Humpty Dumpty is on the road wishing the Iowa Falls/Alden Cadets a winning football season ~2010. Go Cadets.
Be sure to visit my blog and come into my world at On the Road with Humpty Dumpty. See you there.
GO CADETS !
On what have been my dad’s 89th birthday, I sent this to the Hamilton County Genealogy Society. This will be the first narrative post on their website, Iowa Gravestones. This is a site for Iowa history to be saved. My dad would have approved.
Arild Vernon Kepler was born in Stanhope, Iowa to Mable and Vernon Kepler. Raised in Webster City, IA, he married Mary Jane Higbee of Webster City on November 21, 1943. They raised four children: Julie May Kepler Richey (deceased), Kathleen Ann Kepler Harrington, Cynthia Kay Kepler Leitner, and David Vernon Kepler.
The following is a revision of the eulogy I presented for my dad on October 21, 1998 at his funeral.
For My Dad
Arild Vernon “Kep” Kepler
August 22, 1921 ~ October 13, 1998
Interment: Graceland Cemetery Webster City, IA
When I was a little girl, we went on a trip to California in a 1956 red and black Ford. From the moment we rolled out of our driveway in the middle of Iowa until we reached the parking lot of Disneyland, I’d ask my dad the same question, “How much further, daddy?”
My dad, with is patience and wisdom, would always reply in the same manner, “Oh not far, Kathie, it’s just over the hill and around the corner.”
After many hills and many corners, my dad was right; we arrived at Disneyland.
* * * * *
Every member of our family wants to thank you for being here today. We appreciate so very much your compassion and your warmth. We acknowledge your part in making my father’s life a reason to find celebration and joy in our time of sorrow. In the future, when our minds drift back upon happier days, it will not be about my dad’s death that we reminisce but rather about his life. He was happiest as a poet, a storyteller and a Thespian and his love of music provided harmony throughout his years.
Many of you knew my dad when he had black hair. I didn’t. It was always gray and then white for me. Many of you knew my dad when he was young and vital and had a vision for the future that was intense. To me, my dad will always be young and vital. Many of you knew my dad before he had a handlebar mustache. I remember buying him mustache wax. I think that all of you knew my dad as “Kep” but to me, he was my dad.
Many of the people of Iowa Falls and Webster City ate my dad’s cooking at the Red Rooster Grill. It was there he taught me to cook, do dishes, run a business, and make coffee. It was there he taught me dedication, responsibility, work ethics, and the importance of wearing a smile in order to make another person’s day a little brighter.
When my dad went from selling food to selling cars many of you were there.You were there when the good times rolled and you were there when they rolled back the other way. We know you were there, not because you had to be, but because you choose to be.
My dad, loved living. He was a generous and loving husband for over 50 years to our mother. Together, they weathered life’s storms and found rainbows. Together, they built bridges and covered them with love. And together, they walked through each moment of each day as he so eloquently portrayed in his poem, “Life’s Partner.”
You might have known “Kep” as the one who told the best joke at a party or the one who loved to play solitaire on the hoods of cars, tell World War II stories, or look in wonder and curiosity as new technology became a part of our every day lives. You might have known “Kep” as the one who loved John Phillip Sousa Marches or recall his recitations from John Adams to “Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy.” However, it was my dad who drove my older sister to Fort Dodge and back every two weeks for seven years when she had braces on her teeth. It was my dad who took me to every Audie Murphy and cowboy movie ever made. That was our Friday night date at the Met Theater. It was my dad who started a citywide collection for new high school band uniforms. It was my dad who went on a letter writing campaign to state and national politicians for “notch babies.” As far as I know, Uncle Sam is still beating the “babies.” It was my dad who searched for the innocents of the fifties in the nineties. It was my dad who instilled in my children the importance of history and the lessons worth learning. It was my dad, whose advice I sought, and whose courage I clinged to. It was my dad who opened my eyes, as a mother, to the acceptance of a child whose dreams were without wings. It was my dad who just two weeks ago bought a new video for his youngest grandchild. He wanted her to learn the most valuable lessons in the world from those who had taught him, the lessons from “The Three Little Pigs.” It was my dad who wrote poetry by finding humor in his ever-aging, ever-handicapping world.
My dad believed in heaven and in a loving God who would remove the pain of the world we know. He believed in the quality of life, not the quantity. My dad had no fear of death. He knew that his time was near and he knew where he was going as he penned in one of his poems, “The Setting Sun.
Each one of us knows people because our lives have sung in harmony somewhere along life’s way. We know that person for the shared experiences we have. I want you to know my dad because he was more than “Kep.” He was more than that sailor, veteran, grocery, restaurant, and dealership owner. My dad had a good life and in that, I find reason to celebrate. You see, my dad may be gone but he’ll always be close to all of the people he loved because he’s in a good place. After all, he’s just over the hill and around the corner.
I posted this 1950′s picture of the Red Rooster Grill on Facebook, History of Iowa Falls page with the following message: Does this look familiar to anyone? My parents, Kep and Mary Kepler opened the Red Rooster. Dad, painted the windows ~ freehand every week or so. He also did the windows on the Super Value next door ~ owned by my grandparents. 1950′s.
The next post from fellow Iowa Fallsian, Richard L. Gaulke is so sweet, I wanted to share it on my blog. Here is what he had to say.
A farewell kiss
In my hometown of Iowa Falls, hundreds of people were in attendance at a sendoff ceremony Tuesday for about 70 members of the Iowa Falls-based Iowa National Guard C Company of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry.
The soldiers are part of a call-up of more than 3,000 Iowa soldiers in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is being deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Following speeches by dignitaries during a ceremony at in the Iowa Falls-Alden High School gymnasium, and hugs from family and friends, the soldiers left for training at Camp Shelby, Miss. From there, they will be deployed to Afghanistan for one year.
Bike Across IOWA
The oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world is happening right now in the great state of IOWA. In it’s 38th year, RAGBRAI is sponsored by The Des Moines Register.
2010 Route:
Sioux City, Storm Lake, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Waterloo, Manchester and Dubuque (Not this year, but sometime it has gone through my hometown of Iowa Falls)
If you want to be a part of the amazing fun and ride next year you need to register NOW.
Where is this from?
This statue is a memory that people from Iowa Falls hold special in their minds. Who remembers where it was and what they did around it?
Did you run ~ did you splash ~ did you make a wish and did it come true? Whatever the memory we’d all like to see it back in it’s place.
Now you tell me ~ where does it belong?
Humpty Dumpty in water fountain at Estes Park ~ Iowa Falls.
Iowa Falls Parks and Recreation Director Brian Lorenzen said he is expecting to turn on the Estes Park Water Fountain for the first time this year today.
Currently, the statue atop the fountain features a nymph blowing on a seashell. (Humpty is holding on tight) However, Iowa Falls resident Shirley Welden is hoping to replace the current statue with the original which had been at Estes Park since 1934. The original statue was accidentally destroyed last August. Welden is coordinating the fundraising effort and says the replacement bid is for $10,000.
Original Red Rooster Grill on corner of Hwy. 65/Rocksylvania
This is the original Red Rooster Grill in Iowa Falls, Iowa. It was built by my mother and father, Kep and Mary Kepler in the mid-1950′s. It burned to the ground on Thanksgiving Eve, 1960 and was rebuilt approximately 1.5 years. later. My grandfather, Vernon Kepler, owned the Super Value Grocery Store next to the Rooster where my dad used to work.
Dad did all of the window painting, freehand. I often held the paint cans for him. Note the prices on the windows of the pie and coffee. Dad also painted for the grocery store and when Joe Girard bought it from my grandfather, he continued to paint the specials on the windows for him as well.
There was a party room in the basement of the Red Rooster. My sister, Julie, and I had “sock hops” down there for special events. I remember well, the old 45′s and the poodle skirts.
Julie and I started our working careers at the Red Rooster ~ we were dishwashers! We progressed to servers and my favorite, fry cook.
My hometown of IOWA FALLS, IA announced a 2009 graduation rate of 93.88 percent. Clark County ~ Las Vegas ~ has a rate slightly over 50 percent. There is work to be done at a time when cuts are being made. We need YOUR thoughts, Las Vegans ~ what can we do?
I realize there are differences between IA and NV but we all have young minds to mold and a future that depends on our youth.
Are there more parents who love and care for there children in IA ~ I don’t think so.
Are children brighter in IA ~ I don’t think so.
Are there better teachers in IA ~ I don’t think so.
Are there higher educational expectations in IA ~ maybe.
Are there fewer distractions in IA ~ for sure.
My children are grown, but I continue to share an interest in the quality of young people we educate throughout our country and particularily in my city of Las Vegas, NV. Money, thrown at all aspects of education is not the entire solution, although it helps. Quality education comes from the effort of the entire community to take the time and energy to raise our young people in all aspects of their lives.
Step up when you can.
Find a place to volunteer.
Listen.
Do something good today.
Bean Duet 1 c. diced bacon or ham, 1/2 diced onion, 1 pkg, frozen lima beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, salt/pepper to taste, 2 T. butter
Saute’ meat and onion/drain. Add lima beans and tomatoes, salt/pepper, Add butter, Simmer 45 minutes.
Scalloped Corn 2 cans cream-style corn, 1 can of milk, 1 c. crushed crackers, 2 beaten eggs, 1/4 c. diced green pepper, 1T. diced onion, salt/pepper to taste, grated cheddar cheese
Mix all together, cover with cheese, bake 350 for one hour.
Do-Ahead Mashed Potatoes 5 lbs. potatoes, 1 c. milk, 1 ctn. sour cream, 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, 1/4 c. dried chives, 1/4 c. diced pimento, 1/4 c. diced onion, salt/pepper to taste, cheddar cheese, paprika
Mash potatoes with milk. Add all ingredients (except cheese and paprika). Place in casserole and spinkle with cheese and paprika. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
ENJOY these recipes. They were all found in the Bethany Lutheran Church Cookbook, Iowa Falls, IA “In Memory of Craig Sathoff. We all know how he loved to cook and eat!
Oh, how we remember Mr. Sathoff for what he taught us about poetry and prose, life ~ and food.
To order the cookbook snail mail to” Bethany LCW, Bethany Luterany Church,
Iowa Falls, IA. $17.50 includes postage and handling. It’s a great book, well organized, with loads of mouth-watering recipes.
