“Prediction Came True”
Carmen Grove graduated from high school in 1964 and earned a master’s degree in special education and visually handicapped. “In ’76,” Carmen says, “[Dad] built a retirement home for he and my mother. I was living in Phoenix at the time, and when he was showing it to me, he said, ‘I’m building it for you, too, because you’ll be back.’ I didn’t argue with him, but I thought to myself, ‘Dad, in your dreams I’ll be back in this little town.’ But here I am.”
Ultimately, Carmen became superintendent of the North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind in Grand Forks and the superintendent of the School for the Deaf in Devils Lake, a combined position.
When asked about her experience working with blind or deaf persons, Carmen responds, “They made me appreciate that I had hearing. They made me a stronger person and, hopefully, just more caring. I never felt sorry for them. I learned about being positive and that they could do anything that a sighted or hearing person could do. They are people first; the blindness or deafness is secondary. They had to do things with modifications, but they were as capable as anyone else. So the important thing is [that] they have the skill they need, whether it be how to shake hands—a skill that a blind person, for example, needs to be taught—or how to become employed and earn an income and be self-sufficient.
“Some families are going to do a lot for their child, like putting their buttered toast in front of them or the glass of milk. Whereas when you are here, the independent thing of making the beds and organization is a big part of what they learn. Just making them feel good about themselves, because often times socially, for both the blind and the deaf person, it can be difficult. If they have a good positive image and self-esteem, it will become easier for them in the real world.”
When Carmen retired in 2013, she moved back to Adams. Like Dad predicted.
– Carmen (Grove) Suminski, Interview: October 22, 2014, County: Walsh, City: Adams
“I Don’t Think We Even Shook Hands”
Born in 1923, Melvin grew up on a family farm. He says it was “pretty tough. Yeah, you know things were hard up them days. Had work to do, then we had cows to milk and clean barn and chickens and pigs. Yep. I know I was herding cows on horseback at 10 years old. Mile and half or so from home. You had to keep ’em off o’ the other guy’s property. I was out a few hours. Carried water in an old syrup can.
“In the spring o’ the year when it thawed, I was walkin’ along [from school]. It had frozen over again, and I fell in just right over my overshoes. We poured the water out of ’em and then put them on again. Then we had a mile left to go. But by the time we got home, my pants was dried. Well, it must have been a sunny afternoon, then.
“When my draft number came up, I was deferred. Nobody was left there [on the farm]. My oldest brother, he had polio, so he [was] lame so he really couldn’t do too much. So I worked on the farm from then on.”
“He met me,” Verone explains, “and we got married.” Melvin says,
“Forty-three I think it was. I rented a farm east of Barton. We didn’t buy the farm right away because there wasn’t such a thing as money.”
The times were improving. Melvin says, “I was hayin’ with horses, putting up the hay with horses, and come Saturday we went to Bottineau. She went to Red Owl for groceries, and I went to John Deere, and I talked with Bob Page.”
Through Page, Melvin was able to take home a John Deere tractor. “He said I could pay him next fall. I don’t think we even shook hands. We kinda paid, probably $200 that day. I paid ’em after harvest. He was a good guy,
Bob Page. You got good people and you got just people, I call ’em. It’s two grades o’ people. You know the rest of the story. I know good people when I meet ’em. Them days, we had people, these good ones.”
– Melvin and Verone Stutrud, Interview: August 22, 2017, County: Pierce, City: Barton
“Hard Work and Longevity”
Edna Weispfenning was born in 1929 on a farm just south of Fredonia. Growing up on the farm, work began at a young age. She was picking rocks when she was six or seven years old, and the daily routine never varied. “Half a day sometimes, and then we went home for dinner and then had to go again.” During wheat harvest, Edna’s days were spent helping with the crop. “I wasn’t very old, and the neighbor always said that they shouldn’t have me out there. I think I was only seven years old.” After working the field all day, Edna and her sister had to go home and milk the cows. If it was raining, the others would help with the milking; otherwise Edna and her sister milked 15 cows each.
Edna began her education in a county school about a mile away. Until the children married, Edna’s family spoke only German. Edna’s first educational challenge, therefore, was to learn English. The teacher, who was also German, was tolerant so learning English didn’t take long. “You could learn fast if you wanted to,” Edna says. Edna’s formal education ended when she graduated from eighth grade. I asked why she did not go on to high school. She responded, “Well, because my folks didn’t let me! They were very strict about it, saying, ‘You got to stay home, and you got to work at home.’ Nobody went to high school.”
Edna married Milton Weispfenning in 1948. They have four children. Milton died of leukemia in 1978. “I needed income. I did it all. I worked for some people for 31 years. I painted a lot of houses. Inside and out. “We all had to work.” It was all hard work, but Edna thinks it’s the secret of her longevity. “I worked hard. That’s why I’m still here, because I worked hard. A lot of people of my age or younger ache. I don’t know what that is, ‘to ache.’ I always worked. I don’t have aches.”
– Edna (Entzi) Weispfenning, Interview: June 10, 2011, County: Logan, City: Fredonia
(Editor’s Note: These profiles of North Dakota residents were collected by author James Puppe between 2004-2018, covering 617 subjects and 113,000 miles. He has given permission for his book to be serialized in North Dakota Newspapers at no charge. To find out how you can read the entire collection of Dakota Attitude profiles go to dakotaattitude.com.)
