G. Randell: News Articles, 1991

RANDELL

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 4/14/2025 at 15:45:20

1991

Around the Bend
By Mary Ovrom

She was fiercely independent

Grace Randell's funeral was almost two weeks ago, but most of us in effect said good-bye two years ago, when frail health forced her to move from her home into extended care.

Always fiercely independent, she liked being her own boss and although she tried to adjust to another kind of life, it was never the same.

For one thing, Grace, the ultimate teacher, was always in charge, rounding up carloads of friends for coffee, concerts, breakfasts at the county fair--even for trips to Europe.

Her home economic teaching career spanned decades, and she was one of those teachers not always the most popular at the time but who in later years would garner respect from students.

One of our offspring received her only C in her school days from Grace, who cared not a whit for accomplishments in other fields.

If you couldn't sew a straight seam or make a decent white sauce, forget it.

We still chuckle about the time Grace was making one of her famous home visits to a home ec student.

The mother saw her coming, knew her house couldn't pass inspection, so she and her daughter took the only recourse possible. They jumped in their car and spend off so they wouldn't be home when Grace arrived.

Not only that, but they alerted a neighbor, who suddenly vanished as well.

Grace lived across the street from us and we saw a lot of each other. She had a voice which carried and during warm months, most of the neighbors could hear her greetings and pronouncements on various matters.

She loved to entertain members of the Keosauqua High School class of 1923 and related with pride that at graduation time in the Opera House, she volunteered to march with a young black man in the class.

This, of course, was long before enlightened integration came along.

At Christmas time, Grace like to cook and bake and shared her dishes with the neighbors. I'll never forget her scrapple, corn meal mush, Anadam bread and something munchy which she called Puppy Dog Chow.

Her special zeal went to her Methodist Church, where she ran the rummage sales and later the hospitality tables. A friend remarked "It was impossible to say 'no' to Grace when she called up about working the church."

Although she never married, she enjoyed other peoples' children and grandchildren. Any time one of our families was visiting, I knew Grace would be expecting a call.

One time I had the three Virginia granddaughters there, and the youngest, Gracie, who shared her name, is hard to ignore with her flaming red hair.

Later Grace told me she wanted to ask Gracie about that hair, but didn't because she didn't want Mary and Nancy to feel left out.

Our closest relationship of all was our garden.

One year Grace called me over to say she had a trip overseas scheduled right in the middle of vegetable harvest and she wondered if I would be interested in taking over the weeding and the harvesting.

I agreed, and the teacher in her came out, as she outlined explicitly what I was to do -- when and where. It turned out she was right, so I didin't mind.

From then on, we shared gardening and had fun comparing notes and exchanging vegetables and flowers.

She didn't mind bragging a little. "Don't we have the best looking garden?" she'd ask - pointedly to friends not particularly interested in gardening.

Eventually, poor health limited her garden activities to sitting on the ground, planting a few items and encouraging me.

The last year she asked who was going to help me garden, and I told her I expected her to be there as my straw boss, and she did try.

So that's the way I'll remember Grace, and instead of putting flowers on her grave, I think I'll visit someday with a zucchini, or maybe one of the first ripe tomatoes.

Source: "Scrapbook 1991 - 1992", Pg. 24,
Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, Van Buren Co., IA