Gertrude Irene Carper1,2,3 
F, (1 March 1915 - 31 October 2005)
- Relationship
- 9th great-granddaughter of Herman Op Den Graeff
Gertrude Irene Carper was born on 1 March 1915.2,4 She was the daughter of Arthur Carper and Leona Morrison. Gertrude Irene Carper married, at age 21, Harry Glenn Burrell, age 24, son of Luther Burrell and Loretta Stark, on Tuesday, 2 June 1936 at Morrison, Whiteside County, Illinois.5 Gertrude Irene Carper died on 31 October 2005 at age 90 years, 7 months and 30 days.2,3
She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, #382104. Http://www.las.iastate.edu/kiosk/258.shtml
Gertrude Irene Carper Burrell
Ames, Iowa, United States of America
Brick Section C - Row 18
Jumping center, secretive teacher, bridge worker, swine editor, and loving Grammie all describe Gertrude Burrell. Read on and see how it all fits together.
Born March 1, 1915 in Olds, Iowa, she was the youngest of Arthur and Leona Carper's three daughters. In addition to being prominent in all Olds High activities, she captained the girls' basketball team as the "jumping center" in the days when there was a jump ball after each basket. (She has been a consultant an two books, providing insight and experiences from the early years of Iowa Girls' Basketball.)
Gertrude attended Culver-Stockton College for one year before transferring to Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). While at the Cedar Falls school, she met and had a whirlwind courtship with Harry Burrell of Iowa City. As their grandchildren often remind them, it was 59 days after they first met when they eloped across the Illinois border. After graduating, she taught at Ainsworth for two years, with Harry driving between Cedar Falls and there on the weekends. They kept the marriage a secret for those two years, since teachers in those days couldn't be married. Only her sister and brother-in-law knew, as their home was often used as the weekend "safe house."
In 1938, Gertrude and Harry moved to Cedar Falls where she continued her teaching career. Three years later their son Steven was born and they relocated to Ames, where they have lived since. Gertrude worked in the home raising Steven. Like many other American mothers, she was forced to be a single parent while Harry was in the Pacific during World War II. In those years, she built enduring relationships with other wives in similar circumstances. After the War, she began substitute teaching until one fateful day when an especially unruly group of sixth graders, including a future U. S. Representative helped her make a career decision. She moved on to become a part time bookkeeper at a local automobile dealership. Like so many other part time positions, the workday became longer and longer. Soon the job consumed the entire week, except for Friday afternoons --- the bridge club was sacrosanct.
During these and later years, Gertrude was very active with the Chi Omega sorority at Iowa State, serving on the advisory board and the Alumni Association. Her dedication and hard work with the girls helped make Chi Omega one of the premier sororities on campus.
In 1960, Gertrude found an opportunity to put her college English major to work. She joined the proofreading staff at the Iowa State University Press. Over the next seven years, she proofread hundreds of manuscripts. She was then promoted to editor, and because of her extensive background and education, always seemed to be assigned the hardest and most technical books. Her most tedious, "Diseases of Swine," an 800+ page tome, became the standard by which all other manuscripts were measured for difficulty. She loved the work and thrived on the tough books, but as before, her work schedule was built around the Friday afternoon bridge club.
After her retirement in 1980, the number of bridge clubs grew to five and her social life expanded proportionally. She took on the presidency of both Theta Chi women's social sorority and a local PEO chapter. Owing to her superb organizational skills and drive, these clubs prospered during her leadership tenure. She also served as Treasurer and became deeply involved in the First Methodist Church Circle.
In 1976, Gertrude's daughter-in-law and three grandchildren moved back to Ames. Over the next 17 years, she found that despite the trauma of her son's divorce, she was having an opportunity she never anticipated; she got to have close personal relationships with the three young people she always refers to as "our kids." Whether it was Kelly showing up to study (actually sleep) on the living room floor, Amy bringing a gaggle of friends by for a rest stop during VEISHEA festivities, or Tim stopping by to pick up the latest issue of "Sports Illustrated" or "The Sporting News," they all knew that there would be a loving welcome AND a refrigerator filled with cookies. Each of "our kids" had a favorite, so there would be at least three cookie tins in waiting at all times.
This brings us to today in the history of this warm, compassionate friend to her husband and family. Full of love and kindness as a Wife, Mother, "Grammie," and Friend, she makes life more beautiful for all those fortunate enough to know her. Each of her grandchildren has special thoughts and memories of her to share:
KELLY (BURRELL) MULTACH: I have thousands of wonderful memories of Grammie. One of my earliest remembrances was when I threw-up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on her living room drapes because she was so concerned for me, that she mistakenly stopped me on the way to the bathroom to ask what was wrong. The stains never came out. While in college at Iowa State, I needed a quiet place to study; my sorority was not it. Grammie and Harry let me come over to study (and sometimes fall asleep). I would set up camp in front of a space heater on the living room floor. Grammie checked me, as you check a first baby to make sure it is still breathing ... she was convinced I would roll into the heater and catch on fire. Most of my memories center around just talking to her. Most of my friends don't know what it is like to have living grandparents. They just don't understand the kind of relationship I have with Grammie. No subject is off limits. More so recently, as she nears her 80th birthday, I've listened to Gram talk about how busy and tired she is because of all her clubs and activities. I tell her to say "no" once in a while and quit a few things, knowing full-well that this advice is not even in the realm of possibilities. She is, without a doubt, the most determined, strong willed, self-assured, motivated, understanding Grandmother any grandchild could be blessed with. I have learned a lot from this lady, but every day I continue to learn a lot more.
AMY BURRELL: It is hard to sum up in a few short sentences what Grammie means to me. It is simply her being there that makes her the person she is to me. From the way she devised the name "Grammie" (because she was too young to be called "Grandma" by her first grandchild, and 30 years later is still too young for such a traditional name!), to the way she intuits when it's time to offer wisdom (cleverly disguised advice) and when it's time to just listen, she continually shows what a wonderful person she is. Her presence, her smile, her intellect, and her humor alone would make her a worthy honoree, but it's the unending, unconditional love she has always shown that makes her so very special to me.
TIM BURRELL: My grandmother of 24 years has always been a woman who cared deeply for her family. She taught me plenty over the years. With warm and colorful stories of times past, she epitomizes what life, revolving around her family, has meant to her. The stories are from many different times and locations: from me being a two-year-old handful at the Des Moines Airport; to Kelly and Amy with curtains closing between them; to Steve and his many car problems. I cherish the times we spend at the dinning room table, long after dinner is just an afterthought, speaking of times gone by. She always wants the best for her grandchildren; and no matter how poor a showing I had in school or how bad a personal decision I make in life, she is still on my side, letting me know that it is not the end of the world ... even when it is close! The stories we tell now and in the future around dinner tables with which we are now familiar, and around those which we have yet to see, will always be filled with stories of times gone by and the meanings they leave behind. Thank you Grammie for letting me see the love that those stories are really all about. July 1, 1996
Narrative Updated: November 7, 1994. The Social Security Death Index gives the last residence of record for Gertrude as Greenback, Loudon County, Tennessee.3
She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, #382104. Http://www.las.iastate.edu/kiosk/258.shtml
Gertrude Irene Carper Burrell
Ames, Iowa, United States of America
Brick Section C - Row 18
Jumping center, secretive teacher, bridge worker, swine editor, and loving Grammie all describe Gertrude Burrell. Read on and see how it all fits together.
Born March 1, 1915 in Olds, Iowa, she was the youngest of Arthur and Leona Carper's three daughters. In addition to being prominent in all Olds High activities, she captained the girls' basketball team as the "jumping center" in the days when there was a jump ball after each basket. (She has been a consultant an two books, providing insight and experiences from the early years of Iowa Girls' Basketball.)
Gertrude attended Culver-Stockton College for one year before transferring to Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). While at the Cedar Falls school, she met and had a whirlwind courtship with Harry Burrell of Iowa City. As their grandchildren often remind them, it was 59 days after they first met when they eloped across the Illinois border. After graduating, she taught at Ainsworth for two years, with Harry driving between Cedar Falls and there on the weekends. They kept the marriage a secret for those two years, since teachers in those days couldn't be married. Only her sister and brother-in-law knew, as their home was often used as the weekend "safe house."
In 1938, Gertrude and Harry moved to Cedar Falls where she continued her teaching career. Three years later their son Steven was born and they relocated to Ames, where they have lived since. Gertrude worked in the home raising Steven. Like many other American mothers, she was forced to be a single parent while Harry was in the Pacific during World War II. In those years, she built enduring relationships with other wives in similar circumstances. After the War, she began substitute teaching until one fateful day when an especially unruly group of sixth graders, including a future U. S. Representative helped her make a career decision. She moved on to become a part time bookkeeper at a local automobile dealership. Like so many other part time positions, the workday became longer and longer. Soon the job consumed the entire week, except for Friday afternoons --- the bridge club was sacrosanct.
During these and later years, Gertrude was very active with the Chi Omega sorority at Iowa State, serving on the advisory board and the Alumni Association. Her dedication and hard work with the girls helped make Chi Omega one of the premier sororities on campus.
In 1960, Gertrude found an opportunity to put her college English major to work. She joined the proofreading staff at the Iowa State University Press. Over the next seven years, she proofread hundreds of manuscripts. She was then promoted to editor, and because of her extensive background and education, always seemed to be assigned the hardest and most technical books. Her most tedious, "Diseases of Swine," an 800+ page tome, became the standard by which all other manuscripts were measured for difficulty. She loved the work and thrived on the tough books, but as before, her work schedule was built around the Friday afternoon bridge club.
After her retirement in 1980, the number of bridge clubs grew to five and her social life expanded proportionally. She took on the presidency of both Theta Chi women's social sorority and a local PEO chapter. Owing to her superb organizational skills and drive, these clubs prospered during her leadership tenure. She also served as Treasurer and became deeply involved in the First Methodist Church Circle.
In 1976, Gertrude's daughter-in-law and three grandchildren moved back to Ames. Over the next 17 years, she found that despite the trauma of her son's divorce, she was having an opportunity she never anticipated; she got to have close personal relationships with the three young people she always refers to as "our kids." Whether it was Kelly showing up to study (actually sleep) on the living room floor, Amy bringing a gaggle of friends by for a rest stop during VEISHEA festivities, or Tim stopping by to pick up the latest issue of "Sports Illustrated" or "The Sporting News," they all knew that there would be a loving welcome AND a refrigerator filled with cookies. Each of "our kids" had a favorite, so there would be at least three cookie tins in waiting at all times.
This brings us to today in the history of this warm, compassionate friend to her husband and family. Full of love and kindness as a Wife, Mother, "Grammie," and Friend, she makes life more beautiful for all those fortunate enough to know her. Each of her grandchildren has special thoughts and memories of her to share:
KELLY (BURRELL) MULTACH: I have thousands of wonderful memories of Grammie. One of my earliest remembrances was when I threw-up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on her living room drapes because she was so concerned for me, that she mistakenly stopped me on the way to the bathroom to ask what was wrong. The stains never came out. While in college at Iowa State, I needed a quiet place to study; my sorority was not it. Grammie and Harry let me come over to study (and sometimes fall asleep). I would set up camp in front of a space heater on the living room floor. Grammie checked me, as you check a first baby to make sure it is still breathing ... she was convinced I would roll into the heater and catch on fire. Most of my memories center around just talking to her. Most of my friends don't know what it is like to have living grandparents. They just don't understand the kind of relationship I have with Grammie. No subject is off limits. More so recently, as she nears her 80th birthday, I've listened to Gram talk about how busy and tired she is because of all her clubs and activities. I tell her to say "no" once in a while and quit a few things, knowing full-well that this advice is not even in the realm of possibilities. She is, without a doubt, the most determined, strong willed, self-assured, motivated, understanding Grandmother any grandchild could be blessed with. I have learned a lot from this lady, but every day I continue to learn a lot more.
AMY BURRELL: It is hard to sum up in a few short sentences what Grammie means to me. It is simply her being there that makes her the person she is to me. From the way she devised the name "Grammie" (because she was too young to be called "Grandma" by her first grandchild, and 30 years later is still too young for such a traditional name!), to the way she intuits when it's time to offer wisdom (cleverly disguised advice) and when it's time to just listen, she continually shows what a wonderful person she is. Her presence, her smile, her intellect, and her humor alone would make her a worthy honoree, but it's the unending, unconditional love she has always shown that makes her so very special to me.
TIM BURRELL: My grandmother of 24 years has always been a woman who cared deeply for her family. She taught me plenty over the years. With warm and colorful stories of times past, she epitomizes what life, revolving around her family, has meant to her. The stories are from many different times and locations: from me being a two-year-old handful at the Des Moines Airport; to Kelly and Amy with curtains closing between them; to Steve and his many car problems. I cherish the times we spend at the dinning room table, long after dinner is just an afterthought, speaking of times gone by. She always wants the best for her grandchildren; and no matter how poor a showing I had in school or how bad a personal decision I make in life, she is still on my side, letting me know that it is not the end of the world ... even when it is close! The stories we tell now and in the future around dinner tables with which we are now familiar, and around those which we have yet to see, will always be filled with stories of times gone by and the meanings they leave behind. Thank you Grammie for letting me see the love that those stories are really all about. July 1, 1996
Narrative Updated: November 7, 1994. The Social Security Death Index gives the last residence of record for Gertrude as Greenback, Loudon County, Tennessee.3
Child of Gertrude Irene Carper and Harry Glenn Burrell
Last Edited=13 Oct 2008
Citations
- [S603] Harry Glenn Burrell obituary, Ames Tribune, Ames, Iowa, 11 January 2005, shows name as Gertrude Carper. Original obituary found online at: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm, viewed 21 May 2005. Kevin Leonard Sholder, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
- [S842] The Multach's, [e-address for private use,] to Kevin L. Sholder, e-mail, 30 July 2006, "GENEALOGY; Updegraff; Harry Glenn Burrell descendants," Sholder Research Files; privately held by Kevin Leonard Sholder, [(e-address) & street address for private use),] Dayton, Ohio, USA.
- [S843] Social Security Death Index, RootsWeb online, at <http://ssdi.rootsweb.com> (Baltimore, Maryland: U.S. Social Security Administration, July 2006 update). The SSDI component of RootsWeb online is drawn from the Social Security Death Benefits Index of the U.S. Social Security Administration. GERTRUDE C BURRELL, birth listed as 01 Mar 1915, died listed as 31 Oct 2005 (V), issued in the State of Iowa. Last residence Greenback, Loudon, TN, last benefit (none specified). Accessed 30 July 2006.
- [S843] SSDI, RootsWeb online. (unknown cd1, birth listed as unknown cd2, died listed as unknown cd3, issued in the State of unknown cd7. Last residence unknown cd4, last benefit unknown cd5. Accessed unknown cd8.).
- [S603] Harry Glenn Burrell obituary, Ames Tribune, 11 January 2005, shows that Harry Glenn Burrell married Gertrude Carper on June 2, 1936, in Morrison [Witeside County] Illinois.