Individual Details
(Dec 9, 1903 - Feb 4, 1976)
(From the text by Paddy McCullough) My Mother was born Anna Helen Hal ek on December 9.1903 in Belleville, Kansas to Mr. & Mrs. A. J. Halek . Mother was one of four Sisters and one brother. Since I have no reco llection of the brother I would think that he must have died early i n life. Mother was a great cook. As mentioned she could take the simp lest staples and turn them into great tasting food. I remember her ta king a piece of round steak and using a meat cleaver to break the gris tle and make it edible. One always knew when it was Saturday noon sinc e that meal was fried potatoes and gravy. Mother would always save th e grease from bacon or sausage to be used in frying food and that is w hat made those potatoes and gravy so tasty. Whenever we had chicken, t he different cuts were always given to the same family member. For yea rs I had no idea that there were other parts to a chicken other than t he two wings. Ironic as it may be, I still believe that the wing is a s good tasting as any piece. Mother's kitchen always had a good smel l about it, same as grandmother Halek's. Whatever one took on their p late the rule of the house is that you ate it even if it took till th e next meal. Mother always reminded us that if we tried to leave anyth ing on our plate we had to remember the poor starving children in Euro pe. This stemmed from her heritage and the fact that during World Wa r II there were many children in Europe who had little if any food t o eat. The impressions of the misery, starving and human suffering o f the American people during the great depression and the European peo ple during World War II was deeply ingrained in the memory of most peo ple living through those mid to late 30's and the early to mid 40's . Back in the late 30's there was a group of men that were called hob o's who had no permanent residence and traveled around the country b y hopping trains from place to place. When they hit Hereford they woul d come to our kitchen door and ask Mother for a bite to eat. I don't b elieve Mother ever turned down a single request. They must have had so me kind of communication line that would rival today's e-mail routin g their cohorts to the best food in each and every town. Papa would a lways give us kids a quarter or so to buy Mother something for Christm as. Two items I gave Mother I remember well. One was a small, and I m ean small cast iron skillet. It probably was filled to capacity with o ne small egg. Mother kept that skillet till she died and I now have th at skillet. The other item I remember was a cut glass butter dish wit h a lid that cost me a quarter. On my way back from the store to sho w Papa what a great gift I had for Mother I dropped the package breaki ng the base. I didn't know what I was going to do since I didn't kno w how I was going to get more money. My tears must have broken Papa he art as he gave me another quarter allowing me to purchase another butt er dish and cover. I was so proud when Mother opened her gift from m e as I told her it was very special since it was a butter dish with tw o lids. Papa never shopped too early for Mother's gift. As he entere d the house from work on Christmas eve he would drop Mother's gift i n the spirea bush at the front door making Mother believe that he ha d failed to remember that it was Christmas forgetting to get Mothe r a gift. In the late 30's Mother taught shorthand and bookkeeping ar ound a pedestal table in the dinning room. I would ride my tricycle ar ound the table as Mother taught her students and recall one of Mother' s commandments to her students "debit what you receive and credit wha t you part with". Many of Mother's students became accountants and CPA 's in the Hereford area and it was nice to have them tell us in late r years that their start began through the efforts and concerns of Mot her. More often than not Mother's income came in the form of chickens , eggs, potatoes, hand grafted items, etc. rather than cash. Most of t he time we ate pretty good though not fancy. Mother's heritage meant t hat she could take average staples and convert them into a feast. Dur ing this time Papa was a mechanic for Richard Ireland and Ezra Norto n and was paid a part of labor charged on a repair. It was not uncommo n for Mother to go down to the garage on Saturday afternoon to get Pap a's pay for the week to buy groceries. One time I remember that Papa h ad not had any jobs during the week that he was paid for so when mothe r came to town she was unable to grocery shopping. Later on that Satur day afternoon Papa did get a job, which he completed and Mother was ab le to buy groceries for the next week although it was late that Saturd ay night. Class of 1921 Fairbury High School Class Motto: "Grit Win s and Polishes." Class Colors: Green and Gold Class Flower: Ophelia Ro se Graduates Harold E. Axtell Blanche E. Belfield Opal Evelyn Blair E thel A. Brenn Mabel A. Brenn Fred C. Busing Charlotte Marie Burkhart L eslie R. Cameron Bertha M. Chasdek Lois L. Cleland Milton G. Coffman H elen Cowles George Croisant Mildred Avis Dill Catherine Diller France s B. Distel V. Faye Emrick Wilbur R. Ewers Ida Erma Feber Pauline Haze l Flexner Chrystabel B. Flower Frances Estelle Frederick Anna Helen Ha lek Corinne Hall Lawrence Hanson E. Viola Hathaway A. Margaret Hathawa y Irene Beatrice Holmes Arthur J. Holland Clara Hazel Hughes Carson E . Hunt Leon H. Jarchow Grace H. Jones Gordon W. Jones Helen Jones Pear l May Kemmer May Elizabeth Knape Tom B. Kinnamon Grant Koontz Anna L . Kral George L. Lott Inez Leonore McGehee Charles McLean Gladis M. Mi ller Alfred M. Morford Leonard P. Murphy Thelma Helen Nelson Walte r F Nelson Vernon E. Newton Jessie May Palmer Reuben B. Powell Floyd A . Robinson Edna Lyle Rogers Lola B. Rohrbaugh Lillian R. Sandman Cora l Hazel Seidler Mary Elizabeth Shea Lucy Eleanor Smalldon Helen May Sm ith Alvin W. Snyder Hilda D. Springmier Susan Virgin Taylor J. Eli Up p Fern G. Ward Virginia E. Ward Paulina M. Weisel Homer R. Zabel
Events
| Birth | Dec 9, 1903 | Bellville, KS | | | |
| Marriage | May 9, 1924 | Cordell, Washita, Oklahoma, USA - Ralph Murphy McCullough | | | |
| Death | Feb 4, 1976 | Hereford, TX | | | |
Families
