My life the beginning

The time is September 11, 1928. Location--Amherst, Ohio at the Amherst Hospital. My Mother Buelah Wilson Koepp gave birth to me easily. I am sure that my father William Koepp was proud as any new father. With my birth began another branch of the Wilson, Koepp clans. My Mother's lineage includes a relative who came to this country on the Mayflower as a servant to Pricilla Allen's father. He secured his passage by working as a servant for 5 years. My father's father emigrated from Germany with his Mother and Step-father as a young boy, coming through Ellis Island as so many of our ancesters did.

Life was good. My parents built a Sears pre-cut home. Even if it was the time of the great depression. It was a darling house. Steps going up to the front door, with 2 white columns as used in the southern homes of the civil war days. I remember a beautiful fireplace in the living room. I have not been in that house since my Mother, brother and I left it to live with our great grandmother, but I can close my eyes and see that fireplace . It had black cement between the stones that sparkled. My brother William Jr. was born December 29, 1929. Our father was a seaman on the ore freighters of the Great Lakes. Lorain, Ohio only a short distance from Amherst was a large Steele town. The ore boats used to pull into Lorain, Ohio on Lake Erie. That was his summer job as the lakes froze over in the winter. In the winter he worked in the sandstone industry that was very preveliant in our area.

Day 2:

As far as my knowledge of this relationship, it went well for the first few years. Then as in all marriages something crept in to make a perfect world, not so perfect. My father drank to much as did a lot of his friends. Mother was alone for periods of a time and for a young wife with two small children it could not have been easy. She did have transportation. A model T-Ford. It had to be cranked to start and in my adult years she shared stories with me and she was laughing at herself and I laughed seeing her in my mind cranking the darn thing and then running to get in before the spark died. In my adult years I was able to share some wonderful moments with her that only a daughter can cherish. I do not remember leaving the house on Milan Avenue but remember being at our Greatgrandmother Elsie Wilson's farm. It was winter. Mother, brother Bill and I walked across the road and laid down in the snow and made snow angels. At Great Grandmother's the grocery wagon(large truck) came every once in awhile. He carried staple type goods and I remember especially the large suckers shaped like footballs. They had real long sticks, were many colors and tasted so good. Wish I knew for sure how much they cost, if I had to guess probably .01 or .02 cents. Remember this was the GREAT DEPRESSION.It was so cold that winter. The only heat was a large pot bellied stove and the woodburning cook stove in the kitchen.At night we had bricks heated on the wood stove and wrapped in paper and flannel cloths to put in our beds to keep our feet warm. The only running water was a pump on the sink from a cisturn under the back porch. The drinking water was from a pump by the milk house from a well of wonderful well water. In case you were wondering--no bathroom, only the little 3 holer outside down from the house. Oh Lordy I was so afraid of that outhouse. Yes there was a catolog. Not sure if was Sears or Mountgomery Ward. At night the little potty under the bed was there also. Mother always took care of that in those days. Another thing that is so vivid in my mind was two beautiful tall pine trees in the front of the house and one of them had a tire swing that was so much fun. Along the side of the house was a row of black walnut trees. Those darn nuts were so hard. That I learned in my teen years when I helped Mother pick nut meats from the nuts for Christmas cookies.

In 1934 our Mother married our step-father, John Reinhardt. Our father William then went to sea to sail on the oceans. His ports were in the southern ports of the US. and along the South American coasts. He sent many post cards and letters to Bill and I during these years and he made 2 visits that are vivid in my mind. One he brought a friend home and he and his friend took Brother Bill and I on the New York Central train all the way to Cleveland Ohio. We went to see a baseball game. Bob Feller pitched. That must have begun my love for the game of Baseball as today it still is my favorite major league sport. In those days the trains stopped in Amherst. It was so exciting to climb on that train and be going somplace. Wow what an adventure. In 1940 our grandparents (Koepp) in poor health and needing assistance our father was on his way home to render that assistance. I am sure it was because he was single and could do it easily. His last port of call was to be Seattle, Washington. The ship was tied up in San Pedro Harber. In those days no great big Long Beach shipping center. The large ships had to anchor out and I suppose they were unloaded on to barges that were towed to shore. A shipmate had gone ashore for shore leave and got terribly drunk. He carried weapons and other shipmates had complained to no avail. He stumbled coming back on the boat and a fight broke out. Angry he pulled a gun and shot and killed one man who had tried to help him. Then in a crazied state he began to run. Our father was a deck officer so his quarters were on topside. He was laying on his bunk. The man who was also a friend pointed his gun at Dad and shot him, saying, "Bill I am going to shoot you". This is what was told to me in later years by Dad's Sister Florence, who along with her husband went to California for the man's trail. My Aunt and Uncle were my God Parents. Dad did not survive the gunhot wounds. That was December 9, 1940. A very special date to me which I will elaborate on later. At the age of 12 and 11 my brother and I helped lay our father to rest in the place where his Mother, Father and brother Walter were later laid.  My` father was 37 years old.  Our Oldest grandson Peter has lived past the age of 37.

September 1935 began 12 yrs. of attending the best small town school in Lorain County. My first grade teacher was Miss Bond. A sweet blond lady who really liked kids. Many of the children that I began going to school with I remain friends with today. That is one of the really neat things about attending a small school. Somehow we all became like family. There were fellow students that lived on farms and rode the school bus. The high light of that first grade for me was I had a crush on a cute boy named Bill. I finally got up enough nerve and grabed him in our coat hall off the room and planted a kiss on him. In the winter My brother and I had to walk to school. We lived north of town just inside of the line to be able to ride the bus. The cold wind blew in off Lake Erie. Getting bundled up to walk home was a real job. We wore snuggy underwear and long brown stockings, as well as snow suits and heavy rubber boots to keep warm. In the spring I can remember rollinmg down the stockings to the ankels because they were so warm. Mother also gave us codliver oil on the spoon so we did not catch colds. Yuck.