Recipes for Living Don and Evelyn Wooge

After living in parsonages while Don served as a United Methodist pastor throughout Iowa, Don and Evelyn established their permanent home in Osceola when he retired in 1993. Evelyn had grown up in southern Iowa and her mother, Helen Williams, was in a nursing home here.

Evelyn's parents were Kermit and Helen Williams. Kermit was born in Mercer County, Missouri. He graduated from high school in Lineville, Iowa; farmed for several years and then continued his education, earning a teaching certificate. The family cherishes a rare Gibson Hawaiian guitar which he played with Archie Pickering of Leon for a period of time on a radio station in St. Joseph, Missouri, and often played in church.

Helen's parents were Eva and Rev. George Lamb of Leon, Iowa. Her father served the Assembly of God church there for 50 years before his death in 1965. The church was the center of Helen's social life, and she often sang and played for services. When she and Kermit met, Helen was considered too young to date, but one night after church Kermit asked her mother if he could walk her home and she gave her permission. The relationship grew and they were married on September 6, 1931. It was important to them that they be married on a Sunday, so they waited until after midnight and were married in the wee hours of the morning in Helen's home. Her father performed the ceremony.

There were five children born to this union-Arnan in 1932, Evelyn in 1933, Lyla Gene in 1939, Karen in 1941, and Dale in 1952. Dale died in 1967 from a disease known as aplastic anemia and Aman died in an accident while flying an ultra light plane in 1991.

At the time of Evelyn's birth, the family lived in a small house with a tin roof along Caleb Creek in Decatur County. Kermit, being a jack-of-all-trades, in addition to teaching, moved the family to Lineville, where he had a shoe repair shop and tuned pianos in 1935. One summer Kermit and Helen went to Minnesota where they worked on a potato farm while Evelyn and Aman stayed with Helen's parents. Kermit worked for Stewarts' Furniture and Funeral Home in Leon for some time. They were living in Leon when Lyla Gene was born and in 1940 Kermit opened the Williams and Lamb Furniture Store and Upholstery Shop with Helen's father on the south side of the square in Osceola. The store was located in the east side of what is now known as the Shoes 'N Shirts store.

After Karen was born, Kermit's father gave him a farm in Decatur County, west of Lineville, so the family moved there in the spring of 1942. Having been married at 16 years of age, Helen had to be taught many aspects of being a farm wife. Times were hard and during the war she suffered from malnutrition for lack of enough proper food. Kermit's mother, Iva, taught her basics like how to cut up a chicken, sew items of clothing from feed sacks, and can vegetables.

Evelyn grew up knowing what it means to work hard and live without modem conveniences. That included carrying water from the well 75 feet from the house for drinking and cooking, and pumping water from a cistern for laundry and cleaning. The house was heated by a round, wood-burning stove in the living room and a wood burning cook stove in the kitchen. At first Kermit farmed with a team of horses. Later he used an old Farmall F-20 tractor that belonged to his father. Evelyn remembers seeing her father walk behind a horse-drawn plow.

But the hard work and scarcity of money had some positive effects, producing a sense of appreciation often lacking in the affluent. Evelyn recalls the fun of playing and swimming at Rock Riffle, where the Weldon River, running through their farm, had several waterfalls and lots of white sand. They used the sand to create a sand pile near the house, and during the summer the girls often washed their hair under the falls.

Kermit's parents met their deaths when they were struck by a train at a crossing near Allerton, Iowa, in the spring of 1952, just four months before Dale was born. Kermit had taught in several country schools and in 1956, he enrolled in Southern Missouri State in order to continue his teaching career. He taught high school art in Warsaw, Missouri, and later moved to New Virginia, Iowa, where he taught art in the Interstate 35 school system until his death. In 1960, the family had moved to 710 South Fillmore in Osceola.

As grandchildren came along, they loved visiting their grandparents in the big house. Kermit liked doing religious chalk awings, playing the guitar and banjo; and he used a violin bow to play an ordinary carpenters' saw. When the Smyrna Friends Church was without a pastor, Kermit conducted funerals and weddings and filled in on Sunday mornings. He also served the Broadhorn Church northwest of New Virginia and was serving both at the time of his death, the result of a sudden heart infarction September 25, 1972.

Many of the traits and talents of her parents are evident in Evelyn's life and have benefitted the communities and congregations in which she has been active. She met Don Wooge in church in the early 1960's, and they were married on July 14, 1965.

Don was born to Lester and Jeanetta Wooge in Des Moines on January 28, 1929. He received his education in the Des Moines school system, graduating from North High School in 1946. His outstanding characteristics were evident as he earned the Eagle Scout award in 1945 and Explorer Ranger in 1946. The traits required for those honors came to the attention of Bishop Gerald Ensley, who was elected to the Methodist episcopacy in 1952. He encouraged Don to consider the ministry.

Don graduated from Drake University in 1950, and from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, in 1955. He became a Deacon of the Methodist Church in 1954, and was ordained as Elder in June 1955.

When Don and Evelyn married, their blended family consisted of Evelyn's son, Daniel, Don's son, Mark, and two daughters, Joan and Linda. Two daughters were later adopted-Peggy in 1967 and Jacki in 1969. They lived in Muscatine when Jacki came to live with them. Don was serving a three-point charge at the time and they only had one car. Since Don had to leave early on Sunday mornings, family members had to rely on other means to get to church. Wayne and Gladys Mittman owned a station wagon and had four children of their own but offered to take Evelyn, the two babies and two teenagers to church with them. It was a good thing seat belts and car seats weren't required in those days.

Evelyn was active through art and music and taught many classes in the art of Tole and Canvas painting. She was a member of the Sweet Adeline singing group when they won the regional championship in 1969. She played hand bells in several different choirs and often played solos for weddings and special occasions.

The four older children had left the nest when they moved to Mechanicsville in 1974. While living there, a young pregnant girl came to their door one night and said she had been told that they took care of people like her. They never learned where she got her information but they contacted the authorities and ended up keeping her for a few days until other arrangements could be made. After visiting with another foster family, Don and Evelyn decided to become foster parents, which resulted in their having over 30 foster children in a period of 15 years, some of whom are still part of the family. The Wooges in the year 2000 have four grandsons and two great-granddaughters.

During his years in the ministry, until he retired in 1993, Don served churches in Carlisle, Lone Tree, Reasnor, Malcom, Carson, Brandon, Muscatine, Mechanicsville, Peterson, New Hampton and New London. He loved being a pastor and was very devoted to the church and its people. Don also loved his Coffee Shop ministry where he made many friends and was told by people of different faiths that he was the best friend they ever had. He was always willing to listen and discuss any subject without anger or prejudice. Evelyn says that in all their years of marriage, she has never once seen him angry or lose his temper.

Among his interests was the Civil War. He has an extensive collection of artifacts and many, many books, which have been given to Evelyn's son. Don often displayed them when he was invited to speak to history classes.

In the fall of 1999, Evelyn began a new venture. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but decided to find a cure through an alternative method that included prayer, meditation, natural supplements, and diet.

When Don's health began to fail, Evelyn cared for him in their home; but finally he needed more care than she could give and, in September, 1999 she was forced to place him in the Osceola Nursing and Rehab Center, where her mother also lived until her death in December, 1999.

Don and Evelyn are both members of the Osceola United Methodist Church. In addition to paying watchful attention to the care of Helen and Don, Evelyn spends time writing family history, making quilts, and working with crafts.