Recipes for Living Ruth Keller Coyle

My parents, Ray and Ina Keller, lived in Warren County in the New Virginia area. They had eight children. The older boys are now deceased. Howard, Charles, George, and Virgil Thomas, who was known as Tommy. Still living, in the order of our ages, is Marie Smith of Humeston, myself, Lucy Kent, and Max Keller, both from Woodburn. We nearly lost Lucy a few years ago. She had a light heart attack, contracted staph infection and later had a stroke. She is at home, walks with a walker, and if they are to be gone for awhile, she uses a wheel chair.

There are certain things that are part of growing up on a farm. We didn't go to town often, so we were our own family unit. We played together and the older ones helped the younger ones. But playing didn't come first. We didn't have to be reminded that there was a lot of work to be done. The minute we got home from school we had to change clothes and do our chores, which included carrying wood, collecting eggs, helping in the garden, picking berries, cherries, and gooseberries. What I particularly remember was that there were snakes around, and I hated those, but that didn't excuse me from doing my jobs.

If there was time after our chores were done, we could play. Lucy wanted to stay inside, I wanted to be outdoors. I loved to climb trees. I remember that one day I climbed on a lumber wagon as high as I could go. I planned to take hold of a nearby tree limb and swing up into the tree, but the limb gave way and I fell. I was lucky not to have broken something.

On a day when we stayed indoors, Mother and Dad had gone to town to get baby chicks. I'm not sure how old Lucy and I were, but not very old. We decided that we would make a pie crust. We got a huge bowl and began putting in the ingredients. We put in too much lard and had to keep adding more flour. I told Lucy we had to put in some salt, so we did. We didn't know how much of anything we should use, but suddenly we realized the folks would soon be coming home. We had to get rid of our "creation," so we took it out and fed it to the chickens. It's a wonder it didn't kill them. But we got everything cleaned up in time, and it is possible that the folks never knew we did it. I don't remember what happened.

All us kids attended country school. I went there until fourth grade. I was particularly good in arithmetic and spelling, and received some nice certificates for those. After fourth grade I went to New Virginia through the eleventh grade. Buelah Hart was one of my teachers. I also remember Ruth Leachman and Dr. Lundly in New Virginia. Miss Smith taught Home Economics, and she was a peach. I really learned to sew, and that was of use to me later in my life.

Harry and Minnie Funston were our neighbors and they sometimes took me to Osceola with them. One of our stops was Windrath Drug Store, forerunner to Osceola Drug. One day Sam Windrath asked Minnie who the young lady was with her. She told him, and he said, "Why don't you have her come talk to me? I might like to hire her." I went in and got the job. That was in 1944.

I had never been away from home much before that, but I had an aunt that looked in on me. I took an apartment and became an employee. Others who worked there were Helen Kelly, who married Bill Webster; Nelda Horton, who married Gerald Edwards; Helen Kite, who went into the Navy after she finished working there, and two of Daisy McQuern's daughters-Madge and Janie. It was a thriving business. We worked in two shifts. The store stayed open until 10:00 p.m., but cleaning up took until 11:00. That was the shift I usually worked, and those who worked the late shift came in later in the morning.

Ice cream malts were very popular, and Sam Windrath had a reputation throughout Iowa for malt-making. There was evidently a contest, and one day Sam received a letter that he was about to throw away when his wife persuaded him to open it. He had been given an award that included a check.

I didn't meet Cliff until he came home from the service. It happened one day when Sam said, "I want you to watch me when I stand at this table.” I asked him why and it turned out that he had someone he wanted to introduce me to. I did watch him and he gave me a special look" when he went to the particular table. That was how and when I met Cliff. He had been in the service and came home July 14, 1945.

Cliff was born at Emerson, Iowa, near Red Oak, on June 19, 1917. His sister, Jeannette Coyle Wetzler's story is also in this book, and she has told about their family and schooling. He graduated from high school in 1936, and was employed in Dell Hutchings' Mobil gas station until he entered the service. (The names of Dell and Vivian Hutchings are familiar to older congregation members of the Osceola United Methodist Church. After operating the filling station, they had the Gamble Store franchise on the east side of the square. Dell is deceased and Vivian is in the long term care unit of Clarke County Hospital as of this writing in 2002.)

In April 1941, Cliff volunteered for a year of training and became a member of the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th "Red Bull" Division. He was standing at the gate to catch a bus which would take him to Alexandria, Louisiana, where he would catch a train to return home, when news of "the attack came down from above." In those days the ''attack" would have been as significant as in these days 9/11 is all that needs to be said. It referred to December 7, 1941 when the attack was made on Pearl Harbor. "They cancelled our leaves and I didn't get home until July of 1945." The first elements of the 133rd sailed for Ireland in January 1942. He served for 52 months, 42 of which were overseas in Ireland, Africa, and Italy. The Red Bull Division was the first American Division in the European Theater. By the end of the war, it had the most front-line time of any American unit-over 500 days of combat.

Cliff kept his family informed as well as he could, and his father, Ode Coyle, took his letters to the Osceola Sentinel. J. M. Grimes and F. L. Abbott were the editors at that time, and they printed the letters. Following Pearl Harbor, the division moved out to Fort Dix, New Jersey. "Fort Dix was probably one of the coldest spots I've ever been in all my life. I had guard along that ocean front-never could get enough clothes on."

A letter was received from "somewhere in Ireland," which included clippings that told stories about the American troops and camp life. An officer was quoted, "The morale is just as high as it could be." When he was asked if the men were "anxious to have a crack at Hitler, he answered, 'Hell, yes. These boys want to get this thing over so they can get back home."'

A letter dated January 14, 1943 says that Cliff was in North Africa for Christmas. It was a Christmas he would never forget. They were on the high seas at the time. The days were warm and the nights ice cold. They picked oranges and tangerines from the trees. They found the French people friendly. They invited the servicemen into their homes. ·

The following was in the same paper, April 8, 1943: "This is indeed a new army! The old, days of a wide gulf between officers and men are apparently gone forever. Proof of this is in a letter recently received by Ode Coyle from Lt. Col. Bruno G. Marchi, commander of the battalion in which Cliff Coyle is serving. The letter says: 'Please don't be too surprised on receiving this letter. I felt you would like to know something about your son. I know the opening of the African front probably has worried you. Please don’t worry. He is well and getting along fine. Talked to him today and he is as happy as any of us can be when away from home.

There was an article about the Fifth Army in Italy that mentions, in addition to Cliff, Sgt. Donald W. Rinner of Murray and Cpl. Warnie B. Neal of New Virginia. At that time the Red Bull Division had "piled up more hours in actual combat than many American Divisions have time overseas. The veteran Fifth Army regiment first blazed its guns at a cocky enemy in the Boney mountain ranges of Tunisia and defeated the Krauts in the famous battle for Hill 609. Backed from Tunisia to the Arno, the defeated-written faces of retreating German troops were still haunted by the Red Bulls who have gored the enemy at Cassino, Anzio, and in crushing drives above Rome.

"With a record of having taken every objective assigned to it, the 133rd has become one of the most decorated units in the Mediterranean Theater. Scattered among the fighting infantrymen of the unit are two Congressional Medals of Honor, 19 Distinguished Service Crosses, 117 Silver Stars for gallantry in action and more than 1500 Purple Heart awards."

In a V-mail letter to his parents, Cliff wrote, "I guess the news correspondent must have sent the award of the combat medal to the local newspaper. I would never have sent it. That didn't mean that much to us. It does give us $10 a month extra, which is the only good thing about it. The boy who went on furlough with me to London while I was there was killed in action. I think I wrote you something about that so won't say any more. We aren't exactly supposed to mention it anyway."

Cliff wrote about a four-day furlough in Rome. "We stayed in a school building built by Mussolini for the training of his young Fascists. Of course it is being used now for a much better purpose. There are numerous statues, three large stadiums, and one of the finest swimming pools I have ever seen anywhere in the world. They were all for our access. The army had movies in each building and the Red Cross was quite helpful in many ways.

The first day I was there I started out to see some of the historical places of interest. I was standing on a street corner looking at a map when a gentleman stopped and asked me in English if he could help me. I told him not in particular. Then he said that his wife was born in Tarkio, Missouri and would like to talk to me. He asked me to come to his home that afternoon. I had nothing to lose, so dropped by. He is a physician and had practiced in the States. We had a very interesting talk. His two young sons went with me to show me the sights. They were quite well posted and did a lot of explaining." He went on to describe the various places, such as the sights around the Vatican, the Palace of Justice, monument of Victor Emanuel II, the Coliseum, Catacombs, and many others.

There were other less pleasant aspects of Italy: "I imagine I walked the length of Italy ten times...There was plenty of sand in Africa and plenty of mud in Italy. When the snow melted in Italy and ran off, it washed the mud down and covered up tanks-a mule couldn't get through it." Cliff told after he came home, that most of the time he went by himself and his messenger duties took him right up to the front lines. A high-ranking officer offered to walk with him and Cliff warned him that even if he had to walk in mud, he must walk in the ditch beside the railroad tracks and not on them. The man refused and was shot by a sniper.

Harris Faher, from Traer, Iowa and Cliff became buddies. They were often in fox-holes together with bullets whizzing over their heads. They realized how close death might be and made a pact that if one survived and the other did not, the survivor would go to see the parents of his friend. Harris was killed and after Cliff and Ruth were married they went to see Harris' mother. She was so pleased to see them. She brought out his billfold. Whatever it was soaked with, it smelled of death.

Cliff had written, "You didn't worry too much about what was going on around the world - you worried about yourself. You worried all the time about whether your time had run out. You didn't have a lot of time for the world's prejudices either - units of distinction made up of Japanese-American volunteers were attached to the 34th. I'd run into them when I was carrying messages. They were wonderful combat people. I reckon they were trying to make a name for themselves. They couldn't have been beat. They were fighting on our side, and they were doing a good job."

In the collection of letters and clippings is one accompanying the award of the bronze star medal. It says, "For meritorious service in combat from 13 April 1944, to July 1, 1944. During this period PFC Coyle demonstrated outstanding services as company messenger for a rifle company. Constantly displaying a remarkable degree of ingenuity, alertness and fortitude, PFC Coyle worked tirelessly to perform the countless dangerous and important missions assigned to him. The fearlessness, dependability, and devotion to duty displayed by PFC Coyle contributed materially to the successes of the Battalion."

Cliff was discharged in July, 1945, when he was 28 years old. He and I dated following the introduction by Sam Windrath, and we were married November 6, 1945. Cliff bought the equipment and ran the Mobil gas station and I stayed home. Gene was born July 12, 1947. Later Cliff left the Mobil station, and in 1958, went to work for Bill Myers in the Ford dealership. When they closed, he went to work for Oliver’s until he retired in 1981. As long as his health lasted, he loved retirement with time to fish and play golf.

I didn't work outside the home until 1960, when I took a job at Snowdons. My first check was $36, and we were paid overtime if we needed to stay longer to get the product delivered. We had an hour at noon, and closed on July 1 each year for a two-week vacation. If one of the ladies had serious surgery, she was given six weeks for recovery.

The Ladies' Garment Union came in and was there for 12 years. At that time we went to a 35- instead of a 40-hour week with overtime for any extra hours. An advantage was that we would get a pension and I lacked six months of getting a pension for full retirement-I worked 19 years, not the full 20. I never complained about any of it. I was just glad to get a check.

I was at Snowdon's until they closed in 1980, and in the course of those years, I did machine work and moved up to floor girl. In machine work we were given a bundle of work to be done, and when we finished, we took off the ticket and turned it in. At the end of the day we could add up our tickets and see how much we had made. Piece workers could speed up and have enough tickets that they did better than those who were working straight hours. When I became a floor girl, I handed out bundles, returned those for repair that didn't pass inspection, and kept track of the ladies' days off. I had 22 women and had to stay alert to keep things going.

Snowdon's closed in the latter part of 1980. In 1981, I went to work at Robinsons in what we called the dry goods department. In those days women sewed and the whole department of sewing supplies was upstairs. We had patterns, yard goods, notions, yarns, crotchet thread, and all other necessary items.

Our first indication that Cliff had a health problem was when he began to lose weight. We discovered that he was severely diabetic. I was taught to do the peritoneal dialysis at home, and we both were so glad that I could do that and keep him there. Cliff was able to do his part with some of the procedure until he had a stroke which paralyzed him on the left side. He died of kidney failure on November 30, 1994.
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We lived at 200 East Fayette. The first years I was alone, I kept busy with lots of yard work and flowers. I painted the outside of the house, all the rooms inside, and two buildings. Gene was concerned about my continuing with that kind of work. In addition to upkeep of his own property, he was feeling partly responsible for mine. I am so lucky to have him living here.

Gene was born on Grandma Coyle's birthday, July 12, 1947. He liked playing ball and golf in particular, but he has no time for that now. He followed in his grandfather's footsteps and became a barber. Sometimes he works from 7:00a.m. to 7:00p.m.

Gene went to Clarke Community School all 12 years and graduated in 1964. He went to barber school in Des Moines for nine months and took his apprenticeship in Iowa Falls and Waukee before he moved to Osceola. His shop is on the north side of the square. He has been there for 31 years.

Gene met Sherry Saultz while he was in training in Iowa Falls. They were married in September 1968. Sherry worked as a waitress and later went to Furnas Electric, then Siemens Energy and Automation, for a total of 25 years.

Gene and Sherry have a daughter, Christine Marie, born October 13, 1971. After graduating from Clarke Community Schools, Christine attended Southwestern Community College in Creston. She worked at HyVee, Dekko, and is now at Osceola Foods. All of us are members of the Osceola United Methodist Church.

I have now sold my home and moved into an apartment on Lake Drive. I do lots of quilting, embroidery, and crossword puzzles. I like to make cinnamon rolls and take them to my neighbors, the Shorts and Hortons. I go out with neighbor girls for coffee just about every day. I walk about two miles a day and enjoy my friends.