Mother was born Oct. 17, 1921, which means she would be 103 had she not died in 2015. While rooting around in some old boxes, I discovered some photos of her that I had never seen before.
I love this shot of her wearing a jaunty hat and a saucy smile. It was a tiny print that still had tape around the edges, so it must have been pasted in something.
8 or 9 at house that burned
A note on the back said she was 8 or 9 in this picture in front of her family’s house in Advance that burned. I don’t know any details.
1938 graduation pictures
This sequence was slugged “1938,” so I have to assume this was when she graduated from high school.
A pack of den mothers
Mother was a Pack 8 den mother. She’s in the back row, second from the right.
She the only one with a medal pinned on her. It might have been a Purple Heart for injuries sustained while herding a bunch of Cub Scouts around.
Christmas in the dining room
We called this side of the living room the dining room, even though I pretty much sure we never dined there. In fact, we hardly ever lived in the living room except for special occasions.
We were kitchen, basement and porch folks.
A pensive moment
She’s all dressed up, but I don’t know where she was going.
Slipping in a Dad and Mark moment
I don’t want to steal Mother’s thunder, but this never-before-remembered shot of Dad and Mark at Easter is going to become one of my favorites.
Lots of Mother links
Mother was the subject of many blog posts.
Here are some links I pulled together for her obituary.
Your mother is wearing the Den Mother’s Training Award medal, first issued in 1956. It was renamed Den Leader’s Training Award in 1967, and discontinued in 1988 and rolled into the more universal Scouter’s Training Award. Not quite a purple heart, but probably very well deserved for wrangling those Cubs!
Thanks for filling in the blanks. I should have known that you would have the answer.
I always loved your Mother stories. These photos are priceless!
What a nice tribute to her life. I made her a birthday card with
her face on a ballerina.. I also sent you a check for 365 dollars.
I’m still one of your biggest fans.
Thanks for send this out, I find it very special.
It was nice seeing her again, loved the photo by the window.
Your ballerina card was one of her favorites. It was proudly displayed on her room’s refrigerator.
Ken,
Thanks. Your photos and narrative brought back some good memories of my own parents, now departed.
My dad was Paul William Keller. He farmed , and also installed. and sold truck beds and hydraulic hoists under the name. Keller Repair; pretty sure he sold some equipment to your dad sometime, but can’t remember the details. The Southeast Missourian had a pic of the 1938 graduating class at College High, and I could pick dad out easily…My folks were about the same as yours…
Thanks again for the memories…
Tim Keller
Some of us were luck enough to win the parent lottery.