I, Delores Jean (SCHLAPIA) WARDLOW, am the daughter of Austeen Lee and Bertha Mae SCHLAPIA. My father was the son of William Andrew and Nancy M. (JARMAN) SCHLAPIA and was reared on a farm south of Benton, Iowa. There were seven children in his family: Perry, Wilber, Clifford, Angie, Earl, May, and Austeen.

My mother, Bertha Mae, was the daughter of William Henry and Sarah Elizabeth (OUDERKIRK) FERTIG. She had a sister, Cora Amanda HALL, and a brother James Henry FERTIG.

Austeen Lee was a farm hand for Glen DIXON for many years before moving to Salinas, California, where he worked in a factory for several years.

To this union there were born eight children. Doris Irene SCHLAPIA married Wayne VANDERPLUYM, and they made their home in Salinas, California. They have four children: Garland, Gayland, Gaye Ann, and Gaylord. Roy Emmerson SCHLAPIA and wife, Odessa, live in Oklahoma. Raymond William SCHLAPIA and wife, Shirley, live in Bartlett, Texas, and they have three children: Ronald, Randall, and Karen. Andrew SCHLAPIA died in infancy. Delores Jean SCHLAPIA married Glenn WARDLOW, and they live in Salinas, California. They have three daughters: Vicki Sue, Sherri Lynn, and Lori Jean. Clara Belle SCHLAPIA married Richard FIELD, and they live in Ontario, California. They have four children: Susan, Pamela, Tina, and Jimmy. Luella Mae Rose SCHLAPIA married Donald Smith, and they live at Lake Charles, Louisiana. They have four children: Robert, Cynthia, Brian, and Bruce. Bruce was killed in a car accident in 1984. David Lee SCHLAPIA and wife, Sharon, also live in Salinas, California. They have one son, Danny Lee.

We always live in and near Benton, attending the Benton school, later moving to Salinas, California. My father, mother, and sister, Doris, are now deceased.

SOURCE: 1887 - Benton, Iowa Centennial - 1987. p. 181. Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library, Mount Ayr IA

Transcriptions and notes by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2012

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