BIOGRAPHY

EDWARD FRANCIS WALTERHOUSE

EDWARD FRANCIS WALTERHOUSE was the first child of JOHN and ROSA WALTERHOUSE and was born in Starke Co. IN in or near the town of Knox. His nickname, given to him by his father, was "Patsy". He never used his middle name.

He was about 5'6" in height with brown eyes, black hair and a ruddy complexion. He completed the eighth grade. As a young man he was a bartender and a floor manager at square dances. A neighbor, ETHEL MAY DODD, played the organ for the dances as her father FRANK DODD called them. They were married on 14 Sep 1911 in South Bend, St. Joseph Co. IN. ED was 24 and ETHEL was 18. After the ceremony they had ice cream and went to a movie--the tickets cost 5 cents!

 The family lived in South Bend and ED worked as a carpenter. HARRY, MILDRED, HELEN and JESSIE were born there. As babies, ED gave all the children nicknames.

On 21 May 1918, at age 31, ED enlisted as a private in the US Army. He was assigned to Supply Co. 36th Infantry. He was discharged 23 Jun 1919 at Camp Zachary Taylor KY. 

By 1921 the family was living in Bremen and ESTHER, GERALD, MARIAN, DONALD and RUTH were born. ED continued to work as a carpenter. He was "bossy to the kids" but not to ETHEL. Little kids liked to come around him for songs and stories. He sang World War I songs and funny songs like "The Preacher and the Bear". Sometimes he brought home big sacks of candy for everyone to share. The kids remember that he "cussed a lot". His only transport was a bicycle. He pulled his own teeth with pliers. He rolled his own cigarettes. He helped ETHEL with the housework when he wasn't working as a carpenter. He helped with the cooking, too -- he invented "Walterhouse succotash".

 The family had a truck patch and raised vegetables and popcorn. The children took turns pulling the plow. GERALD often said he "was 12 before he knew he wasn't a horse"! The children were paid 1 cent for every 100 potato bugs they collected and 1 cent for every 100 flies they killed in the house.

 ED's family grew up during Depression years and life was hard in the small rural community in which they lived. One of their earliest homes didn't have electricity, indoor plumbing or central heating. Drinking water came from a flowing well that was also used to keep foods cold. Water to wash dishes was brought in by pail and heated on the stove. Most bathing was done in the nearby Yellow River. When it was cold, a washtub was placed by the stove and served as a bathtub.

 Meals were cooked on a woodburning stove and Ethel canned vegetables from the garden. She also gathered dandelion greens, wild mushrooms and black walnuts to supplement their diet. In winter they made "snow ice cream" with clean snow, sugar and vanilla. Popcorn was a favorite family treat and sometimes Ethel made delicious popcorn balls.

 ED and ETHEL played dominoes as a past time and ED taught the children to play "42". They played a card game they called "I doubt it" with homemade pasteboard cards. Sometimes the children laughed so hard and got so rowdy they were sent to bed. Occasionally ED would read aloud to ETHEL. She played the piano and organ and everybody sang along. They played croquet and softball on Sunday afternoons.

Front row: Don, Ruth, Ethel, Ed

Back row: Harry, Marian, Helen, Mildred, Jessie, Gerald

On 19 Dec 1946, while working on the roof of a fire damaged building in Plymouth, IN ED suffered a heart attack and died. Fellow carpenters said he "had had previous heart attacks". The official cause of death was listed as "coronary occlusion". He is buried in Bremen Cemetery, Bremen, Marshall, IN.