March 22, 1945 (Thursday)

A LOVELY SPRING DAY

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A lovely Spring day.

No fire in the furnace

now days as weather

continues mild.

Hank fitting the oats

ground ready for

planting to-morrow.

Putting on the 2nd

coat of paint in

living room.

Laura Flynn and I went

with Pauline Bryant

to meet with Lucille

to name officers for

the P.T.A. for next year

nominated - Mrs. Joe Dyke Pres., Lucille vice Pres.

Freda Russell for Sect & Treas

Ward Boulard father vice Pres.

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The final three words of Edna's journal entry on this day caught my attention: "father vice president."

At first, I misread "father" as "further" but quickly realized I was mistaken.

I was an involved parent when my kids were growing up but I never did the the PTA thing. So before I dismissed the necessity of specifying the title of the elected position with "father" as outdated I did some Googling. And guess what? Although it's not universal, I discovered that some PTAs still qualify elected positions with "father" or "mother."

The March 29, 1945 edition of the Lowell Ledger reported on the Bowne Center PTA elections. In that aritcle, I stumbled upon a practice that is outdated today but was quite common at the time: referring to married women by their husband's name.

"...the following were elected: Predsident, Mrs. Joe Dyke; mother vice president, Mrs. John Watts."

Eleanor Lucille Johnson, my great Aunt, was born on December 10, 1903. Everyone called her Lucille.

Lucille married John Watts on October 28, 1930. Lucille and John endured the loss of two infants, one in 1931 and another in February 1939. Later that year, in October they adopted a infant daughter, naming her Mary.

Before she was a wife and mother, Lucille was a school teacher. At one time, she taught three of her siblings in the one-room schoolhouse at Bowne Center.

Lucille was the firstborn child of Henry and Edna. She died on May 4, 1963, at the age of 59.

L. Verdean Fase was born on January 26, 1910. She was just 17 when she married Joe Dyke on November 5, 1927. Joe and Verdean had two daughters, Lorraine and June. Their son, Lawrence Edwin Dyke was only 12 days old when he died on December 8, 1929.

It required some effort to link a first name to Mrs. John Dyke. I discovered she lived on a farm on Alden Nash (M-50), just south of Alto. I found out Mrs. John Dyke had two daughters. These details can be found with a quick Google search. However, I couldn't locate any reference to Verdean by her first name.

A Google search of her children's names proved helpful. A Lowell Ledger article in the mid-50's about June entering nursing school mentioned her parents; Joe and Verdean Dyke of Arizona. I was feeling more confident that Verdean Dyke was the Mrs. Joe Dyke I was seeking. But, I couldn't find any evidence that Joe and Verdean Dyke had resided in Bowne Center until I came across a 2-page spread in the Lowell Ledger in 1956 about voter registration. It listed the names of every registered voter in Bowne Township. Joe and Verdean Dyke were included on that list.

Mrs. Joe Dyke, who was elected President of the Bowne Center PTA on March 22, 1945 had a name of her own. It was Verdean.

In 1952, Verdean and Joe relocated to Arizona for Joe's health. Joe lived for over 30 years following their move, eventually passing away in 1985.

Verdean was diagnoased with cancer in 1965, passing away just 8 months later on April 16, 1966. She was just 56.

News of her death was reported on the front page of the April 21, 1966 edition of the Lowell Ledger. The headline read:

"Former resident, Mrs. Joe Dyke dies; rites held."

There is no mention of her first name in the entire article about her death.

I imagine that Verdean, Lucille, and my great-grandmother Edna were all used to the practice of referring to married women by their husbands' names. Edna adhered to this convention when writing in her journal.

Verdean, Lucille, and Edna, according to July 1956 Lowell Ledger 2-page spread were all registered to vote.

The Michigan gubernatorial race that November was between G. Mennen Williams (D) and Albert Cobo (R). Williams was declared the winner.

The presidential election that fall was between Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) and Adlai Stevenson (D). Eisenhower won the election quite handily.

I envision all three women confidently heading to the polls to vote, presenting their voter registration cards bearing the names Edna Johnson, Lucille Watts, and L. Verdean Dyke.

Edna. Lucille. Verdean. Such beautiful names.