Butch Remembers His Neighbors…Forrest And Mary

When I think back on my youth, I remember all of our great neighbors who lived on County Road 400 North, southeast of Darlington. Just across the road was my aunt and uncle Ruthie and Lloyd Wells and my cousins Kendall and John. Immediately to the west was the Devon Moffitt family, with children Minnie May, Sam, and Steve, and down the road from them was the Wally Peebles family, with children Sandy, Peggy, Dave, and John…followed by the Dick Weliever family and their large brood…Charlie, Bob, Betty, Mary Lou, Donna, Nancy, and Susie. All of these families were good, honest, hard-working, and community minded…and would offer their help any time it was needed. My family…my parents Bill and Millie, and my siblings, Gary, Julie, Sarah, and Mike…would do the same for them.

Just to the east of our farm was an older couple, Forrest and Mary Flaningam. They lived in a little brick house that was built in 1876. Forrest’s grandfather, Archibald, was one of the first settlers in Franklin Township, arriving here in 1830, farming in the Lutheran neighborhood, marrying Catherine Kashner in 1845, and raising twelve children, nine of whom grew to adulthood. Forrest was born in 1885 and attended Darlington school, where he fell in love with Mary Ellen Woody, two years his junior…a beautiful girl who graduated in 1906. After finishing her studies at DePauw University, they married in 1910, with Forrest subsequently farming the 80 acres he had purchased, and Mary becoming a housewife and the mother of two boys…Dwight, born in 1913, and DeVon, born in 1916.

When I was growing up in the 1950s, I spent many hours over at the Flaningam place. Forrest and Mary were two of the nicest people you could ever meet. Both of their sons had graduated from Darlington in the 1930s, and had also graduated from college, which was somewhat rare during those Great Depression years. Since both of their sons had left home and started their careers, I think that Forrest and Mary kind of took me in and treated me as one of their own. Forrest was a hearty soul with a raspy voice and a big smile. He always seemed to be in good spirits and had a funny laugh. Mary was somewhat reserved, but was very kind and always had a smile. During the time that I knew her, she was always in poor health and was often in a wheelchair. I didn’t know it at the time, but she had undergone several surgeries during her life for intestinal problems. Each time I spoke with her, she liked to hold my hand and ask me questions about school and my sports. Mary’s hands always seemed cold to the touch, but she had a warmth and kindness in her eyes that I will never forget. Forrest was very caring and protective of Mary, who always spoke highly of Forrest. Even at my young age, I knew that they loved each other very much.

Forrest had several honeybee hives on the east side of his home, and he let me help with the beekeeping. I wore his special white coat and hat with the netting. One summer he told me I could collect the honey and sell it in Darlington. We loaded up about thirty quart jars of honey, and I pulled my little red wagon around town, selling it for $1.00 a quart…with my take at 50 cents a jar. I thought I was rich! I even spent a dollar at Arthur Friend’s drug store and bought an entire box of Topps baseball cards…WOW! I wrote a letter to Forrest and Mary, thanking them for letting me become an enterprising businessman.

When I was a teenager in the 1960s, Dad took me over to visit one afternoon, and said that Mary wanted to see me. Before I entered, Forrest let me pick some flowers from his large flower garden, which he planted for Mary each year on the west side of their house. She was laying in what appeared to be a hospital type bed in the living room. Mary looked very tired, but her eyes brightened up when she saw me with the flowers. As she thanked me and held my hand, Forrest stood by her side. He was smiling, but not the same big smile and laugh as usual. As I walked home that afternoon, I felt sad…thinking that Mary might not recover this time around.

Mary passed away on October 21, 1963. She was only 76 years old. She was buried at the St. James Lutheran cemetery about a mile north of their home. After her death, Forrest was just not the same. I think that he loved Mary so much…and missed her so much…that he just didn’t want to go on with his life. Forrest died exactly two years later…on October 21, 1965. They were now together again.

When I drive down my old road again, I think of all of those neighbors and all of the fun times we had back in the 1950s and 1960s. The house in which I grew up is gone…just a cornfield now. But Forrest and Mary’s little brick home is still there. Zach Cain and his family now reside in the Flaningam house. When I pass by it, I can still see myself helping Forrest with his honeybee hives and hear his jolly laugh, and I can see Mary smiling at me as she holds my hand. And I know that Forrest and Mary are still in love with each other in God’s heaven. A love like that goes on forever…it never dies.

A few years after Forrest and Mary’s son, DeVon, passed away, his wife called me at the library and told me that she had found something I might want to see. Yes, it was the letter I had written to Forrest and Mary when I was about 9 years old. They had saved my letter all of these years. And guess what? I gained a new neighbor a few years ago who lives just a couple of miles away from my home….Martha Ellen Flaningam…Forrest and Mary’s granddaughter!