CONTENTS

FORWORD "LET GEORGE DO IT" *
INTRODUCTION - AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY *
CHAPTER 1 - MY EARLY YEARS *
CHAPTER 2 - THE OERKE FAMILY TREE *
CHAPTER 3 - GROWING UP IN CALDWELL *
CHAPTER 4 - COLLEGE DAYS AND THE ARMY AIR CORPS*
CHAPTER 5 - COLLEGE SUMMER SERVICE PROJECTS*
CHAPTER 6 - RECEIVING MY THEOLOGICAL TRAINING*
CHAPTER 7 - THE CAMPUS MINISTRY WITH THE WESLEY FOUNDATION*
CHAPTER 8 - SERVING AS A LOCAL PASTOR *
CHAPTER 9 - DAD AND MOTHER IN WYOMING AND BEYOND*
CHAPTER 10 - A NEW KIND OF LIFE WITH BARBARA*
CHAPTER 11 - BEING A LICENSED PRIVATE PILOT*
CHAPTER 12 - A MASTERS IN GERONTOLOGY AND AGING*
CHAPTER 13 - PRE-RETIREMENT PLANNING *
CHAPTER 14 - THE HOPPER FAMILY *
CHAPTER 15 - RETIREMENT EXPERIENCES IN ASHEVILLE AND BEYOND *
CHAPTER 16 - A RENEWED INTEREST IN HISTORY THROUGH TRAVEL*
CHAPTER 17 - NEW EXCITEMENT IN THE HUMANITIE *
CHAPTER 18 - THIS I BELIEVE *

CONCLUSIONS . *
 
 

FORWORD " LET GEORGE DO IT"

We have all heard certain expressions, and believe me I’ve heard the expression, "let George do it" all my life! I find out that this expression originated in France in the fifteenth century. It was derived from Louis XII of France who, when an unpleasant task arose, was apt to say, "Let George do it" referring to his minister Cardinal Georges. In a more recent time this expression was also used as a title for an interesting play in a group, "Special Plays for Special Days". This play was about the Trent family and took place on the day before George Washington’s birthday
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INTRODUCTION - AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

This story has involved a life review process that I hope will be of some benefit to other persons, perhaps in another age group. I feel that I have experienced much life satisfaction. This is the year 2000. As a young man I did not even consider the possibility of living to that year, let alone using the letters Y2K. So much has happened during my journey and I want to recognize those persons who were present to share many experiences with me. We might asked of another, "Where do you come from." I must begin by stating that my Mother was the greatest force in helping me form my awareness of the greater world, and her warm, loving example helped me to share my concerns and learn to help others in our world. She brought a lot of comfort and challenge to me while I was growing up and through her many inspiring letters when I was older. Her health was not good and she often complained of her leg pain and her nerves. The life story of any person usually expresses both pain and joy. I am a normal person with weaknesses as well as strengths, hopes as well as needs, and have had the normal human failures as well as some accomplishments. I am thankful that I have had many of life's experiences. I like the idea expressed on my car bumper sticker, "Don't Postpone Joy." I believe that we should do what makes our hearts sing! We always have 2 choices, to choose a good mood, or a bad mood, we complain or present the positive side. All of us have 6 basic needs--love, usefulness, to be known, changes in daily routines, sustenance (food, water), and the protection of self-esteem. I say "thank you" to Barbara, many other persons, my family and all the human family who have supplied these for me! My sun sign is Libra with symbol of the balance scales. Although these characteristics given for me do not include all that makes me tick, they are often true. Balance is the key I seek, and I attempt to weigh and evaluate both sides of an issue. I try to be diplomatic, hopeful, impartial, logical, idealistic and sociable. We don’t have to try to be more than we are, just to be all that we are. Flexibility and openness are necessary to allow for the constant changes that are part of our lives. At times I attempt to play the roll of peacemaker. I am not comfortable facing conflict, and often this has been to my loss. There have been times when I have not had the strength to say clearly what I later wished I had said! There is no quick fix in keeping wars from dividing peoples in the world. However, the human rights of the individual person should be primary in deciding world events. In the U.S., a major emphasis has not been on the person, but on advertising unnecessary consumer goods. I have attempted to live thoughtfully and gently on the earth!

I am telling my own story, in the year 2000. During this year I am seventy-seven years of age and in many ways I still feel "young", have a lot of enthusiasm, and a desire to continue to accomplish much more. The writing of this autobiography did not make me feel depressed, rather it increased my psychological well-being. I have finished 8 weeks working as an administrator in a nursing home, and after working 40 hours a week I still have energy left. Of course, life moves at different speeds at different times in life. At times I feel the effects of arthritis and I might take an afternoon nap. However, I am extremely happy that I have been given good health and so much to enjoy! For all of this assistance I am truly thankful!
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CHAPTER 1 - MY EARLY YEARS

GEORGE WILLIAM OERKE was born, October 15, 1923 in the Wesley Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.(8 lbs, 4 Oz at 4:23 p.m. by Dr. Elvens Baker). I was the second child of Lloyd and Nanetah Oerke. The birth of a baby boy was very satisfying and a happy experience for my parents. My sister, Gladys, had been born in 1921 in The Wichita Hospital. She was named after Gladys Meeker, Mother’s early friend. Four great- grandmothers were living when Gladys and I were born. (Oerke, Massey, Hopper and Long) At this time the family lived in a house at 911 North Hillside. (a plasma center is now located at this address). I carry the names of my two grandfathers, George Massey and William Oerke (George, meaning "land owner" and William, "a protector").

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CHAPTER 2 - THE OERKE FAMILY TREE

The Oerke family came from Ottenstein, Germany; theMassey family  from the Aberdeen area in Scotland. Frederick Henry Oerke (bMarch 1, 1836) came to the U.S., September 27, 1865. He left from the port of Bremen, Germany and landed in New York City on the ship, " New York." He arrived in America during the aftermath the American Civil War and had some problems getting started in the new country. It is thought that following a Norway family tradition about emigration to Germany in the 1600’s, the Oerkes were originally Vikings from south of Trondheim, Norway, near the river Oerke (now Ork-la) in the Dale-Fjaler area, or the Oerke (Yrkje or Orke) farm in the Skjord,Tysvaer area.

They took hire and sailed into Germany through the Weser River on a Dutch ship loaded by timber merchants. The Viking clan went ashore and then stayed in Germany on a farm. (In Norway Oerke is also spelled: Yrke, Orke, the O has a / line through it, pronoiunced ER, Other spellings are: Oucke, Oreke, Yrecke).

Heinrich Friedrich Christian Oerke (Frederick Henry), our great grandfather was the youngest of six children born to Heinrich Friedrich Christoph Oerke (b1792) and Justine Osterhage Boker(b1797), married November 10, 1823 and lived on Breite Street 36, Ottenstein, Germany. D-31868. (now occupied by Walter and Hildegard Oerke and son Rainer and his wife Uta). In July 1993, we made an exciting trip to research our ancestors living on the Ottenstein plateau in Weserbergland (The Weser River Hill Country). Gladys, Rowena, Kenneth and Hans, along with Barb and I went to Ottenstein and visited in the brick two and one-half story historic Oerke family farm home now located on corner of the block and built in 1823. It is still in good shape today having been remodeled in 1938, 1947 and 1988. At one time it was located on the former Oerke farm of my great-grandfather, but now it has been surrounded by the city.This area  is in the north part of Germany just south of Hameln and Hannover, in Westfalen, an area just west of the city of Bodenwerder. We did a study of church books with Reverend Frolich and local historian, Theodor Henninges.

Leading our search was a cousin, Hans Hermann Oerke (b1922 in Hannover, now living in Bad Honnef) who belonged to the Oerke line living 3 miles away in Hohe/Brokeln. He flew German aircraft in WWII. He married Luise Maria von Boddiem (b. 1921) of Brunschweig, Germany. She is of Prussian nobility who can trace her family back to Charles the Great. But she is closer to Heinrich, the Duke of Brunswick (b1468) Luneburg, Hannover, Prussia. They have four daughters. He also told us that in old Nordic language the name, "Oerke" means "work" in the sense of power and energy. Hans said that "the family word" in old flat German means " Stand fast, Look far and Get moving." AnOerke crest  or coat of arms shows a bright red shield on 2 fixed axes, a Mauritius cross on the upper end next to a spear, a helmet and a model of a Viking ship. Frederick came to America because he was not the oldest son, and because of primogeniture, did not receive any of the family inheritance. He married Mary Clara Krouse (born, by reports, in Germany in 1846), in Cambria County, PA on July 4, 1866. and settled near Caldwell, KS in 1880 at the age of 44 years. He went by the name " "Fredrike". The farm was actually located on the Chisholm Trail, named for the famous Indian trader, Jesse Chisholm. One can see the ruts of the wagons in the original pasture land where they traveled the trail. This early trail (1867-1884) ran from San Antonio, TX to Abilene, KS, was used by Texas cattlemen to take their Texas Longhorns to market. In 1889 the Rock Island Railroad had a railhead in Caldwell for shipping cattle to Abilene, and the cattle were loaded just west of the Oerke farm, later known as "The Allen Place."

Frederick Henry Oerke (b1836) and Mary Clara Krouse (b1846) had eight children (5 male, 3 female). William Henry Oerke (b1869) was the last born child. In the 1900 census reports that Mary Oerke, then the head of the household, lived in Sumner County, KS with her children, Herman, Frank, Charles and Katie. She was later well known for her special bread-and-butter pickles. We have a picture of the Frederick Oerke family of 7 children taken about 1890. We Oerkes have a deep sense of family and tradition. A detailed history is now being compiled.

Scottish clans are important groups of families with common descent. On September 13, 1958, John Massie (b1838) of the Mathieson clan married Sarah Hutchinson (b1833) of the MacDonald clan. Their wedding was conducted by the famous clergyman, Alexander Low, in The Scottish Episcopal Church in Longside, Scotland. They had 8 children. In 1996 members of our family, including Sara Welch, visited and were impressed with this beautiful stone church. John Massie’s (he was 6 foot, and a precise carpenter) parents were James T. Massie and Jane Simpson (Jean Simson), married September 11, 1824 in Gamrie, Banff, Scotland. Sarah Hutchinson’s (short and strong-willed) parents were John Hutchinson (d1854) and Sarah Mitchell (b1813), married July 12, 1832 in Peterhead, Aberdeen Scotland. Their son, George T. Massey  (b1873), was my grandfather, born in Rolla, MO and he was their youngest child. He married Minnie Hopper (b 1873) in Macon City, MO in 1896. She was the youngest child. He worked in a Massey wagon factory in connection with an early family iron furnace and forge near Rolla, Mo. A Samuel Massey was part owner of the Maramec Iron Works, serving as manager for 21 years (1825-1846.). George and Minnie Massey lived at many addresses in Wichita, Kansas but I remember them living at 231 S. Volutsia Street. Grandpa Massey would make kites with us and fly them during Caldwell visits. I still remember very well the time when he had a whole pig roasted in a restaurant oven, with an apple in its mouth! I remember walking around and around the table looking at it with wonder. He liked to make it a big event when our family visited them in Wichita!

Grandma Massey received an orchid and was honored on the Tom Brenneman show over KFBI in Wichita for supplying over 100 complete layettes to needy mothers and their babies who lived in the area. She assisted in acquiring a birthing table for Wesley Hospital. She supported the work of "Mother Hughes" who worked in a medical mission in the Umtali District of Mutambara, South Rhodesia, Africa. She also helped supply young babies and their mothers with necessary maternity and health needs. During her last years, Minnie Massey was a resident of The Methodist Home in Topeka, KS, and her picture, holding a flower, was used on the cover of an information pamphlet of the Home. As a boy I remember special times, in the summer, when I was able to stay for a few days in Wichita.

I have many warm feelings about my visits with Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Sara, Uncle Joe, and cousin Anne. They all seemed part of our Oerke family. Wichita has been a special city for me all my life! George Massey was a friendly, jolly and very successful salesman for Motor Equipment Company in Wichita. He traveled in his territory by train, arriving home for a big weekend with his family and worshipping in College Hill Methodist Church. On Sunday mornings he would bring children from the Children’s Home to church. He loved to be out talking to people and I remember he always had a joke or story for me, and a ready smile. His favorite song was, "When you come to the end of a perfect day." At many occasions he recited his favorite saying, and his motto

"When I shall quit this mortal shore, and mosy around this earth no more,

Don't weep, don't sob, I will have a better job.

Don't hang around me looking blue, I will be better off than you.

Don't tell the folks, I was a saint, or anything I ain't.

If you have stuff like that to spread, just hand it over before I'm dead.

If you have roses, bless your soul,

While I can smell, put one in my button hole."

This is the family from which I came. It is satisfying to have a family that tried hard to make this a better world in which all of us have lived, and are living. Mother went to Kansas Wesleyan College at Salina in 1917 to prepare herself to be a missionary. My parents were married by Dr. Caffyn at his home, pastor of St. Paul’s Methodist Church on North Broadway in Wichita, September 21, 1919, and lived on 2157 Cleveland Avenue. Mother told about two early events in their married life. The first was a wedding trip to Detroit to purchase a new Oakland car. The second was her great loss of her "hope chest" when the moving van burned while on a move of her family, in 1917 to Sallyards, KS. My parents at first moved into Granda Oerke’s big house on the corner of lst and Poplar in Wichita. In December,1924 I had my first train ride to Kansas City. The family moved to Kansas City into a brick house with a fenced-in yard. I was entered in a baby contest and won fourth place and made my parents proud. The house was near the Union Terminal in Kansas City for Dad worked in the U.S.Railway Mail Service. The houses on the street were close together and it is told that the family saw their first crystal-set through the window of the neighbor’s house as they sat for hours with earphones listening to the new invention that picked up radio signals that could fly through the air!

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CHAPTER 3 - GROWING UP IN CALDWELL

A job opening occured at Caldwell, KS for a rural mail carrier. The family owned a farm near there and the Post Office Department finally sanctioned the transfer from Kansas City to Caldwell. The family lived in Caldwell from 1925 to 1945. This was the longest time we had lived in one place. The Oerke name was well established in Caldwell for many years as John (b1867 the oldest child of Henry and Mary) and Agnes (who had 5 children: Leo, Lewis, Bessie, Marie and Isabella) were prominent in business and social circles. Caldwell was established in 1871 with a population of 1678. Caldwell was called "The Border Queen City" with a colorful history. In front of the local saloon was a sign with the name Last Chance Saloon painted on one side of the road into the Indian Territory and on the other side the First Chance Saloon on the trail north. Caldwell appears in a book of the "Great Gunfighters of the Kansas Cowtown" and Caldwell had its "wildest years" from 1879 to 1885." It is one of the famous original seven cowtowns in Kansas and a staging place for the hungry pioneers making the last great land rush. Thousands of covered wagons converged on Caldwell to await the opening of the Cherokee Strip at noon on September 16, 1893. William Oerke, my grandfather, was one that ran for, and received, free land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma. He later married Laura (Mays) Long on December 22, 1897 in a sod house near Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Among the many relatives of Laura Long were, Jane Kennedy (b1744) and father, Andrew Kennedy who lived in the county Down, Ireland.

There were seven rural mail carriers working out of the post office in Caldwell and the country dirt roads were hardly passable after a good rain. On good weather days, my father would carry the mail route in the morning and farm during the afternoon. He would watch what the good farmers were doing in their fields and we would often do the same thing in the afternoon. We raised mostly wheat and small grains. I fed the chickens, my first responsibility, milked cows and operated all the farm machinery. I sold wheat with a USDA Marketing Card in the Farmers Co-op Grain company in 1941. I was a member of the Sumner County 4-H Club for 4 years. I helped cultivate the trees planted by the government in the shelter belt along the south side of the farm, and it was their prize tree area to show off to the public. They planted trees to help the environment and it helped Kansas farmers by attracting more rain. Later, the Caldwell Municipal Airport was built on this same farm, with a 1140 feet elevation. It is interesting that on the very land that I spent so much time farming, is now an airport from which I could have flown. When I decided that I did not want all the isolation in the life of a farmer. Mother told me that someday I might be able to have my own plane to fly to Wichita or elsewhere when I wanted. I was unable to visualize the possibility or I may have stayed on the farm.

Rowena was born in Caldwell in 1926, named after a character in "Ivanhoe", and Edward Schuyler arrived on the scene in 1928, named after Edward Rockwell and Schuyler Jones, Dad´s friends. Schuyler Jones was in the boot business in Wichita. His wife and Ignace Mead’s father helped name Wichita. (Edward S. Oerke died in 1976 after an unfortunate illness). Aunt Sara twice came from Wichita to Caldwell to help Mother with the care of us children and Sara graduated from CHS. Mother and Sara loved to play jacks together. We had a terrible Kansas dust storm in 1927. In 1929, Joe and Sara had a baby, Anne, our only cousin. Mother was active in nearly all aspects of church work at The First Methodist Church, West Central at Market, and in 1939 Raymond E. Dewey was one of our favorite ministers. Dad sang in the choir in the Lions Club quartet at funerals and he was treasurer of the church. We children often attended church four times on a Sunday. I was okay about this because this is just what the family did! Our parents, Lloyd and Netah Oerke had a total of 6 children, 4 born around 2 years apart and 2 later on. Although we four older children were quite healthy, we had whooping cough and mumps at the same time. We also had small pox, chicken pox and pink eye, but measles was the worst! I was the first one to take "black measles" followed by the other 3 children. At one time all of us children had beds lined up in the living room so that care could be given more easily. Mother reminded me, when a young man, that I was quite a teaser of my sisters and brothers. I do not remember going through a rebellion that many youth do today. I think somehow I knew that it would not have been allowed by my parents!

While living in Caldwell, I went through all 12 grades in the public schools. All of the Oerke children were given the opportunity to choose a musical instrument to play. I chose a trumpet and had many musical experiences. I was a member of the high school orchestra and worked up to be the first chair in the high school band trumpet section. I will always remember a hard lesson about practicing! After the long, busy summer of work on the farm, on the first fall band practice, the director allowed anyone to challenge the player who held the chair ahead of them. A "city fellow", who had practiced all summer, got to move up and take my first chair! I really enjoyed being in a dance band organized by Jerry Shaw who worked in the Caldwell State Bank. Our final dance was in Caldwell just prior to our graduation. Our famous actor-singer in Caldwell was Max Showalter who was on more than 600 TV shows and played the male lead in "Hello Dolly" on the stage. Byron Berline, with his famous bluegrass band, was from Caldwell. I was elected as the photography editor on my High School yearbook, "The Border Queen", and I have continued to take pictures, with many different cameras, all my life.

An incident happened, one day, outside the High School building that I feel worthwhile to comment upon:--a bully and a fight. It was not an ordinary physical fight, instead an incident from which I learned much. One fellow was to lick the other fellow all over "hell's half-acre." Well, the other fellow had read about Teddy Roosevelt and his fight, and how Jesus said to turn the other cheek. For, when he came out of the school, he was minding his own business and this big bully came up to him and gave him three or four punches to the mouth. Did this other fellow fight back? No, he stood there and took those punches. He had no reason to fight back. Instead, he stood there until the bully had cooled off. The bully felt foolish. The other fellow was me, and, with my good friend, Joe Bruey, left the school property. Sometime later, in 1987 I attended a class reunion with some 25 former students. My how they had changed! My good friend Joe Bruey had died. On this visit we saw plans for the new Heritage Park to be built in 1993. We purchased several bricks to be put in the park walk to honor many of the Oerke family members who had lived in Caldwell.

As we children grew up, a larger home was needed for our family. With the birth of Kenneth in 1935 and Marvin in 1940, (named after Marvin Shaner, Dad’s second cousin), a new home was built just east of our first home. The houses were located on a paved road, U. S. Highway 81, just two miles east of Main Street. This busy highway made walking to town difficult and dangerous. Mother and Dad worked with house plans for hours! They also supervised everything to be built in this large new home. It was a difficult period for them during all these negotiations. I remember filling my red wagon with some of my things from the old house and moving to my new room in the new house, some 30 days before the house was finished! This caused some problems for the workers. This five bedroom house was built during the Depression and even though Dad's salary was not large, it was large in comparison to the builders who were delighted to get the work. We usually had a new car in these days for the dealers were always glad to get their cars used on the rural route’s difficult dirt roads, to have their cars’ performance observed by the farmers. I remember one make of car that Dad liked, it was called a "Star." Dad found another Star in good condition, and he bought it for me to drive the other children to school. He decided to build a new barn and I used to go with Dad after school to Oklahoma to pick up the old field timbers to be used in the construction. The truck and trailer were loaded often after dark, but we still were able to stop on the way home in Blackwell for an ice cream treat. Often during the summer months our family would spend most of the hot Sunday afternoons in the shade on the east side of the house making ice cream by turning the handle of an old fashioned ice cream maker.

We always had the milk from our Jersey cows on the farm so we made rich ice cream and I remember a lot of turning of the crank. We would eat our ice cream out of soup bowls and they were often refilled, if any ice cream was left.

Many auto trips were taken by our large family, often in the summer after the wheat crop had been harvested. It was great to go to Colorado and play in snow in the middle of August! Our family took one long trip to the West coast. Dad drove through many California cities, including San Francisco. He drove the car through a cut made in one of the great trees of Oregon! Dad seemed quite happy to be behind the wheel driving his family on a trip. I remember that we attempted to visit every state capitol and we were fortunate to travel all over the West.
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CHAPTER 4 - COLLEGE DAYS AND THE ARMY AIR CORPS

In 1942, after graduation from high school, I enrolled in Oklahoma A & M College (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, OK. However, at this time World War II was in progress and I volunteered for service in the Army Air Corps.  I had signed up in the Selective Service System on the last day possible on August 31, 1948 while driving through Hartford, Conn. My training started at Ft. Sill, OK, near Lawton. The majority of my service time was spent working on B-17 and B-29 Aircraft at McDill Air Force Base near Tampa, FL. I was classified as a 3rd and 4th echelon power turret and gunsight specialist. I often used the free government operated ferry going to Tampa leaving from the Base pier. The Protestant chapel and choir (on Base) were helpful to me in that I was able to make good friends. I became a Mason in Tampa, for I wanted to be respected as a person even though I was in a uniform. Tampa Masons brought me into the Masons as a courtesy for service men for my home Lodge 203 in Caldwell. My name appeared with other servicemen on the Caldwell Honor Roll Board, sponsored by the Lions Club and located on the main corner of town.

One of my interesting experiences was to attend a training school at the Briggs Manfacturing Company for airmen, sailors, and marines located in downtown Detroit. However the service shipped us out the day of graduation, thus missing more sightseeing in Detroit. I was given an honorable discharge after three and one-half years,(12/9/42 to 2/6/46) at Lowry Air Force Base, Squadron S, in Denver. I drove home in my first car, a grey, four door, 1934 Plymouth!

With the help of the G, I. Bill, I once again enrolled at Oklahoma State University. During most of my college life I resided at the FarmHouse Fraternity, 713 College Avenue, Stillwater along with other Agriculture majors (being initiated in FarmHouse in November of 1946). I was the Social Chairman, and really enjoyed attending at least two dances every weekend. My secret desire was to become a dancer like Fred Astaire. FarmHouse held its annual Pearls and Rubies Formal  which was quite an event. My extra curricular activities were the Agronomy Club, Collegiate Y, as Vice President, and others. However, I was mostly active in the fellowship and leadership of the Wesley Foundation and Sigma Theta Epsilon (joining in April, 1946). I still remember the first time I presented a program in Trinity Chapel of the Wesley Foundation, and I was so nervous that I visualized cutting a hole in the floor to drop through and leave the scene! But this was my beginning of being in front of others--just like me. I was later elected Vice President of the W.F.in 1947. and president of Nu Chapter of STE in 1948. Both of these student groups met at The Methodist Church, at 624 Duck Street in which Kenneth Copeland was the minister. The church was many blocks away from campus near the downtown business district. I used my blue 1940 Dodge convertible to commute from the campus to the church. Sometime after I graduated, The Wesley Foundation at OSU opened a student center across from the campus at 823 University Street, Stillwater.

During the national conclave of STE held in Stillwater in 1948, I was elected to direct the activities of the 16 Chapters from the national headquarters as the National Executive Secretary. The office was located in the Methodist church and I enjoyed contacting all the local groups. Through the dynamic and meaningful programs of all the Methodist organizations and the special services conducted by Bishop Carson in 1949, I felt moved or "called" to do some kind of life-work to serve others.. When I made this decision, some Christian students told me that I’d have to give up dancing and that I would have to chose between science and religion, between the laboratory and the church. I told them that science and religion are both supporters of our way of life, and the truth is that God’s power created our earth and science tells us how it was done. Liberal religion and rational science are two approaches to the same truth. The Wesley Light, our newspaper, gave information about all programs in our Methodist student organizations.

In 1949 I was the OSU campus representative to the fifth student section of the United Nations in NYC, then located at Lake Success, NY. On the last day of the UN conference, we went to the home of the Roosevelt’s located at the Val Kill Farms near Hyde Park, that is now a National Historic Site.

I was very privileged to be with Eleanor Roosevelt, sitting with her in the out-of-doors, on a long fallen tree. We students talked with her for more than an hour, hearing of her hopes for a better world with the guidance of the UN. Of course, her black Scottie dog, Fala, was with us on the lawn.

I was also chosen as co-chairman for a campus-wide "Religious Emphasis Week" following the theme, "Faith - Nucleus for Living." During this week, in 1950, we invited thirteen leading national religious leaders and other speakers. One of the 1949 leaders was John Oliver Nelson of Yale, author of "Young Laymen-Young Church." He was a wonderful man and a role model for me. In May of 1950, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, Field Crops and Soils, planning to be a U.S. Department of Agriculture County Extension Agent upon graduation.

In my last year at OSU, I changed my priorities, and moved in a far different direction for my life work into a church-sponsored vocation. Dad never liked this decision for the ministry. He remembered the time when his Dad, Will W. Oerke, had been a Methodist minister. He received his training in Winfield, Kansas, graduating in the class of 1901 from Southwest Kansas College. After serving in Renfrow and the Blackburn-Skedee Church, NE of Stillwater, he was sent to be the pastor and worked hard, organized and built a new church building in Kremlin, OK. When the new building was finished he asked for a raise in salary. The leading layman found out that my grandfather had some land and decreased, rather than increased the salary. He decided to quit the Methodist ministry.
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CHAPTER 5 - COLLEGE SUMMER SERVICE PROJECTS

I spent my summers during my college days widening my horizons by participating in three summer service projects along with other college students from throughout the U.S. During the summer of 1949, I was on the staff of George Williams College Camp, Lake Geneva, WI and I was given the responsibility of making ice cream for summer conference groups and staff. My ice cream machine was located in the refectory or soda fountain and, of course, I had to sample my product quite often! In 1950, I was in the College Summer Service Group, on the staff of The New York Missionary Society as a children's worker for eight weeks. I worked with Joe Evrard from Pennsylvania, in a vacation church school, in the Bronx Spanish Church with Puerto Rican children. One welcome event was a day trip out into the Atlantic on a floating hospital ship for children and their mothers for relaxation and health care was given to families. Several of us students lived at The Union Settlement House on Manhattan, on 104th Street.

We attended a meal and service at Father Divine's church. I was able to learn the involved subway system " like the back of my hand." Mother came to NYC while I was there, and we saw the sights she had always wanted to see. She stayed in The Embassy on the West side on 70th Street.

The next summer, in 1951, I was with a group of other college students on a Washington Student Citizenship Seminar working in the summer vacation time periods of regular government workers, and living at the Barksdale Hotel. Because I was a graduate of an agricultural college, I was assigned to work with the USDA at the Beltsville National Agricultural Research Center.
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CHAPTER 6 - RECEIVING MY THEOLOGICAL TRAINING

The next chapter of my life took place in the North, in Evanston, IL when I attended Garrett Theological Seminary on Lake Michigan and on the campus of Northwestern University. This was a three year course of preparation for church vocations. About 350 students were in the "Garrett Family" and we made close friends as we studied, ate in the Commons and joined in social functions. Many of us had weekend responsibilities in churches in the area. I worked in North Shore Methodist Church as an associate minister with Russell Lambert. He received citations for his work in inter-faith and inter-racial programs and the United Nations. My roommate during the first year in seminary was an Indian prince, Fred Kumar Lazarus from Bombay, who was in a family that converted from Hinduism to Christianity, lost the family nobility, and had changed his name. He had received his seminary work at Leonard Theological College at Jubbulpur, India and was now working on his doctorate degree. We went down to the Loop in Chicagoland in about forty minutes on the elevated trains. Once, because of his dark colored skin, Fred was treated badly, mistaken for an African American. After this unfortunate event he wore his Indian turban to Chicago and experienced no problem. It was a joy to dance in Chicago’s Aragon and Trianon Ballrooms. Charlie Spivak with "The Sweetest Trumpet Ever Played" performed one night. I was told by a friend that I had a "southern accent" and it might be something to work on. I took speech lessons in Northwestern University but I am still told my voice is "different".

While in seminary, on August 25, 1951, I married Dorothy Kintner who was the daughter of our Mother's friend back in Wichita, years ago. The ceremony was in the chapel and gardens of the seminary. My family drove overnight to Evanston from Kansas City and had an eventful trip. The car ran our of gas! The car had been repaired prior to leaving and the gas gauge was hooked up backward registering full when the tank was empty

Our daughter, Nancy Lynn, was born on July 17, 1953 in Evanston, IL. During her growing up years, Nancy had a strong interest in singing and helping people. This lead to many experiences as she participated in church youth choir, high school choir, camp counseling, child care, youth work camps and inter-city outreach in Dayton, OH. During her college years at Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, OH, Nancy continued these interests with her studies. She was a member of a folk-religious singing group, "The Eighth Day of Creation", begun in 1972, and toured in the states of New York and Ohio. She was also active in an inter-city tutouring program for children in Cleveland, OH and led the program as president from 1974-75. Nancy graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with studies in speech therapy and religion. It was an honor for me to be asked to participate in her commencement ceremony. After graduation, Nancy decided to apply for a two-year mission outreach experience in the United States. After intense training in Memphis, TN, she was commissioned in August of 1975 at the Memphis Wesley Foundation Center, as a US-2 Worker and then appointed to Red Bird Mission, a rural United Methodist Church mission in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky. There she taught Kindergarten children and served as an assistant dorm parent for freshmen girls. In July, 1979, in Cincinnati. OH, she married Arthur Edward Spragen, Jr. Arthur is a United Theological Seminary graduate, (Dayton, OH) and also has 20 years of work experience in drafting/design. Once again, I was honored to participate in another ceremony for our daughter as father and clergyman in their wedding. Nancy and her husband, Authur, live in West Liberty, OH, and have two children, Rebekah and Adam. Arthur is the drafting/design instructor at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in Bellefontaine, OH, and Nancy is the branch librarian of her community library.
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CHAPTER 7 - THE CAMPUS MINISTRY WITH THE WESLEY FOUNDATION

My Master of Divinity degree was earned at Garrett Theological Seminary in June, 1954. A District Superintendent from the Ohio Conference visited Garrett in search of new ministers. Charles Cooley, retiring minister and friend, also came from the Wesley Foundation at Ohio University to see me, and asked me to take his place and to consider an appointment as the Minister of Students in the Wesley Foundation at Ohio University.

Because I had such a wonderful personal experience at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, I accepted the position at Ohio University. These two college situations are designed for Methodist preference students and were among the largest ( 2 of 158 programs) and most successful in the U.S. Wesley Foundation helps to train good leaders for the future. Among the many interest groups within the Wesley Foundation total program were Sigma Theta Epsilon (70 men) , Kappi Phi (115 women), Wesley Choir (about 60 persons who toured Ohio churches during the Easter vacation), Wesley Players and many other smaller spiritual growth groups. Wesley Foundation conducted vespers and visitation projects at the local V.A. Hospital, in churches in the area, and in the local Children’s Home. On February 5, 1955 The Methodist Church building near campus, in which we met, was completely burned! No longer did this provide a "students home away from home." Many changes were necessary in the transition period. The World Conference of the Student Volunteer Movement, with 50 Protestant denominations registered, was held at Ohio University in December, 1955 and I served on the personnel and local arrangements committees. How well I still remember my very tired legs, bound in elastic bandages, as I worked with the stewards and was in nearly every meeting room of every building of the University. The theme for this missionary conference was "Revolution and Reconciliation". It was during my campus ministry at Ohio University that I met the final ministerial requirements of the Church and I received my Elder’s Credentials in The United Methodist Church from Bishop Hazen Werner on the 12th of June, 1955.

While we were living at 78 Franklin Street in Athens, Ohio, David William Oerke was born on December 18, 1955 at 7:03 AM, in the Sheltering Arms Hospital. He would later achieve many honors and accomplishments throughout his life. He was a newspaper boy for six years in Dayton, Ohio. He was a finalist for the Glenn L. Cox Outstanding Newspaper Boy of the Year Award in 1969 and 1970, which included newspaper and community activities, scholastic and personal achievements. As a member of Boy Scout Troop 236, he was Troop Scribe, Patrol Leader and worship leader at Scout Sunday in 1972. He attended the 1973 National Scout Jamboree and received the Eagle Scout, God and Country and "Beaverclaw" award for outstanding leadership in scouting in 1974. He received straight A’s in 8th grade and was on the National Honor Society several times throughout high school. He was winner of the 1974 Ohio Academy of Science award for his project "Contact Lens Materials: Past, Present and Future." He earned his Bachelor degree in Civil and Enviromental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1979 and was on the Dean’s list several times.

He participated in a work-study cooperative program and was an engineering technician for the Water Supply Research Division of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and for the consulting enviromental engineering firm of Malcolm Pirnie. He was a member and officer of the Tau Kappa Epsilon National Fraternity. He earned a Masters Degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI in 1983 while working full-time at the enviromental engineering firm of Camp Dresser & McKee in Milwaukee. It was here, Dave met Keise Marie Holden at a company picnic. Dave and Keise married on September 3, 1983 in a beautiful garden at the Bethesda Home, in Beresford, SD, where her grandmother, Keise (age 93), was a resident. It was an honor to have Mother Oerke, Nanetah, at the wedding at age 90. It was one of her last trips. Nancy, Dave’s sister, and Kristi, Karla and Koren Holden, Keise’s sisters, sang special music for the wedding. Pastor Erickson, Keise’s pastor, and I performed the wedding.

Dave has over 20 years of experience specializing in the planning, design and construction management of water and wastewater treatment facilities. Dave has also been working with the following prominent enviromental engineering firms: URS Griener, Sellers & Grigg, and Black & Veatch. He is currently a Senior Project Manager and Associate with Rothberg, Tamburini & Windsor, Inc. He is considered a nationwide expert in the field of planning and design of wastewater biosolids processing and management facilities. Biosolids is a valuable byproduct from wastewater treatment that can be used as a fertilizer/soil conditioner on agricultural land. He has written and presented 25 technical papers and published chapters in two environmental engineering textbooks. He was the chairperson of the 1996 Water Environment Federation Residuals and Biosolids Speciality Conference in Denver, Colorado with over 800 attendees. Dave is also the cochairperson of the Rocky Mountain Mountain Water Enviromental Association’s Biosolids Committee. Dave is a member of the Who’s Who in the Enviromental Industry. It is great to have someone in the family who is helping our world clean up the environment and our nation’s valuable water supply.

Dave lives in Denver, CO with his wife, Keise Holden, and son, Erik, who is 8 years old. Dave and Keisie are very active as members of Bethany Lutheran Church, in the church choir and several other activities. Keise enjoys the flexibility of her part-time work at Chocolate Soup, a specialty children’s clothing store with custom designed clothes. She

is also part of the Moppets childcare in the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) program at their church. Erik is in 2nd grade at Cory Elementary School and has had the privilege to be in the Gifted and Talented program at school. Erik enjoys math, but has a tough time with writing the long reports assigned by his teachers.

He recently completed a research project comparing the Anasazi and Sioux American Indian tribes, including an interview with a princess of a local Anasazi tribe. He is also a Bobcat in Cub Scouts working on his Wolf Badge. He has enjoyed camping, attending the Regional Camporee with over 7,000 other Boy and Girl Scouts near Buckley Air Force Base and racing his Pinewood Derby car. Dave has enjoyed spending time with Erik and his friends as a Den Leader in Cub Scouts. His den attended the Air Force football game in November, 1999 which was complete with a precise fly-over of 4 Thunderbird jets in tight formation only 200 feet above the ground.
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CHAPTER 8 - SERVING AS A LOCAL PASTOR

The United Methodist Church appointments I served were as follows: Wesley Foundation, Methodist Campus Pastor at Ohio University, 1954; worked with 20,000 Methodist students with wide programs of activities and groups and assisted with the "Torch" paper. I moved to the Wesley Foundation at Colorado State College of Education, Greeley, 1956. I organized a wide range of student leadership opportunities, opened and lived in the newly opened Brick Wesley House on the Corner, just across the street from the campus and I took graduate courses in Colorado State College of Education.

At each church I fulfilled all the regular duties: preaching, teaching, counseling, working out details for the wedding ceremony that was most meaningful to the couple, conducting youth camps and programs, membership training, organizational programming into the six work areas, community involvement, and enjoyed the privileges working with people. I was in the "Who’s Who in The Methodist Church, 1969."

Orwell-Windsor Charge, 1958: Conducted a youth Chicago Seminar, and organizing youth groups in each church, and also organizing the four commissions for programming. In Windsor my mother led a study on, "One World--One Mission" and a Methodist Men’s Club was started along with a Boy Scout troop. The Bishop’s Company presented "The Boy With a Cart in 1961 in Windsor. The confirmation class had 17 members in this small rural church. I wrote "The Country Parson" column in The Orwell News letter, was counselor in church summer camps, held youth retreats at Punderson State Park, gave the Baccalaureate sermon in 1961 at Grand Valley School. In 1962 each Orwell and Windsor Church had 230 members. In the spring of 1962 I took my first overseas trip when I went on an 8 week tour of the Holy Land and the Land of John Wesley. I learned that we must live in the now and be happy where we are.

I preached for services on the Queen Elizabeth, and in two British Methodist Churches. The Orwell Church, built in 1889, had a 150th anniversary in 1968 with Bishop Kerns and another celebration was held in 1989, both of which I attended. The historian in Orwell was Fay Williams and in Windsor, Mrs, F. R. Olin.

Leipsic, 1962: Building a $355,500 Educational and Fellowship Hall building with oil money and working with Father Fred Deushal in a day camp migrant ministry program for workers in Libby’s.Company migrant camp sponsored by 6 local churches. A few migrants attended our church. This program showed "faith with works"is valid!. Mother gave a program on Spain to the women’s group just after her return. Ruth Cain and Florence Foley, church historians, celebrated the centennial, 100 yrs, of the first church building built in 1895. The parsonage kitchen was upgraded and we had to eat in a local cafe. An old fashioned summer barbecue was held on the church lawn each year.

Riverside Methodist Church, Minister of Education, 1967: 550 members, Zollinger at Kioka, Columbus, OH ,carried out youth and adult retreats, and worked with Ned Laylin in wider ministries, where he showed me we have the power to change some problems.

Christ Church, Kettering, 1968: Involved in team Ministry with a 3,000 member congregation, with three on the staff. I was a certified as a Minister of Education by Bishop Ensley and Dr, Howard Brown in 1968. As an Associate, with major responsibility for visitation, education and the supervision of two youth groups totaling some 250 youth, and supporting the production of "Jesus Christ, Superstar", in which David played the role of King Harod. The Confirmation Class had 38 members. I also took the youth group to New York City in 1968, and Dave was in charge of the paper drive to earn money for the trip. It was my privilege to give the high school graduation sermon for Nancy’s class from Fairmont West on June 6, 1971 at the NCR Auditorium. ( I divorced in 1972 and it was a hard time in my life to find employment.)

Portage, Christ Church, 1974: This was the first Methodist-EUB church to merge in 1966. The church was organized, and commission groups started. A strong and active youth group was formed with activities including "The Meditations", a nine girl musical group with Ron Turner as leader and guitarist. "The 8th Day of Creation" sang. The thrust was family life and community service with an increase of 50 at worship services. A new Senior Citizens group was formed, 16 youth were in the confirmation class and Certificates of Leadership Awards were presented to church leaders. A new church directory was published and two retreats were held.

Pleasant Ridge, 1976: This church was organized in 1822 by Jacob Kemp, a German. It was known as "the white church on West Middletown hill." The parsonage on Mosiman Road, a Tudor House, was obtained with a special purchase agreement with Armco Steel Corporation. I did home calling, started an active youth group and confirmation retreats to Cincinnati. I worked with the Madison Nursery School staff, organized the church commission groups, composed and sent Newsletters and a new church directory.

Mother always enjoyed coming to visit us in a new church appointment. She liked changes in her routine. She really liked driving her pink Ford car with her collie dog, Chief. In these last years of her life she really enjoyed her independence. She even drove herself to Vancover, B.C. My varied types of ministry gave me an opportunity to work with people of many ages and kinds of life situations. I hope that, with God's help, I have made a difference in many lives, and for the partial healing of our ravaged world. I hope that all of us will be enhanced by the church as we nurture and challenge one another in expressing justice, respect, hope, and love locally and in all the world. At this time of my life I also became interested in Transactional Analysis. This involves the basic transactions when two or more people encounter and speak with each other, dealing with the internal "Parent", "Adult" and "Child " ("I’m OK -- You’re OK") and taught many sessions in groups. We tried to understand that it is important for adults to stay in the "adult" as much as possible. This was a big movement toward the understanding of one’s self and in 1976, the national membership directory had a single-spaced name listing of 274 pages.

At each church in the spring of the year, I prepared the Fourth Quarterly Conference Report to the Annual Church Conference and it always helped me review what had been accomplished by the people and their pastor. I enjoyed personal growth groups sponsored by the Association for Creative Change with religious and other social systems. At one time, I wanted to move into Clinical Pastoral Education, having qualified for certification and receiving an appointment to work in Pastoral Counseling. After much personal searching, I went into the field of Health Care Administration to help care for the aging population. I always enjoyed calling on and working with senior age persons in the church. I started with my practical training at Otterbein Home, the largest United Methodist facility, located near Lebanon, OH. The second half of my training was in Darlington House, a Jewish home in Toledo, OH, and I took the Core of Knowledge Course at Ohio State University, graduating on April 10, 1974. I received my Ohio Nursing Home Administrators license, No, 1743, in 1975. My First job was in the Sunny Acres Care Center, Sidney, OH with American Health Care Centers, and I held an open house with a change of the name ceremony in 1980 with Dale Locker, Ohio Representative as guest. We lived at 234 Havard Avenue.
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CHAPTER 9 - DAD AND MOTHER IN WYOMING AND BEYOND

Dad and Mother were still able to do homesteading with a Lake Hattie lot in Wyoming by constructing a house on the lake. Later, in that house, Mother had one of her creative projects, ceramic shop called "Dream A While. "We children have her ceramic items in our homes. Mother really needed something for herself, to get her mind on something new and creative. This helped her when tension with Dad was too much for her. To express her creative spirit, she also took up another hobby for self expression, painting, and she progressed to create many works and pieces. We have one of her original paintings of beautiful yellow and blue flowers that brightens our home. Mother also enjoyed playing games, canasta, dominos, and cards. She thought it is important for all of us to have fun and express ourselves, and perhaps make the unknown, knowable!

August of 1959, my father died after a construction accident while building the house at Lake Hattie, WY. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Mother drove him to Spears Chiropractic Hospital in Denver where he died. Mother took his body by train to Kingfisher, OK for burial in the family lot in the cemetery.

About 10 years following Dad's death, Mother, now over 70 years of age, was able to fulfill a call she received to the missionary field as a young women. She had been active in The United Presbyterian Church in Laramie, WY with Dr. James Glassman who assisted her in making arrangements for her missionary work.

She was sent to Victoria, Brazil to catalogue the seminary library in 1967. It was necessary for her to learn the Portuguese language, library methods, and typing to accomplish her tasks. This was a very great accomplishment taking into account her poor health! Mother really had an adventure while serving the needs of the seminary students, and we were proud and amazed at the many challenging things she accomplished. In this important and needed work, she was able to again meet a Presbyterian minister, John Sinclair, whom we knew when he was a boy in Caldwell. She was an author of two books about her life and the life of her family. The two books were, "There Can Be Only One", covering her life with my father, and containing 104 pages, and "Dream The Impossible Dream", with 89 pages that gave an excellent, detailed account of her life. She put the book of her life together with the assistance of my wife, Barbara, an English major, while she was visiting us in Middletown, Ohio. This title was also, in many ways, the theme of her full and wonderful life .She believed that everyone has a gift worth sharing.

Mother's outgoing spirit helped guide us children to make a difference in the lives of people we meet. It is important to say, that inspite of all these problems, with her poor health, with her bad leg, nerve problems and arthritis, she kept going!. She often went to "the mile-high city" and regained her health in the Spears Chiropractic Hospital in Denver. She would get seven treatments and therapies that helped her, and also the games she played with other patients were therapeutic. Her exhaustion, nerves and old age were helped and she would get her strength back She once called it a "vacation". Mother would plan to be at Norman at tax time to get help from Wilford (1920-1989) and Ronnie. She went to Spain for Ken and Elisa’s wedding, in which she stood up with her son, and spent some time with them in Las Palmas in the Grand Canaries where she lived in a beautiful British hotel in 1974-l975. Mother said that she was going "all out" for her age, and she called this trip a "once in a lifetime experience." While there she had some problems in walking and had an operation on her foot.

A big event for her, and all of us, was her 80th birthday party on November 26, 1977. It took place at the Crestview Country Club in Wichita. This great celebration included a play that she had written and used in churches which covered the years of our growing up, and all of us had parts to play. Many professional pictures were taken of family groups to remind us of the event. Great fun was had by all!

Mother composed poetry and verse and gave me this choice writing:
It is on tablet paper now yellowed, but I carried it for many years and it was an
inspiration for me at many times in my life.

"If we had the gift of Edgar A. Guest, we might better to you our thoughts express.
For sixteen years we have watched you grow and there are a few things we’d like you to know.
We are as proud as we can be of our oldest boy, below are the things that we enjoy:
Tall and straight and so strong is he, with dark hair and eyes, he may handsome be.
We have yet to find a single time, when he wasn’t honest with even a dime.
As far as trouble with him is to be had, the cops had just as well turn in the badge.
A good day’s work he can do for you, and he specializes in a car and tractor, too.
Yet he can tease and tease and tease, till he has all us on our knees.
He has a big kick dating the girls, they must be nice, he doesn’t count curls.
He likes them jolly and full of pep, and their pictures he likes to get.
At home he has his sister’s respect, and his younger brothers will be proud of him yet.
If sometimes his parents are bores, and there seems to be no end to the chores,
Just remember we love you and mistakes do make,
We’re just doing the best we know how, so swallow and take.
We will be watching your success in life, and be trusting you to see the light.
When we are old and stooped and grey, and you visit us as oft you may,
May you be as glad to see Mother and Dad, as we will to see our oldest lad."
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CHAPTER 10 - A NEW KIND OF LIFE WITH BARBARA

On February 15, 1973, I married Barbara Ann Cole Tall (b 1931 in Monroe, MI) in Miamisburg, OH in a service conducted by our close friend, The Reverend Roderick King. She is a graduate of Fairview High School in Dayton and The Ohio State University, 1953. Her children are Bob Tall, Judy Pheanis and Lisa Wunn. She is an exciting, clever, warm, and creative person. I enjoy her open, flexible, non-rigid personality. She is a beautiful, smart and stimulating person. Barb has made out income tax forms, professionally, for ten years and has worked in a financial office having qualified with the International Board of Standards and Practices as a Certified Financial Planner. She is a wonderful wife and we share many of life's ups and downs together.
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CHAPTER 11 - BEING A LICENSED PRIVATE PILOT

I received my private pilot certification in May 31, 1978 at Hook Field, Middletown, OH at 651 feet above sea level. One of my instructors was George Wedekind, airport manager, who later was in charge of planning for the Dayton Air Fair. A pilot remembers the first plane flown, and mine was a C-150, with the wing number 5938G. I always have liked to read maps! As a pilot I used sectional maps and charts of every area I flew over. I owned a Piper Cherokee, PA28, with an identification, N6414R. I also started a flying club, called "GO AVIATION." It was special, after flying to Florida, to take off from Merrett Island and fly near the landing strip at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. I made several other cross-country flights, but one that helped me remember my past years was a flight in 1990 to the Oerke Ranch (770' elevation and a 3400 foot runway, located just South of the Bulter VOR, 115.9), Wichita, Norman, and Stillwater! It was great to fly into OSU airport and fly over the campus!

Now living in Asheville at 2165 feet above sea level, I fly commercially, but I remember when I flew here from Orangeburg on a job interview. While in Orangeburg, I enjoyed many flights along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. In my flight in 1990 to Stillwater I took off from the Hendersonville Airport that is located on the very SE corner of the Asheville airport service area.

When living in Middletown, I was able to fly with a friend in his plane to Wichita, and I saw Mother at least four times when she was in Stafford House and the Catholic Center for the Aging. My, but I appreciated seeing her at that time in 1985! In Stafford House she became good friends with a male resident and it gave her much enjoyment. I also had an opportunity to see Gladys who picked me up at Col. Jabara Airport and at Wichita Municipal. On the way to Wichita my pilot friend would always stop at Jefferson City, MO airport for fuel, and a rest, and on the return flight also. While flying from Wooster to the West, I often stopped at the Bellefontaine Airport several times for my Fuel Watch paper indicated that fuel was available there at a good discount. Now Nancy and Ed live near there. I’ve rented many different kinds of planes and its been interesting having to learn the varied performance specifications of each plane. These flying experiences are just a collection of memories of an ex-pilot. I don’t get mail from the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City or a renewed pilot license anymore, but I really enjoyed the thrill of flying a total of 850 flying hours.
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CHAPTER 12 - A MASTERS IN GERONTOLOGY AND AGING

In August, 1978, at the age of 55 years, I earned a Masters of Education degree in

Career and Technology Education from Bowling Green State University (Ohio). While

serving a church in Portage, OH, I worked as a part-time administrator of Pleasant Manor in Holgate, OH. In 1975, I applied for and received a grant offered by the

U.S. Administration on Aging for a one year gerontology training program. This award

provided me with the payment of instructional fees and a monthly stipend. The University only offered an undergraduate degree in Gerontology, therefore it was necessary to earn a graduate degree in CTE with courses in Health, Occupation-Education and Gerontology. I finished most of the degree work with an A minus average while living in Portage, but in 1975 we moved to Middletown. I needed an additional 3 credits and I obtained them from Xavier University Graduate School located in Cincinnati. After receiving this degree in 1978, I changed my work in the general direction of my new vocation, that of a Health Care Administrator, focusing on the second half of the life span. One of my first administration positions was at the Margaret Clark Oakfield facility in Washington Court House with ownership and management of the John Case family. I received an appointment to West View Manor, Wooster, OH, making an expansion of the independent living units. In 1982, I was installed as the president of the Wayne County Council on Aging and joined the Lions Club.

I was next appointed to The Methodist Oaks Retirement Community, Orangeburg, SC in 1985, (passing the South Carolina NHA testing in December, 1985, No 202-N85) where I upgraded the nursing services. When I reached the "golden years" and the great age of 65, I retired (after 35 years of service) in June, 1988 from the West Ohio Annual Conference in the retirement class of 1988, at Lakeside, OH and also from full-time employment.
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CHAPTER 13 - PRE-RETIREMENT PLANNING

In 1980 I was hired by Edison State Community College in Piqua, OH as the Pre-Retirement Planner to develop a program for business and industry written by local professional persons. This educational program was developed with five areas: Facing Retirement, Personal Changes, Money Matters, Home and Health and What's Ahead. The program was presented to local industries, such as The Copeland Corpation, The Hobart Corporation and to two local Chambers of Commerce. I created a consultant business, "Pre-Retirement Planners" to sell and present education and training programs, and was in the American Society for Training and Development. While on the Edison College associate faculty I taught two courses, "Gerontology" and "Life-Span Developmental Psychology." Gary Wilson, my guide and friend, was the director of Continuing Education.

I have a publication, "A Model Curriculum and Program for Pre-Retirement Planning Courses" in CATALYST, Southern Publication Company, 1981. And in addition, I am writing this personal account of my life, "Let George Do It."

Family reunions are quite important to the greater Oerke family and every two years a reunion is held. They have been held in many locations such as Roaring River State Park in Jefferson City, MO; ( many of us enjoyed riding the horses), Central Oklahoma Christian Camp, Guthrie, OK;(Nancy was a counselor here one summer),. The Oerke Ranch, near Virginia, MO; and Mount Sequoyah, near Fayetteville, AK. In 2000 our reunion is planned at Bass Country Inn in Springfield, MO. We enjoyed Mother, and also Sara, being present at many of the reunions.

The White Chapel Memorial Gardens at 1806 N. Oliver in Wichita is the cemetary location for George Massey(1873-1952) and Minnie Massey(1873-1961). Uncle Joe K.Welch(1907-1987) of 232 Morningside, was buried in the Masonic area. He was founder and owner of Welch Cleaners and Cowboy Cleaners in Wichita KS.
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CHAPTER 14 - THE HOPPER FAMILY

On August 4, 1990, Barbara and I attended the Hopper Reunion held at Pine Knob State Park in Kentucky, one of Grayson County's beautiful spots. We met many in the Hopper family, which is Mother's side of the family. The family relationships between those present at the Hopper Reunion were placed on fold-out charts. I was placed under Nanetah Oerke, Minnie Massey, Shalmanezer Hopper, James T. Hopper and Gilliam Hopper and Nancy Campbell Hopper, our oldest known Hopper ancesters(b1776). One event we attended was a play at the state park amphitheatre, located on the property that Dock Brown once owned. The play was filled with music, square dancing, comedy and tragedy. We have been warned that if you look back in your family history, some surprises may be found. Our surprise was to be experienced in the play, "Dock Brown, Kentucky Outlaw", our relative Gillum Hopper (b1776), who was later known as "Dock Brown."  Gillum had purchased 264 acres in 1828 when he allegedly killed David Stockstill over a land boundry dispute. He changed his name and "got lost" until his death in 1848 in Kentucky. This is our "skeleton in the closet." An historical writer who first worked on the genealogy of the Hoppers had difficulty at first finding information because the family was silent about this event until William Haynes wrote his book in 1876. Many of the family were buried in the Hopper Cemetery, north of Clarence, MO.
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CHAPTER 15 - RETIREMENT EXPERIENCES IN ASHEVILLE AND BEYOND

While working as a Health Care Administrator at The Methodist Oaks Retirement Center in Orangeburg, SC, we traveled on weekends to cities in the area looking for a place to retire that had most of the features we desired. We really enjoyed visiting Charleston, SC many times, but its climate was too hot and damp in the summer months. In 1988 we chose the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain city of Asheville, NC, the 8th largest city in North Carolina ( pop. 68,500). It is an inspiring experience to live here. It is famous as

the location of the Biltmore Estate and Gardens (house, landscapes and winery), The University of North Carolina in Asheville, the Grove Park Inn and Resort, The North Carolina Arboretum and many other exciting spots. Outstanding artists from around the world come to Asheville quite often to perform and it is impossible for us to experience all of the many cultural programs and events that are offered! We really enjoy owning our own home. I was a crew leader in the 1990 census enumeration with group quarters and special places as my responsibility.

In retirement years, Barbara and I have been involved in many organizations and jobs in the community and in pursuing other interests. We participate, in and really appreciate, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville. There are no easy answers to the meaning of life. However, the search for truth through our warm and open church community, has given us so much inspiration and love. It seems that life is all connected in our world. We are involved in the mystery of self discovery and of a power beyond ourselves. My religious experiences have included both reason and emotion, with reason being the stronger element. We need to use our God-given minds in our search.

I accept the life and the simple teachings of Jesus who lived with all kinds of persons, showing that each person has worth as a human being. My present thinking reflects the idea that persons who are rigid moralists of any religion, who demand that all others believe as they do, cause many of the problems and frictions in the community and in our world. .

One of my interests is being a gardener, and a Master Gardener with the County Extension Service. I was the winner of a trophy, with a Jessica variety of Dahlia, for the most perfect "novice" bloom in the show of the American Dahlia Society that met in Asheville in 1992. Pictures have been taken by Peter Loewer of my Dahlias and an article was written for The Carolina Gardener magazine. The feature, "Dahlias: Stars of Summer Gardens" displayed some of my 40 different varieties in the March/April issue, 2000 .

My activities also include being involved in the Men's Garden Club of Asheville, holding most of the local club offices including the president in 1994, elected as Blue Ridge Region president in 1996 , was the editor of a prize winning regional newsletter and received a Journalism Award in 1997. I served as the National Membership Chair in 1997-99. To help build rich soil, locally, I prepared and use a backyard composting bin.

In addition, I am active for the second year as chairman of the Land of Sky Regional Advisory Council on Aging. In 1998, I received the Outstanding Committee Service Award and it reads as follows:

"For outstanding service to the Regional Advisory Council on Aging
(where he became Chairman in 1997). He participated in training in
Performance Standards of the North Charolina Association of Area Agency
on Aging and in implementing them in Region B. He has energetically
approached his activities on the Advisory Committee, eager to learn more
about the Area Agency on Aging and service provider responsibilities."

The Bumcombe County Aging Coordinating Consortium funnels the money from federal, state and county sources to support 13 provider services for older Americans. I’m a member of this body and help in supervising the programs of the provider services. It was also my joy to be active on the Board of The Botanical Gardens at Asheville. This garden is located on Glenn's Creek near the UNCA campus. Native plants are the specialty of the garden's, and for my services, I received The Trillium Award in 2000. I have also been a Board member and active in another environmental group, Quality Forward, that works for a clean and green community.
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CHAPTER 16 - A RENEWED INTEREST IN HISTORY THROUGH TRAVEL

From April to June, 1996, after my retirement, I fulfilled my strong desire to really explore Europe, and learn about my own roots. This trip was possible because my brother, Ken, is a resident of Spain. He had moved to Spain and married Elisa Alonso on October 1, 1965 at a Catholic Church in Madrid. and as is the Spanish custom, the groom’s mother is to be the bridesmaid. Mother was there! Ken has worked in Spain for years and because of his knowledge of Spain, all of us have visited many parts of Spain and Europe. In 1983 and 1992, Barb and I took great National Parador trips through western Spain! Ken retired from Bendix (contracted to NASA, working at tracking stations in California, Washington, D.C., the Canaries Islands, and near Madrid) and Digital Equipment Corporation. Elisa has retired from the European Space Agency’s Satellite Tracking Station having worked at (Vilspa) Villafranca, near Madrid. A Spanish window on the universe with its antenna bowls! Ken and I visited a dozen countries! We traveled in his car and had no schedule to keep, enjoying driving many backroads. We often stayed overnight in Youth Hostels, that now are approved to include senior citizens. We traveled in a similar way Rick Steves, travel expert, suggests to travel. Some of the most interesting cities we visited were: Madrid, San Sebastian/Donostia located on the Bay of Biscay, Lourdes, Carcassone, Arles, Avignon, Geneva, Montreux, Solothurn, Reutte, Salzburg, Hallstatt, The Romantic Road cities of Fussen, Augsburg and Rothenburg, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Brussels, Brugge, London, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Longside, Bergen, Haugesund (where five Orke’s live) and The Oerke Fjord (Yrkjefjorden), (Randi and Axel Orke now live on the SW shore, near Tysvaer), Hildesheim, Bad Honnef and Ottenstein, leaving for home from Luxenbourg via Icelandair! We were joined for the Scotland section of the trip by Sara Welch, Ronnie and Elisa. Ken and I had both been working on our family history, and while visiting Scotland, found that we were in the MacDonald Clan  for the Hutchisons and the Matheson Clan for the Masseys and, wanting to show our colors, purchased some Clan tartans.

While in their office, I joined the Aberdeen & North East Scotland Family History Society. We again went to Germany and visited in Ottenstein and enjoyed seeing Walter and Hildegard Oerke living in the Oerke Family Home. During my travels, I saw many statues of "St. George and the Dragon" for he is the patron saint of six countries (but not my namesake). Europe is still on my list of places to see some more, for it was there where most of our early history took place. It would be great to visit Greece and capitols in Eastern Europe, such as Prague, Budapest, Vienna, along the Danube, more of Germany and another trip to Spain.
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CHAPTER 17-  NEW EXCITEMENT IN THE HUMANITIES

I have attended many lectures in the field of Humanities at UNC Asheville. I keep asking, "what does it mean to be human and live to improve this world?" This excellent interdisciplinary program has given me a new appreciation of history and wider range of human ideas, values and institutions. All this creates in me a sense of wonder! The core curriculum follows the four links of peoples who lived in these periods: The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Modern World and The Individual in the Contemporary World. Through every stage of history this study has widened my world views. I have been depressed and angry by the way leaders of countries, from the kingdom ruled by divine Pharaohs (1450 B.C.E.), The Greeks, Alexander the Great (356 BCE), Trojans and the Romans (AD 117), Emperor Justinean and the Byzantium, Turks (AD 550), The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire (AD 988) have controlled others. The power of The Catholic Habsburg Austrian dynasty on to the present age, show a human need to control other peoples in the world and with their power invade other lands, with the torture and killing thousands of persons for their own glory. I am sorry to say that this has been true also in the area of religion where intolerant leaders of one faith destroy thousands who are of another faith, all in the name of religion! In our own family we have a simple illustration with the Thirty year's War, fought mostly in Germany, leaving it a ravaged land ending with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Our vital family records were burned in the Ottenstein area thus making it impossible to really know some of our past history. This cruelty, brutality and tragedy was performed in the name of Christ. on many occasions in history. Consider the Crusades and the Inquistation in the 13th century! However, I also have positive feelings about justice in the future of humanity! It has been said that we have three types of citizens in the United States, today. The first are the :"Heartlanders", about 29%, who believe in the "Good Old American Ways" looking back at the images of small-town America. Second, the "Modernists" about 47%, who are motivated by personal success, the buying of things to bring happiness and the materials of a technological rationality. The third group, called the "Cultural Creatives", about 24% and growing, with value placed on environmental and social concerns. They have interests in spirituality, and person-centered values.

These folks prefer reading to TV, the eating of alternative and organic foods, small cars, and are careful consumers. They also believe in looking at the world in a holistic way, striving for a balanced view of relationships in evaluating events. These groups are overlapping, but I think we should be interested in global sustainability. We know not what the future will bring, but everyone is needed to help shape our connected world! I believe in the love and caring that is best expressed through the liberal religious community. For, it is open to and is concerned about communicating with all the diverse peoples that make up our world. On Sunday, February 13, 2000 I gave the "This I Believe" section in the morning service of worship, as follows:
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CHAPTER 18 - THIS I BELIEVE

"It’s great to look around and see so many people with friendly faces, both of our friends and of our visitors! I am always lifted when I see these natural materials, stone walls and the tree tops. I noticed them on my first Sunday, some 5 years ago. It’s impossible to summarize, "What I believe" in 5 minutes, but let’s get on with it. You UU’s have brought to Barbara and me a lot of joy! We’ve felt your genuine love and caring in this wonderfully diverse, open and liberal community! I have experienced new ways to feel and think that are more satisfying to me. I am no longer satisfied in just repeating cold, formal Christian rituals and worn out creeds! I like it here where it’s also ok to think, feel relax and laugh! I enjoy worship that uses quality words, music and dance, presented by us, and our committed and talented Maureen and Kendra!

Let me briefly share with you two pivotal events in the form of two life stories. First, picture yourself seated around a family dinner table on a Sunday in Kansas. We are all talking about what had happed that morning at church. My mother was there and happy as usual. She was a great example for me of a warm, Christian person! All of our family went to church for four services each Sunday. I felt "OK" about it, for this was what our family did! These are my past experiences and each of you have your own past experiences. Since then, I have considered carefully and enlarged my beliefs! I have opened my mind and questioned what I was told to believe. I do believe in a loving Diety and a divine Spirit active within each of us. It has always been difficult to explain the trinity to my six grade confirmation classes in local churches and to university students when I was a campus pastor. When I was in the university, I was deeply influenced by the Methodist student community. I was moved, during a deeply inspirational worship moment, to pledge my life’s work to serve people’s needs. Does it seem strange or extreme to you?

Meister Eckhard has said, "God does not work in all hearts alike, but according to the preparation and sensivity he finds in each."

Second, picture yourself with me in a seminary classroom in Evanston, Illinois. It is during the first week of classes and the theology professor asks a question: "In my last statement I presented a belief. Please answer first, do you think it is correct and second, why?" After a silence, I lifted my hand, "Sir, I accept your statement as correct, and why, because my Sunday school teacher told me so." The classroom was filled with laughter for what seemed to me a full minute! Believe me, after class I spent lots of time in the seminary library reading the theological answers given by conservative, moderate, and liberal theologians! I found out many other things. I discovered that one must interpret the Bible, using the best information available! We must not use a Bible statement taken out of its context. There are many serious problems raised in doing this. There were also mistranslations of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

I am quite concerned that many fundamentalist Christians and Islamic fundamentalists think they have the total truth! I hope there are some solutions. At this time, I think that Christianity has a limited belief system. I prefer a broader one that has a wider realm of possibilities, as in the UU approach. Through this open, diverse and loving community, I am contiuing to know myself better, while at the same time, I continue my search for truth. Barbara and I are fortunate, at this time in our lives, to be here with you in this faith community! We are discovering the wholeness, and warmth, the balance, and openness of liberal religion that radiates within the wider community!"
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CONCLUSIONS .

In retirement, I have continued my second vocation of Health Care Administrator by passing the North Carolina exam (No 1212) and having served on an interim basis in eleven Nursing Homes in North Carolina at this time. (Brian Center of Hendersonville, Emerald Health Care of Taylorsville, Vespers Nursing Home of Wilksboro, The Laurels of Hendersonville, Biltmore Manor in Asheville, Avante at Wilksboro, Windsor House of Raleigh, Hillside Retirement Center in Asheville, Brighton Manor in Fuquay-Varina, Westwood Health and Rehabilitation Center in Archdale and Albemarle Nursing Center in Albemarle.)

As in other businesses, the health care field has become more complex with coding and billing strategies under the Prospective Payment Systems, required by government regulations. This System requires the optimizing of care, collecting and reporting it on the Minimum Data Set (MDS).sheets. Individual resident needs are met by the staff and will be reflected in the amount of reimbursement received by the facility from government agencies

With our monthly income from Social Security and my church pension we have enough to satisfy our daily needs, but it’s helpful to receive this extra income for living, traveling and to make necessary house repairs. In the world of work, the following comment might be of interest, I saw the sign in a local business. "If you are grouchy, irritable, or just plain mean, there will be a $10 service charge for putting up with you."

I feel good in sharing these thoughts of my proudest moments, and some not-so-proud moments. I have discovered some personal benefit in presenting these, my memories, and it has been satisfying to do some reminiscing. (I can now destroy some file folders that I have made and kept for years). Barb and I went to Northern Maine to Evangeline Land in 1997, to Florence, Tuscany and Rome in 1998 with Cross-Cultures, and to Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico with Elder hostel in 1999.

My areas of interest have changed, in part, and I now move at a different speed, but attempting to put events in their proper places, has in some way prepared me for the reality of death. As my life on earth nears its completion, writing this history has allowed me to see that I have made some contributions and perhaps have some more to give. Retirement years can be the best years of life, and they come, "Ready or Not."

I have warm feelings of the State of Carolina North Carolina with all its diversity. It measures 503 miles east and west and 187 miles north to south and it holds many memories that others have. I feel good singing, along with Charles Kuralt, "North Carloina Is My Home."

Barbara and George Oerke purchased a home on October 27, 1988 and are living on a mountain stream in western North Carolina at 6 Spooks Branch Road, Asheville, North Carolina, 28804-2713. The phone number is (828) 251-1793 and E-mail: Gwoerke@aol.com