RANDALL, Grace: 1991

RANDALL, MILLER, KENNEDY, PARSONS, CAMPBELL, BOECKER, DOROTHY, GLAA, ERICKSON, PEACOCK, BOLEY

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 4/14/2025 at 16:16:37

VB Reg
1991

Remembering Miss Randell

As I look down life's road towards 40, I've began to notice how many of the milestones are marked by the passing of my mentors.

A few years ago Mabel Miller and last week Grace Randell.

Most teenagers that come in contact with these two didn't appreciate either of them. Hopefully as adults most of us have learned the value of what they contributed to our young lives.

Thankfully I had the opportunity to express to both of them that what they had to say then makes sense now.

Because Homemaking I was required, all girls that passed through the halls of Keosauqua and Van Buren High form the early 50's to 1970 will have some memory of "Miss Randell's Rules":
1) Vegetables should be colorful and crunchy when served.
2) Every meal should contain at least one hot dish.
3) Wash fresh vegetables before using them. (I remember Kay Campbell washed hers after they were sliced.)
4) Skirts should be one inch above the knees while kneeling. (This was firmly backed by Principal Jack Dorothy during my era.)
5) If you must give a boy a gift make it simple. (Candy or after shave never clothing.)
6) Pull a thread to find the straight of the fabric.
7) Pin basted-Hand baste-Machine baste, then stitch permanently.
8) Keep a budget.
9) Do not slouch.
10) Keep your feet directly beneath you and no one else will step on them.

To mention a few.

Miss Randell spent her last years in Van Buren County Memorial Hospital. This past week some of the employees have been reminiscing:

Sherry Kennedy recalled that going steady was one of Miss R's pet peeves.

Sheila Parsons told how she hated to be forced to wear the awful blouse she made in Home Ec 1. She recently came across the pleated wool skirt from Home Ec 2 and was amazed at how well it was made.

Lealin Boecker remembered starting out with dish towels, progressing to aprons, and on to a sleeveless blouse.

Those that suffered through Home Ec 1 with me may recall that my blouse was not supposed to be sleeveless. I took one sleeve home to hem and lost it. (The reprimand I got for that shall never be forgotten.) No material could be found to march so the garment ended up a summer one. The next winter I found the damn sleeve in the pocket of a seldom worn coat.

Some other gals remember the Miss R. of their youth: Martha Glaha often mentions how she and grace went round and round over budget keeping. Martha had no allowance so how could she make out a budget?

Niece, Jeanie Erickson and her classmates Twyla Peacock still laugh over the baggy p.j.s complete with flatfield seams they made. The ugly darn things lasted for years.

Remember trying out new recipes on your family? My dad still cringes at the thought of baked eggs.

Who was more nervous about Miss R.'s pre-freshman home visit: you or your Mother?

From cooking and sewing to proper manners and what bit of sex education was allowed, Miss Randelll had firm beliefs on each.

How stern and unreasonable some of them seemed at the time. How simple and rational they became later. Good-bye, Miss Randell. Rest now, knowing that some of you lives on in many of us and is being passed on to the next generation.

Barbara E. Boley
Class of '70, VBHS
Keosauqua, Iowa.

Source: "Scrapbook 1991 - 1992", Pg. 25,
Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, Van Buren Co., IA