Jodene moved to Maloy with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph SCHUSTER, when she was eight-years-old and in the fourth grade. She attended school in Maloy for two years, then moved away for a year. The family returned to Maloy and Jodene graduated with the Class of 1943.

Her father worked for the WARINS. Her mother worked in the telephone office and at one time drove a school bus (car).

After graduation, Jodene worked in Des Moines and South Dakota and in 1946, married Elton BROWN from Blockton, Iowa and lived on severl farms in the Cleafield area. They moved to their present [1987] farm north of Clearfield in 1960.

Jodene and Elton recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

The couple has three children. The oldest daughter, Marilyn MALTZAHN, is a beautician and co-owner of a beauty shop in Creston. Her husband Steve is with Office Machines. They have one daughter, Traci, age 16. She competed in the Miss TEEN contest in Cedar Rapids recently.

Their daughter Carolyn NELSON graduated from NWMSU [Northwest Missouri State University] and has taught in Diagonal schools for the past 12 years before switching to Lenox in 1986. Her husband Jim is a farmer and they live in the Clearfield area. He also works with the A.S.C.S. office in Bedford. They have a daughter, Dana, age 17, a senior at Lenox High School. Her junior year was spent as an exchange student in Denmark. Carolyn and Jim also have a son, Danny, age 6 in the first grade at Clearfield.

A son, Jerry BROWN, graduated from John F. Kennedy College in Wahoo, Nebraska where he pitched for the J.F.K. baseball team. He is now engaged in farming with his father in the Clearfield area. His wife Sheila is an RN and works at the Creston hospital. They have two children, a son Brooks age 5, and a daughter Amber, age 3 1/2.

Jodene's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph SCHUSTER, recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversaryand are living in Blockton.

Elton and Jodene like to travel and have visited Hawaii, Spain and Africa. They spend their winters in Las Vegas, Nevada and Arizon. Jodene recalls many pleasant memories about going to Maloy school!

NOTES: Ralph Franklin SCHUSTER, son of Fred and Mary Ellen (THOMPSON) SCHUSTER, was bornin Lyon County, Kansas on December 3, 1903, and died at the age of 83 years August 12, 1987. He married Honey RUSCO at Bedford, Iowa on November 24, 1925. Garwilda Babe "Honey" (RUSCO) SCHUSTER, daughter of John and Hilda ANDERSON RUSCO, was born at Athelstan, Iowa November 21, 1907, and died at the age of 79 years February 28, 1987. They were interred at the Athelstan Cemetery.

Elton Bruce BROWN, son of Allie and Hazel (KING) BROWN, was born near Blockton, Iowa on November 3, 1922, and died at the age of 76 years on August 15, 1999. He was a World War II Veteran, serving in the U.S. Army as an ambulance driver. He was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Blockton, Iowa. He married Jodene SCHUSTER on May 10, 1946.

SOURCE: Maloy, Iowa Centennial History: 1887 - 1987 p. 165.

Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library

Transcription and Notes by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2011