“I've gotten a lot of miles in my life”-Auntie Boo
Auntie Boo’s story, through telephone conversations with Griffin Heintz
Auntie Boo grew up around Ashland, Ohio, in the country. She said that people had to work harder to earn a living when she was younger. She said that they used to be more thrifty. They bought less and made more. She went to a country school until eighth grade and went to a Methodist country church (her father had gone to the Christian church, but changed after marriage). Her dad and her sister, Ona , sang at wedding and funerals and things of that sort in the community. Her dad was the lead singer at her church. Her mother wasn’t very musical, and neither is she. At her country school, she remembers playing a lot of softball and running games such as Black man, and Fox and Grease. When she moved on to high school in Ashland, they played a lot of Basketball and other games unfamiliar to her. She said the people from her school weren't very good at the new games, but when they played softball they were the best. She said, “If we ever hit them in the back we’d about killed them!”
Auntie Boo lived in third floor apartment in Columbus, which was 25 dollars per month in rent. Roger made 12.50 every week, so they had money left over for groceries. They always tried to save money.
She lived in Colorado Springs, and worked as a maid for Dr. Shivery while Roger was in World War II. This not only gave her a source of income, but also a place to stay. Roger was with the mule pack. He wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. Pilots were not needed, and Roger re-joined the military. He was put into the infantry for a few weeks right after he re-joined. Auntie Boo said that the infantry was man-to-man contact, so Roger wouldn’t have been good in the infantry because he was 6’ 4”. The people on the infantry had to stay low, run, jump, and shelter themselves in foxholes. A foxhole was a little hole that soldiers used to lay in to be lower to the ground and avoid weapon fire. After his first few weeks back, roger was moved to the artillery. In the artillery, he would get up in a high tower, such as a church tower, and estimate the enemy’s location. The people on the ground could aim long-distance weapons in that direction, and Roger could adjust locations after the first fire.
Auntie Boo remembers living in Alaska. This was one of her favorite places to live. She liked how it was light almost 24 hours a day in the summer. She drove back and forth from Alaska to Ohio on the ALCAN highway. This was about a five day trip.
She said they never cancelled school for snow there because they were so used to having so much of it. Instead of snow plows, they had a machine that blew the snow out into the fields. She lived there from 1953 to 1964. They lived there because Roger wanted to fly commercially, and there were too many pilots in the 48 States after World War 2. In Alaska Roger could be trained to fly, and there wasn't a lot of competition. Roger flew a twin engine plane with a prop. They didn't use jets because they sucked up too many stones. The twin engine plane was one of the first to use instrument flying. This was flying using a machine instead of being completely man operated. Roger got a job flying for Reeve Aleutian Airways made up of bush pilots that flew out to the Aleutian Islands and within a few miles of Russia. They already had airports from World War 2.
When Auntie Boo and Roger left Alaska they went to Norfolk, Virginia, so Roger could work at an airline on the East Coast. They next moved to Indiana. Roger worked at Purdue University where he trained pilots to fly. Purdue University flew charters. There had been a new manager in the flight department from the Military, and he spent too much of the department’s money. Parts of the department were shut down. Next they lived in Denton Texas, where Roger started working at Southwest Airlines. Someone From Southwest Airlines had talked to one of the chief pilots at Purdue University. Purdue University sent some pilots to work at Southwest Airlines.
Living with Roger took Auntie Boo many places around the states because Roger would be stationed in different places. Roger was in World War II and The Korean War. She has lived in Indiana, colorado, Virginia, and many other places. Roger had many jobs before becoming a pilot. He worked on the railroad in Alaska, at service stations, and as a security officer at the airport. Before Roger became a major pilot, he was a private pilot. In Norwalk, Ohio, a farmer by the name of Park hired Roger to be an instructor on his patch of land used as an airstrip.
Auntie Boo lived in the Rio Grande Valley in Harlingen, Texas, (southern Texas) in retirement. She moved there after Roger passed away. She liked to go to the Mexican border, which was about 30 miles away to shop and have lunch. Dad ( visited her there with Nana when he was in second grade). This was another one of her favorite places to live.
Auntie Boo married John and lived in a motor home for about a year. After a year, they moved to Florida. John’s sons lived in North Carolina and Kentucky. When they lived in Florida, they were close to both for holidays. She enjoyed square dancing while living there.
- She enjoyed living in Texas and Alaska because they were different, and she liked people in both places.
- Auntie Boo has been to all of the 50 states.
- She taught me that the time change gave factory workers more time in their Victory Gardens in the summer. Victory Gardens were patches of field outside the city for factory workers during World War II.
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