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Written by Kathy DeCoursey Bailey, 1995
My parents grew up living in the same area of Kansas City, Kansas. They went to school together from kindergarten (St. Peter's) through high school (Ward). After graduation, Dad went to Notre Dame and Mom went to St. Mary's in Leavenworth in nurses training.
World War II broke out when Dad was a senior, so they graduated the class early so the men could go to war. Mom and Dad eloped and told only their families so that Mom could continue on with nurses training. The nursing students were not allowed to be married. Mom graduated nurse's training but never practiced nursing as my brother Bill was expected in September.
I believe Dad was stationed in Milwaukee and St. Louis before being shipped to England. He was a clerk in the army. He has told me they used to stand at the airfield and count the planes returning from their missions. I remember as a child thinking the scar from his small pox vaccination was from a bullet wound. He never told me that, I just assumed it! When I finally asked him if he had been wounded in the war he said "Yes, I got my finger caught in the typewriter once!"
I am the second oldest of the nine children of WP (Bill) and Ann (Ciston) DeCoursey. I was born [..] at Providence hospital in KCK. My earliest memories are of growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma where my dad and his cousin Ed ran Pure White Dairy. When my older brother was in the first grade we went to his school's Christmas program. He insisted the children would be singing the "Pure White" song. We found out after the program he was referring to the line in "Silent Night" which he thought was "Son of God, Loves Pure White!"
I remember listening to radio shows such as "The Shadow" while doing dishes with Mom after dinner. This was before TV, if you can imagine such a thing!
We would go with Dad almost nightly to check on his dairy stores in the area. Ice-cream cones were five cents or three scoops for ten cents. I ate so much ice-cream as a kid that I developed a dislike for it. To this day I find ice-cream easy to resist.
The dairy sold and we moved to Kansas City when I was nine and in the fourth grade.
Every summer the family would pack into the station wagon and drive over the mountains and through the desert to visit Grandma & Grandpa DeCoursey. (There was no air conditioning then either.) My grandparents lived at Yankee Grove in California. I can remember gathering eggs and a large fish pond in the yard. There was a man named Uncle Fred 1 (I think he was Grandma's brother). He had a red Cocker Spaniel named Sunny. There was an old organ in the guest house or above the garage that we would play.
I think the way I will always picture Grandma & Grandpa is on their knees at the side of their bed where they were saying their morning prayers. I had gotten up before the rest of my family and peeked into their half open door on my way to the kitchen. As near as my Dad & I can figure, I was probably four or five at most. This scene has remained with me all my life. I think I was meant to pass that door just when I did. It helps me to understand why our family then & my family now has been so blessed.
1 Regina Donegan's oldest brother was named Fred.
Wedding Day for Will and Regina DeCoursey, 3 May 1916.
From left: Vincent Donegan (bride's brother), Mary DeCoursey (Sister Mary Edwin I, groom's sister), William Benedict DeCoursey, Regina (Donegan) DeCoursey, Marie Reynolds (cousin of bride), Edwin Charles Barrett (cousin of groom). Will and Regina were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Kansas City, Kansas.
