Meet Pearl H.
I was born at noon on Christmas Day 1927 in Shawano at our family home. People went to hospitals to have their baby that had money, everyone else stayed home. My poor mom; I was a 10 lb baby, which is hard to believe since I was 5’1” my entire life. My brother was born 7 years after me. Dad was the Street Commissioner for Shawano. I grew up within the depression. The war had been going on for several years at the start of high school in 1941. My mom didn’t want me to go to high school, she said I didn’t need any more school, I needed to work. My goal was to finish high school and mom said I would have to support myself. For my first two years I babysat to make money and picked beans for the canning company which paid for my school, books and clothing. A family I babysat for sold me books second hand to save me some money. When I was 16 years old I started working at the Schultz Brother Variety Dime Store, for 20 cents per hour. Two years later I graduated from high school the valedictorian of my class. I had eight offers of jobs at graduation, but mother insisted I take the secretary of the Lutheran Church job. The church had a fire and burned down moving my job to the school until they built a new church. After working there 8 ½ years I decided to go to Green Bay and visit the employment office. The manager Bob, knew me from high school and said I didn’t need to take any of the employment tests. Bob offered me two different jobs and I decided to take the one for Wisconsin Public Service as their Girl Friday (the secretary). Living on the east side of Green Bay now, I had to take the bus to and from work every day. A fellow employee wanted me to meet someone he knew.
He set me up on a double date with Bob. He had been in the war and was injured with a lengthy recovery. Each Sunday Bob started going to church with me. Eleven months later, on May 9th Bob and I were married. His wedding gift to me was his confirmation from our church.
We moved to Neenah and I was the secretary for Wilson School for 19 years. We had two sons, Pat and Mike. We traveled around Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan when the kids were younger along with visiting family in Shawano. Bob was a golfer and bowler which is something the entire family started to enjoy. Pat lives in Neenah and Mike lives in Minnesota now with their families.
Bob retired at age 62, and shortly later I did as well. I noticed Bob’s health started to fail. Bob fell frequently and it became harder and harder to care for him at home. Our neighbor was a wonderful man that would come over and help me get Bob up after he fell. The day we were moving into the Valley VNA, Bob was sent to the hospital. Several days later Bob died. My neighbor said he would be honored to be a pallbearer for Bob’s funeral and lift him to a better place one last time. Bob and I were married for 51 years. My first birthday party I ever had was when I moved to the Valley VNA. Having a birthday on Christmas, it was always Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. This year on December 25th I will be 90 years old.