Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter)

In April of 1968 my dad, Deane Gunderson, gave a speech to his “fellow Republicans” at Iowa’s state Republican convention. He gave the speech in hopes of being selected to be a delegate to the G.O.P.’s national convention held in August of 1968.

Prior to giving his April ’68 speech, he sent a letter to those “fellow Republicans” letting them know of his interest in becoming a delegate to the national convention. That letter is included below. It is from a page of a scrapbook my mom made for my dad’s 80th birthday.

I’ll post my dad’s speech later this week.

In the most recent post I included a newspaper clipping giving the names of the Iowa delegates and alternate delegates to the 1968 G.O.P. National Convention.

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This is the letter my dad sent in 1968 to his “fellow Republicans” prior to Iowa’s state Republican convention. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

My dad, Deane Gunderson, was an alternate delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention held in Miami Beach, Florida.

Prior to the national convention held in August of 1968, Iowa’s state convention was held in Des Moines in April of that same year. At that state convention, my dad gave a speech in his quest to be selected as a delegate to the national convention. Instead of being selected to be a delegate, he was an alternate delegate. He is included in the delegation photo shown below. National Committeewoman Mary Louise Smith is also included in the photo.

My mom’s, Marion Gunderson, handwriting is across the top of the newspaper clipping. Her writing indicates my dad was “strongly for Rockefeller” and that the clipping is from an August 1968 issue of the Des Moines Tribune.

Later this week I’ll post my dad’s 1968 speech.

In case you missed the earlier posting of my dad briefly telling of his involvement in politics, that audio clip is here: D.C.G. Republican Experiences

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My dad, Deane Gunderson, is included in this group of Iowa delegates, including alternates, to the 1968 G.O.P. convention.  He is seated in the fourth row to the (photograph viewer’s) right of the lady wearing glasses. (Click on image to enlarge. Click twice to magnify further.)

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

This post’s photos of the golden combined corn field were taken yesterday (August 24, 2012) just north of Churdan, Iowa, in Greene County. The photo of the lush green corn field was taken eleven days prior (August 13) about fifty miles further northwest in Pocahontas County. What a contrast, almost entirely due to the different amounts of precipitation, in fields just fifty miles apart.

Corn combining in Iowa usually doesn’t start until mid-September (and even then, it is a little early). Widespread combining in Iowa in August, like the state is experiencing in 2012, is extremely rare.

Aside from small pockets in the state of Iowa that were blessed to receive more timely rains, the larger area in the state of Iowa that did receive those more timely rains is the four-county area including Pocahontas, Buena Vista, Palo Alto and Clay counties, and the fringe areas of adjacent counties. (Otherwise, aside from those pockets, four counties and fringes, the rest of Iowa is in a serious state of drought.)

In general, states across the Cornbelt experienced similar drought conditions like that shown in these photos where combining has already occurred, and sometimes much worse (although Minnesota fared better than some of the other Cornbelt states). In some areas the corn fields are in such a bad state they are chopped instead of combined.

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August 24, 2012: About two miles north of Churdan, Iowa, in Greene County. This field is in a severe drought area. (Click once on the image to enlarge; twice to further enlarge.)

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The photo immediately below was taken eleven days earlier (August 13). Because they were not taken on the same day, admittedly the photos are not comparing apples to apples. Still, the contrast due to the above (Greene County) photo being in a drought area and the (Pocahontas County) photo below being in an area receiving more timely rains is obvious.

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August 13, 2012: Section 24, Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa. While this field/area has received less-than-typical precipitation in 2012, this field is not in a severe drought area. (Photo taken by Abby Shimon. Click on the image to enlarge; click twice to magnify the almost-full ears.)

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Click on any thumbnail to enlarge the image and/or to move through the images in slideshow view. After clicking on a thumbnail, to enlarge the photo even more, click on the “View Full Size” link.

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

In 1968 my mother (Marion Gunderson) painted, while on location, this Keystone Bridge watercolor. At that time the bridge was one mile west, one mile south, and another quarter mile west of Gilmore City, Iowa. In 1981 the bridge was moved about eight miles south to its current location of Coopers Cove County Park in Pocahontas County, Iowa. In Mother’s and Daddy’s 1992 oral history, Mother said about this Keystone Bridge painting, “I guess one of the best paintings I ever did was of the keystone bridge down by Gilmore City. … When I was painting the keystone bridge, I was sitting on a folding chair and fell down the hill!” (Click on image to enlarge.)

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In my most recent post, I included the 1968 Rolfe, Iowa, school yearbook paired with Mother’s (Marion Gunderson) watercolors from that same year. One of those watercolors (above) is of a keystone bridge when it was located southwest of Gilmore City, Iowa. In 1981 that bridge was moved about eight miles to its current Pocahontas County, Iowa, location at Coopers Cove County Park*.

An explanation regarding how the Romans relied upon a keystone in bridge design is here.

This next image** gives an explanation regarding the Iowa bridge in Mother’s watercolor.

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Click twice on this image to magnify the text and photos.

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The following image is from the November 17, 1980, issue of The Rolfe Arrow. It includes an editorial about the bridge preservation project. The last paragraph refers to “the father of Ed Shelgren” helping to build the bridge prior to 1900. I believe Ed’s father was the grandfather of Nancy (Shelgren) Martin.

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On this Rolfe Arrow November 27, 1980, page, the “History Was Made” editorial provides color commentary regarding discussion prior to the moving of the keystone bridge. (Click twice on the image to magnify text.)

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Included in the thumbnail images below are photos of the bridge at its current location. The photos were taken by my sister, Peggy, in June of 2004.

Click on any of the thumbnail images to enlarge them and/or to see the images in slideshow view.

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The banner across the top of the Rolfe Public Library’s web site shows another Pocahontas County bridge that I believe is a keystone bridge. It is on the east edge of Rolfe and is visible from Clinton-Garfield Cemetery.

*Features of Coopers Cove County Park are listed here.

**Page 119 of Pocahontas County, Iowa History, compiled in 1981 by the Pocahontas County Historical Society Members and Friends

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Every time I include Mother’s (Marion Gunderson) name in a blog post, I want to hyperlink her name to the “story” of her life. So, here is her obituary that I will link to in the future. Once I add more links to make her obituary more interactive, I’ll repost it.

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Marion Loomis Abbott Gunderson 1919-2004. This photo was taken in July of 1991.

Marion Loomis Abbott, daughter of James Thompson Abbott and Helen Margaret (Loomis) Abbott, was born on September 27, 1919, in Ogden, Utah. She graduated from Ogden High School in 1937 and received a B.S. in Applied Art from Iowa State College in 1941.

On July 23, 1941, Marion Abbott and Deane Charles Gunderson were married in Ogden. They resided in Waterloo, Iowa, for nearly four years while Deane worked for the John Deere Tractor Company. In 1945, they moved to the farm southwest of Rolfe where they continued to live for six decades.

For many years Marion painted watercolors and exhibited in galleries across from the state. In 1963, Marion accepted a position as assistant librarian at the Rolfe Public Library and later became head librarian. She worked at the library until her retirement in 1998. Marion taught Vacation Bible School at the Rolfe Presbyterian Church, was a Cub Scout den mother, 4-H leader and kindergarten volunteer. She spearheaded several community projects including a flea market to raise money to build the Rolfe swimming pool, an oral history project consisting of interviews of 100 Rolfe citizens, and microfilming and indexing The Rolfe Arrow. She provided the impetus for the new Rolfe library/community center/city hall building.

Marion was an avid reader, a Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League, and an ardent genealogist. In 2000, The Iowa Genealogical Society honored Marion for her volunteer work. She was a member of the Shared Ministry of Rolfe, Sorosis, and Chapter FR, P.E.O. She served on the State Extension Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the Iowa State University Alumni Association. In 1980, Iowa State University awarded Alumni Recognition Medals to Marion and Deane.

Marion was preceded in death by her parents and one son,, Christian Abbott Gunderson. She is survived by her husband Deane; son Charles Gunderson and wife Gloria; daughters Clara Hoover and husband Harold, Helen Gunderson, Martha Carlson and husband Michael, Margaret Moore and husband Jeffrey, and Louise Shimon and husband William; seven grandchildren Christina Wehmeyer, Timothy Gunderson, Kevin Carlson, Joshua Moore, Jonathan Moore, Abigail Johnstone and Kathryn Shimon; and a cousin Kathryn Dye.

Through her paintings, community efforts and example as woman, wife, mother, grandmother and friend, the spirit of Marion the Librarian is very much alive.

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

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Clicking on the image will enlarge it..

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)