Obituary of Gertrude Arbuckle

Trudy Arbuckle age 93, passed from this life on Sunday, March 16 at her home in Tulsa. Trudy was retired from the University of Tulsa as Director of Testing a position she held for 25 years. 1920-1924: Grange Corner, Indiana Farm had a round barn and a windmill, which pumped water. I had diptheria at around 2 ½ years of age and had to learn to walk again. Also I tore my left index finger open on barbed wire which left a large scar. Including me, there were five children: Mildred, Milburn, Floyd, Lida, and Gertrude. Two years later, Paul was born. Just before he was born, our biological father, George Thomas, died. 1924-1928: Marshall, Indiana During this time, I had scarlet fever and the whole family had to be quarantined. Lida was jealous of me because I had been given some paper dolls. She was quite young herself at the time (Just as I was typing this on 11/16/2003, I called her and asked her WHY whoever had given me the paper dolls, hadn't given her some too. She said, "well, that's the way they did things, so I got to just look at the dolls."). During the fall of 1927 I went to live with Daddy and Mother (Claude and Ina Noble). The other children in the family, with the exception of Paul, went to various places to live, since our biological Mother couldn't afford to maintain a home for all of us. Daddy (Claude) was Principal of Marshall School at the time. Later in the winter, Grandma (Mother's mother, Melissa Hazlett) came to live with the folks. They hadn't counted on that when they took me in, but Grandma lived with them until she died in the late 1940's. She did not particularly take to me at first, but Daddy's parents (Miriam and Al Noble-I called them by their first names, and they loved it) really thought I was about right. I adored them. Summer 1928: Mansfield, Indiana During the summer of 1928 we lived on a property owned by Daddy's father. Daddy had resigned from Marshall Schools and was going to become Principal of Bridgeton Schools in the fall, but the house was not ready yet. Daddy (Chris and Matt's grandfather Poppaw) and Mother (Chris and Matt's grandmother Mommaw) had a large garden. Dady was not strong enough to push the hand-plow, so they fixed a belt around Mother's waist- She pulled and he pushed-UNTIL- a car came along at which point she would drop the belt. Daddy was embarrassed for anyone to witness the "sight." She found it amusing yet acquiesced. There were many birds around that property in Mansfield-we were almost in the woods at the edge of the little village (There was a river and a big dam about a mile from us in the heart of the village which later played a big part in the Covered Bridge Festival tours). I found dead birds from time to time and made graves with headstones saying "Sparrow Noble" or "Robin Noble." One bird sang a song that sounded like "You know me-I know you." Daddy and I made up stories about cloud and tree top formations. We went wading in the little branch across the road in the woods. It was not even knee deep, but I was deathly afraid of water and thought the folks they were going to drown me-I didn't have to "wade" again and kept out of water until I went "swimming" again when I was in Purdue University, where I took lessons and tried to overcome my fear of water (I was glad both of my boys liked the water). One of Al's (Daddy's father) favorite stories was about this summer: He wanted to do some work on the property, planning to sell it. He brought a couple of men with him to finish what needed to be done. They brought their lunch (Even Al, not wanting to impose upon Mother to fix them lunch, I guess). I loved to hang around Al, and apparently one day he offered me an egg sandwich, which I took, disappearing right after. A couple of days later while they were taking out some steps leading to a side porch they found an egg sandwich. He kidded me about that for years. It was a very satisfactory summer, and to conform to the modern slang, much "bonding" took place. Fall 1928-Fall 1929: Bridgeton, Indiana Daddy was Principal of Bridgeton Schools beginning this Fall. I think he enjoyed being back there (there was also a dam in Bridgeton, and once again was included in the Covered Bridge Festival tour in later years) for as a child, he spent a great deal of time with Auntie Crooks and Dr. Crooks, who resided there when absent from Florida, the home of Dr. Crooks' practice. Auntie Crooks was Daddy's Mother's sister, who Daddy spent a great deal of time with. He had been a "blue baby" and Auntie had gone to the farm to help take care of him and his Mother who was also frail. During his grade school years, he had gone with Doctor and Auntie Crooks to Florida during the winter months to attend school. He always like to tell the story of this: When arriving in Florida, Auntie bought a big stalk of bananas, and as he came home from school, he would take a banana from the stalk and have the first part of his after-school snack. Bananas were not a ready commodity in Indiana. One of his childhood friends, George Brake, and his wife Lalah lived next door to us, and we lived directly across from the school. Lalah was a great favorite of mine; we remained friends for years. She was living in Arkansas near her son when she passed in the 1980's. I had a serious case of measles that winter. For Christmas that year, the folks gave me a set of doll cooking utensils, and the Home Economics teacher, Dorothea Meggenheart, made up recipes to fit the utensils, calling them "Recipes for Four Dolls." Lida came to visit me in the summer of 1929. I remember we played dress-up a big part of the time. Earlier that summer, the folks took me on a trip East, where I was introduced to Valley Forge, New York City, Boston, Plymouth Rock, and Maine. 1929-1941: Rockville, Indiana Starting in the Fall of 1929, Daddy was Superintendent of Rockville Schools. He took the job with the condition that the Negro School, with only a few students, would be incorporated into the other schools. We lived uptown (across and South of the Presbyterian Church we attended. The following summer, I was adopted officially. In 1930 or 1931, the folks bought a house out on the east edge of town, 706 E. Ohio St (also known as State Highway 36). They lived there until about 1957 when they bought the Groover property near town on Michigan Avenue, just off of Howard Avenue. One of my chores (out at the E. Ohio St. property) was to gather eggs. The folks had both been raised on farms, and it was unthinkable to them at the time to eat "store" eggs. I guess they thought chickens had nothing to do with them; however, looking back, those eggs WERE very tasty. The chickens had an apple orchard to wander around in, and they pecked at the fallen apples, dandelion greens, and grass. Far cry from chickens we consume today. Anyway, I would go to the little chicken house armed with Daddy's big leather furnace gloves. I was scared to death of hens- they pecked! Later, Chris helped gather the eggs when we went to visit. He gently lifted the hens up a bit if they were settled on the nest and got the eggs from beneath them, and the darned hens didn't think of pecking him-the beasts. By the time Matt came along, the folks had to give up the chickens. Another chicken story I just thought of: With his heart condition, Daddy was not supposed to be smoking-first thing in the morning especially. He loved to get out with the chickens. Mother used to maintain the chickens called to him and said "Oh, Claude." The way he talked to them, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. When he went out to feed them in the morning, Mother would look out and see smoke rising from the back side of the chicken house. He was sneaking a cigarette. She finally gave up the mention of it! Chris and Matt will remember the cabin North of Ferndale, Indiana, which the folks had moved down from when the government built a dam and lake area which took over the farm that had been in Daddy's family for four generations. 1929-1941 Daddy remained Superintendent of Schools until about 1950 when he resigned. After awhile, he went into the Rockville National Bank as a teller and Consultant on Loans (since he knew so many people in Rockville and Parke County). He ran for State Legislator and won. A funny story: In the fall when he was running for the Legislature, I visited from Socorro, New Mexico, where we lived at the time. As he campaigned I went out through the countryside with him to make his calls on the farmers. Most of the farms had big old farm dogs-and Daddy was afraid of dogs, after having a bad experience with his pet dog as a boy who had turned on him and tore his ear lob apart. Anyways, we'd stop at a farm-I'd get out of the car first and go up to make friends with the dog. Then Daddy would get out and go up to the farm and talk to the resident, leaving his "wares" (thimbles/matchcards/etc). He told me "if they knew about this procedure, I'd never get any votes." He was in State Legislature for almost two years. Mother went to Indianapolis when there was something special to attend. He was a very conscientious Legislator, not voting on anything unless he had read it thoroughly; this took a toll on his health and he had a heart attack just as he was entering the State House one morning, ending his career in the Legislature. He continued at the Bank until a few months before he died in 1958. He died in Carle Clinic Hospital (Champagne, Illinios). We were living in Nogales, Arizona, at the time when Bill was Rector of the Episcopal Church. When they called me to notify me that Daddy was in the hospital and gravely ill, I had one to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. Chris had been very ill with the flu but was improving. His physician, Dr. North, said it would be a very bad move to take him on the plane but assured me that he was definitely on the mend and would be okay, so I flew to Champagne and got there a couple of days before Daddy passed. After the funeral Mother returned home with me for a couple of weeks. Fortunately Chris was doing well. Bill had received considerable help from parishioners. They probably at much better than when I was home. I went through grade school and high school in Rockville. Lida and I were together in high school part of the time-she was two years ahead of me. I attended Purdue University and Indiana Central Business College, working summers at R.E.M.C. (Rural Electrification something) and in Indianapolis at RCA. 1941-1942: South Bend, Indiana October 4: married William Worden Arbuckle in Brown County, Indiana. Brown County is a place where many visitors go to see the fall foliage which is so beautiful compared to the rest of Indiana; it is near Bloomington, Indiana where Bill had attended Indiana University. Since Bill was teaching at Notre Dame University as a Professor of Music, we had to return to South Bend, Indiana right away. During the year, he directed two musicals-one being HMS Pinafore. I got a job at Bendix Aviation Corporation until July of the following year. Everything was pretty unsettled because of the war news-Pearl Harbor on December 7th. 1942-1943: Biloxi, Mississippi and St. Louis, Missouri (WWII Before Bill went overseas) Bill left for the Air Force after school was out for the summer. He was stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison for awhile, then was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi. I left South Bend in July 1942, having visited Fort Benjamin Harrison on the weekends several times. Daddy and Mother drove from Rockville to South Bend to help me move my personal belongings. We had been living in a furnished apartment. Strangely enough, the people renting the apartment had been from Carbon, Indiana-near Bridgeton- and Daddy had known the man when they were young since Daddy had spent a lot of time with Auntie Crooks in Bridgeton. I spent a few days with the folks then took a bus to Biloxi, Mississippi. I sold the car since I couldn't get gas for that distance and trains and planes were all taken by military personnel. I stood up on the bus (no air conditioning in July!) as far as Birmingham, Alabama, finally getting a seat on a changeover in Biloxi. WOW, what a luxury! From November to May I was lucky to be able to get a job (for both financial and sanity reasons) at the Post Exchange at Keesler Field Post just outside Biloxi. We lived in Biloxi (right along the gulf) and had to take a bus to and from the Post. That was my first experience with segregated buses. They didn't have this on buses and street cars in Indianapolis. Only a very few seats in the back of the buses were for Negroes in Biloxi. I could hardly stand this arrangement and almost caused trouble a few times but Bill pulled me away in time. And I don't think the Negroes appreciated my attempt to intervene-probably would have meant trouble for them too. The Blacks weren't able to use restrooms or eat in the restaurants downtown either! Terrible! Bill was sent from Biloxi to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri (outside St. Louis) in November and was there until he went overseas by way of Joyce Kilmer Field, New Jersey, in May of 1943. When he first got to Jefferson Barracks, he took pneumonia (it was a sever weather change) and was in the hospital. I left Biloxi and went to St. Louis. He was in the hospital several days. It was hard to find living quarters close to the Post, but I found a room not far from Jefferson Barracks in a home with a lovely family. We had to take a bus to and from the Post, and when Bill was well, he was able to get off the Post at night but had to take the bus around 4:30 A.M. back to the Post. The family we lived with (almost everyone in that area was renting out rooms mostly to accommodate couples from the Post) had two little boys who immediately adopted Bill and I as their family, and their parents had to be after them all of the time to keep them from coming into our room. During that time Bill and I had decided to quit smoking and one of Bill's breaking habits was to eat fresh garlic dipped in salt and saltines. I found a liking to that as well. One night the little boys knocked on the door and had some popcorn. The one boy ran away quickly and called to his parents "Mr. and Mrs. Arbuttchull are eating garlic again." The oldest boy was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church, and I went to the service with them. They were a sweet family. During the time there, we explored St. Louis on the weekend, going to Mass at the beautiful Old Cathedral along the river. I shall never forget the white marble altar with the red Poinsettias at Christmas, and the white lilies at Easter. We heard the symphony several times and spent many Sunday afternoons at the zoo that was spectacular. In February I found a temporary basis job at the Missouri Shipbuilding Corporation, which was very interesting, and worked there just until May when Bill left for overseas. I went to Rockville to be with the folks until I decided what to do. 1943-1946: Rockville, Indiana (World War II) Bill was overseas, stationed in England from May of 1943 to July of 1945. He was finally assigned to the Chaplain's Office (Bruce Strother, a Methodist Chaplain). He played the organ for the Chapel. He did special duty services in the office and organized a Glee Club that he took to several towns around the Base. He always maintained that Bruce was responsible for him going into the ministry following the war. Bill went overseas by way of Joyce Kilmer Field in New Jersey. He called me in Rockville and tried to let me know where he was (he wasn't allowed to say the name for security) by singing "Trees" (I think that I shall never see, a Poem Lovely as a Tree, taken from a poem by Joyce Kilmer). Of course I didn't know the name of the airfield and couldn't figure it out; only later was I able to figure out where he had been after I became more acquainted with the names of airfields. While at Kilmer Bill called his Uncle Ivan in New York City, and they made arrangements to meet in New York (his Uncle wanted to go to Kilmer but couldn't for security); however, Bill was shipped out before they could meet, and he never saw his Uncle Ivan again, for Ivan died during the War while Bill was overseas. Bill applied for Officer's Candidate School for Special Services (Music) but was sent overseas before the assignment came through. I went to Rockville while Bill was overseas and stayed with the folks. I got a job in June at E.I. Dupont de Nemours but left in late July. It was not a great thing to do, leaving a war plant during the war; however, it was dark when I went to and came from work, driving 20 miles each way. There was an opening at the State Tuberculosis Sanatorium near Rockville, and I took it as the Secretary to the Superintendent. I knew Dr. Pickle's wife quite well and had known his children in school. The salary wasn't much but room and meals were provided as part of the salary. I could stay out there as much as I wanted to, and it gave me alittle more independence. I would go into the folks when they needed me to babysit Grandma (Mother's mother, Melissa Ellen Hazlett) or to just go in for a meal and visit. I had my room there too. I got to spend a considerable amount of time with Lida whose husband (Uncle Cy) was in the Navy and overseas. Bill returned home in July, and we stayed with the folks until he left for a teaching position in late August. With daddy's help in knowing people at Indiana State Teachers' University in Terre Haute, Bill found a position as Director of Music at Illinois State University in Charleston, Illinois, where he began teaching in September. I stayed at my job at the State Sanatorium, and we went back and forth over the weekends. Bill knew he was not going to stay in the teaching position very long. He applied for the Union Theological Seminary in New York City and was accepted in January of 1946. He quit his job in Charleston and went to New York. He had applied to get a Doctorate in Religious Music. After awhile he became fascinated with the Theology (he had to take some Theology in the Music School at Union) and applied for his Bachelor of Divinity degree. Thanks to Aunt Lida, I was able to leave my job at the Sanatorium in January. Since Uncle Cy was not home from the services yet and she was not working, she went out to the Sanatorium and held my job so I could get away. She worked for a short while until they could get someone else. I don't think she was too crazy about the job. 1946-1948: New York, New York I went to New York, and we lived at the Seminary in a dormitory which had been turned over to G.I.s and wives (G.I.s veterans going to schoool on the G.I. bill following WWII). This was at 121St and Broadway. Streetcars and buses ran right along Broadway to shopping centers South, etc. Just a block North and then up at 116th Street, there were subways so we could get downtown to the big stores, Times Square, and on down to the tip of Manhattan. Bill completed his B.D. in two years. Many clergy have changed their Bachelors to Masters degrees, but Bill kept his B.D. since it was one of the earlier degrees bestowed and since he already had a Masters in Music from Indiana University. He ha to make up some deficiencies in philosophy, ec cetera, which he did at Columbia University. There were several famous theologians teaching at Union at the time he was there, and he always felt privileged to study with them. I worked at Columbia University as Secretary to the director of Residence Halls (including housing and dining for men and women). I could walk from the Seminary to Columbia University, which was only about three blocks south on Broadway. The subway was right at Columbia University (116th and Broadway) and had another entrance about three or four blocks north of the Seminary, meaning we could take the subway directly to "downtown", Times Square, and the shops located on Fifth and Madison Avenues. For fun we went to Rockefeller Center (51st/Fifth Avenue approximately) to watch the ice skaters; Times Square to foreign movies, etc; quite often we walked along Riverside Drive (Grant's Tomb, Riverside Church, etc) which was within a block of where we lived at Seminary; we would take the subway down to the bottom of Manhattan, take a ferry boat to Staten Island (passing the Statue of Liberty), get a hot dog, come back, and take the subway up to 116th Street, go to the northern tip of Manhattan to Cloisters (there were many interesting things to do that were very inexpensive or free of cost. I always had the feeling that it didn't matter if we did anything-we just knew that no matter what we might want to do, at any time of day or night, we COULD do it, all conditions equal. The last several months in Seminary, Bill had weekend fieldwork at a church in New Jersey. On Friday evening we would take the subway to lower Manhattan, walk over two or three blocks to the river, and Bill would take ferry over to New Jersey. I would walk back to the subway (wouldn't do it these days), return to 116th Street, and back to the Seminary. In the several times I have been back to New York (usually on business trips), I have enjoyed it, but would no longer enjoy living there. 1948-1951: Socorro, New Mexico Bill finished Seminary in January and left for New Mexico (Socorro) for his first ministry position (Presbyterian). I couldn't leave my job at Columbia University until April; I traveled to Albuquerque by way of Indiana where I visited with the folks for a few days. Bill had stopped off in Sharon, PA a day or two to visit his folks before he went on to New Mexico. There were some wonderful people in the congregation in Socorro, as well as interesting ranchers, professors and scientists from the School of Mines in Socorro and from the White Sands Proving Ground in Alamagordo. There were mountains all around, and we went target shooting, Christmas tree gathering, and pink mistletoe gathering up in the mountains. Our good friends the Schufles (Chemistry professor at the School of Mines and a wonderful tenor in our Church choir) were often our companions. She had been a dietitian back in Ohio and encouraged me in my cooking endeavors. I dog sat for them fairly often. Tom Dabney, Editor of the Socorro Newspaper and formerly with the New Orleans Picayanne, was very original in his newspaper writing and several times wrote "Mrs. Arbuckle dog sits for the weekend." Funny! On Thanksgiving I baked my very first turkey (under Lois Schufle's tutelage). And believe it or not, I invited some guests-people in our church whom had no families in Socorro. Jay and Lois came to our house the night before. We had decided to make dressing together for both our turkeys. Lois said to get my turkey out so we could be sure it was ready for the next day. I was working at the Stat TB Sanitorium at the time and was able to buy my turkey through the kitchen there. Well: the turkey was covered with pinfeathers! So Lois skinned it for me and said I'd have to cover it with cheesecloth and then oil the cheesecloth. Really--that turkey was one of the best of the fifty or so I baked in later years. The Alleys (Dr. Alley was Superintendent of the State Tuberculosis Sanatorium just outside Socorro) and their three children were good friends. Because of the political nature of the jobs at the state Sanatorium, he became desperate for employees, having difficulty finding a secretary even. Because of my experience at the state Sanatorium in Indiana during the War, he persuaded me to work at the Sanatorium temporarily until he could get someone. I worked from September 1948 to October 1949. A bus picked me up at the door and dropped me off in the evening. It helped defray some expenses at the time. We lived in an old adobe house with the thick walls (cool in the summer) down the street from the Church (The Mouse). I learned to cook Mexican food, and it became forever after one of our favorite foods. Bill went into the Masonic Lodge there. Daddy visited (Mother couldn't be with him because of the care that Grandma was taking by then). While he was there, we went to the Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns. Bill started collecting the credits he had earned toward his Doctorate in Music (which he later changed to B.D.), and began to take courses at whatever college or university was available. He finally applied for a special course at Butler University and was to get his Doctorate through applying his previous credits. Bill was going to Albuquerque, and I told him he needed to get some underwear while there. When he returnedno underwear. But he delighted in showing me a pair of wrought-iron candelabra he had found. He said, "these will last a lot longer than underwear." Sure enoughthis is 2008that was in 1949 or 1950, and the candelabra are still going strong! Bill loved to explore surrounding mountains and terrain. One day, he and Betsy, our little white dog, went up into the mountains and came across an old mine. Unaware of the danger of going into the mine, he and Betsy went in the entrance to cool off. They didn't stay long, for a rattlesnake was keeping watch. They hurriedly left, fortunately without being bitten, Bill grabbing up an old horseshoe, which is over the door of the clubroom into the garage. A horseshoe is supposed to be good luck (was ruined during Ice Storm in 2007 when clubroom was almost completely destroyed). On Sunday just as I was getting ready to go out the door to go to church down the street, somebody came to the door and told me "Reverend Arbuckle said the Nursery helper didn't show up, and that you'd have to have the Nursery here." Just then, a rather large flock of little ones started appearing. We didn't have children thensooowhat could they play with? Fortunately, it was warm weather and I could have them stay outside. Having come here from New York, we had umbrellas. I took them outI don't think any of them had ever seen an umbrella. The whole time practically was spent opening and closing umbrellas. Fortunately, I had some suitable cookies, so they took turns sitting in the shade of the umbrellas, eating cookies. In the spring wild asparagus grew abundantly and many little Mexican children picket it and rang doorbells to sell it. One darling little guy came to my door, and I was delighted to get the wild asparagus for it was so good. I got a plentiful amount and gave him a bit extra as he did not charge much to begin with. After the first spring with him as a salesman, he came on Christmas to the door with some cookies and grinned, saying what I think was "for asparagus." Anyway, I actually tried the cookies and they were delicious. I eventually got the recipe from his mother, and today biscochitos are a favorite cookie of ours! Bill took a Church in Wichita, Kansas. Presbyterian! What a cultural shock! After dry weather in New Mexico, the weather in Wichita was beastly humid. One of the two most wonderful things in my life happened there- the first of our two sons was born. On March 30, 1952, Christopher Noble Arbuckle was born! Chris did well and grew appropriately. In May, 1952, Daddy and Mother came to Wichita to see Chris. They, of course, thought he was wonderful. Bill and I drove to Rockville in August for a few days. As we were pulling out of the drive, Daddy called to Bill, "Drive carefully. You have precious cargo in that car." Bill decided he wanted back in an altar-centered Church and started making arrangements to go into the Episcopal Church. He was going to leave Wichita after the Christmas morning service to go to Thermopolis, Wyoming, where there was a Church opening. I took Chris on Christmas Eve and flew to Chicago. From there we went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where Daddy and Mother met us to spend Christmas. Of course it was an unexpected visit and they hadn't planned on doing much for Christmas. They find a small tree. I told them not to bother since Chris was only 9 months old, but they got one anyways. That was his first time sitting in a rocking chair. Daddy's little rocking chair had its first passenger in a long time (Daddy born 1890). I had been much too large! First was Chris, then Matt, then Zach, and then Ben. I am very cautious about WHO sits in that chair! Chris was 9 months old when we moved to Wyoming, and in that 9 months we had garnered many friends who were devastated when we left. Many tears flowed on our last Sunday in Wichita. 1953-1955: Thermopolis, Wyoming Bill took the Episcopal Church in Thermopolis, Wyoming. He was immediately confirmed by the Bishop, was made a Deacon for six months, and then priested by the Church. I was confirmed after he became priest. 1955-1957: Tucson, Arizona 1957-1960: Nogales, Arizona 1960: January-September: Tucson, Arizona September 1960-1964: Sapulpa, Oklahoma 1964-September 1966: Okmulgee, Oklahoma 1966 to Present: Tulsa, Oklahoma