Irene (Folk) Lake (1908 - 1998)

Her four older siblings were born in Oklahoma, before the family moved to Nebraska. She was born at Calf Creek, Cherry county, Nebraska, as were her younger siblings. They were all delivered at home and educated in country schools. Theodore moved the family in to town, Mullen, so he could get into the Elevator business and the older children could go to High School. My Mother joined them and graduated at the age of 15 in 1924. She then went to Summer School at Kearney State College and then taught a country 8-grade school that Fall. She boarded with Frank and Nell Lake. She repeated that cycle of Summer School and teaching for three years, and possibly a fourth. An Oklahoma Aunt gave her financial backing and she went to Loma Linda Hospital School of Nursing in San Berardino, California, for their three-year program. She graduated and passed California's State Licensing Exams in the 98th percentile, becoming a Licensed Registered Nurse, or RN. Her parents and siblings greatly opposed her nursing venture. They did not want a Sara Gump in camp.

[I looked up this expression and found an explanation on WikiPedia. Sara Gump, or Mrs. Gamp, was a disreputable character in the writings of Charles Chickens 1843-1844. She is usually referred to as dissolute, sloppy and generally drunk. She became a notorious stereotype of untrained and incompetent nurses of the early Victorian era, before the reforms of campaigners like Florence Nightingale. Nearly ninety years later, the Folks lumped all nurses into that stereotype. I wonder if Encyclopedia Britanica helped that unfair association. I am sure that her character, her reputation, and her service changed the minds of her family.]

In the early 1940's she would be gone a week or so, now and then. It seems the term "private duty nursing" surfaced occasionally. she also became known as "Dr. Mom." Now days it might be called in-home hospice care for the terminally ill. She didn't renew her license in the late 40's, possibly around 1947. When they moved from the ranch to Lincoln in the 1960's, and because of Gene's employment insecurity involving the insurance company that he worked for, she went to the Nebraska State Board of Nursing and was given review material and a time period to write the exams. They let her write out the exam similar to the way she wrote them in California and passed with the same grade. On getting settled in Hebron (1969), the hospital employed her. Later on, she worked at the Nursing Home and did podiatry (foot care, nail trimming, etc.) on an "as needed" basis. One day while driving herself home from work ( 2-1/2 miles and 3 stop signs) she realized her inability to see the stop signs. The next day she called the correct personnel and, for safety's sake, terminated her services.

When Aunt Irene was a baby the Folks still lived in the sod house on the ranch. Grandmother Anna was sleeping outside in the hammock with baby Irene. Anna rolled over in the night and noticed Irene wasn’t breathing. Anna immediately grabbed the baby and dunked her in the rain barrel! The cold shocked her into breathing again.

Irene was born on the family homestead on Cow Creek in the Sandhills of Cherry county, Nebraska. Her parents came to America at young ages with their respective families from Bohemia before it was known as Czechoslovakia. Theodore and Anna met in Oklahoma at a Bohemian settlement named Burton. They were married there and started a family. After a few years they moved to another similar town in South Dakota named Tabor and ran a hotel. Theodore staked a homestead in southern Cherry county where they had the rest of their eight children. Irene was a bright and industrious girl. She did well in school and knew her subjects well enough to take a position as a teacher in a country school. One of her students was Gene Lake, who she would later marry. It was through her acquaintance with the Lake family that she took Bible studies and was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She wanted to become a nurse, but her parents had a low opinion of that profession. In spite of that, Irene went to southern California and attended the SDA school that later became Loma Linda University and an aunt in Oklahoma paid the tuition with her oil money. It was a good thing, too, because she started school in the Fall of 1929 shortly before the Stock Market Crash. Irene came back home with her diploma and married Gene in 1934. Their first child was Ken, my father. Next came Stan and then the twins, Martin and Myrna. A few years later Jerry came along unexpectedly, with eleven years between oldest and youngest. Ken was off to Shelton Academy, a boarding school for his high school education, before Jerry started school. Once, Irene was sure that Stan had appendicitis, but the town doctor in Mullen disagreed. She had Stan taken to North Platte, sixty miles to the next nearest hospital, and got the surgery done, saving his life. Another sad chapter in Stan's life that impacted the family, was the death of his wife in a car accident. He moved back home so Irene could help take care of his two young sons. With Stan and the twins close to the same age, when it came time for them to go to college, the family moved to Lincoln so they could attend Union College. Gene started selling insurance and Irene renewed her nursing certificate and their kids also worked, as well as attended classes. They rented a big enough house for their household of eight on the edge of town, where Gene could keep a horse or two. Stan and Martin didn't finish college until later, but when Myrna and Jerry graduated, they each were married in Lincoln, with the older two boys getting married soon after that. With an empty house, now, Gene and Irene moved back to the Sandhills ranch. They weren't there but a few years when Gene's mother died in Hebron, Nebraska, and his father moved into town with Gene's older brother, Joe. That was when Gene and Irene moved from the Sandhills to the big house a few miles from Hebron. I don't know if they were eager or reluctant, but as far as I could tell, they made up their minds to enjoy it and learn from it. The big house was a big deal. It was built in about 1906 by Gene's grandmother Mary's sister and given to Mary. The deed was in Mary's name and it ended her husband's pattern of moving frequently. Her sister's money came from the Borden Milk fortune and that is another long and fascinating story. Mary and Joe's two children, Frank was about 20 and Alta about 16, were not little when the house was built, and it was only a few years until they left home to marry. Joe died in 1942 and about that time Frank and his wife, Nell, moved from the Sandhills into the big house to care for Mary, who died in 1947. Nell died in 1969 and the big house already had the tradition of being an old folks retirement home. It was only on 80 acres and that was split in the will between brothers Joe and Gene. Having two people living in a farm house doesn't seem like much until you understand that the big house was a three-story mansion with eight bedrooms. A couple could do just fine with one bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen and a sitting room, and that wasn't even half of the first floor. The house included furniture when it was built and most of it remained and just collected dust. One of the five chimneys had fallen, damaging the exterior wall, but it had never been repaired because it was on the far side of the house away from the part that was actually lived in. Lived in by people, that is. Bees and critters made good use of the holes in the structure. Irene and Gene were determined to make the run-down place a nicer home and instead of retiring and taking their ease, they tackled project after project, doing most of the work themselves. The yard was graded and fenced, with new trees and flower gardens planted. The bees were evicted and the damage from the fallen chimney was closed up, depriving the coons and skunks of their home. When it was built the plumbing consisted of pumps in the kitchen and bathtub room that each brought up cold water from a cistern that collected rain water from the roof. The drains from sink and bathtub were piped to a septic tank. I didn't mention the toilet, because that was an indoor privy with a tile septic drain. At some point, probably in the 40's or 50's, Frank put in electricity and a well, so the house had power, hot running water and a flush toilet by the time Irene and Gene arrived. He had also replaced the wood-burning stoves with gas stoves. Irene and Gene repaired plaster, painted and put down new linoleum and carpet. They insulated the exterior walls of the kitchen, bathroom and sitting/dining room. They dusted and cleaned most of the rest of the house and tried to sort the junk from the treasures, which wasn't easy. The house being so big, each generation had just moved anything unwanted to the vacant parts of the house, so nothing had been thrown away for sixty years. But first they had to learn about antiques and what had value. Not just furniture, but cookware, clothes, shoes, tools, and anything and everything found on a farm. Once they had the house under control, they picked up other people's junk and sorted out the treasures to add to their own, space wasn't a problem. Irene put down roots at Hebron in other ways, joining a few social clubs, working part time at the hospital and teaching a Bible class at the SDA Church in Fairbury. With her gardening and housekeeping, she was plenty busy, and there were always priorities that came up helping the neighbors. Also five children and their families made for frequent visits that she enjoyed preparing for. Baking had to be done so everyone could enjoy colaches, cinamon buns and rolicks. Rooms had to be aired out and beds made. She made sure her home was ready and that her guests felt welcome and comfortable. Everyone has a last chapter, but that doesn't make it any easier to write about. The years took their toll and Irene's activities slowed down and she had to make concessions to her limits of energy. Her mind remained sharp and she continued doing some of the things she enjoyed. She faded about the same time as Gene and they both had to make a final move to a nursing home. They weren't there very long and died within about five months of each other. Her life overlapped with mine for about 42 years. During that time we shared many happy memories and at moments like this I realize what an impact she had on my life. I value a good flower bed and straight rows of carrots and beans because she did. I remember how she taught me to firmly stuff the corners of pillows into a pillowcase. I remember the current and choke-cherry colaches she made at the ranch, but I loved the cherry and peach ones she made from her fruit trees at the big house. She taught me that there is no shame in wearing patches and so I mend my jeans because there is shame in holes. And that's the short version. I miss her.

Written by Steve Lake, oldest grandson of Irene