Marion M. Duff Cass

DUFF, CASS

Posted By: William 'Foster' Cass (email)
Date: 12/5/2011 at 05:27:22

Marion Maxine (Duff) Cass
A Summary of her life

Marion Maxine Duff was born 11/08/1923 on the John Duff farm 4 miles north of Volga, in Clayton County, Iowa. Her baptism certificate states she was born at Wadena, Iowa which does not match with my knowledge of her birth. The Peterman school, a one room country school was less than a mile north of the home farm. The Duff one room country school was a little over a mile south of the farm. She attended one or the other of those schools for the first eight years of her education. She walked through the fields and woods to reach the Peterman school, and over a dirt (mud) road to reach the Duff school.

She walked most of the time over the half mile of dirt road and three and a half miles of graveled roads to reach the high school at Volga. The school had no busses. She walked, rode a pony or caught a ride when she could to get to and from school. One did those things then just to get an education. She graduated May 22, 1941 and the same spring contracted to teach the Peterman country school for $45 a month. She attended summer school at Upper Iowa University then started her teaching in August of 1941. It was at Upper Iowa that we met in the Library in June of 1941. She taught the Peterman school until January 1943 at which time we were married. She attended Upper Iowa the spring semester of 1943.

For the nine years before our kids were all in school Maxine played the important roll of homemaker and wife. From 1952 through 1954 she drove the 17 miles to attended classes at Estherville Junior College and taught half days at Dolliver. On May 5, 1954 she received an associate of arts degree from that school in Estherville.

She taught at the Stratford Community School for three years 1955-56 through 1957-58. Maxine again resumed her education driving to Des Moines from Stratford to attend Drake University. August 21, 1959 she received her B. S. degree in education from Drake. The years 1959-60 through 1963-64 she taught at the Arthur Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Again she continued her work at the University of Iowa, at Iowa City, commuting to Saturday classes and to summer sessions. By August 4, 1965 she had earned her M. A. in education from that school. I enjoy juggling number
I estimate that she had driven about 30,000 miles in her quest for her education.

In California Maxine continued to take courses from UCLA Extension to keep current in her profession. She taught 6th grade at La Fayette Elementary 1964-65 through 1967-68. For September 1968 she was assigned to Lowell Elementary School which happened to be in the lot just south of Rogers where I was then teaching. We could ride together to school for awhile again. For the school year of 1973 she was reassigned to the Burnett Elementary School. She first taught a sixth grade there and later a third grade.

On October 18, 1976 Maxine entered Memorial Hospital in Long Beach. After many tests she learned that she had multiple myaloma which was the cause of her death May 30, 1979. Services were held at Lakewood Presbyterian church and burial at Forest Lawn Cypress on June 2, 1979.

~Biography written by her husband, William 'Foster' Cass