Recipes for Living1998 by Fern Underwood

The following are excerpts from the the book Recipes of Living 1997 by Fern Underwood containing biographies of Clarke County residents and is published herein with specific permission of Fern Underwood.

	Index, 1998

Name	As of	Page
Introduction
Andrew, Rayola	8/10/1998	1
Chesnut, Jeanne	8/14/1998	9
Cole, Heather	6/30/1998	17
Cox, Ben	3/27/1998	21
Crum, Arlean	4/30/1998	25
Eddy, Betty	7/9/1998	31
Gaumer, Arlene	5/29/1998	37
Gibson, Mary	7/1/1998	43
Gould, Ross	6/26/1998	51
Jackson, Celeste	6/27/1998	55
Kelso, Sandye	7/16/1998	59
Morgan, Katie	8/4/1998	63
Muller, Rilma	4/7/1998	67
Nannen, Janice	6/16/1998	75
Oehlert, Bill and Mabel	5/11/1998	80
Reynoldson, Bob and Elisabeth	8/4/1998	88
Reynoldson, Ward	7/30/1998	92
Riley, Frank and Dianne	3/9/1998	94
Seeberger, Beverly	6/15/1998	102
Short, Bill and Jan	8/3/1998	108
Slezak, Imogene	7/31/1998	112
Smith, Sandra	7/10/1998	117
Stickler, Stan and Lenore	2/27/1998	122
White, Arden and Doris	7/20/1998	128

This is the third book of Recipes for Living, which is life stories of persons associated with the Osceola, Iowa, United Methodist Church. The hope and intent was that the members of the congregation would come to know one another better and gain strength from each story as the reader learns of the joys, trials, and traumas that have made up the lives of those who have shared, the way they have coped, and the lessons learned there from. They were told so matter-of-factly, with good humor and acceptance of situations in the attitude that this is what can be expected of life. Jesus said, "In this life you will have tribulation'' and those who participated in forming this book can attest to the fact.

For the one who has had the privilege of hearing and writing the stories, each one has been an inspiration, so that when the following state appeared, it seemed to comprise a proper introduction:

“The Church has canonized hosts of nuns and monks for being exemplary; humbly religious. Maybe one day soon we start decorating our parish churches with statues of simple lay folks, of husbands and wives, of moms and dads, honoring these saints for being faithful friends, helpful neighbors, loving spouses, or dedicated parents."'(Albert Holtz, O.S.B., 1998, quoted with permission of Ave Maria Press, Inc., Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.)

I am grateful to each person who participated by telling their stories, buying the books, and/or contributing to the cost of production. You have made this and former books possible at no cost but to the benefit, in many ways, of our church.