The Lady in White and The Spy

By Dianna and Terry Quill

"The Lady in White and The Spy," authored by Dianna and Terry Quill, is a captivating tale that weaves together the threads of romance, intrigue, and historical insights. This heartwarming book serves as a legacy for their grandchildren, offering a window into their grandparents' unique and adventurous lives.

Set ag

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stormy Ocean Publishing
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798869006943

Book preview

1

I’LL DO IT!

Ever since I was a young child, I loved Asia. My first clue was the Chinese restaurant across from the YWCA. Its silk fabrics, fringed lanterns, and painted screens summoned me with an air of mystery through the windows. Each time I went to the Y for my swimming, tap, and ballet lessons, I began stopping in alone at the restaurant. From age twelve to fourteen, I must have looked at the strange writing on the menus alongside the English a hundred times. Something about it fascinated me. I read everything I could about the places and people of the Far East. I thought, Someday, I hope to go to the Orient.

Even to me, that seemed odd for a girl from a Presbyterian family who lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

My mother’s mother, Virtue Romaine, was from Newfoundland. Her brother brought to her to Moosic, Pennsylvania, a small town near Scranton, to work. She was a housekeeper to a woman named Maggie Price, who ran a boarding house.

Mother’s father, George Washington Hunt, was a railroad man. He checked into Price’s boarding house, ate and slept until the next train went out. That’s where he met Virtue. They married and had two children, Marjorie Romaine Hunt, my mother, and her sister Evelyn Hunt. Mother and Aunt Evie were born in Middleton, New York. Probably their father was working for the railroad there, and we still have relatives in the area.

Marjorie was eight and Evie was eight months old when their mother died. The death was childbirth-related, as so many were then. Virtue delivered a baby boy. The baby did not survive, and she fell ill. Virtue had appendicitis and developed septicemia and died.

Her husband George Hunt married again. His new wife said, I will take the baby, but I don't want your older daughter.

So he went to Maggie Price, who was raising a son, and asked, Will you raise my daughter? I will pay expenses, but can Marjorie live here with you?

Maggie said, Yes. She took my mother in and raised her. I never met the woman who raised my mother, Maggie Price. My guess is that she died before I was born.

When Marjorie got to be sixteen and looking at finishing high school, Maggie had a suggestion. Maggie’s best friend was the Director of Nursing at the Taylor Hospital in Taylor, Pennsylvania. Would she take Maggie’s charge as a student, although she was two years younger than the normal age, eighteen, for the training?

The woman said Yes, I'll take her.

Marjorie trained for three years at Taylor Hospital. There were eight women in her class and she was the youngest by far.

After that she moved to New York City. Her father’s sister, Harriet, my Great-Aunt Hattie, had moved there to live. Aunt Hattie’s (first) husband started a job there. Marjorie went to stay with them and she started doing private duty nursing in New York City. A private duty nurse can work in a private home, however mostly she works in a hospital. Some patients want one nurse to look after them, and that’s called private duty. Even in those days, it was usually a wealthy person who hired a private duty nurse.

Grandfather Hunt and his new wife made their home in Hornell, New York, near Corning. We visited Mother’s father a couple times a year. They had five children together. Uncle Bob lived near Canandaigua Lake, New York; he died at age 95 in March of 2019. My Uncle Ray is in his late 80s; he ran a cattle ranch in Glenville, California. Those five were my half aunts and uncles. I think there were hard feelings there in the beginning but it all worked out.

Marjorie came back to Moosic to visit, and she met a young man at a party. He was one of five brothers, and he introduced her to his brother, James Russell Dick.

James was not a wealthy man, but he was a smart one. He was Valedictorian of his senior class at Moosic High School, and of course his parents didn't have money. He was a big baseball fan and player and he was with a professional team for somewhere in that Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area (probably one of the forerunners of the SWB Rail Riders such as the Keystones).

The doctor in Moosic told James he would pay for his college education if he would go to college.

He said, No, I want to continue baseball.

Big mistake. he tried out for the Boston Red Sox but he didn't make the pick.

But another success was near – James and Marjorie hit it off! Eventually he came to Harrisburg to marry my mother. After they married, Mother did not work. Dad went through several business jobs as an accountant, and then he got the job that he had for life. He was an accountant for Appleby Brothers, a major plumbing company, in an office in downtown Harrisburg. My parents made Harrisburg home for the rest of their lives.

Our family visited Dad’s father, David Dick, a lot, but his mother, Margaret Bryden Dick, died in 1939, the year before I was born. We visited all my grandparents.

My father’s parents were of Scottish heritage. I was baptized a Presbyterian, which is the official Church of Scotland, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We attended Olivet Presbyterian Church. I went to Sunday School there, and my mother went to Women’s Bible Study at the same time.

But that stopped when I was seven years old. Mom wasn't supposed to have any more children, but she did conceive. It was a rough pregnancy and Mom had to stay home. My father went to a Presbyterian church as a child, but as an adult I don't remember him attending services with us. He was not going to take me to church without my mother.

Most of the children in the neighborhood went to the Trinity Methodist Church; it was two blocks away from our home. I asked my parents, Since we can't go to our church, could I go to Sunday School with my friends? Of course they said, Yes. It was only a two-block walk and my friends were there. So that's how I ended up in the Methodist church! (It didn’t become the United Methodist Church denomination and the UMYF until 1968.)

I had been the only kid in the neighborhood that didn't have a brother or sister, and I had begged my mother for one. I don't think that's the reason she got pregnant, but I was very excited at the news! My sister Marjorie was born when I was eight years old. Margie and I had a few years together as children, but with the age difference, our activities were quite different. One of my favorites was involvement in the Methodist Church.

When I was twelve, I became involved in the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) and that was fun. Mother was back on her feet and wanted to go back to Olivet Presbyterian. That’s when I asked my parents if I could stay with my friends at the Trinity Methodist Church. They did not mind, and I joined the church, becoming a Methodist and pledging my membership and beliefs (much like the Apostle’s Creed) when I was twelve years old. As the years went by, the Methodist faith stayed the church of my choice.

I often went to Methodist church camp somewhere in Pennsylvania. Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is a Methodist College, and hosted our state youth group meetings. I was a state MYF officer, so once a year I'd travel to Williamsport. We went to a camp that was run by the Kiwanis Club, and with the help of some Sunday School teachers, we planned the year’s activities and studies for our groups. Our group liked square dancing and roller skating. MYF met Sunday evenings at six o’clock, and we had a great time together. It was easy to make and visit friends, for we all went to the same school and same church.

Two of my friends from those times have remained good friends. My best friend was Nancy Englert, who moved to Harrisburg in the sixth grade. I nicknamed her Inky, for some reason, and that name has stuck with her, like it or not! Another good friend was Alice Ann Long. She was two years older than me, and her brother Jimmy was my age. Jimmy and I started first grade together and were in the same classes all through high school. The Longs lived on the next block.

Along with church, I was active in the Girl Scouts, from being a Brownie until I became a First Class Scout at age eighteen. Scouting was fun. I went to camp every year. Several summers in high school, I was a counselor in training and then a counselor. I was at the Pine Grove Girl Scout Camp near Laurel Lake, Pennsylvania, for five weeks each summer

Through the years, I earned many badges for learning and showing skills. Cooking was NOT one of them, I learned to cook later! My badges are now showcased in the Girl Scout Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, along with a picture of me in uniform.

Holidays were fun times with my parents and their friends. A favorite outing was going to Hershey, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles from Harrisburg. We rode the rides and picnicked. Another amusement park