Du SHANE, Vivian (Emerson) 1911-2016
DU SHANE, EMERSON, BUCKNAM, DUSHANE
Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 10/26/2016 at 19:39:34
OBITUARY--
August 11, 1911 - October 24, 2016
Vivian Du Shane
Vivian Du Shane 105 years, 2 months and 13 days young, passed away October 24, 2016 at Mitchell County Regional Health Center in Osage.
Vivian was born August 11, 1911 on a farm east of Little Cedar, the daughter of Robert and Pearl (Bucknam) Emerson. She graduated from Little Cedar High School in 1929. Vivian played on the outstanding girls’ basketball team of 1928. She enjoyed sports, managed, and played on softball teams in later years.
In 1934, she graduated from Pitze’s Beauty School in Waterloo. She owned and operated Vivian’s Beauty Shop and was employed by Montgomery Ward office in Osage. Vivian was united in marriage June 29, 1935, to Alan Du Shane in Austin, Minnesota. They lived their entire married life in Osage.
After Alan passed away in 1972, Vivian spent many winters in her home in Sun City, Arizona. She enjoyed bridge parties and socializing with her many friends. She was also interested in historic Pioneer towns and cemeteries in Mitchell County. Vivian enjoyed writing historical articles which were published in the Mitchell County Press-News and her self-published historical books about Mitchell County.
Vivian is survived by her son, Neal Du Shane and wife Joyce of Fort Collins, Colorado; grandson, Michael Bushard and wife Ruth of Erie, Colorado; two nephews, Verlyn Mullenbach and wife Sue, Curt Mullenbach and wife Sandy all of Stacyville; niece, Chery Wahlgamut and husband Dick of Des Moines; and several great nieces and nephew.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Alan Du Shane; and her sister, Zola Mullenbach.
Memorial services are pending.
Inurnment will be at Osage Cemetery.
Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home (641)732-3706
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The following is an article from the Globe Gazette on the occasion of her 105th birthday:
OSAGE — Vivian DuShane had one sister, Zola Emerson. While Emerson was good at spelling and studying, DuShane was good at sports and farming.
“She was smarter in school, but I had more fun,” DuShane said.
So is the way that DuShane would describe her 105 years of life. Fun.
DuShane, born Aug. 11, 1911, just turned 105.
She was raised just east of Little Cedar on a 90-acre farm. The only two children in the family, Emerson worked in the house with her mother mostly, while DuShane, a self-proclaimed Tom-Boy spent her days with her father on the farm, back when he fields needed to be plowed by horses, which helped her develop an affinity for the animals when it would come to the Mitchell County Fairs.
DuShane also liked playing basketball in high school and dancing with the boys whenever she could.
At the age of 2, DuShane remembers being in the cornfields with her father and grandfather, while her mother was in the house. Growing bored of the field, DuShane told her father she was going to return to the house. After her mother asked where her daughter was, it was apparent DuShane had gotten lost.
“I remember my neighbor and everyone running into the fields looking for me,” DuShane said. “They thought I had drowned in the water tank, but I had fallen asleep in the field and didn’t hear them calling me.”
DuShane’s childhood was also marked by witnessing the weary traveler pass by the train tracks which ran through her farm. She would often run to them, confusing them with her grandfather, who followed the tracks to her farm. Her mother used to pull her back, feed the strangers sandwiches and send them on their way.
Much of DuShane’s memorable life was spent struggling to make ends meet during the years leading to the Great Depression.
At a consolidated school in Little Cedar, tight funds meant DuShane couldn’t purchase a class ring, so her mother sold old hens.
She remembers riding a horse-drawn wagon to school, with a heated stone used as a heater in the winter. Her father drove a wagon for 10 years.
During her high school years, DuShane excelled in basketball and softball.
After graduating, she moved to Osage to work at Birum’s Buffet as a waitress. For three years, she saved her money so she could travel to Waterloo and attend beauty school at Pitze’s.
Her job as a waitress was when she first laid eyes on her would-be husband, Alan DuShane.
“He always came in to get coffee, and the restaurant owners said he ‘DuShane never comes into the place,’” DuShane said. “He must be coming in for Vivian.”
In 1934, DuShane moved to Waterloo for beauty school. On weekends, Alan DuShane would travel more than 71 miles to visit her. Coming from Osage, DuShane said Waterloo was a big city, which she could ride buses down poor roads.
After graduating in 1935, she moved to Riceville, where she worked as a hair stylist. The salon was on the second story of a clothing store, where she lived in a backroom. During that time, a shampoo and finger curl was 35 cents, while a trim was 10 cents.
Three years later, she moved to Osage, buying her own store in the space between the now Cleveland and Home Trust and Savings Bank. She remembered in 1939, when electricity first came to the county.
For 25 years, she owned and operated the salon while living on the upper floors. On Aug. 31, 1942, her son, Neal, was born.
While she worked at the salon, Alan DuShane worked as a horticulturalist at the green house, which stood where Casey’s now operates.
In 1958, the family sold their business and moved into a newly built house on East Main Street. They purchased a grocery store in Little Cedar, but closed the business several months later when there wasn’t enough money to keep it open.
DuShane went on to work at Montgomery Wards, a catalogue competitor to Sears, while her husband delivered bulk supplied to farmers.
In 1959, the DuShanes traveled to the Surf Ballroom to witness Buddy Holly play, live. The musician followed the family home as they passed the airport.
The next morning, Holly’s plane had crashed. The DuShane’s were there “the day the music died.”
DuShane retired in 1963, and spent her winters in Arizona with other retirees.
In 1972, Alan DuShane died of cancer, leaving DuShane the only member of the family left in Mitchell County.
To pass the time, she played bridge, she bowled, and wrote. She and co-author Dorcas Dorow wrote “The History of Little Cedar Iowa,” a yellow book that recalls the origins of her home town.
She and her son Neal worked together on a book about the history of David, Iowa. DuShane was the go-to person for questions about the history in Mitchell County.
Several months ago, DuShane moved from her home on 603 Park St., where she lived since 1956, to Faith Lutheran Nursing home.
She can still remember much of her past, as well as touch her nose with her toes.
She likens her age to living positively and being kind to others.
Source: Mason City Globe Gazette
Mitchell Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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