Voices of Tenney

Tenney voices are making themselves known to me on a daily basis and I am loving it. Those voices capture times, places, and experiences that now exist only as memories. Every time I open up an email or pick up the phone and hear a Tenney person on the other end, my heart is warmed by the fact that people seem to want to talk about Tenney! I am so gratified that The Tenney Quilt is generating discussion, reconnecting people, resurrecting memories, and making people smile.

I heard from Barbara Vaughan the other day. Barbara was the daughter of George and Grace Woodward and her name appears on the quilt, as Barbara Woodward of course. It is always a thrill to find someone else living whose name appears on the quilt. Barbara’s mother was Grace Pithey—one of the younger children of Austin and Allie Pithey, and the sister of one of my “Tenney ladies” featured in The Tenney Quilt, Linna Pithey Gordhamer, as well as Daisy Pithey Rose, Fred and Frank Pithey, and that crew. Barbara shared her memories of visiting her beloved Aunt Linna in Breckenridge each summer [whom Barbara’s granddaughter called “Aunt Lima Bean” when she was 2 years old] and watching Linna walk across the street from her home to the Court House where the County Superintendent’s Office was located. Barbara also recalled the deep sadness she and others felt when Linna’s husband, Clarence Gordhamer, died unexpectedly at a young age from a heart attack while out hunting.

I heard from Mary Jean McLaughlin, formerly Mary Jean Shaffer, the daughter of Gene and Hattie Richardson Shaffer. She shared memories of coming to Tenney to visit her cousin, Jackie Richardson (now Steffens), and how they would together come over to visit my mother, Helen Jo Larson, above the Larson Store. Mary also shared memories of living in Tenney as a very young child, and her family’s close relationship with Jack and Rose O’Laughlin, whom Mary referred to as “Grosfadder” and “Grosmudder.” She said that after her family moved to Detroit Lakes, Jack and Roseanna visited them often. Those Tenney connections are hard to sever!

I heard from Pamela Kath, who shared a memory of her Tenney childhood, living across the street from the Hardie Store. On warm summer evenings, they would haul their two cream cans in the wagon over to the town pump and fill them with nice, cold water and make kool-aid.

Cheryl Ahlsten, who now lives in Los Angeles, contacted me about buying a book. Cheryl is the daughter of Dorothy Klugman and the granddaughter of Gust and Ida Klugman, who owned the Klugman Store which was right next door to the Larson Store in the early years. In the late 40s, Leonard and Opal Hardie purchased the store from my grandfather, A.N. Larson. Cheryl reported that her uncle, Arnold Klugman, is the last remaining offspring of Gust and Ida Klugman.

I have heard from several Funkhousers, whose mother was Blanche Funkhouser and whose name appears on the Tenney Quilt. The Funkhousers grew up in Campbell—Don, Curt, Carol, Eileen and there may have been one other sibling whose name I can’t come up with at the moment.

I have had email or face-to-face conversations with a few of Gertie Kapitan’s granddaughters, including Angela Austin (daughter of Douglas), Barbara Holtan (daughter of Everett), and Claudia Kapitan (daughter of Lowell). I had some wonderful conversations with Gertie’s daughter, Adeline who, out of Matt and Gertie's eight children, was the only daughter in the bunch. Gertie was a gem, and I will be writing a post about her a bit later. I owe a debt of gratitude to Gertie for writing the “Tenney Locals” for many years, particularly the years surrounding the creation of the Tenney Quilt in 1928-1929. Reading those little local news tidbits gave me a deep understanding of the values, interactions, and daily events in the lives of the people who called Tenney home. It is truly how I came to love and appreciate Tenney and its people—particularly its pioneering women.

Many of you are Tenney voices. Keep those Tenney stories alive. Post them on this blog (Click on COMMENTS after any of my writings), or send them to me by email at tenneyquilt@yahoo.com or call me at 320-894-7073.