Marjean Haass Boehme

Castroville, Texas

March 5,2004

Joshua C. Haass

Palo Alto College

History 1302 - Spring 2004

INTRODUCTION

My great Aunt Marjean Haass Boehme was born in July of 1935 to Charles Fred Haass and Lorene Ann Haass at their home in Pearson-Noonan, Texas. She was the last of three born, or as she so eloquently put it; THE CABOOSE. Marjean was born in the time of the Great Depression when everybody was poor, and people did a lot of odd jobs for food and the bare necessities. She said that her brother and sister never noticed how poor they were because everybody else was just as poor, so it really didn't impact her until she got older, and then she realized how bad it really was. As a young woman she cleaned houses and did some ironing for people after she would finished all of her chores at home. She got her first real job at Southwestern Bell in 1953, and worked there for the next ten years before she had to quit. She gave birth to two daughters Kathy and Karoline; Karoline had medical problems with her legs forcing Marjean to quit her job. Although it would have been a great career for her she doesn't regret a day for being a stay-at-home mom. In her eyes she felt that the girls needed her at home, and she needed them. Fours years after she started working at Southwestern Bell she met John Boehme (He worked at the phone company for 36 years) and they married that same year in April 1957, and are still married today. With all of this going on in her life she had to put her dreams of becoming a nurse on hold, and that as you will read is her only regret. In the end Marjean had fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse she just didn't get paid in dollars, but rather in satisfaction of helping another, and she didn't get to wear the white dress with "the hat".

my aunt marjean growing up as the youngest of three standing in front of the family car

TRANSCRIPTION

Describe a typical Saturday?
Saturday! that was the day we went to town. We would load up in my dad's truck go to the grocery store, and then we put them in the back of the truck, and head to the movies. Back then you didn't have to worry about someone stealing your truck or groceries, so we would park the truck, and go to the movies. I remember watching Roy Rogers, Butch Cassidy, and Gene Autrey. There was a new movie every week. Saturday was probably the funest day of the week.-

Who were you closest to in your family, outside your family, and why?
Well I guess me and Glenn (her brother) did things together, I mean we always had to do the outside stuff together,the working stuff. But when I went to school in Castroville, Texas I had a friend named Betty who would come over to my house or I would go over to her house, and we are still friends to this day.

How did you and your family spend Christmas, and what was it like?
Well, on Christmas Day we would go over to moma's parents, and on Christmas Eve we would put up the tree, and decorated it with popcorn among other things. We would leave the tree up until after the first of the year. And on Christmas morning we would open up our gifts, and later on we would go to my daddy's moma's and open our gifts there. My cousins and I would (the older kids) light fire crackers underneath cans and watch them fly into the air, and it was a lot of fun. In those days the adults ate first, and then the kids would eat after. After we ate a Santa Claus would come and hand out presents to all of us.

Where did you go to school, and how did you get there?
I went to school at Castroville, Texas, which was about 6 miles away from our house. Well, we got there on the bus if it didn't brake down, I mean we walked to school more than we rode the bus.

When did you learn to drive a car or truck, and who taught you?
I didn't learn how to drive a truck until I met my husband, and he was a good teacher with a lot of patients. Even though I learned how to drive a truck I still didn't get my license until I was twenty two years old.

When and where did you meet your husband?
Well, I met him in 1957 at the phone company ( Southwestern Bell) and we we got married that same year on April 27, 1957, and we have two girls Kathy and Karoline. We've been married for....47 years now and counting.

What was the best invention you have come across in your lifetime?
Probably the automatic washing machine, because it was automatic. I guess I would say that, and the radio.

What was your first job after you graduated high school, and what was it like?
My first job was at Southwestern Bell back in 1953, and I worked there for ten years, but I had to quit, so I could take care of Karoline with her leg problems. I thought about going back to work, but Kathy and Karoline (my two daughters) were in school, and I thought they needed me more, so I stayed home and took care of them.

Why didn't you go to college, and what were your dreams when you were growing up, and why?
Well, my dreams was I wanted to be a nurse, but there was no funds, so we didn't go to college, and not many kids went to college back then. I wanted to be a nurse because I took care of everybody, so I guess it was my instinct to being a nurse. I took care of my granny( daddy's moma), my aunt, I took her to and fro to the doctor for fifteen twenty some odd years, and I took care of my uncle, my moma and daddy for remainder of their twilight years. I also took extra care of my daughter Karoline for years because she had the problems with her legs, but I am not tired from any of it. If I had to do it all over again I would do it just the same.

In your lifetime who has been the best president, and why?
I was going to say that it was in the 1960's when John Kennedy was president, because I don't know I just liked the man, and he had some great ideas, but he didn't get to far with them. When he was assassinated on November 22 I was getting ready to go visit Karoline in the hospital, and I was sitting on the couch watching the television, in those days I guess I did watch a show or two, and then they broke in and told us that Kennedy had been assassinated. The day before they had the parade in San Antonio, and so me and moma went to visit Karoline ( she was in traction, they had her hanging upside down with weights on her feet) like I always did. Jacklin Kennedy came up to Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, and visited with the kids, including Karoline, so we got to see her, but not him. I believe I, and well most of America were sad and shocked, and I think it was worse than 9-1-1. It was almost like a close friend had been killed.

Do you have any regrets?
Well, I guess the only one that I have would be that I didn't become a nurse like I wanted to be, and have a career like that. Other than that I guess I just wanted to help my parents more, and do more for them.

What is the best advice you could give to me?
I guess to finish your schooling, always be nice to people, and respect your elders no matter what. Keep your nose clean, and stay out of trouble, just treat people the way that you would want to be treated.

What was your biggest fears growing up during the time of war and change?
Growing up was enough to make you scared, and being on your own. Life in general, you know growing up not knowing what your going to do, so I guess tommorrow scared me more than anything. Well, I guess change scared me more than anything, and I still don't like change. I guess it was scary when my brother went to the war, the Korean war, when he was seventeen, I was probably more scared than he was.

My Aunt Marjean and her husband five years ago

ANALYSIS

After the interview I not only learned about my Aunt Marjean in detail, but I went home and had a conversation with my dad that ultimately started with " I didn't know she did that." Before I had this extensive interview I looked at her life as typical and colorless, but not in a bad way I just didn't know. Although some people look at a successful life and automatically think bank accounts, 401K, and how much a person has bought and owned. Well, she doesn't have a fat bank account, or own a lot of land, and she never became a nurse like she had desired as a young woman,but if you ask her she is very rich in life. She took care of her entire imediate family, and her extended family, but she was never a certified nurse. So, she says that it worked out in favor, and she managed to raise her two girls without a career. She and her husband own their house, and 19 acres in Pearson-Noonan, Texas. I always respected her growing up, and now after the interview I realized that she was everybody's nurse, which is equivalent to a hero. Her life is a great success, and every life she effected or touched had and has a better chance of becoming a success. And in the end I didn't learn anything about the Cold War, or World War ll, or The Great Depression; I learned her history and what it was like to be Marjean Boehme growing up, and living in those time periods. My Great Aunt Marjean's life was not typical, but rather fullfilled, and it was and is very colorful.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Castroville, Texas www.castroville.com. This website details castroville through it's chamber of commerce, and describes what kind of town it really is.

John Kennedy mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm. I put his website in because my Great Aunt Marjean said he was her favorite president, and that when he got assassinated she was more sad than 9-1-1. It describes the accounts of that day, and what he did while he was president.

Southwestern Bell www.sbc.com/gen/landing-pages?pid=3308. This website is to show how much technology has changed since Marjean starting working there back in 1953. It's not a historic account of Southwestern Bell, but it shows how much has changed since 1953.

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