Recipes for Living Dan, Tonya and Elise Obermire

Regrettably, the Obermire family's story is being written as they are preparing to leave Osceola. What a blessing they have been to the community and the church - Dan as a teacher in the elementary school system and coach of junior high volleyball and baseball, Tonya as dental hygienist and talented musician. They will be returning to Oskaloosa, where Dan has accepted a teaching position. It is where he had lived since 5th grade and where his parents still live in rural Oskaloosa or “Osky as they refer to it. Tonya also lived there after completing her education, so they are returning "home."

Dan's parents are Joe and Marilyn Obermire. Joe grew up in Nebraska and Marilyn in Leighton, Iowa. They love to tell that they met at the Mental Health Institute in Independence, quickly explaining that they were employees rather than inmates. Joe was a physician's assistant; Marilyn was taking nurses' training. Shortly after they were engaged and married, Marilyn accompanied Joe when he served in the Army and was stationed in Germany. Doubting that they would be able to have children, they found two-year-old Michael in a German orphanage and arranged to adopt him. When Joe returned to the States and was stationed on the east coast, he and Marilyn adopted Susan. Suddenly, two years later, in 1970, Dan came along!

The family lived in Texas while Joe was stationed there, but Dan remembers best the years when his father was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where Dan grew up as an "Army brat." After Joe was discharged, they moved to the family farm near Leighton, Iowa, where Marilyn had grown up.

Dan's schooling was in Oskaloosa. After graduation from high school he furthered his education with two tri-mesters in the community college in Ottumwa. Many of Dan's friends had left the area to attend college and he decided to see the east coast, which had always interested him. Because of his love for children, he became a nanny for a 10-year-old boy whose parents commuted to New York to work. Dan got the boy up and ready for school, cooked the family's supper, did the washing, etc. He was also able to take community college classes in New Jersey. It left his weekends free and he attempted to become acquainted with other nannies. They were all women and when he tried calling them to strike up an acquaintance, they thought he was some kind of freak and promptly hung up the phone. Dan did, however, find several friends with whom he could go sightseeing in the Washington, D.C. area, go to Broadway shows, and do typical New York things. Several became close friends with whom Dad still keeps in touch.

Dan returned to Oskaloosa and earned his degree in elementary education at William Penn College. Although he didn't have a regular teaching job, he substituted in the school systems of Knoxville, Eddyville/Blakesburg, and Oskaloosa. He also ran the after-school program at the YMCA.

Tonya grew up in northern Iowa in rural Rockford, a town of 800, located between Mason City and Charles City. Her parents are Don and Carolyn Ewen. She has a sister, Jessie, two years younger than she, and a brother, Cole, who is 13- a "reversal of modern medicine, an act of God." Being 13 years younger than Tonya, Cole started kindergarten when Tonya started college. Both Tonya's parents had grown up on farms and Carolyn's parents continued farming until they retired. Tonya's grandfather passed away when Tonya was two and her grandmother is now in a nursing home. Her father works in a grain elevator; her mother is a nurse in Mercy Hospital in Mason City.

Being raised in a small town had some distinct advantages, in her opinion. In a town of that size everybody knows everybody and they all nurture one another. Tonya received her schooling in the consolidated system, RRMR (Rudd, Rockford, Marble Rock). There were 45 to 50 students in her class, many of them going all the way from kindergarten through high school together. Her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Schumburg, was also her third grade teacher and left a memorable impression on her. She knew that Tonya liked to sing and encouraged her to keep using her talents. When Tonya was in college, Mrs. Schumburg sent her a photo and Tonya was impressed that she cared enough to stay in touch. Mrs. Schumburg attended the same church as Tonya and her family, so it isn't surprising that when Dan and Tonya recently went back for Cole's confirmation, she saw Mrs. Schumburg again.

Of course, Tonya admits that anybody that taught music became a favorite teacher. She particularly remembers Mrs. Lawson and a time when they were getting ready for a music concert. Tonya always sang out and was admittedly the loudest singer. Someone made a comment about that which hurt her feelings. Tonya had gone home sick the day of the concert and Mrs. Lawson called to see how she was feeling and expressed her hope that Tonya would be able to sing that night. It made Tonya feel really good.

Another teacher was Mrs. Willman, who taught 4th grade vocal music. What was outstanding about her was that she encouraged her students to do things outside the school setting, like singing for senior citizens' get-togethers and other events for which Mrs. Willman was the accompanist. Mrs. Willman also became Tonya's high school band instructor. She demanded a lot of commitment and that her students do their very best. She had a daughter in the same grade as Tonya. Even now when they run onto each other, her former teacher always has a hug for her.

After graduating from high school, Tanya enrolled immediately in the dental hygiene program at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. It was a difficult course that amounted to three years of work crammed into two. The timing, however, was fortunate because presently there is nowhere in Iowa that a two-year program is available without a waiting list.

Tonya considered going back to northern Iowa but instead sent applications elsewhere and in June, 1994, she was offered a position in the family dental practice of Dr. Rohloff in Oskaloosa. Tonya moved to the community knowing no one, but she was aware that in southern Iowa lots of activity centers in the church, where she already felt at home. It wasn't long before she was singing in the choir and helping with youth activities at Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa.

It was carrying on the tradition of her family, who had been active in the United Methodist Church in Rockford where Tonya had been baptized by Rev. Carroll Robinson. Rev. Robinson was followed by Rev. William Green. Tonya was confirmed by Rev. Robert Shreve, who helped her father get into a recovery program for alcoholics. Rev. Shirley Meendering served a period of time in Rockford and later died of cancer. Rev. Rosemary Rohde-Frank was the pastor at the Rockford United Methodist Church from 1994 to 2000 and will be district superintendent for the Ottumwa district, of which Oskaloosa is a part.

The fact that Dan was substituting in the school system and not employed fulltime, allowed him to be involved in church activities. It was in their association with the church that Tonya met Dan, who was the youth leader. Because she had free time she offered to chaperone and car pool for youth events. When summer came, Dan became a coach for Little League and Tonya went along to 'keep the score book. The two of them considered that they were just good friends but people in the church assumed they were dating. They eventually decided to make the rumors come true.

Dan and Tonya met in 1995, and in the fall of 1996, Dan took the job of teaching a division of fifth grade in the Clarke Elementary school. They became engaged and were married in Oskaloosa in November 1997, by Rev. Lanny Tuttle. It was a lovely candlelight evening wedding. Their families were there, the choir sang- there was lots of music. At the close they used sparklers instead of rice or bird seed. Dan was a little concerned as he considered the possibilities with Tonya's young brother passing out the sparklers, but it went without a mishap.

The couple moved to Indianola where Tonya worked with Dr. Meyer and to Osceola in the fall of 1998. Tonya commutes to work in West Des Moines four days a week and one day is in the satellite office in Osceola. With her varied sites and hours she meets herself coming and going. Looking back and realizing that she has been spending six hours a week in the car and in traffic, she looks forward to living and working in the same town, especially now that she is a mom.

Any reader who knows us knows that they can ignore all they have just read because it was simply a prelude to my coming. In January 1999, I gave signs that they could expect me. They were excited and Mommy even enjoyed the pregnancy with all the planning and buying things I would need. They chose not to find out if it would be a boy or girl but they seem really happy that I am a girl.

Some people wonder about their sanity because they decided to have puppies at the same time - on purpose. They had Katie, their yellow Labrador Retriever, bred. There were lots of hormones running around the house at that time! The puppies were born on my due date, September 22 - eight of them! The announcements of my arrival were ready to be sent saying that two feet had been added to the house; now there were actually 34. With the announcements already hand stamped, they decided to let them go as they were, letting everyone know that I arrived September 16, 1999.

Everyone thinks I am pretty special. They named me Elise Lynann after my mother's mother, Carolyn Ann, and Daddy's mother, Marilyn Ann. I have been a very good baby. I have slept well from the start and Mommy was able to nurse me until I was 4 1/2 months old. Then she changed to bottles because I became very hungry. I am getting ready to talk now and my grandmothers think I am the noisiest baby they ever heard. I don't think that is so surprising. Both Daddy and Mommy like to talk. But I find it a little confusing because Daddy keeps saying, "DaDa" to me and Mommy says, ''No, it is MaMa." When I really want attention, I bark. I wonder where I get that.

On November 14, 1999, I was taken to the Osceola United Methodist church to be baptized by Rev. Jim Louk.

I have made a lot of difference in Mom and Dad's lives. When they move back to Oskaloosa, Daddy has already told Mommy that she is to learn to say "no" to things she is asked to do at church. When they were there years ago she had been on the committee to help serve receptions, she helped teach three- and four-year-olds in Sunday School, and music for three-, four-, and five-year-olds. She was in the chancel choir and bell choir. She was on the worship committee and helped with the youth program. That was kind of interesting because they had an after-school program. Church people would pick up kids at school and bring them to church for an evening that included time for study, activities, and music. At 6:00 they had dinner and lots
of people came for that. Mommy and Daddy were Table Parents. The younger children were taken home and the junior and senior high stayed until about 8:00.

Mommy says she has no plans except to sing in the choir. She will wait to teach Sunday school until I am ready to go. They want to be free so that we can go to see my grandparents as often as they want. Mommy says she is going to do things with me as I am ready to do them. She doesn't realize that she might not be able to keep up because I am changing minute to minute. I am ready to begin crawling now and I like to throw things out of my toy box. It will be fun when they are packing because I might be able to unpack as quickly as they pack.

I know that I am lucky to have Dad and Mom for my parents. Daddy loves children, and he loves teaching, particularly the ages in fifth and sixth grade. He will teach sixth grade when we go to Oskaloosa. He remembers when he was that age and the best stories of his life were then. Even now he reads the books that those students read, and watches the same TV programs. He thinks that that age is the best in life and wants to make it the best for the kids whether they are in school or just with their friends.

They hope they can keep things on track for me. They would like me to enjoy singing and to love the church, God, and Jesus as much as they do. We have to go now because we are going home to make edible dirt for Cody Mann's birthday party. Mommy makes it with chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookies, Kool Whip and gummy worms. She will serve it in a plastic sand pail with a shovel. She hasn't said if I will get to have any or not. Maybe not, so I'll just watch. We might all sleep better tonight if I do that!