A Tribute to Dorothy Appel

Dorothy Stephenson was born near Castana, Iowa in 1920. She grew up on farms between there and Denison, and graduated from High School at Dow City, Iowa. She married Russell Mesenbrink, and then Einer Appel. She lived in Clinton, Zearing, Ruthven, and Graettinger, Iowa. She died in 2008.

The Stephenson Family, about 1935. Back from left: Dorothy, Lois, Edna, Edgar; Front: Lillian, Ardis, Inez, Wayne.

Graduation from Dow City, Iowa in 1937. Her folks moved to Denison so she stayed with Bill and Cora Turner, her aunt and uncle, so she could finish school in Dow City.

Picture taken at the carnival in Denison, about 1940.

A little bit flirty...

Taken about 1942. Russell Mesenbrink and Dorothy Stephenson. They were married October 18, 1941.

Taken soon after they were married.

Dorothy with sister Ardis.

Russell was in the Navy from 1943 to 1945. Dorothy went out to Bremerton, Washington while Russell prepared to go out on the USS West Virginia.

This is Dorothy, Russell, and his sisters, Janae and Virginia, about 1945.

She wrote on the back "I was trying to hold my hair down".

Some of Dorothy's family: Linda and Wayne Stephenson, Dorothy and Ron Mesenbrink, Lassie and Gary Stephenson, Ardis and Harold Ehl. Taken about 1949.

Russell and Dorothy, about 1955. They lived in Clinton, Iowa from 1942 to 1960.

Dorothy and Bob Mesenbrink 1960.

Dorothy and Bob Mesenbrink, posing for picture in paper, 1967, near Ruthven, Iowa.

Picture of Dorothy at Turner Reunion in 1967. Bob and Russell in background.

Wedding of Jeanne Wikert and Ron Mesenbrink, 1967, Graettinger, Iowa.

Dorothy remarried in 1970 to Einer Appel. She and Bob moved into his remodeled house near Graettinger, Iowa.

Wedding in 1970 at Lost Island Lutheran Church. Einer had been a bachelor.

Einer and Dorothy Appel, Bob Mesenbrink - 1970.

Amy and Chad Mesenbrink, Dorothy Appel, about 1975.

Bob Mesenbrink, Einer and Dorothy Appel, Diane Schmeling, posing for paper in milk house, 1976.

Dorothy with Appel ladies at reunion around 1980.

Stephenson clan 1980 - Back from left: Edgar, Lillian, Edna, Wayne, Dorothy; Front: Lois, Inez.

Pony Drive, about 1985.

Stephenson Reunion at farm near Graettinger about 1983.

Dorothy with Diane, Jeff and Alissa Beisner, 1986.

Dorothy Appel and Emily Mesenbrink, 1989, at her home in Graettinger.

Dorothy swinging with grandkids, 1990.

80th Birthday, 2000, Graettinger, Iowa.

Dorothy with great grandson Parker Woods, 2001.

Bob and Ron Mesenbrink, Dorothy Appel, 2001.

 Emily, Ross, Bob Mesenbrink, Dorothy Appel, 2001.

 Christmas 2004, Ruthven Care Center

2005 with Norma Larsen.

My Eulogy at her funeral:

Mom didn’t want to go the way she did. Nobody would. She lived a good life, though. And a long life. But, she wanted to be home. She never quite accepted the care center as her home, and would beg people to take her back to Graettinger. It was too bad that she didn’t realize that she couldn’t care for herself. But she just missed her home, her independence, her friends and family and church.

Mom had many homes in her life.  She was born in what she called “the sticks” near Castana, Iowa. Growing up in western Iowa, the family moved from farm to farm nearly every year. In fact, she was born on “moving day” – March 1. It must have been a big inconvenience for her family, as they had to move that day, as did thousands of farmers all across the midwest, in search of a better farm. But she and her mother stayed behind with the new tenants, and caught up with the family a few days later.

 If Mom had been born a few hours earlier, her birthday would have been February 29, Leap Day, and she would have only celebrated 22 birthdays during her 88 years, which probably wouldn’t have bothered her too much.

Mom had good memories of her childhood. She was in the fourth child of eight and grew up near many aunts, uncles and cousins.

 She told me that once she put a note in a bottle and threw it into the creek. Days later, a man came to their farm with the bottle, asking for her. But she was playing in the creek again. And when she came home and met the man who found her bottle, she was quite embarrassed by her wet and muddy appearance. That might be the last time she was ever embarrassed as not much embarrassed her.

Mom graduated from Dow City High School. She met Dad, Russell Mesenbrink, at a party. Dad asked her if he could drive her home, but she had come with another guy. I guess they worked it out somehow. Dad drove her home, and a few years later they eloped. I’m not sure why, but she kept the wedding a secret for a month. It wasn’t until her younger sister, Ardis, found her wedding ring in her coat pocket, that word got out.

They moved to Clinton, Iowa and had several homes there, fixing them up, and moving again. Early in their married life, Mom became homesick. Dad encouraged her visit her family back home, but she returned when she realized that there was nothing for her there and her new home was in Clinton, with her new husband and a new life. When Dad was drafted into the Navy, she went to Washington state for a short time as he prepared for service in WW II. They remained in Clinton for nearly 20 years. Ron and I were both born there.

After two years in Zearing, Iowa, they moved to the rural Graettinger/Ruthven area.  A few years after Dad died, she married Einer Appel. There was no eloping this time. This time she got the wedding ceremony she wasn’t able to have the first time. Together, Mom and Einer built a great farm, and great home for me and, later on, Diane.

Mom was a hard worker. She will be remembered as a farm wife, not an easy job to be sure. But she had a lot of different jobs in her life. She worked in a hospital, did laundry, worked at factories, was a waitress, ran a café, ran a restaurant, was church janitor, and managed an egg operation. She was active in church with Circle and Ladies Aid. She was one of the first two women to serve on the Church Council here at Bethel.

Mom spent 46 years of her life married. She felt bad that she never got to celebrate a Golden Wedding Anniversary. But she did choose two great husbands and had two great marriages. Marriage was very important to Mom. She was happy that neither she, her parents, siblings, children, nor any of her grandchildren had ever divorced. She realized how important it is for children to have parents with a good marriage.

She loved children. Her eyes sparkled when she was around kids. She loved serving cookies to the kids at church during Bible School. She enjoyed visits from neighborhood children. She loved playing with her grandchildren. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved all her family, and especially enjoyed hosting her family reunions for 25 years.

Mom loved God as well. She didn’t talk about it, she showed it. Jesus said to love one another and Mom did that by loving and serving her community, family and friends.

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If I had one more chance to talk to Mom, I would tell her:

We will miss you. We will miss your kind and loving spirit. We will miss your spunk and honesty and thoughtfulness. We will miss your joking and teasing, your quick wit and even your quick tongue. We will miss the reunions, the homemade bread, the Sunday roasts and cookies. We will miss you.

But now you’re home. You’re finally home.