Viola Rickey, Christian Village resident of the month, remembers early days

By Rebecca Johnson

[May 09, 2011]  Viola Rickey is the Christian Village resident of the month for May. She has written most of this herself. Here are Viola's memories in her own words:

I was born in Kansas in 1920. Eighteen months later, I had a baby sister. When I was 7 years old we had the last baby girl in the family.

When I was 3, my uncle was working in a glass bottle factory in East St. Louis. Most of the bottles were made by machine, but my uncle was one of the last glass blowers in Illinois. Our family was soon located in East St. Louis, where my father was also employed at the factory.

I attended public schools through high school. In 1937, jobs were scarce. I coaxed my father into letting me enroll in business college to polish my shorthand. My first job was working for our coroner, taking testimonies at inquests. I liked shorthand, and I still remember it today.

In 1937, jobs were still scarce. A friend recommended me for a movie theater job. I made $10 a week selling candy and popcorn. It was a job, I could ride the bus to town for a dime, and that is where I met my future husband.

I believe he proposed to me on our second date. He never wasted time. I thought about it. Our home was not very happy and it was too crowded. We ended up eloping. I left a note on my pillow.

My husband began working at the age of 14. His aunt and uncle owned a grocery store in Missouri and he worked for them. When I met Ed, he was working at a grocery store in East St. Louis. By then he was more than 20 years old and driving for the family stores. Times were hard, wages were low.

I was 19 when we were married. One year later, we had our first son. When our baby was 6 months old we rented a small house. We managed to buy some furniture and stayed there about seven years. By then we had another son. My husband managed to attend some classes and advanced his earning ability.

He worked in a war plant during WWII, until he was drafted.

When he came home, he said, "I want to buy a grocery store."

I said, "We don't have any money."

Veterans could get a bank loan, and that's how we got the money. He found a small store nearby, which we bought. I helped in the store, driving the deliveries and anything else that was needed. We hired a butcher and my husband got some lessons in meat cutting. Of course, he had always been familiar with all phases of grocery operations.

When our sons were 5 and 7, we discovered another baby was on the way. We had a little girl and I was very busy at home. My husband sold the grocery store. He said it wasn't fun if I wasn't there.

Our baby girl was not as "pink" as the others in the nursery. It turned out that my Rh factor was negative. We almost lost her if a specialist had not kept giving her blood transfusions. She is fine now.

When my sons were teenagers, I decided I should get a job if my children were going to college. All three finished high school, none went to college. When I saw a newspaper article that the government was testing people for office workers, I took the test and found my shorthand still worked, and I got three letters offering interviews. I chose the location nearest St. Louis and soon had a job with the Corps of Engineers. I worked there for 20 years.

Rented housing costs began to climb. I told my husband rent was costing as much as buying a house. He was finally convinced. He wanted some acreage to have a garden and some chickens. We found what he liked in a rural area near Lincoln.

I was supposed to move to a job in Alton, Ill., through the Corps of Engineers, but Congress did not approve funding on a new dam. I then was able to get a job for the IRS in Springfield, and we were able to move to Lincoln. I worked there until I retired.

Viola came to The Christian Village in 2010. She has a wonderful family and is thankful for their visits. She has six living grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

One granddaughter died at the age of 15 from brain cancer, and her 39-year-old grandson died in an automobile accident earlier this year. It has been hard on the family.

Viola stays busy with church services, Bible study, working puzzle books, reading and watching TV. Her pastor from First Baptist Church visits often. Viola volunteered at the church for 15 years as secretary. She belonged to a quilting club and has made many quilts.

Viola says she has been on four big trips since retirement: Alaska, Hawaii, Norway and a cruise. She thought Alaska was the most interesting.

I want to thank Viola for writing down her memories. She said she had a lot of practice in writing family histories for their big family reunions. It has been a pleasure getting to know Viola a little better.

[By REBECCA JOHNSON]