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Glenna Pearl Fuller Algren As told by Rachel Hollingsworth and edited by Fenton Hollingsworth Born on December 5, 1906, Glenna was the fifth of seven children. Mother graduated from high school in 1925 and was the valedictorian of her class. She had the opportunity to go on to college but felt that she needed to stay at home and help with the farm. She had always wanted to be a teacher. And though she never became a school teacher, in the most important ways she was a teacher indeed, teaching and guiding her six children in everything she said and did! Interestingly, of her six children, the two sons entered the military by joining the U. S. Army. The four daughters all graduated from college with bachelor of arts degrees in education! As we all do, so Glenna had her sayings--those phrases that could ever only be attributed to her. One that she would say often when we would visit her and Daddy in Ohio was, "This is nice!" It was always nice spending time with Mom. Another of Mom's sayings was, "See you in the funny papers!" She would say this as we said our goodbyes. Whenever we would come back to their country home after going to town to the grocery store or the like, she would always say, "Did you see anybody you knew?" After all, New Carlisle was a small town, so it was inevitable that you would indeed see somebody you knew. Mother loved to write letters and always closed with "Love and prayers, Mother." One source of delight for her children and grandchildren alike was when Mother would recite readings and poems she had memorized in "elocution classes" in school. "Mom, tell the one about the little girl going to Grandma's house!" we'd say. From "The Little Dog Under the Wagon" to "The Gossip" to "Independence" to "Thanatopsis" and many more, we were spellbound by her ability to be the character in the poem and convey its message. It was also because of Grandma Algren that Fenton's favorite poem is now "Thanatopsis." What a memory! She recited poems way up into her late eighties. Mother and Daddy were married on May 1, 1934, during the Depression. Their honeymoon was a trip to Washington, D. C. |
