While my father, Verne Troutman, and his brothers were
making their way in the world after high school, so were their two sisters.
These young women had minds of their own. While many of their friends were marrying
right out of high school, Neville and Virginia went to college and launched
teaching careers.
Graduating from Winside High School at age eighteen in 1929,[1]
Neville aspired to become a teacher, as had her mother. That fall, she enrolled
at Nebraska State Teacher’s College at Wayne, about eight miles from home.
Pictured in the college yearbook with the freshman class of 1930, Neville
sported the latest flapper fashion in hats, the cloche.[2] With
her dimples, wide smile, and mischievous eyes, she oozed personality. She liked clothes,
especially shoes, and her mother sometimes chided her for spending too much
money on them.[3]
After teacher training, she taught for several years at
Meadow Grove,[4]
west of Norfolk, Nebraska. She boarded with a family there[5]
and often went home to Winside on weekends. Teaching could be stressful and
tedious, but she enjoyed numerous other activities with friends, such
as playing bridge[6]
and going dancing or bowling.[7]
On the one hand, she looked forward to summers when she could
hunt and fish[8]
and picnic with friends. An island sandbar in the middle of the Elkhorn River
was a favorite picnic spot for “The Gang,” as she called her group of “old
maid” girlfriends.[9] In
August there was a county fair in Wayne and surrounding counties, and she enjoyed making the
rounds. In particular, she was interested in the art exhibits and the way they were
judged. She even judged the art herself, on occasion.[10]
On the other hand, she dreaded summer because her hay fever
acted up.[11] Congestion
and headaches sometimes plagued her days and spoiled her activities.
One of her peeves was people who were always trying to fix
her up with a date.[12] If
she wanted a man, she would find him herself, thank you very much.
Two exciting events happened for Neville in the summer of
1937. First, she received her permanent elementary school teaching certificate
from the state of Nebraska. Second, she and Virginia grabbed the opportunity to
go to Virginia to visit their brother Verne who had opened a business there.
[1] Neville
A. Troutman, graduation certificate, Winside High School, issued 14 May 1929,
original held by Jill Gran [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE
USE] Geneva, Nebraska.
[2] The Spizzerinctum of 1930: Annual Published
by the Senior Class, Vol. 16 (Wayne, Nebraska: Nebraska State Teacher’s
College, 1930), 97. The page cited shows a photo of Neville Troutman with the
freshman class.
[3]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 23 August 1940,
tells Virginia about some of her recent activities and her mother’s teasing
about spending money; Family Letters CD;
copy privately held by Z. T. Noble, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] Anderson, Indiana.
[4]
Neville Troutman, Denver, Colorado, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 18 June 1939;
tells about her job in Denver and expresses that she does not want to teach in
Meadow Grove again; Family Letters,
CD.
[5]
1940 U. S. census, Meadow Grove, Madison County, Nebraska, population schedule,
enumeration district 60-14, sheet 2-B, visit no. 44, William H. Bosse
household, see Neville Troutman, lodger; digital image Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com ; accessed 1 February 2017); NARA
microfilm publication T-627, roll n/a. Also,
[6]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 23 Aug. 1940,
Family Letters CD.
[7]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 16 Sept. 1940,
Family Letters CD; relates activities with friends.
[8]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 11 Nov. 1940,
Family Letters CD; relates her activities with friends, tells a couple of
jokes, etc.
[9]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 16 Sept. 1940,
Family Letters CD.
[10]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 23 Aug. 1940,
Family Letters CD. Also, Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman,
letter, 30 Aug. 1940, Family Letters CD.
[11]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 30 Aug. 1940,
Family Letters CD.
[12]
Neville Troutman, Winside, NE, to Virginia Troutman, letter, 11 Nov. 1940,
Family Letters CD.
