Individual Details
Reathel M. ODUM
(Abt Sep 1908 - 6 Jun 2006)
Chicago Tribune (IL) - July 27, 2006
Deceased Name: Reathel Odum: 1908 - 2006
Longtime secretary to Harry and Bess Truman
Reathel Odum, a bank clerk who was chosen by Sen. Harry Truman duringthe Depression to be one of his secretaries and later served in theWhite House as personal secretary to Bess Truman, died in herhometown, Benton, Ill., on June 6. She was 97.
Ms. Odum's nephew, Richard Odum Hart, said news of her death was notreleased for several weeks.
In 17 years with the Trumans, Ms. Odum became close to the family.
"People have urged me to write a book and I said no," she said in a1988 oral history. "I don't know anything that would be tantalizing orgossipy."
Ms. Odum's oral history provides glimpses of Truman and his family,including how much he missed Bess Truman when the first lady went hometo Independence in the summer.
"He'd put his head in the office door and say, 'Is there any mail fromthe Boss? If there isn't, I'm going to fire every one of you,"' Ms.Odum recalled. "That was a standing joke."
Asked about Bess Truman's role as first lady, Ms. Odum said, "Aftermeeting so many people and shaking their hands at receptions, shewould go to her room and soak her hand in paraffin."
She graduated from high school in Benton in 1926 and soon got a job ata local bank. One day 10 years later, Truman walked into a bank in St.Louis where Ms. Odum was working and told its president, a friend,that he needed a secretary. The bank president recommended her. "I wasscared to death," she recalled. "I had never talked to a senatorbefore."
Ms. Odum arrived at Truman's Senate office in Washington in October1936 and worked there until 1945. Truman became vice president in1945; less than three months later, President Franklin Roosevelt wasdead. On his first full day as president, Truman asked Ms. Odum to beBess Truman's personal secretary.
Ms. Odum's White House service ended when Truman left office in 1953.
Chicago Tribune (IL)
Date: July 27, 2006
Edition: Chicago Final
Page: 9
Record Number: CTR0607270219
Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune Company. All rights reserved.
Deceased Name: Reathel Odum: 1908 - 2006
Longtime secretary to Harry and Bess Truman
Reathel Odum, a bank clerk who was chosen by Sen. Harry Truman duringthe Depression to be one of his secretaries and later served in theWhite House as personal secretary to Bess Truman, died in herhometown, Benton, Ill., on June 6. She was 97.
Ms. Odum's nephew, Richard Odum Hart, said news of her death was notreleased for several weeks.
In 17 years with the Trumans, Ms. Odum became close to the family.
"People have urged me to write a book and I said no," she said in a1988 oral history. "I don't know anything that would be tantalizing orgossipy."
Ms. Odum's oral history provides glimpses of Truman and his family,including how much he missed Bess Truman when the first lady went hometo Independence in the summer.
"He'd put his head in the office door and say, 'Is there any mail fromthe Boss? If there isn't, I'm going to fire every one of you,"' Ms.Odum recalled. "That was a standing joke."
Asked about Bess Truman's role as first lady, Ms. Odum said, "Aftermeeting so many people and shaking their hands at receptions, shewould go to her room and soak her hand in paraffin."
She graduated from high school in Benton in 1926 and soon got a job ata local bank. One day 10 years later, Truman walked into a bank in St.Louis where Ms. Odum was working and told its president, a friend,that he needed a secretary. The bank president recommended her. "I wasscared to death," she recalled. "I had never talked to a senatorbefore."
Ms. Odum arrived at Truman's Senate office in Washington in October1936 and worked there until 1945. Truman became vice president in1945; less than three months later, President Franklin Roosevelt wasdead. On his first full day as president, Truman asked Ms. Odum to beBess Truman's personal secretary.
Ms. Odum's White House service ended when Truman left office in 1953.
Chicago Tribune (IL)
Date: July 27, 2006
Edition: Chicago Final
Page: 9
Record Number: CTR0607270219
Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune Company. All rights reserved.
Events
| Birth | Abt Sep 1908 | Illinois | |||
| Census | 15 Apr 1910 | Benton Ward 1, Franklin Co., IL, ED 28 Sh 10B; Reathel [sic] M. Odum, daughter, 1-6/12 (Sep 1908) born IL both parents born IL. | |||
| Census | 1 Jan 1920 | Benton Ward 4, Franklin Co., IL, ED 27 Sh 25B; Reathel Odum, daughter, 11 (1908), born IL both parents born IL. | |||
| Census | 1 Apr 1930 | Benton Ward 4, Franklin Co., IL, ED 5 Sh 8A; Reathel Odum, daughter, 21 (1908-09), single, born IL both parents born IL. | |||
| Death | 6 Jun 2006 | Benton, Franklin Co., IL | |||
| Reference No | 7377 |
Families
| Father | Thomas Britton ODUM (1874 - 1910) |
| Mother | Myrtie POWELL (1876 - 1930) |
| Sibling | Orville Thomas ODUM (1898 - 1986) |
| Sibling | Pauline J. ODUM (1901 - 1920) |
| Sibling | William T. Kenneth ODUM (1903 - 1930) |
| Sibling | Clarence B. ODUM (1905 - 1930) |