Happy Find Friday - Les Wheeler Hospitalized

     I know you are probably thinking, how can someone being hospitalized be a happy find? Well, let me tell you. I have been trying to track down this story since about 2014. And today, I am happy to report, I finally found a newspaper article mentioning this event.

     My mom told me about an incident that happened when she was a teenager. Her dad, my grandpa Les Wheeler, was into CBs. He would repair them, use them, sell them, etc. One day, he and two other friends, J.D. Weiskoph and Edward Iffendohl(sp?) were attempting to put up a huge antenna on top of Grandpa's garage when they were electrocuted. According to Mom, Grandma was on her way home from work and heard about it on her car radio. So she rushed right to the hospital. Here are two articles I just found.

The Springfield News-Leader

22 Aug 1969

St. Joseph Gazette

22 Aug 1969

     Grandpa was burned all down his throat and the soles of his shoes were melted to his feet from being electrocuted. J.D. Weiskoph lost a few toes. Unfortunately, from what I'm told, Edward Iffendohl lost his life. I have yet to find proof of this, but mom remembers someone dying from this incident.
     I posted about this in the Facebook group You grew up in the High Ridge, Murphy, House Springs, Cedar Hill area if.. to see if anyone remembers this incident and to get details if they do. Here are a couple of accounts:

Lou Mayes: I was a friend of JD and he told me about it. His feet got burnt is all that happen to him. I also think it was the aluminum ladder that fell against the power line. The location was at the intersection of Carol Park and Old Gravois at Les Wheeler's home. That is all the info I have about the accident. JD Has passed away last year. (2019) 

John Mcguire: Re: “...’Men Are Injured’....” ...Believe, if remembered right (..think I was 4?-5yrs old at the time..) , hearing the Adults at ‘Dot & Oscar’s [..Isabel ] Tavern’ discussing what happened.. 

Doug Woolford: I new them Les JR and I were best friends and I remember that all to well it scared the hell out of us burned a hole in MR Wheeler foot , I don’t remember about the other two!!! 

Eileen Ries Faries: I was on that ambulance run. That was a long time ago I will think on it I do remember the lines laying across a patient and burning skin smell.

      You still may be wonderful why I call this a Happy Find. Well, like I said, I'd been trying to track down this story in the newspapers for the longest time. My mom couldn't remember the exact date, but remembered it was before they moved to Lemay but it was after she was able to drive. So that would put the range in between around 1966-1970. Not a bad range, but here in the problem. The local newspaper for the area was the Jefferson County Record. And while the Jefferson County Library has this newspaper on Microfilm, it is NOT indexed. So I was going to have to page through 4 years of article to try to find the incident. I started a few years ago, but only barely got through one year. So I hadn't tried again. Now that I have a date, I can actually try to locate the article(s) in the local paper.
     Unfortunately with this Stay-At-Home order in place because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the libraries are closed, so I will have to wait a little while to make a trip there to locate the article. When I find it, I may not get anymore than what is written here, but I will at least try. I might be able to talk to someone in the historical society about what other sources I can access.
     I love finding sources to match up with stories I am told about my family. I also love getting other accounts from friends of the family from around that time. If you haven't yet, I absolutely recommend joining a Facebook group for your ancestors' hometowns. You never know what you are going to find out.

Grandpa Les Wheeler

What Will I Find Next?

Photo Friday

     Like everyone, I'm trying to do what I can to keep myself busy. On Monday, April 4, 2020, the governor of Missouri issued a Stay-At-Home order to help reduce the spread of the Coronavirus. There are many other states in the US that have also issued Stay-At-Home orders. We are all trying to do our part to help reduce the spread of this Covid_19. So this is the perfect time to just dive into your research.
     New newspapers are being added all the time to Newspapers.com, so I check there often for new articles. This time I went searching for my Strawhun Family. Robert Strawhun to be exact. I've found articles about his Father and Son before. Well, this time I found something a little extra special. Check this out.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat

St. Louis, Missouri

Jun 24, 1958

     I found this newspaper article mentioning Robert & Louisa Strawhun's 50th Anniversary. They are my great-grandparents on my dad's side. They celebrated their wedding anniversary on June 20, 1958. They apparently hosted an open house party on Sunday, June 29, 1958, and this article was published to invite whoever wanted to come. How wonderful!
     After I found this article, a thought crossed my mind. Didn't I have something in my office mentioning this event? Low and behold, I did! My Aunt Patty gave my dad some collectibles and knick-knacks that my Grandma had in her possession. This was one of them.

Golden Wedding Anniversary

1958

Robert and Louisa Strawhun

"The Lord's Prayer"

on the front: June 20, 1908

      They were married for a total of 62 years. Grandpa passed away in 1970 and Grandma passed away in 1971. Here is a photo of them and their family. This photo was taken about 1927 or so.

     According to the newspaper article, the open house was held at their residence at 329 Rose Lane in Kirkwood, Missouri. That house is actually still standing to this day. After my great-grandparents lived there. my Grandma and Papa lived there. Then when my Papa died in 1998, the family fixed it up and sold it. Here is a recent picture of the house.

329 Rose Lane

Kirkwood, Missouri

2019

     I emailed my Aunt Patty about this event since she is the family historian and she was present during this event. Here is what she told me: 

     "They had an Open House for their 50th. We were all little at this time. Sandy and I had matching

summer dresses. Grandma let me and Sandy pick a gift from their gifts. I picked a beautiful candy dish and I still have it. Sandy picked a set of alabaster bookends and she has them in her bedroom. It's impossible to know who gave them the little commemorative gift. I will ask Sandy if she knows if we have a book of who attended and if there is anything about the gifts. You wouldn't believe the kind of "gold" themed gifts they received. I remember one of them being "golden wedding" coffee in a 1lb. can. Their neighbors created a proclamation about this event. In their professional picture that day, you can see the little money trees. They had two tables set up for all the gifts they received. The little thing that you have was probably one of the gifts they received. When we distributed dishes several years ago, there were other "gold" things that sibs picked that were from the distribution. Plates, candy dishes, glasses, and vases. Your Dad has a whole box of the dishes he picked that day."

     This year will be their 112th anniversary. I never got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Strawhun since they passed away before I was born, but I've heard they were really great. Anyway, that is my exciting find for the week!

Grandma and Grandpa Strawhun

50th Anniversary Open House

Sunday, June 29, 1958

Kirkwood, Missouri

What Will I Find Next??

Bonus:

I put together a special collage memorizing Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Strawhun. Watch the video now from my new series, Craft Time with Auntie Jen.

Throwback Tuesday: FFH Concert

     Hard to believe it's been almost 18 years since Mark and I got married. We have made some great memories over the years. Even back then, I loved documenting special events. Some of the events were just things we attended as just friends. One of the events was a Christian concert held in Farmington, Missouri.

FFH Concert
April 14, 2002

     On April 14, 2002, Mark and I attended an FFH Concert at the Farmington Civic Center in Farmington, Missouri. This was before we were officially dating. This was the second concert we attended together. The first was Point Of Grace on February 21, 2002. In such a short time, we had become such close friends. I considered him my best friend. I actually journaled quite a bit about this time in our relationship, including the FFH Concert. Here are some snippets from the entry:

April 15, 2002 - 2:26am
Today was an awesome day!! You have no idea. God you are so wonderful in everything you do. Today was the FFH concert. He He!! Mark and I had so much fun. Here is how the day went. Mark came over around noonish so we could leave and get there when the doors opened. I got directions off the internet to go to Farmington--a place I had never been....Well we left for the concert around 12:30ish. Man it was a far drive! I almost thought we were lost. Mark was my navigator and I was the captain...Well we got there like 15 min before the doors opened. Mark had brought along his CDs for us to listen to on the way and stuff so he was showing me some of his favorite songs. So we went in and got our seats fine, which were not bad seats at all. The concert was awesome!! Wahoo! I had so much fun. I was dancing and stuff and getting into it. I am sure Mark must have thought I was crazy or something. We had fun though. Getting autographs was something else though. We were waiting in what I would like to call a mob. Not a line, a mob!...We got back home and went out to eat with Lissa and Jeppy...We had dinner at TGIFridays. The place is cool. Took me a little to decide what I wanted, but it was cool...Well we got home and decided to rent a movie...After the movie...we just talked about life and stuff. Then it was time for him to leave. I walked him out and gave him a hug. I will never forget this though. He told me I looked amazing...All in all, tonight was a great night. I could not have had a better night. It has been a long time since I have had a great night with a guy. Especially a great friend...I am so thankful for the friendship I have with Mark. god has blessed me so much. I couldn't ask for more."

      Ah... the memories. Exactly one month later, Mark would ask me to be his girlfriend. Then another two months after that, we got married. Yes, yes we did. Anyway, we had a great time at the concert. I had taken the advertising poster we had on display at One Way Bookshop for the group to sign. I still have that poster put away in a safe spot. I might be able to get it framed and displayed in our office. I also have the original ticket from that day.

Advertising Poster from OneWay Bookshop

Original ticket from the concert

     Just one of the many days I have documented from our relationship. I've put together a couple of scrapbooks of memories. Do you have any scrapbooks? Do you have any special memories from when you and your spouse were dating? Share them below in the comments! It's amazing. You never know where things are going to lead sometimes. From a couple of concerts to an almost 18-year marriage.