best, and why I liked them, were: 

Being a parish worker was rewarding in that you could visit with people and answer questions. It’s more than just sitting behind a desk.

I also found my role as a wife and mother very rewarding too.

The jobs I disliked the most were: 

Sometimes it was hard visiting people that I didn’t know. You wouldn’t know what to expect when you knocked on their door. That’s why I eventually asked to be a parish secretary rather than a parish worker.

 

Marriage and Children

This is how I met my spouse:

I was renting a sleeping room on W Main St about a block from First Lutheran. Around 9 or 10 one Saturday night I heard someone calling my name and throwing some pebbles at my bedroom window. I went to the window and there were a couple of girls (Charlotte and Charlene Wilkins who were twins) who wanted to know if I wanted to go with them. They knew some young men (the Dresselhaus brothers) who had a friend with them and wanted to see if I would join them. The friend was Vince. We went up to Palisades for a watermelon bust.

Before we were married, we dated each other for about 2 years. 

We were married on 1 Sep 1956. This is our formal wedding picture.

When were first married, we lived in an apartment that was in the back of a house in Iowa City.

We bought our first house in Decorah at 606 W Water St for about $17,500. 

Vince says jokingly that he married me for my car. He didn’t have one. Our first car was a 1957 Chevy 210 Sedan and cost about $2,200.

This was the rage in music, dance and clothes when we were first married:

Vince and I were not really interested in rock and roll that was starting to get popular. We usually listened to big band and swing music that he played and liked.

My mom disapproved of dancing, so I never really learned how.

We didn’t really have a lot of money then, so our clothes were plain and simple. I had dress clothes to wear to church, work, and special occasions.

These are the homes and communities I have lived in since I was married, and here is how they’ve changed over the years: 

When we first moved to Decorah we rented an apartment in the back of the Haugen house on 503 Fifth Avenue. Then we bought the house on 606 W Water St and lived there until we moved to Iowa City in 1977 and lived in a house on 4333 Pine Ridge Trl NE. We lived there until 2019 when we moved into our current apartment at 1095 Silvercrest Cir #313.

Some important things I have learned about marriage are: 

Don’t be as concerned as much about what you’re getting as opposed to what you’re giving.

These are the names and birthdays of my children:

• Dawn Marie (Williams) Boyd (26 Aug 1957).
• Mark Didrik Williams (31 Mar 1959).
• Arik Michael Williams (19 Mar 1964).
• Jené Rachele (Williams) Daub (2 Jun 1966).

My spouse and I and our children celebrated Christmas, birthdays and other holidays by:

We opened presents on Christmas Eve and then went to church services on Christmas Day. Walter and Lillie would usually join us for dinner and the kids would get impatient because they had to wait until the dishes were done, the food was put away, and we had a little Christmas program before we could open the presents. For the program, we would sing carols, and read the Christmas story from the Bible.

I would bake birthday cakes for our family’s birthdays, frost the cakes, and put candles on them. We always sang “Happy Birthday” before they blew out the candles.

We bought the kids sparklers for the Fourth of July and they would see how many times they could run around the house in Decorah before the sparklers died out.

For Thanksgiving we went to church and then I made a big Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings.

These are the traditions which I hope my children and grandchildren will carry on with their own families:

I hope my children and grandchildren will continue to celebrate Christmas for the reason it was meant to be celebrated.

I best remember these trips which our family took as our children were growing up: 

We often visited my folks in Windom for Christmas, their birthdays, holidays, and sometimes a week in the summer.

We vacationed north of Brainerd, MN at Gull Lake, Trout Lake, and also Whitefish Lake.

Once we visited Vince’s brother, Lyle in Salt Lake City, UT, and also went to Jackson Hole, WY, Yellowstone National Park, and back through the Badlands in SD.

In 1969, we spent the summer on an island in the Caribbean called Anguilla. Vince was doing dentistry there for Lutheran World Relief. I kept a diary for that trip which Mark put on a blog called Mom’s Anguilla Diary.

I remember these humorous or memorable stories about our children as they were growing up:

I remember Dawn taught Mark how to read when she was in first grade and before he went to kindergarten. They would play school after she got home and she still has the little white table and chairs that they sat at.

I remember when Mark accidentally opened the car door when we were coming home from getting groceries, and almost fell out. He was hanging on the door, and I could see his little legs trying to keep up running alongside while I was hoping he would not fall.

I remember Arik and his cousin Larry Blakey playing with a BB gun and Arik getting hit near his eye after shooting a rubber ball. He ended up being in the hospital a few days.

I remember Jené would climb up the door jamb between the kitchen and the living room by putting her bare feet on each side and shimmy her way up.  

What I have enjoyed most about being a parent is:

When the kids mind what I tell them. I’ve enjoyed seeing them perform or get good grades in school and being able to celebrate with them.

Some of the things I have learned as a parent are:

To always love them no matter what they do.

This is what I have enjoyed about being a grandparent:

Sometimes it’s nice to be able to give the child back to the parent. That changes as the child grows older, of course.

Other Areas of My Life

As an adult, I have enjoyed these hobbies or past times:

When we lived in Decorah, I used to like bowling with the women’s bowling league on Friday nights. One of my other favorite hobbies was genealogy. I also enjoyed sewing and quilting with my church group. I like doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku. Vince and I and enjoy going to concerts and listening to music. We also like watching the Hawkeyes play football and both boys and girls basketball.

If I could teach a special hobby or skill to my grandchildren, I would choose:

Genealogy, because I would like the work we’ve done to continue on and take care of what we’ve already done.

My faith has influenced and contributed to my life in these ways: 

Living as a Christian influences the things you do or don’t do. You strive to live following Christ’s examples.

This is what I remember about the church activities I was involved in over the years: 

I was involved with Circle that had monthly meetings. I taught Bible classes for adults at First Lutheran in Decorah, and at Zion Lutheran in Iowa City. I also taught Vacation Bible School. In addition, I took the Bethel Bible Series courses, a 20-lecture series on both the Old and New Testaments.

Numerous historical events have occurred during my lifetime (the depression, World War II, the Korean War, the war in Vietnam, the assassinations of important leaders, the space program and many more). Some events that I particularly remember or that affected my life, and the reasons why, include:

Growing up in the Depression, my folks never had much money. When I was young I remember getting a nickel for allowance, and then later a dime, and then a quarter. Saturday night Mom and Dad took us kids into town and would give us a nickel and we could buy a whole bag of popcorn or an ice cream cone. We would walk around the square in Windom to entertain ourselves, while Mom was grocery shopping.

I don’t remember a whole lot about World War II. I vaguely remember once coming down the stairs at the Jackson farm and Mom telling me that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

We were in Anguilla when the moon landing happened.

As I look back over the events of my life, the things that made me the happiest and about which I feel especially proud are:

Any time one of my kids reached a milestone in their lives, I was happy and proud about it. It helped me feel like I didn’t fail them as a parent.

As I look to the future, I have these hopes and goals for our family and for myself:

I always hope that they will be safe and in good health.