Cape Girardeau History and Photos

April 14, 2013

Ivan McLain’s Birthday Party

Hanging around cop shops was a good way get to know the men and women with badges before you ran into them as strangers at a spot news scene where confrontations could escalate. Besides, it was always fun to exchange war stories.

Dispatchers, in particular, could be your best friend. They could sometimes both follow the letter of their orders and still be helpful. “The captain said if you called to tell you that there is nothing going on at 101 Main Street. Got that?” I spent a lot of time at the Cape County Sheriff’s office in Jackson. Part of that was because it was across the courthouse square from The Jackson Pioneer, and partly because Deputy Jon Knehans and I became friends while taking some SEMO classes together.

That might have been why I was around when Sheriff Ivan McLain was the target of a surprise birthday party. None of these photos ran in The Missourian, so I was either tipped off about the party or I just happened to be lurking there.

Always a nice guy

The sheriff showed extraordinary patience to a green reporter. He always took the time to answer my questions and never, so far as I knew, lied to me. I photographed him on a number of occasions, including demonstrating lie detectors techniques to students.

Jon Knehans for sure

I recognize some of the faces in the pictures, but Jon is the only one I can ID for sure.

Ivan McLain died Feb. 22, 2013

I was sorry to find his obituary in The Missourian.

Ivan Ernest McLain, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born June 1, 1930, in Oriole to Monroe and Myrtle Comer McLain.

Ivan was a veteran of the Korean War, serving in the Navy. He and Betty Lois Jauch were married June 19, 1954, at Oriole.

Sheriff from 1966 to 1977

Mr. McLain worked for the Cape Girardeau Police Department from September 1955 to November 1966 and was sheriff of Cape Girardeau County from November 1966 to January 1977. He was in real estate sales from 1977 to 1980 and worked at the Gene Rhodes Oil Co. from 1980 to 1983.

Ivan was chief of police in Chaffee, Mo., from 1983 to 1992. He retired from Wal-Mart after being a greeter from June 1992 to December 2010.

A member of VFW

He was a member of the Cape County Cowboy Church and attended Red Star Baptist Church. He also was a member of the VFW Post 3127 in Chaffee.

Survivors

Survivors include his wife, Betty Lois McLain of Cape Girardeau; sons Ivan (Aida) Santos of Grand Prairie, Texas, and Randy (Judy) McLain of Cape Girardeau; daughters Cathy Proffer of Advance, Mo., and Penny (Curt) Johns of Jackson; a brother, Jack (Jean) McLain of Cape Girardeau; sisters, Carrie Wilhelm of Mount Dora, Fla., and Mary Wissmann of Cape Girardeau; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, seven brothers, two sisters and two grandsons, Rusty Watson and Colin McLain.

April 14, 2013April 14, 2013

Too Dirty for The Missourian

My original headline was “Dirty Pictures of Little Girls,” but Wife Lila, playing editor, put the kibosh on that.

The Missourian was very conservative. I’ve mentioned before that we had an editor who would censor Ann Landers if he thought the column was too racy. Some of these photos were too dirty for the Youth Page, so they have been suppressed for close to half a century.

The shot above and the one below ran August 12, 1967, with the caption “Brownie Scouts Shirley Laurentius (below) and Nancy Noffel (above) demonstrate how to do The Wade at Brownie Girl Scout Camp. It’s more difficult than it seems: novices end up doing The Splash.”

Shirley Laurentius

More than 160 Brownies attended the activities this week at the Seabaugh Farm on Cape LaCroix Creek Road. Shirley is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred J. Laurentius, 1601 Bloomfield, and Nancy is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. S. Edwin Noffel, 2532 Timber Lane. Now, let’s see, first you stick your right foot out and teeter all about…”

What in the world did you do?

Something tells me some parents got a real surprise when their Brownie showed up for a ride home. Here is a cleaner story about camping on the Seabaugh Farm.

Photo gallery of muddy Brownie Scouts

Here are some other outtakes from Brownies Gone Wild on the Seabaugh Farm. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery. Parental discretion advised.

April 12, 2013

Something to Curl Your Hair

I don’t know who these young ladies are nor where the single frame was taken. Looks like they might have had plans for something special that evening.

Me? The rest of the roll was of rescue workers dragging for a drowning victim. I never knew what I was going to be doing from one minute to another.

You can click on the photo to make it larger if that’ll help you identify who the girls are.

April 11, 2013October 22, 2016

Dr. Bankhead Installed as Pastor

I always tried to come back with a candid shot instead of a set-up from assignments. I liked this shot of a preacher’s kid who had had enough of the formal reception line.

The caption in the August 7, 1967, Missourian read, “The work of the photographer was a lot more important to William Morton Bankhead than the receiving line at a reception. Young Bankhead stands between his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Bankhead as they receive guest following Dr. Bankhead’s installation Sunday night as pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Dr. Bankhead greets Mrs. Jan Chick, while Mrs. Bankhead chats with Mrs. Charles Black, Mrs. Chick’s mother.

He was the 24th minister of the 132-year-old denomination at the corner of Broadway and Lorimier. Here’s the whole story with lots of names you’ll recognize.

Covered re-belling of new church

I captured photos of the church being torn down in 1965, then the re-belling of the new church in December of that year.