Recipes for Living Spencer and Beverly Seeberger Family

I was born in Clinton, Iowa, on November 21, 1950, to Bill and Marie Greene. It was at the time of the Korean conflict and dad was called into Service. He wanted to see his new baby before he left so, as was customary in those days, the doctor gave Mother Castor Oil to hurry the birth. We spent the first year of my life in North Carolina at Camp LeJune. Except for that time, I grew up mostly and spent all my school years in Columbus Junction, Iowa, with three brothers and three sisters: Janet, Jane, John, Joel, Jay, and Joyce. The natural reaction is to wonder how a ''Beverly'' fit in with all the "J's and my brother Joel always asked if I was adopted. It became a standing joke. However, my middle name is Joan.

Family has always been of utmost importance to me and to our entire family. My father was a vocational agriculture instructor at Columbus Community High School, so instead of having entire summers off, as is the case with most teachers, he had just two weeks. Mother was a stay-at-home mom who supplemented the family income by selling eggs and doing baking or making desserts for people.

We took many family trips. Dad always drove a station wagon, and we had a three-room tent with the three boys on one side, the girls on the other, the folks and Joyce in the middle. We did lots of camping throughout eastern Iowa-at Backbone, Geode, and Pike's Peak State Parks; we visited the Little Brown Church at Nashua and other places throughout the state.

Whenever we camped, if we were to be gone on a Sunday, we always took church clothes and would find a church to attend. Part of our motivation for seeking out churches as we traveled, may have been attendance pins. We would bring a note to show the home church that we had visited somewhere. Each year a bar was added to the pin and I have mine in my jewelry box showing that I had 13 years of perfect attendance. I remember coming to Osceola when Rev. George Pennington was the pastor and we went to the old church on the corner of Cass and Main.

One trip I will never forget was when we went to the Smokey Mountains, through Washington D.C. I ran up the 12 stories to the top of the Washington Monument-I took an elevator down-but what I remember most clearly happened the night we spent on Pea Island. It was dark when we arrived and we could hear the ocean just beyond the sand dunes. We set up camp quickly because of the mosquitoes and at some point my parents became aware that Joyce, who was about two, was missing. They looked everywhere and soon the whole camp was calling for her and searching. Joyce was with me in the park's bathroom. I was getting her ready for bed and didn't know they were looking. There were many mixed emotions when we were discovered!

A family tradition I will not forget was the way we spent Christmas Eves. We always went to church and then had our own service at home with Bible reading and singing carols.

All my schooling was in the Columbus Junction area. When I was in kindergarten, our classes were in a room in the public library, rented from the city. When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, one of the school buildings burned so we went to an outlying school, Conesville. It wouldn't have affected all of us but rather than have the family split by going to several schools, we all went to that one for three years. I clearly remember just one teacher-Marlene Griffin, who I had for 6th grade and also for junior high math. She taught us to sing the books of the Bible to help us memorize them. This was done in school, which wouldn’t happen today. She always read to us and I remember her ability to settle arguments when we came in from recess.

I participated in lots of clubs and in chorus in high school. When they needed someone for cymbals in marching band, I volunteered. All I had to do was be sure to hit them at the right time when we played the national anthem. I was on the year-book staff, the girls' basketball team, and in National Honor Society.

Outside of school, I was in the Y-Teens, which was a group of young women who did community projects. Our church youth group was an important part of my life. I went on two of Duane Churchman's work trips-one to Kansas City and one to East St. Louis. These involved kids from all over south central Iowa. We cleaned inner city churches and helped people in their homes. I also attended church camp at Lake Darling near Brighton.

After graduation, I went to Central College at Pella. At that time there was no Methodist Church in Pella. It was a Dutch Reformed and Christian Reformed community. My friends and I found a church within walking distance and went there. We didn't have a car so proximity became an important feature. For that reason, also, I didn't go home for weekends. There were 10 or 12 of us who became very close and we still stay in touch.

I cleaned house for the college registrar, an elderly widow, for spending money. One outstanding event that I will never forget happened during my senior year. That April, 1973, a snowstorm affected lots of plans for lots of people. In the midst of it I needed an emergency appendectomy. Pella didn't have a surgeon at that time, so one had to come from Oskaloosa. He arrived before the storm hit. After my surgery, I didn't see him again for a week. Nurses came by snowmobile because there simply was no other transportation-everything was deadlocked because of the storm.

After my junior and senior years in college, I participated in a church group called VIEW, an acronym for Volunteers in Ecumenical Witness. This was a program, based at the Lake of the Ozarks, initiated by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and headed by two ministers-the United Methodist pastor was Rev. Lee Whiteside, assisted by a Presbyterian pastor out of Jefferson City. Volunteers applied and underwent an orientation period. Housing was provided. About 40 of us were involved in the pro am. We were required to volunteer at least 10 hours a week plus holding down 40-hour weekly jobs at local restaurants, gift shops, boat docks or wherever we could find a job. That part was up to us.

Our volunteer hours went to support the following programs: child care to give parents time without the children, working in the state park two or three hours a week doing arts and crafts, staffing a Christian book store in the Bagnell Dam area, and a 24-hour crisis line service, which people could call if they ran out of gas or needed directions. This was the Vietnam War period, and the BUNKER provided a place for service men for $2 a night. It was needed because lots of motels wouldn't rent to "G I's". VIEW also held church services at different parts of lake. Sometimes people attended in boats. We used guitars for music because there was no piano at the camp grounds.

I worked as a volunteer for two years and went on staff for two years after that. It was a lot of fun doing a job where I met lots of neat people. The Whiteside family provided my home away from home and Lee Whiteside later married Spence and me.

I graduated in May, 1973, with a Physical Education degree. I couldn't find a teaching job so I went back to the Lake of the Ozarks and worked, again, with the VIEW program. In September, 1973, my older sister moved there and we lived together. She started working at Tan Tara as their food and beverage manager and has worked there ever since.

I substitute taught at local schools during the day and worked at a restaurant at night. In the summer of 1974, I interviewed for a job in the local school system, the Eldon schools. I didn't get the job, but six weeks after school started, the lady they hired couldn’t handle it so I replaced her. I taught for two years and found out, in the spring of 1976, that the school needed to hire coaches who would also take a teaching position. I had no tenure, so I was low on the totem pole and knew my contract would not be renewed. During the fall of 1976 and spring of 1977, I again substitute taught and worked at night.

That was my turning point. I knew I needed to find something different. I applied at Scott Community College in Davenport and was accepted into a Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program and started in June of ‘77. Because of classes I had taken in Physical Education, I didn't need to take some that were gene ally required. In the meantime, I kept applying for teaching jobs, and in August of that year I interviewed in Clarke Community School, was hired, and have been here ever since.

The very first people I met in Osceola were Melvin and Alverda Goeldner. I discovered that Alverda was a far distant relative whom I had never met. She and Melvin kind of adopted me. It was perfect! They had no children and I had no one in town. Alverda and I established kind of a mother/daughter relationship. She took me to those banquets and she provided the food, I provided the transportation.
Alverda took me around to find a place to live. We looked at apartments and house trailers and my first home was a trailer out in the country, nine miles east of town, which I rented from Peggy and Mabel Frizzell. It was the "boonies." The gravel ended at the end of my road. By the end of the school year, I decided I was too far out of town and moved to an apartment. During the summers at that time, I began mowing for Melvin, both "The Patch" and their yard. There were no riding lawn mowers and using a mower to take care of the paths of The Patch, up and down hills, was quite a lengthy and strenuous job.

Nothing better portrays one of Melvin's characteristics than he displayed in mowing. He gave instructions as to how to mow and where to mow. At the house, it was important to mow just one half of the alley. It was the neighbor's responsibility to mow the other half. You mowed one mower's width on the east side of the house and had to be careful of special violet plants or the big orange poppies in front of the house. When Ryan became old enough, he mowed Melvin's yard and it became Nathan's job to pick up sticks and put them in special piles. Melvin became less particular as he grew older.

We continued to stay close. Melvin and Alverda were honorary grandparents when Spence and I were married, and I became their conservator until Melvin's death in February, 1997, at the age 98. It was a job but far more than that. That was my chance to give back something of what they had given me when I came to Osceola. The most important part was helping them stay in their home. They did not want to go to a nursing home, even when Alverda was so sick.

Melvin meant an especially lot to Ryan, teaching him a lot about goodness, helping and growing things-how to plant irises, and to trim and tie raspberries. We have some of Melvin's raspberries and irises in our back yard. We have come to know that we would be hard pressed to meet a man like Melvin Goeldner in our lives ever again. That is sad but true. Our family stays in contact with his extended family in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, Texas.

One of first things, when I go to a new community, is to check into a church, where I know I can find people who will care. It has always given me a support community. When you don't have a family near-no parents or grandparents, brothers or sisters-that becomes important. I attended a few times in Woodburn because it was closer, but Osceola, being a larger congregation, had more to offer. In the Osceola church, I met the Bill Short family and discovered that his sister lived across the street from my parents in Columbus Junction. Jane and Larry Christensen were friends of Dad’s sister and husband while Larry worked for Rath Packing Company in Columbus Junction. I joined the choir and the TLC class, which has become very important to me.

Spence was teaching in the Clarke Community school system. He had been in Clarke a year before we started dating in 1978. He was from Mason City, where his parents still live. He has two sisters. He graduated from Mankato State College in Minnesota. Spence had also been raised in the United Methodist Church and we chose to be married in the Osceola United Methodist Church because it was an equal distance from both families-three hours drive for each. We were married June 7, 1980. It is unusual for a pastor from another appointment to conduct ceremonies in other than his own, but Rev. Dick Eis was at Conference. He came to rehearsal dinner and helped set up but the wedding was performed by my good friend, the Rev. Lee Whiteside.

Spence and his dad built the house where we live now. They didn't do the framing but all the inside. At age 29, both he and I were older than is customary for newlyweds, and we wanted children right away. Ryan was born on April 17, 1982, and was in the neo-natal intensive care unit for 10 days. The cord was around his neck so tightly that it had cut off oxygen to his lungs and they had to do surgery to revive him. I stayed in the Ronald McDonald House.

A special visitor was Rev. Dick Eis. Normally they don't allow ministers but they did in his case. I so much appreciated members of the TLC class who brought in meals for several days. Jeanne Chesnut was one who saw how tired I was from all the stress and she took Ryan home for some hours one afternoon. This was particularly sensitive and generous considering that she was caring for Jack, who was just an infant at the time.

It became necessary to terminate a pregnancy at 24 weeks for our son, Casey Joe. An ultrasound in December revealed that he had no bone structure in the portion of the skull covering the brain. He was born but died immediately. He was baptized after birth by the hospital chaplain. An autopsy showed just one kidney and other problems. If he had gone full term, he wouldn't have lived long.

Genetic tests revealed that Spence and I both carry a recessive gene of Meckel Grubel syndrome. We had counseling and were told there was a 25% chance of this happening again with each pregnancy. They encouraged us to think, however, of the 75% chance of it being normal and Ryan was fine.

Again the TLC class responded to our need. They provided a flower arrangement and refreshments following a service performed by Rev. Cliff Haider. Casey was cremated. We have his ashes and some day will put them in a plot in Mason City.

That experience caused us to be cautious when I became pregnant with Nathan. Meckel Gruber can't be detected through testing but there were other tests to see if the baby appeared to be normal. An amniocentesis was done in Iowa City. In the procedure a needle is injected into the abdomen and fluid drawn to determine if the baby has Downs Syndrome. The results showed normal chromosomes and all was well. We also discovered that Nathan was a boy, which we chose to know. He was born March 1, 1986, a 9 pound 10.2 ounces, normal boy with no complications. After each child was born, I took off the rest of school year so I was home five or six months with each child.

Family activities have meant a lot to us. The boys have been in Cub and Boy Scouts for seven years. I talked Spence into being the Cub Master without realizing how much work was involved. He was an Eagle Scout, but we still went for training in Des Moines to learn about Scouting from a different perspective. I was behind the scenes organizing, being called Spence's secretary. He conducted the meetings. Presently Spence is Assistant Scoutmaster for the Boy Scout. Ryan has completed his Eagle project and all 21 required merit badges. He hopes to have his written work and Board of Review in another six months. His Eagle project was building bluebird houses for East Lake Park and kestrel nest boxes for placement on interstate signs.
Nathan aspires to being an Eagle Scout.

Scouting offers an opportunity for the family to do things together, particularly camping. We have taken family camping vacations to South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, and to the Abe Lincoln memorial in Illinois. On that trip we swung back through the Mark Twain area in Missouri and went to Branson. We took a long trip to Florida, through the Smokey Mountains and back through Nashville and Memphis. We sometimes stay in motels but mostly have camped. We have a tent and a camper.

As a family we have gone on RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) which has been a neat family experience and a good way to share a family vacation. We have stayed in homes with families, been exposed to different towns across Iowa, and met other people of our own and different cultures. We've met people from many states and even other countries-Australia and all over.

My family, the Greenes, remain important to me. My brothers and sisters are all married and all have children. Getting together becomes more difficult because they are spread over three states -Texas, Missouri and Iowa. There are now 13 grandchildren and a total of 29 people when all get together. That happened this last Christmas.

Occasionally we attempt to get everyone together in summer but that is good for teachers, not for farmers. Joel and Jay are farmers. Jane and I are teachers. She is a coach at Luther College, in Decorah, Iowa. John is in Texas, the physical plant manager for Trinity University, a small private college in San Antonio. For him, the summertime is when all the buildings need to be rejuvenated. Sister Joyce is superintendent at Wahkonsa Golf Course in Wilton, Iowa, and Janet is the food and beverage manager at Tan Tara, Osage Beach, Missouri. The result is that our times together are rare but important to each one of us.

Ryan was chosen to be an Iowa Ambassador of Music in Europe in July of this year. He will be singing in churches and parks in seven European countries. In August he will be traveling by train to the National Boy Scout Camp Philmont, in New Mexico to backpack for 10 days, a distance of 70 miles. He will experience rock climbing, panning for gold, muzzle loading-a type of shooting-hanging his food in a bear bag and sight seeing. That coincides with the time we had planned a family vacation but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Nathan has attended United Methodist camps since he was in kindergarten, beginning with a day camp at Aldersgate. He has also attended camp at Golden Valley and Wesley Woods. His favorites are ranch camps, which are held at Wesley Woods. He has also done Scout camps since 1st grade. These are sometimes day camps, overnight camps, sometimes with dads and sometimes without dads. Nathan loves them all-he likes to camp! He plays saxophone in a school band and likes all sports. This very morning he went with his brother to weight lifting in order that he can be ready for football this fall.

I am a member of TTT EL, whose main objective is to send young girls to camp. My church activities have been serving on Trustees, Missions Work Area, Administrative Council, working at Vacation Bible School, attending TLC Sunday School Class, providing a pie a month and a gooseberry pie for the church auction each fall. The purchaser of the gooseberry pie, for $50, is already identified-Russ Froyd. He and Gene and I joined the Osceola United Methodist Church the very same day.

Spence and I have just celebrated our 18th anniversary. I found a note in the mailbox from Oral and Lois Eddy, telling us that they wanted to take us to dinner to celebrate. They have been the kind of neighbors and friends who have always been there when we needed them - and there have been times when we have had emergencies and needed them desperately. In addition to their interest in and involvement with their own large family, they attend Ryan’s and Nathan's activities. They are like another set of grandparents and we appreciate them very much.