My Grandmother, Isabel Maude Smiles
Always a hard worker
Maudie may have had a normal childhood, and must have attended school as she was well-educated, but her mother died during her teens, and her father when she was 20. His death left the children without support, but Isabel Maude attended secretarial school and became the family's support. For most of her life she supported herself as a secretary- for her church, in doctor's offices, and her secretarial position lead to her working for my grandfather at the Coal Company. Sheldon's first wife had died in 1926, and this may have lead to an office romance and a marriage proposal. Maudie became Sheldon's second wife, on 14 July 1930, and she bravely retired from her secretarial position and took over the taming of 5 unruly children.
The move to the 'burbs"
Soon after this marriage Sheldon suffered a heart attack and Maudie became his nurse and support as well. Either upon his disability retirement they a house in the suburbs, and moved to Trucksville, a little Back Mountain town not far up the road from Kingston and Forty Fort. Their 4 bedroom house was full to the brim with 5 children, but by that time the older boys were leaving the nest anyway.
Maudie never had children of her own, but she was a good mother and housekeeper. They must have been proud of their house. My grandmother told me that they paid $10,000 for it.
Some memories of Maudie
Maudie always wished she'd been called by her first name "Isabel", but she probably ended up being called "Maude" because her mother was named "Isabel". She loved meat cooked until well-done, the consistency of shoe leather. She always called her husband "Father". She made dynamite spareribs- still my favorite recipe, and rice pudding the old-fashioned way. For years she sent a family newsletter, typed with carbon copies on a manual machine, almost every week. It was a great way to keep the family abreast of news as the members spread far and wide. She was an avid and expert quilter, making everyone a gift of one of her treasures when they married. For decades she quilted weekly with her church quilting circle. People would send them "tops" and the group with sit and quilt together, gossiping and visiting as they sewed. She loved to travel and always remained independent. She and Aunt Lucy were perfect travelling companions, driving often to visit us wherever we were living, even when we lived in Wiesbaden, Germany.
