Alvina Bethke
Alvina Bethke Schneider
Letter written in 1983 by Alvina for Joyce’s college family history paper.
Alvina Anna Bethke Sclmeider — Born June 21, 1932
As I write this for Joyce I think back to my child hood. I was responsible from the very start, for my younger sisters and Howard as my brothers Bill and Pete and Lena were older. I remember well helping work on the farm to earn money for the next school year. I can remember by 8:00 in the morning we had earned pretty good wages maybe $3.00 back then that was a lot of money. As I got older I worked in Epstein’s part-time and did cleaning of Bridget’s Beauty Shop for $2.50 that was a lot of noney then. Sometimes I would do their full club basement for dinner — sphaghetti boy that was a great treat and maybe $2.00.
Then Mom was in the hospital for a serious operation I don’t remember what for (Lena, my older sister, was working full time. I had to take full responsibility of the younger children getting them off to school. Daisy didn’t want to go to school so I had to send her to Dorothy’s house a few homes away. I remember sending a note for Daisy’s absence the next day, they sent her home, saying that mother or father must return to school with her the next day about this note I wrote and why the daydreaming in school. As Daisy was the youngest child at home and
very close to Mom she missed her so much not seeing her or understanding why she could not be home, her age 6 or 7 she could not go in to see Mom.
We had no phone then to call the hospital but before I left home for the hospital, clothes were done, dinner for the evening was started, and I got a call at Crystal Ball Inn (neighbors owned the restaurant-bar) saying that Daddy must come to the hospital immediately as Mom was slipping away fast. I ran to the brick yard, told Dad, he said go you must take care of it. I ran home, called Rev. Schauer, our minister.
So you can see Joyce why women were strong, we were taught how to be strong by our parents. Then I must have been maybe 15. I missed so much school, so I quit and worked full time at Epstein’s for $25.00 a week. My goal was to be a teacher and enrolled in Patterson Night school. I had been going with Bill Schneider on and off to Happy Hollow on Sat. or Sun. to Goetze’s Barn. It wasn’t really always a date. It just turned out we would go. Lena, Hilda and I and Thelma Myers and her brothers. Boy did we have fun dancing. Hillybilly Dancing, Square Dancing, fun fun. Then getting pie and milk in the basement. It was like an old barn remodeled.
I was 16 by now and our cousin Anna Wells lived in Florida and Nancy and Mary Jane were her daughters. When they returned to Florida, Howard and I took the train back with them for a visit- I saved my own money. Bill by this time had gone in the navy. So I continued working at Epstein’s and continued night school but never really finished. I was 19 by now and decided why not try again for another job with more money. So I went to Martin’s Aircraft, put in an application saying that I didn’t finish high school, that I was going to night school, and working at Epstein’s. Martin’s wanted me to start the next day at $40.00 a week with $.03 cost of living. I was making $25.00 in Epstein’s, so needless to say I stayed at Martin’s until 1963.
By this time I knew trying to become a teacher was very difficult. Working at Martin’s was a breeze — not hard, always learning something, never said no to a job. Learned typing from a book I got at the library. Hilda was in high school by then and she could help me with getting the paper in properly. It was the easy things that were difficult for me. If it was hard I could just whiz over it like nothing. Again we learned to be strong learning jobs on our own, making decisions on our job.
By this time Bill, our older brother, had gotten married to Agnes. Pete worked in Uebersax Bakery, and then he joined the Army. Oh by the way I worked at Uebersax also and traveled with Pete to and from. I cleaned house for them and did dishes like you wouldn’t believe. Didn’t make much. They sent me home with bus fare and a bag of bread and cakes from the bakery.
Many times I would walk part of the way to catch a bus. You see, I could save that money for something I really wanted. You can see we really always earned money in some manner.
Bill and I had been going together really on a steady basis. But Bill was in the navy and only came home on weekends from Bainbridge. By this time he had been in for almost 2 years. His time was up in the service and we decided to get married in December of 1952. We always seemed to be living for each other. Bill then worked at Bethlehem Steel — shift work, but we both made big money. Saved for our fist house in Dundalk and then we really got brave. Bill took classes at home and changed jobs at Beth Steel, starting from the bottom again. By this time we moved to our home in Harford County and I was laid off from Martin’s. Unfortunately I didn’t drive, so I had to kill time at home. I read books on how people lived in other countries, what they did for a living. I got tired of that and worked different jobs in Baltimore for awhile. Traveling was tough with one car. I decided to try different places for work. We didn’t have that many places here in Harford County, as it was small. Lo and behold I struck luck, and got my job I have had since 1969, working at Old Post Road School. I am enjoying every minute and at times it gets tough, as Bill had to take medical retirement from Beth Steel and getting around for him gets tough.
As time goes on we get older, our parents get older, and we are faced with the loss of our father at age 81, this I could accept as he had failing health after his stroke. He was a very hard working man. His joy, as I can remember in later years, was having a few beers with his son-in-laws at Kahler’s or getting a pitcher of beer at Jones’ and drinking it at home or going to his parents home on Route 7 and getting vegetables for everyone. Something even more difficult to accept was the sudden loss of our mother one year later. Then the all alone feeling that you don’t have the security of your parents.
See Joyce as the years go on the women in the Bethke family had to almost always learn to be brave and tough to make it. I enjoy my job and along with my job and keeping house and my garden in the summer. I love to try new things, I have been sewing crafts. I started making Christmas trees, just to see if I could do it. Of course, try hard and you can do anything, I can do anything now. I have been making so many different craft items, I feel maybe with my job when I retire who knows then I will have a craft business on my own. I can never get in trouble as I’m too busy with work at school and thinking about what craft item I can handle.
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