Lola: An Iowa Girl's Memoir

By Lola Jean Sundstrom Shattuck

As Lola Jean Sundstrom Shattuck entered the twilight period of her life, she mused about the events that brought her to this point.

She could hear The Kinks in the background singing “lo, lo, lo Lola”—describing a woman drinking champagne, tasting like cherry cola, walking like a woman, and talking like a man.

Could this be her?

She does like cherry cola with a little rum and has been referred to as a “sir” when answering the phone. But then she wondered if she might be Barry Manilow’s Lola, who dances the cha-cha at the Copacabana with yellow feathers in her hair.

She never did dance at the Copa, but she did dance the fox trot at the Roof Garden … but with no yellow feathers. Then there is Sarah Vaughan, who sang about “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.”

Decide for yourself which Lola the author coincides with most as she opens up about her life in this memoir.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665712880

Lola Jean Sundstrom Shattuck

Lola Jean Sundstrom Shattuck wrote this memoir to share her family history with the next generation. The memoir spans eighty years of her life experiences.

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Copyright © 2022 Lola Jean Sundstrom Shattuck.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-1286-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1287-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1288-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021919790

Archway Publishing rev. date: 1/27/2022

Contents

Introduction

Early Beginnings

Great Grandparents

Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles

The Farm Years

Arnolds Park

Templeton

South Dakota

Mom

Uncle Ben

Leaving the Farm

Grade School

The Grease Gun Murder

California

High School

Pen Pals

Jobs

Tear It Down

Love to Dance/John Alden/Miles Standish

The Next 52 Years

John and Mable Shattuck

May 27, 1955

Life Changing Events

Rural Entertainment

Off to College

New Baby

Baby Number Three

Next Stop Webster City, Iowa

Next Juncture, Independence, Iowa

Family Moves Again and Continues to Grow

Graduate School and Minneapolis

Urbana

Springfield, Garden Court and North Third

Running for Office

Jury Duty

My College Days

Warrenville, Illinois, 2S269 riverside

North Side of Chicago, Kenmore street

Forest Park, 1126 Hannah

BCBSA

Retirement

Fairfield Bay, Arkansas

Casa Grande. Arizona

San Antonio, Texas

Grandchildren Stories

Artist/Actors/Exhibits/Sporting Events

Travel Stories

Aquarium/Museums/Planetarians/Zoos

Canada

China, Japan

Cruises

Disney World/Land

England, 1993

French Lick, Indiana

Germany/Austria/France/Holland/Luxemburg/Switzerland

Glacier National Park

Grand Cayman 1996

Hawaii

Hermann, Missouri

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Independence, Missouri

Indiana State Park

Islamorada/Key West, Florida

Italy

Kentucky, Shakers Village, 1994

Las Vegas

Michigan

Nassau Island 1985

National Parks

Nauvoo, Illinois

New Orleans

New York City

Omaha – horse and dog races

St. Johns and St. Thomas

Southern Illinois 1998

South Dakota/Mt. Rushmore

Spain

Washington State

Wisconsin

Appendix

History of Lake Okoboji/Arnolds Park

Introduction

As I enter the twilight period of my life, I muse on the events that brought me to this point. I hear the Kinks in the background singing lo, lo, lo Lola that describes her as drinking champagne, tasting like cherry cola, walking like a woman and talking like a man. Could this be me? I like cherry cola with a little rum and have been referred to as a sir when I’ve answered the phone. Or am I Barry Manilow’s Lola, who dances the cha-cha at the Copacabana with yellow feathers in her hair. I never danced at the Copa but did dance the fox trot at the Roof Garden, no yellow feathers in my hair. Is Sarah Vaughan right when she sings, Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets? Only my readers will determine that.

As I write my memoir, I realize that my greatest accomplishments are

- married to a supportive and loving spouse for 52 years;

- mother of five loving, independent, accomplished children who have become wonderful parents and human beings;

- exceeding my educational goals, all but dissertation (ABD);

- professional publications;

- college commencement speaker;

- ran for public office;

- playing lots of golf, board and card games;

- extensive travel, all 50 states, 39 capitals, 24 national parks, 23 foreign countries;

- making new friends along the way; and,

- while there were challenges, I have few regrets.

I write with the sound of my voice, one word strung to another like Mom’s crochet hook connecting one loop with another, creating a lasting memory of my life.

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Early Beginnings

IT WAS A warm Sunday evening, June 13, 1937 at the Jackson, Minnesota hospital. An expectant twenty-eight-year-old mother, Clara, Mom was in labor with her first child. The father, Lawrence was not there, probably drinking and gambling with another woman, as usual. Lawrence was, according to his other children, a notorious skirt chaser. Around dinner time, a whimper came from the mouth of a six-pound bald-headed baby girl. That baby girl was me, Lola Jean. At the time, Mom was reading True Romance about a young lady named, Lola Jean. That is how I received a southern name. Thankfully it wasn’t Betty Jean (no insult to the Betty Jeans of this world).

In the fall of 1938 in Alfa, Minnesota, Lawrence joined the Army and deserted Mom and myself. I always thought that Mom and I moved directly from Alfa to Milford. However, at a Sundstrom family reunion, one of the uncles, Lennart told me that Mom called Grandma Sundstrom and explained that Lawrence had left us. Lennart and grandma Sundstrom came to Alfa and took us back to Artesian, South Dakota. Since there are pictures of me on Uncle Ben’s farm when I was about eighteen-months-old, we must have been there only a short time. Mom never relayed any of this information to me.

As I roamed about the farm, the baby fat melted off, my long skinny legs and knobby knees were exposed. In addition to the tall lean body, my Swedish/German heritage became evident with my ash blond wavy hair. At this juncture, I’m still a grey-blank slate. While the hair and legs are visible characteristics, there are many underlying ones that developed over the next eighty years.

As I write this, I peruse through my early writings hopefully being candid about how family shaped my self-esteem and my view of the world. Some family members more than others. While I don’t have all the specifics, Mom and other family members shared bits and pieces about my heritage. As I begin the story of my life, I start with my Great Grandparent’s perilous decision to travel from Germany to the United States. While I never met them, I believe they displayed true grit that was passed along to the next generations. As I fumbled through my life, I found myself continuously in pursuit of new opportunities and a better life, like my Great Grandparents.

GREAT GRANDPARENTS

In the 1870s, von Bismarck served as First Chancellor embracing some liberal, democratic, and socialist ideas to strengthen the German nation and monarchy. During this period, there was tremendous turmoil – anti-press, anti-Catholic, anti-church, anti-Jew, and taxation without representation.

Great Grandparents, Kathman resided and farmed in Bakkum, Germany, population of about 5,500, a municipality in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony. The village is 45 minutes southeast of Bremen and 2 ½ hours northwest of Amsterdam. Great Grandparents, Wieschus (Wieskus or Wiskus) also immigrated from an area east of Bremen. My focus is with the Kathman side of the family where I have the majority of my experience.

Due to the turmoil and military conscription, sometime in 1887, Great Grandpa Bernard Kathman traveled to Templeton, Iowa while his family remained in Germany. I won’t suggest that Great Grandpa was prompted to leave because he was a socialist or a participant in any of the movements in Germany because very few immigrants were political refugees. Most, like my Great Grandparents, were family people looking for economic opportunities and freedom from oppression at home.

In the mid-1850s, German immigrants settled in Templeton, Iowa. Templeton was a German Catholic farm community located just off Highway 71 in central western Iowa. Most spoke German and the town had its own German newspaper. The immigrants were drawn there because it resembled their homeland.

Shortly after arriving in Templeton, Great Grandpa began farming about three miles west and one mile north on the farm known as the Emmons Place. While Great Grandpa was settling in, Great Grandma Elizabeth and four children left Bakkum, Germany. The four children were Bernard (Barney) born October 23, 1876; Johanna (Hanna) born January 19, 1879; Josephine (Fennie) October 29, 1881; and, Mary, March 24, 1885. I don’t have exact dates but Frank and Elizabeth would have left between March 24, 1886, when Mary was born in Bakkum and August 30, 1888, when Lizzie was born in Templeton.

Since Bremen (30 miles from Bakkum) was a major port that immigrants left from, it seems logical that my Great Grandparents left from there. A special train ran between Bremen and docks at Bremenhaven. The railway-station was a few steps from the pier, and passengers walked on board the tender from the pier while porters loaded their baggage.

Regardless which ship my Great Grandparents and their four children boarded, the ships would have been very similar. If on the Cunard line, cows were kept on board for fresh milk every day and slaughtered to be eaten on the final days of each voyage. In 1870, Cunard introduced the first flushing toilets at sea providing relief for passengers and crew members. A North German Lloyd (NGL) ship left port every Wednesday and Saturday, headed to New York City. The crossing took nine days. However, on the NGL’s available passenger list, the Kathman name doesn’t appear. Steerage passenger lists are rare.

As my Great Grandparents left the Bremen port, they observed the low sandy German coast on the left upon entering the Weser River. As the ship navigated down the river, they’re eyes were drawn to the multitude of lighthouses that guided the ship safely to the Atlantic Ocean. I sense a feeling of anxiety as they observe for a final time the dykes and look over the sea wall into the green country beyond, with its houses, spires, villages, roads, meadows and pastures.

Once out to sea, they would have found conditions aboard the ship spartan. The cabins were typically eight by six feet, with two bunks, a hard settee, a commode with two wash basins, two water jugs and two chamber pots. The Kathman family fare for a cabin would have been twenty pounds, in US dollars twenty-eight dollars or forty-six German marks. Two adults and four children, a total of $102 or 184 German marks. In today dollars, it would be $756 per adult and $378 per child or $3,400 for the family.

Family members told me that my Great Grandparents came through Castle Garden in New York City. Therefore, they had to be steerage passengers. At that time, all steerage passengers were processed through Castle Garden. In 1855, New York’s Castle Garden (in Battery Park at the foot of Manhattan) became the first immigrant receiving station. The family would have stopped at Staten Island for a medical exam, passed through Castle Garden where there were translators, ticket booths, then a hospital and information booths. A fifty-cent head tax was enacted in 1882 to off-set administrative fees for which the family would have paid three dollars. Any records of their travel through Castle Garden, New York burnt in an Ellis Island fire.

From Castle Garden, the family headed to Union Train Station. They would have traveled through Chicago, maybe changing trains to arrive at their final destination, Carroll, Iowa. In 1887, train fares were one penny a mile, 1200 miles to Carroll, Iowa or twelve dollars per adult, half fare for children, total of forty-eight dollars. At Carroll, as a bitter Iowa wind blew along the railroad tracks, I imagined that my Great Grandpa with a horse drawn buggy met his family. Another 14 miles to Templeton would end their long journey from Bakkum, Germany. I estimate that the trip for the whole family was in the range of $150 to $175.

Neither of my two trips to Germany included the northern part which is where my Great Grandparent’s resided. My memories of Barney, Johanna (my grandmother), Lizzie and Kottie are described in more detail later in my book.

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Great Grandma: Elisabeth Willembrink—1849 to 1932

GRANDPARENTS, AUNTS AND UNCLES

Grandma, Johanna was born January 19, 1879 in Bakkum, Germany. She, at the young age of 17, married Frank John Wieskus on April 21, 1896. Mom shared that Grandpa Frank had a dispute with his dad and moved to Templeton from Dyersville, Iowa. Grandpa added an e to his name and the name in eastern Iowa is Wiskus. However, according to My Heritage genealogy report, the name is Wieschues. As immigrants came to the United States, names were changed, letters omitted or added.

Mom said that Grandma and Grandpa spoke German between themselves. None of my aunts or uncles learned German.

From 1896 to about 1899, the Grandparents farmed at Templeton. Uncle Frank was born on January 21, 1897 and Uncle Ben on September 3, 1898. In 1889, the Grandparents moved to a farm by Halbur, Iowa. Uncle Hank was born on August 10, 1900 and Aunt Anna on July 11, 1902. Shortly after Anna’s birth, the family moved back to Templeton.

In 1903, Grandma recorded in her little black book that a baby boy (unnamed) died at birth. Frank and Ben completed 8th grade at the Catholic School in Templeton.

From 1903 to 1912, six more uncles, aunts and Mom were born: John – January 238, 1905, Frederick (Fritz) – March 6, 1907, Clara (Mom) – March 12, 1909, Lorina Mary – March 25, 1911 (died April 10, 1911), and Leo – February 8, 1912.

In 1913, the family moved to a farm south of Milford which Grandpaw rented from Henry Langel. Henry had two sons. When WWI arrived, Mom said that Henry placed each son on a farm so they wouldn’t have to serve in the military. My grandparents rented from Henry for five years. Also, while on this farm, three more babies were born; Lorina (Lorine) Anna – March 13, 1914, Bernice – May 31, 1915, and Frank Joseph – April 11, 1918 (died April 25, 1918). Grandma had 13 pregnancies in 21 years.

In the winter, Grandpa often ice fished on Lake Okoboji. In 1918, Grandpa was ice fishing at Fort Dodge Point. He decided to cross Lake Okoboji with his team of horses to Terrance Park. About half way across, the Lake began to crack. He whipped the horses to move faster as he heard the ice cracking behind him. He made it to shore but never took the team across the lake again. Mom said it was pretty scary!

Mom remembers in the winter time they would go to school in a horse drawn bobsled. It looked like a big covered wagon with plank seats on each side. Grandpa drove the bus for the public school and Mom said they had the privilege of riding to attend the Catholic School. Grandpa wouldn’t take the route unless his children could ride. When they moved from the school district, about two years later, grandpa continued driving the bus when they moved east of Milford.

Mom remembered one Easter, in the early 1920s, they went to church in the old bus. Also, it was the last snowstorm of year, last Sunday of March.

Mom wrote that the family always tried to be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grandma would cook a duck dinner with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving. One Christmas gift was placed at each dinner plate along with some candy, nuts, an apple or an orange in the soup bowl. Mom remembered that money was not very plentiful. One Christmas morning, the family rode to Mass in the surrey (a double seated buggy). It was so cold that as the wheels went through the snow, they squeaked. Birthdays tended not to be celebrated, everyone got a year older.

Square your set, stir the bucket, roll away to a half sashay.

The Grandparents loved to dance which Mom thought was why all of the kids loved and went to dances while growing up. Grandpa was a caller for the square dances. Many times, he would call and square dance at the same time. Grandma loved to waltz but Grandpa couldn’t round dance so Grandma would waltz with Ed Marley, a friend.

Great Aunt Lizzie gave the Grandparents an organ which they took to the dances. In the winter, Frank and Ben tied the organ on the backseat of the Model T Ford. Off they went in their sheep lined coats and ear-flapped caps with Grandma, John, Anna and Mom to the house parties. About 25 to 30 people showed up which made three squares. One of the party houses had a living/dining room large enough for two squares. Barn dances were many and great fun. Many nights were spent at Pavelco Dance Hall, about twenty-one miles from Jackson, Minnesota. When the grandparents went out to dance, John and Fritz had babysitting duty with the three younger ones – Loraine, Leo and Bernice.

Playing cards must be in the Kathman/Wieskus blood. The Milford Catholic church sponsored card parties. The Grandparents were there to play cards with their friends. Mom and Ben also participated and played whist, similar to bridge.

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Grandma & Grandpa Wieskus 25th Anniversary

The Grandparents farmed for two years northwest of Milford. The next 13 years were spent east of Milford where grandpa died November 29, 1937, age 66.

Mom said arguments were few but there was one she remembered between Loraine and Bernice. Grandma asked Loraine to get some mashed potatoes. Loraine thought Bernice should get the potatoes. This made Loraine mad and she smashed the bowl over Bernice’s head. Both in their twenties, Mom thought they should have known better.

Another incident was between John and Fritz when they were 10 or 12. John was angry with Fritz about something, he picked up a rock and threw it at Fritz, hitting him in the forehead. Drew lots of blood. Grandma took Fritz to the well, washed him off and told him he was okay.

Following Grandpa’s death, Grandma held a sale and moved into a house on the north side of Milford. She lived there for about one year.

Grandma was a wonderful baker. She made cake donuts and sugar cookies. She had a large deep iron pot that she filled with lard. She rolled out the dough, cut the donuts and dropped them individually into the hot lard.

Sometime in 1943/44, Grandma moved to a house across the street from the Catholic school playground. She lived with Uncle Fritz, a railroad gandy dancer, in a two-bedroom bungalow. The front porch covered the front with a small lean-to at the rear next to a one-car garage. A couple times a week, a huge chunk of ice was shoved into the ice-box located in the lean-to porch. During the winter, the ice was harvested from the lake and stored in large strawed filled warehouses.

When I conducted my research on the Kathman family, one family member shared a letter that grandma had sent to uncle Frank, Mom’s older brother. Verbatim as follows:

Milford, Iowa

Dec. 19, 1943

Dear son