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According to Hildur Wederquist Lovas, Mabel Reeves Wederquist's sixth (of 7) child, "My mother was a hopeful realist." She was the only child of devoted parents, and a father who infused her with his love of nature. The family farm south of Randolph and east of Sydney, Iowa had a swamp where plants and animals flourished; Hildur remembers going back there with her mother to gather blue flag iris.
Mabel was a good student who attended a country elementary school, followed by Randolph High School (1900 graduate) and a one or two year teachers' institute at Cedar Falls (now Northern Iowa U). She began her career at a country school and had all 8 grades in one room; her school chores also included building fires and cleaning the building. One of her students was a burly 8th grader, not much younger but a lot heavier than her 100 pounds, who refused to behave. She threw him on the floor and sat on him! She told Linda Lovas Hoeschler, her granddaughter, about the semi-deaf student who prayed to "Our father, who art heavy..." She would walk the two miles to her job with an umbrella across her back, to assure good posture.
She was a hard working farm wife, canning all summer and sewing the clothes. Sundays were for receiving or visiting company, Monday, washing, and Tuesday, ironing. But no matter how busy or how poor, "there was always time to read," according to Hildur. During the Depression she traded chickens to magazine salesmen for the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, American Magazine and farm journals. "She was the first person I ever heard praise some of the Western pulp" and especially liked Max Brand, "Good writing is good writing," she'd comment.
Other non-farm activities included crossword puzzles, Eastern Star (she "went through all the chairs" to Worthy Matron) and her flowers. Having been a fine Latin student, "she enjoyed flaunting the Latin names of plants," Hildur adds. Her obituary in the Sidney Argus-Herald of December 15, 1960 adds that she was active in the Farm Bureau.
She really showed her 'stuff ' during the Depression when three of the farms touching theirs were reclaimed by the bank. "Dad had bought ours at 1920's peak prices and when he felt he couldn't hold onto its any longer, Mother would say "Royce, the bank doesn't want our farm. Go tell them we can pay them $500 this year." This tactic worked year after year, and eventually Dad paid for the farm."
Hildur concludes that Mabel was "the most positive person I've ever known--not an angel, but a great human." Royce died 8 years before her; she once told Hildur "When I finally realized I was no longer the most important person in anyone's life I stopped feeling sorry for myself and from then on I had a good life." Linda Lovas Hoeschler remembers Mabel as a kind, interesting and patient grandmother whom she, her sister, Laura, and mother would visit every other summer; Mabel once visited the Lovas family in NY and enjoyed all the sightseeing, particularly the Circle Line boat tour.
Rev. Joseph R. Henry officiated at her funeral services at the Randolph Methodist church and Rolland Trively, her next door neighbor, gave the eulogy. Casket bearers included Linda Lovas' cousins Warren "Nub" Wilson, Joe, Lynn and Don Wederquist, and cousins' husbands Robert Smith (Bonnie Wilson) and Dan Leahy (Ann Wederquist). Cousin Dick Wederquist sang "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Near to the Heart of God." Eastern Star also held a "committal service" at church and internment at Randolph cemetery was under the direction of Reeves-Dow Funeral Home in Tabor. (Above information from obituary in Sidney Argus-Herald, December 15, 1960).
A memorial fund was established to purchase books for the Randolph Library, a fitting tribute to Mabel.
Jens Aaron
Guttstein
