Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - When we lived with
Grandma and Grandpa, I can remember
having to come down to the living room whenever there was a thunderstorm.
|
Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - He was always afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get us down
from upstairs if the house was ever hit by lightning. So, in the
middle of the night, if a storm came up, we had to get dressed and
come down and sit together in the living room until the storm was
over.
Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - We had to get dressed since we were not allowed to come
downstairs in our night clothes. That’s the way us kids were raised.
When Marie got married and the first storm came along, she woke
Brick up in the middle of the night and said, “Get your pants on and
get downstairs.”
He came into the living room and asked, “What’s wrong? Where are we
going?”
Marie said, “Don’t be smart! We’re not going anyplace. It’s
storming.”
Brick said, “Oh, for crying out loud.” and went back to bed.
Helma (Heiden) Nickel - It seems like we used to have more serious storms back then
too.
Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - Remember the balls of lightning that would come right
through the telephone lines and into the house?
Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden - It did that once when we lived at Suchik’s
(8420
Dixon Road). The lightning
came right through the phone and blew it clear across the kitchen.
It was a wonder that one of the girls wasn’t talking on the phone at
the time.
Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - Edna used to be very concerned about electrical storms. I
used to stay up there with them sometimes.
Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - That was probably because they didn’t have any electric
lights. They just had a kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling.
Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - When Henry (Rambow)
(right) would blow that lamp out, it went pitch black in
the house. You could hear the sheep “baa” out in the barnyard in the
night. I used to lay there in the back bedroom saying to myself, “I
hope it gets to be morning soon!” That was really scary.
Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - How about the time while
Helen, Wilma, Marie and Helma were
all still at home. Helma and Marie went out on dates one night.
Helma and Wilma were supposed to sleep together and Helen, Marie and
I shared a bed. I always had to sleep in the middle.
We were scaredy cats so we talked Wilma into sleeping with us. When
the others came home, Marie climbed in too so we ended up with four
of us packed like sardines in one bed and Helma by herself in the
other.
Helma (Heiden) Nickel -
Carl,
Leo and
Lester (left) were working at other farms much of the
time while I was growing up.
Hilda
(Fuller) and
Mildred
(Eipperle) worked in Monroe and
stayed at Uncle Fred Rambow’s during the week. They would come home
on weekends. We all had our chores around home. I don’t ever remember Ma washing
the dishes. We all did our share of ironing too.
Pictured
is what was called a cassette tape back in pre-digital
times.
Ralph Heiden - What did the family do on the farm during a typical year?
Helma (Heiden) Nickel - Grandpa Heiden (August)
(left) was a mason and he built on the
dining room and kitchen after Pa bought it. Before moving there,
they lived down on South Custer Road at the Abby Place and the
A
plat map
of
Raisinville
Township
for 1901
shows
William
Heiden
as
owning a
76 acre
farm at
the
junction
of Dixon
Road and
South
Custer
Road.
[Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann arrived
and joined the discussion]
Helma (Heiden) Nickel - No, there was an old house down by the ditch that crosses
the road east of Ma and Pa’s farm.
Ralph Heiden - Grandpa
William Frank Heiden - That would be on the back end of Suhciks farm. It was the
Stokes (Stock) that had an old house back in there on a hill. Could be some
relation to Bill Stokes (Stock),
Over
the years, we have also received written memories and
remembrances about this person or topic from various family
members. 
Wilma, Jeanie, Wm Frank, Helma & Marie were
children of 
