Toni, Growing up in Missouri

 

After Josephine died in 1956, the children were orphaned.  The eldest son, Howard, insisted that they all stick together and not be separated, and thus they did so, traveling to a variety of different homes amongst their large family in Missouri.  This lady here is our Aunt Barbara Breuckner (married to Uncle Gus).  She was Josephine Coudle's sister and a driving force in the care and upbringing on the three children left behind after Josephine Coudle passed away at age 36.  I was always instructed to call her Grandma Barb  while I was growing up.  She was a nice lady.  Strict sometimes, but very nice.  She was always and forever knitting and also gardening.  One Christmas she knit me a pair of woolen socks that were SO thick and hot that I couldn't wear them...lol!  I still loved them and kept them for a very long time, but wow.  I remember her knitting those strange tubes to this day.  

I spent a lot of time as a child in her yard.  She had these plants called Egyptian Onions that she's planted and I'd forever be destroying them...sigh.  She would be so upset when I would come in smelling like Garlic.  She passed away from a combo of diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease in the mid 70's.

The following photos are from a book of black and white photos that were bound together and from May of 1956.  I know very little about them.  I don't know the people in most of them and I don't know which town they were living in when they were taken, but Mom always said she grew up in Sullivan, Mo.

This next photo is of Toni Coudle with some of the neighborhood kids on the porch of their home.  She would have been 11 years when this photo was taken, Most likely her Mother Josephine was in the hospital at this time as she passed on December 26th, 1956 after Toni turned 12 years old.

This photo is an unknown photo from the same bound bunch of photos.  I initially thought it was Aunt Susan, but she doesn't really think that it's her.  We'll post it here, and maybe someone will know?

This one is another shot of Toni and her pet parakeet "Tinkerbell" when she was a young girl.  I get the feeling that these two were rather inseparable while she was growing up, but I don't ever remember Mom speaking of her while I was growing up.  Strange.

Here's an early school photo of Toni, age unknown, but at least it's dated!  Probably somewhere between 4th and 6th grade.

Below you will find a photo of Toni Coudle's Lutheran Confirmation Graduation photo.  She's the one front and center, of course!  I'm not sure what was wrong, but I can tell by the look on her face that she wasn't happy about something, but just plastered on a smile because that's what they wanted.  My guess is that she didn't want to be in the very front of the photo.  Poor Toni!  I think it turned out pretty darned good!!  

Toni with her sister Susan.  Unsure of date.

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