Chapter 11 - 5614 Michigan Avenue

By late summer of 1937, things were not going well for us at the 5110 Park address. Mother could not afford to keep the woman who stayed with us during the daytime hours yet did not feel that she should leave us alone during the summer days. I was eleven now and Jean was nine. We were not afraid to be alone during the day. We could prepare our lunch and we could go to the school library for books to read during the day.

But there were older boys in the Park Avenue neighborhood who were mischievous and who liked to tease me. One afternoon I watched as they carried my dog, Mickey, up to their tree house. I begged them to bring him down. I cried and stomped my feet but this only made them laugh. They had succeeded in bringing me to tears. I ran home, explained the situation to my Father. He walked with me to the tree house and politely asked the boys to bring Mickey down. They did and that ended the incident. But as I look back upon this situation as an adult, I can understand how uneasy I would have been leaving an eleven year old and a nine year old to fend for themselves all day, every day by themselves. The possibility of events like the tree house incident may have influenced my parents that leaving us on our own all day was not a wise idea.

We could safely walk to either the 5614 Michigan house where Nana was living or to the 5601 Woodland house where Gangy and Dad Gangy lived. It only took about 20 minutes to walk to either house. I did the walk so many times that when I got to the corner of 56th and Michigan I would count the number of the steps that it would take to get to Nana’s house. Knowing the number of steps I tried walking to Nana’s house one time with my eyes closed. On the last number, I walked up the porch steps, entered the screen door, opened my eyes and said in a loud voice, “Nana, you have all new furniture!” All at once I realized that I was at the house next door. Fortunately, the lady of the house did not hear me. Then I quickly walked next door to Nana’s house.

Nana had returned some time ago from the California trip she had taken with Dad Shack during his final days. She was living alone in the Michigan house and she, along with my parents decided that we should move from the 5110 Park house to the 5614 Michigan house. We could be of help to her in many ways and it might help us to stretch our meager monthly income of $120.00. Also Mother could continue working assured that Jean and I would not be left alone all day.

This neighborhood seemed safer than the previous one. People living around us knew each other and did not fear to leave the front door and screen open during the day. No one feared a “break in”. During the day a typical housewife in this neighborhood had no means of transportation other than walking but there were small shopping areas within walking distance. These shops lined a side street and contained a drug store, a grocery store, a beauty parlor and a barber shop. In the evening when a car and driver were available, trips to larger grocery stores, movie theaters, etc. were done.

This move was the right move at the right time in so many ways. Cecil’s parents were doing well by themselves but they were aging and my Father could walk to their house in less than five minutes if they needed help. We had not lived there long before Daddy would get a call during the night from Gangy saying that Dad Gangy was having trouble breathing. She was frightened for him and needed help for him. Daddy would get out of bed, dress and walk over to the house. Sometimes he needed to be there most of the night. Then he would walk home, try to get more sleep if possible but had to get up in time to dress and get off to work. This happened off and on but he managed to help them and still keep his job. In the winter of 1937 Dad Gangy passed away.

THE JOHN J. PERSHING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I entered seventh grade at this school in the fall of 1937. Seventh grade at this school turned out to be the best school year ever for me. I quickly began to feel at home with the students in the class and the teacher. I still remember the names of a few of the students. One student named Kenneth Welch was an accomplished accordion player. Later I heard that as an adult he became a composer of songs for Carol Burnett. Another student named Bobby Brown could name every state in the US by looking only at its shape and I thought this was pretty remarkable. My friend, Jo June and I along with two other girlfriends formed a club and began writing a newspaper of important news in our school. It amounted to very little but Miss Bias read it and appreciated our efforts.

Miss Bias was a remarkable teacher in many ways. Occasionally she would ask all of us to sit up straight and “take an inventory of ourselves”. This was a reminder that we were all on our way to achieving adult status when we began our first year of high school in the fall of 1938. She strongly suggested that we set goals for our future and take responsibility for our actions in order to become worthy and respectable citizens. She had a way of reaching me so that even my mother noticed a change in my behavior. Mother wanted to meet Miss Bias so she invited her and the school principal to lunch at our house one day. I said very little but sat up very straight.

During the spring of 1938 Miss Bias tried something new in our class that was remarkable. She arranged for a large tank of water to be carried into the room and placed on a table next to the windows. She purchased fertilizers, plant cuttings and seeds. We were going to learn to do hydroponic gardening. It worked! We could watch as the seeds germinated to produce plants, and the cuttings developed root systems and foliage. I thought she was way ahead of her time but she told us that the Incas and the early Greeks devised ways to grow plants in water.

Girls had to take Sewing and Cooking in the seventh grade. One class was held in the fall, the other in the spring. At home Mother had taught me to sew and to cook so the classes were easy for me. One student who had not benefited from such training was having a rough time in the cooking class. She was watching a pan of water on the gas burner waiting for it to boil. “It needs watching”, she said “because it might burn.” I kept my thoughts to myself. The sewing/cooking teacher was an old friend of my Mother’s. I was doing well in both classes but it did not hurt to have the additional recognition.

I owned a Brownie camera and on the last day of school I took these pictures of Miss Bias and some friends.

Miss Bias

Bobby Brown (ctr) & other boys

Me (top rt) & other Girls

Jo June Bunker & other girls

Miss Bias took an interest in each of her students and looked for opportunities that could help us develop. She learned that the Band Director of the school was looking for a pianist to accompany the band. She knew that I was taking piano lessons and suggested that I talk with the Band Director. I got the job and practiced diligently to do well even though my fingers could not reach all the notes in some of the chords. My major performance came at the seventh grade Commencement in the spring of 1938. I was trying to hit all the right notes but the Band was so loud that the piano could not be heard so it really did not matter. My parents were very proud of me though.

DADDY’S NEW JOB: In the spring of 1938 Daddy was hired by the Marlene Dress Company to be their office manager and he would start with a much better salary. This was what we were hoping for. Mother could quit her job and stay at home! We could not afford to buy a car yet or to be extravagant. But Mother did purchase a Singer electric sewing machine. She would need it soon to make a graduation dress for me in a few months. When folks at the Marlene Dress Company learned that I was graduating from grade school they invited Mother and me to visit the company. We met Mr. Hait, the owner, and he suggested that I select material for a graduation dress. Their designer, Margaret Borserine, helped me select a pale blue sheer fabric that would make an elegant long dress. This was a happy day for me and I thanked them all.

When school was out, the students in my seventh grade class would have to make a choice. The new district line separated the neighborhoods into two districts. This would force the students to choose between Southeast High School and Paseo High School. Our house was on the line so I could have my choice. It would be a hard choice for me because I would be separated from of my friends. Then something happened during the summer that changed everything!

SUMMER 1938 AND POLIO: Polio was widespread in Kansas City. All public swimming pools were closed. Movie theaters were closed. Any activity that usually drew a crowd was cancelled. We were cautioned to wash our hands often and to avoid public facilities such as drinking fountains and toilets. But all the precautions still did not keep people from coming down with polio. Aunt Evelyn became extremely ill one day, could not even get out of bed to look after her young daughter, Carolyn. Evelyn may have sensed that something terrible was happening to her body. She may have called a member of the family while she was still able. I do not know how she found help but someone came, called an ambulance which took her to a hospital. Her illness was diagnosed as a case of polio. The disease progressed rapidly. Her legs became paralyzed then she became unable to breathe on her own. She was placed in an “Iron Lung”, a machine that mechanically forced her lungs to take in and release air. Fortunately her lungs soon began to function and she was eventually was able to leave the hospital. However she would need round-the-clock care.

The house at 5614 Michigan with steps up to the front terrace and more steps up onto the front porch was not a suitable place for Evelyn to live. She needed a home that had an entrance on the ground floor and had no steps within the living space. Such a place was found and Evelyn was moved there. Now she would need hospital equipment and a person who was trained to care for her. Nana, with prior experience from her care of Dad Shack, moved from the Michigan house to Evelyn’s apartment and took over as her nurse, housekeeper, cook and therapist.

These changes meant changes for my family. We did not need a three bedroom house nor were we able to afford it. We moved to a two-bedroom apartment at 41st and Locust in the Westport Neighborhood not far from the house at 4055 McGee. Jean and I could walk to our schools. Jean was still in elementary school. I entered Westport Junior High School at 39th and McGee. I would enter as a freshman since the Kansas City system did not offer an Eighth Grade. My plan to attend either Paseo High School or Southeast High School in order to be with some of my seventh grade friends was no longer possible.

My first day of school was frightening. I realized that I had to be able to find my locker, remember the combination to my lock, locate the classrooms on my schedule, know each teacher’s name and learn what was expected of me. Also there was a rule that if a student arrived at school before the bell rang allowing students to report to classes, he or she had to take a seat in the auditorium until a bell rang which allowed movement to the lockers and classrooms. I arrived early that day and took a seat in the auditorium. This gave me time to dwell upon my fear of all things that could possibly go wrong. Suppose I could not find my locker? If I found my locker, would the lock work? If I did find my first class, could I remember the name of the teacher or the stuff to take to the classroom? I tried hard to hold back the tears but I could feel them running down my cheeks. There were probably teachers and students looking at me.

When I got home after school that first day, I told Mother that I was miserable and wished that I did not have to go to that school. Here again, it turned out that my Mother knew someone who might be able to help. She called the school office and talked to the secretary whose name was Emma Neville. It happened that Emma had been a friend of Mother’s for a long time. Miss Neville had an idea. Instead of having to sit in the auditorium and deal with my anxieties, she suggested that I assist in the Nurse’s Room. There would be other girl students assisting the nurse and I would get to know them. I would wear a nurse’s smock and could clean the thermometers or do whatever else was needed.

Now, I was somebody! I had a responsibility and I was with people who liked me.

My years through Westport Junior High School and Westport Senior High went well. I graduated from High School in 1942. During these years I found my best friend ever, Dulcie Witt. We continued to be best friends through college, marriage, child birth and beyond.