At left: Mozetta Mangels and Wendel Ferrin at the entrance to the Wilmore School, about 1940. Photo from the collection of Wendel Ferrin.
Dear Jerry,I am Mozetta (Mangels) Schoenecker, living in Wichita, Kansas. My good friends Dan & Linda Winter forwarded your home page with the interesting pictures & notations. I want you to know how much I am enjoying this & will look forward to anything more that you can add to this.
My parents, Irven & Ruby Mangels moved from Elkhart Kansas to Wilmore in 1938 & we became a part of that community. I was in the same class with Delmer & Wendel & we graduated together from Wilmore High in 1944. You might find it interesting that I had my very first date with Wendel. The picture of Wendel & I was special to me--I don't have a picture like that one.
Photo at left: Mozetta Mangels, 8th grade, 1939-40. Photograph from the collection of Wendel G. Ferrin. This photo is from a page titled My School Chums in a scrapbook of photos of class mates in Wilmore, Kansas.
Dates in those days were quite simple as none of us nor our parents had much money. We went to a movie at Coldwater occasionally or just drove around, talked & acted silly. Delmar usually came along with Wendel--probably his folks sent him along to watch over us. Ha. I remember one time when riding in their model-T, we were driving in a pasture doing some fancy stuff & the car turned over. Orlin Downing was with us also. None of us were hurt & the boys got the car turned upright again--guess none of our parents ever knew about this.
Another thing I remember was one Halloween some of the boys from school turned over several 'outhouses' in Wilmore. When they found out who did it, the boys were dismissed from school classes & were made to go set them back up. Your dad & Delmar were in that group. We were so young & were just having fun.
I still love going back "home" to Wilmore even though I graduated & have been gone from there for almost 60 years. I am pleased to be a part of Dan & Linda's lives & when they come to Wichita, they always visit me & we go out to lunch.
Following graduation in 1944 I moved to Wichita & went to work for the Army Signal Corps but at the end of WWII, I was out of a job so I went to work for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Wichita. I met my husband Eddie when he returned from the war. We married in 1947 & the Lord gave us 55 wonderful years together. He died in 2002 from mesotheiloma cancer--caused from working with asbestos for many years earlier in his life. We both retired from the VA in 1981 so we had many good years of retirement until his illness.
Again, thanks so much for the pictures & information from Wilmore. This is very special to me. I would like to know more information about your family, your siblings, etc. Is your mother still living & if she is, where is she making her home? You were wise to stay in Arizona where you avoid the harsh winters on Kansas.
With my love,
Mozetta (Mangels) Schoenecker
"Wilmore has been a little active this past week with a few folks mowing grass and some painting. Bill and Bettie McIlveen's house sure is looking nice with a new paint job and an enclosed carport. Trish Snyder sure has been doing a nice job painting the house.Some folks have been on vacation while others have been doing a little visiting. Dan and I took a trip to Wichita on Friday to visit with our friend Mozetta Schoenecker. We had corresponded through mail and email when she wrote us about having an Opry show on Memorial weekend. We finally got to meet that weekend.
Mozetta is a very special lady and we are so happy to be part of her Wilmore family. When we go to Wichita we always make a point to stop and visit. It is always the highlight of our trip. we had a wonderful visit and all three of us went out for dinner and enjoyed the food and conversation."
-- "Wilmore News" by Dan & Linda Winter, The Protection Press, 14 August 2003.
This website is being created by Jerry Ferrin with the able assistance of many Contributors. Your comments, suggestions and contributions of historical information and photographs to this site are welcome. Please sign the Guest Book.This page was last updated 28 Feb 2004.
