Goldie Wilkerson

The Memories and Joys of the life of Ronald Dean and Goldie (Burchett) Wilkerson

I was born in a small town in the central part of the state of Iowa at a very young age. As Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) said, I had no teeth, not much hair, and no clothes on. I was not embarrassed, as I was too young to know the expected ways of man. The name of the town was Kellerton, Iowa, and I was born at home. No one went to the hospital then. My Father’s name was William Howard Burchett and my mother, Neola Ellen (Foster) Burchett. I had a brother, Foster Howard Burchett (two and a half years my senior). I did not know at the time how much I would learn to love him and depend on him. There were times that I was not overly fond of him, but we overcame that situation off and on.

I continued to live in Kellerton for a time with my family, and then we moved to Mt Ayr, Iowa (a few miles away) where we lived until I was two or three years old. During this time, we lived in what was an apartment house called the Brown House. It was a two story building, and upstairs lived two young schoolteachers. They used to visit with me quite often, and on one occasion, when I was on the sidewalk out front with my doll buggy, they asked to see my baby. I was accommodating, and uncovered the baby who was my pet chicken named Penny. She was dressed up in doll clothes and a bonnet. They were very surprised. I loved animals and often created little problems because of this. We loved a German Sheppard who belonged to a family who lived across the main highway from us. His name was King, and my parents discouraged us from petting him because he belonged to someone else. We (my brother and I) really tried, but King persisted in being our true friend. We really appreciated him for his friendship, but he also protected us from deserved spankings. When we did something that our dad didn’t like and he came out to discipline us, King stood between us and growled, and Dad retreated. Is that friendship or what? King’s owners worked to keep their dog home and one time locked him up for quite a few days. The day that they let him out proved to be a very sad day for all of us as when he started across the highway, a truck hit him and killed him. It took a long time for us to recover from his death.

While living in this small town, I learned a lot of lessons. Up in the square were quite a few nice small stores and when we got to go to the verity store with our parents, we had to put our hands in our pockets all the time we were there. This kept us from touching and handling everything or breaking things. We sometimes got a nickel to spend. This came to us if we were good. It was not easy to follow through with this. The alternative wasn’t fun, though. In the year 1933, a nickel would buy a nice little treat. How things have changed. I also learned that when we went to the movies, we were supposed to sit down in the seat, watch, and be quiet. The saying of today (everyone else is running up and down the isles or doing this or that) didn’t work. When I tried, I got a spanking and taken home. I got all kinds of lessons like that. My parents were lots of fun, but also strict. In the winter when it was cold and snowy, we played in the house sometimes. When we played catch with a ball, I used to miss the catch quite a lot, and my brother would laugh at me and make faces. After a while, my temper would get the best of me, and I would hit him with the ball or whatever else was handy. He would continue to laugh, and finally, I said that I didn’t want to play anymore, which got me in trouble. I was made to finish the game and told that people should be a good sport always. Foster was great at covering up what he did, but I usually got even with him. Lessons are hard to learn, and that continues as we grow up. I think of that time of my life often. In the summer, when we went uptown in the middle of the afternoon, the birds would gather in the trees and on the roof of the curt house and sing or coo. Such a peaceful sound, and I loved it.

We went to Kellerton pretty often because that was where mama’s mother lived. Mama was the youngest of five children. She had four brothers, Otto, Kyle, Fern, and Lyndell. My mother’s father (George Foster) died when she was a young child, and her mother (Nellie Alice Foster) kept the family together by working at home. She was an excellent seamstress and worked at this profession during the night and washed for people during the day. She worked long hours and very hard. One of the older sons (Otto) worried about her a lot and used to walk in his sleep at night, coming down the stairs and sitting in a chair watching her work. He stayed quite a while and then would return to bed to sleep. The other children worked at different odd jobs to help. Mother was very talented on the piano and would play at the movie for the silent pictures. I loved to tease her about her age and would mention this all the time. Grandpa Foster was talented also. He ran a leather shop where saddles and other ranching and farming supplies were made. Next to that shop was a blacksmith shop, supply store with groceries and dry goods. Quite a businessman. While my grandparents were living in Hatfield, Missouri, Billy, the kid, and his outlaw gang came through and holed up in the church building. Some interesting things happened during that time. My mother’s brothers, Otto died at the age of eighteen, and Kyle a few years later while serving in the Navy. He died of cancer. This left the three of them except some other relatives. My family spent more time with Grandma Foster’s sister and her family. Uncle Harry and Aunt Code and son Shelly and his wife lived on a farm South of Kellerton. They farmed and raised milk cows, chickens, and other domestic animals. Since we had no TV those days, we sat on the porch and visited. Most of their family was very quiet, but Aunt Code made up for them. She knew all about the neighbors and was jubilant to give us the latest. Sometimes, we would all get cleaned up to go to town (usually Friday night). Uncle Harry would say he guessed that he would just stay home, and when we all got ready in the car, he would always change his mind, and we would have to wait on him. This infuriated Aunt Code, so one time she told us that when he came out to wave us down, to pretend that we thought he was saying goodbye and wave and leave him alone. This irritated him, but never changed him. Most other people in town enjoyed attending the Friday night in town. Usually, there was a band playing on the band stand in the square. Some folks danced, and others just sat and watched. The stores were open, so we kids would get to go look around. I am sure that this seems pretty boring to most people today, but we liked it. My best girlfriend was Barbara Jean Teal, and when we visited Grandma, she and I spent a lot of time together. We would go to the schoolhouse and swing and ride other rides, and other times, we played dolls and had tea parties. One time, I accidentally broke one of her little cups, and she made me go home. We exchanged a few words, and she said we would never play together again. In about ten or fifteen minutes, she would come over and ask me if I wanted to play. Of course, I agreed. Sometimes, she would make mud pies and eat them too. I never took part in that. We were friends for a long time. Mrs. Gorsage lived down the street a few houses and often came over to have coffee with Mom and Grandma. She sometimes got her dress on the wrong side out but left it that way all day. She said it was bad luck to change it the same day. Mr. Hensley was Grandma’s good friend too, but every time they had a disagreement, she would bring back anything that Grandma ever gave her and leave it on the porch. I thought that was very funny. There were quite a few strange folks living in Kellerton, but it was a pretty little old town, with beautiful green grass and flowers and blue birds, robins, mocking birds singing in all the trees. Grandma was quite outspoken, and when we went to the grocery store, she would have a rather heated argument with the owner because of his prices. She was very political and loved to spar with any Democrats she knew. In Iowa, she got plenty of practice. Iowa was a Democratic state and still is. Grandma hated paying sales tax, and the lady at the local dime store would always say. “Nell, that will be ten cents and two cents tax.” That made her so mad. I guess the years haven’t changed things very much. The government and people are still fighting about taxes. When I was growing up, carnivals came to all the small towns, and everyone loved them.

Dad was part of a big fun family too. He had eight brothers and sisters. Some died at young ages, so I only remember some of them. His great-grandfather was Mahlon Burchett, and his great-grandmother was Sarah Narcissus (Cassidy) Burchett. His father was William Burr Burchett and his mother, Mary (Richardson) Burchett. Children were Charles Wilson, Hugh Wilson Burchett, George Allen Burchett, Andrew Cleo Burchett, Jennie Arlene Burchett, William Howard Burchett, Donald Burchett, and Narcissus Lavon Burchett. All were born in Ringgold County, Iowa. The original name of “Burchett” may have been “Trebuchet,” which originated with the French Huguenots who left France for the islands near Scotland sometime around the 1500s to 1600s. Dad’s Mother, Mary’s parents, came to America from Ayr, Ireland around 1850 or 1853. My family and I spent a lot of time with Dad’s family on their farms close to Mt. Ayr. Halloween was quite a holiday back then, and one time, Dad and friends pushed and pulled a cow up the stairs to the local beauty shop and tied her with her head sticking out the beauty shop window. This created quite a stir in town and caused a little trouble for the boys involved. Pushing over the outside toilets was also a fun pastime for them. One time, the Christian church had a dress up dinner and party for the young people to try to discourage the boys from this practice, but as soon as the party was over, they headed for the big three-seater at the garage across the street from the church building. What a surprise for them when they found out that the owner had moved the outhouse back a few feet from the hole. One boy fell in. Some of the other boys said the boy climbed out and left for home saying “shoot doggone” all the way up the street. They moved many of the toilets uptown, and so the sheriff made them stay out of school the next day and put all the toilets back where they belonged. It was said that they enjoyed that almost as much as they did take them down. I heard many stories while sitting on the back porch with the family in the evening. Lots of laughing.

It was very cold in Iowa in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. We moved to a little town in central Iowa called Berwick when I was going on five years. I loved it there, and in those days, children could wonder all around play and the parents didn’t have to worry about them. Because it was small, all ages played together. Dad worked at the grocery store and was the postmaster. Everyone knew each other and were on a first name basis. Berwick was a small village, and I have many happy memories from there. Foster and I went to school in a two-room schoolhouse. Miss Evelyn Smith was our teacher from kindergarten through the third grade. We liked her very much, and at lunchtime we either went home or I would run home and get something to eat and bring it back to school where I could eat with my friends. Miss. Evelyn lived upstairs over the local grocery store and very often left her lunch at home. Since dad worked there, her folks would ask him to take her lunch to her, which he did. He got tired of doing this, so he put a little garter snake in her lunch sack and brought it to her. When she opened the sack, she screamed and got on a chair. We kids thought that was so funny and helped her catch it and put it outside. I don’t think she ever forgot to get her lunch again. Dad always liked to play jokes on people. Foster carried the paper (morning and evening) in town, and once in a while got me to do the evening ones for him. I would get my dog (Rowdy) and put the paper bag around his neck, put him on my sled, and away we would go.

When I was small, I sang a lot and was a member of a talent group which traveled all around Polk County, Iowa. We performed at many places among which was Riverview Parka and Ft. Des Moines Base during the war with Germany and Japan. My mother played the piano for me in the shows. I never got over being nervous but loved to perform. We lived in Berwick until I was about thirteen, and then moved to Des Mines (the capital of Iowa) Dad was drafted into the Navy at the time, and we moved there, and later my brother; Foster joined the Army. I went to Junior High School at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School. It was so large to me after school in Berwick that I was lost and scared for a while. I was a member of a musical group (six girl sextet). Lots of fun. Then on to high school. I wasn’t there very long until we moved to Roswell, NM. World War II ended while my family lived in Des Moines. There was such a big celebration at that time. Everyone was so happy and full of fun. Our country was so patriotic during that time.

New Mexico was very different from Iowa. It was where I learned to say “you all” and where the schools closed when it snowed. This rarely happened in Iowa. It was great. When I was a junior in high school, I met Ronald Dean Wilkerson quite by accident. I was acquainted with his twin brother, Donald Gene Wilkerson, and didn’t know that he had a twin. While at the local drugstore and evening hangout for many of the high school kids, I saw Ronald and thought he was Don. I laughed and talked with him and his friend for quite a while, then left. As I walked by a café where other kids loved to eat, I looked in and waved at Don. He was very friendly and invited me to join the group. What a surprise! A few months later. Ron and I started dating, and on May 14, 1950, after I graduated, we were married. I lacked one month being eighteen. Didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did. Fifty-two years later, at the time of his death, I found that I hadn’t learned a whole lot. Had many lessons left to learn. At this time, I began another life. I married into a large family with nine children, six boys (Ernest, Jack< Burl, Donald, Ronald, and Robert) and three girls (Helen, Martha, and Earned.) Ron’s father was Harvey Earnest Wilkerson and his mother was Martha Jane Elkins Wilkerson. His father was very sweet and absent-minded. He was a decorative iron maker, welder, and blacksmith. He usually came home for dinner every day and usually passed the house. The children would run to tell their mother that dad was home for lunch. She would put it on the table, and in a little bit, he would turn around and come back. He never could tell the twins apart (called both of them “Twin"). All of them loved to tease him, and he couldn’t stand to spank them. So, they had it made until they realized that their mother could. Mother was a minister’s daughter (Tice Elkins) and their family was from West Virginia. Mother and dad each had many brothers and sisters. Lots of aunts and uncles too. Mother liked to play the piano and would practice quite a bit. Sometimes, as she learned, she would count, and dad would be reading his paper and then, at the time to say the prayer, he would (after listening a long time) begin with counting “one, two, three, and four”. This often caused a little laughing problem. It was fun to be around them. They were very musical, and all played an instrument and sang. Ron played several instruments including the guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, some piano, and his main instrument, the trombone. The family would get together very often at different homes and jam, as they called it. He worked at a printing company in Roswell and continued with it after we married. When he began college, he worked in a printing company at night and went to school days. Quite a busy schedule, but he made it. Their family was also very religious and all attended church services at the local Church of Christ.

After about four months after we were married, Ronald decided that he wanted to attend college at Abilene, TX with a major in Bible and minor in Greek. It was a dream that had a long time to preach and teach God’s word. I never planned to be a minister’s wife, but that’s what happened. I always said that what you see is what you get. I guess that I made a pretty fair one because I helped him go to school and tried to support him in his work. I don’t mean that I was perfect, but I as dedicated and not bad. After the first year of school, we decided to go to West Virginia for gospel meetings. We were there all summer, and Ron preached every week and many times three times on Sunday. In 1951, the times were far behind, and most homes were not modern. No running water and coal and wood burning stoves to cook on. The main livings were made in coal mines. The people were very kind for the most part, but old-fashioned. We stayed almost every night in a different home. Sometimes, the beds were all in one room, and one had bed bugs. The man gave us a flashlight to scare them off our bed. I didn’t sleep a wink all night. We stayed in another home way off the main road, which took us about two hours to get to. The man of the house talked fast and a lot, and his wife, though very nice and friendly, hardly talked at all. When we woke up the next morning, I looked over the side of the bed and a mama hen walked out with a large family of babies following close behind. These are only a few of the different things that happened. Ron’s life was threatened quite often. When a person wanted to be baptized, we used the river. One man waited up on a bridge with his shotgun and said he would shoot Ron if he baptized his wife. I was scared, but when Ron baptized the man’s wife, the shooter gave up and left. There were other occasions like this, but we made it back home in one piece. I was very ill while on this trip. I had Rheumatic Fever and was very happy to get back home. Not everything was unpleasant while we were there, as we made lots of wonderful friends and had good memories. We moved around quite a lot during Ron’s days as a minister. Many places only kept a Minister three to four years at a time. That was just the way it was. Sometimes they were hard. Ron preached most of his grown years and died at the age of seventy-two in Albuquerque, NM. He was and is so missed. We had three children. Donald Howard, Mark Harvey, and Sherry Lynn. These children married and blessed us with twelve Grandchildren and (two step-grandchildren). Twenty-three great-grandchildren (three deceased). We were greatly blessed. Maybe we will have more greats to come. The grandchildren’s names- are Shane, Clint, Dixie, Stacy, Daniel, Hugh, Jason, Jessica, Jennifer, Jeremy, and Christopher. I will try to list all of the great-grandchildren’s names when I get them all straightened out. I am a little older now.

There were many memories that were not mentioned in this short story, and I am confident there will be many more to build. Maybe I’ll add some more events to this account at a later date. I know that all will go well as I am just as confident that God is always with us to care for us. Please don’t forget this.

I wish that I could tell you more about Ron’s life, but I would need him here to fill in more details. I am sure that there would be a lot of interesting information, but I don’t know all of it.

I hope that you enjoy this little letter and always remember that I Love all of you very much and pray for you every day.