Loretta Marcella (Pearson) Kendall (1916 - 1986)

Born 24 Jan 1916 in Logan, Phillips, Kansas

Ancestors

Wife of Leonard Irvin Kendall — married 21 Apr 1932 (to 1977) in Kansas, United States

Died 30 Jul 1986 at age 70 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Victor de Jarnette [send private message]

Biography

Loretta Marcella Pearson Kendall Birth:  Jan. 24, 1916, Logan, Phillips County, Kansas, USA. Death: Jul. 30, 1986, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA.

The daughter of William Thomas and Geneva (née Stanton) Pearson. She married Leonard Irvin Kendall on April 21, 1932 in Logan, and they later divorced in 1977. In 1952 Loretta and Leonard relocated to Bethany, Oklahoma when they purchased the Western Auto Associate Store that they operated for numerous years.

Info from rsreetz @ dc.rr.com     Burial: Unmarked grave, Kolb Cemetery, Spencer, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA Plot: S3A-L309-4   Find A Grave Memorial# 82321160

Sources

• Victor de Jarnette

More biographical:

Courageous, upbeat, hard-working and fun. An elegant redhead with cat's eyes, one the color of her light auburn hair, the other almond brown, Loretta had an effervescent sense of humor.

When she was young, she loved to go dancing. Her favorite place for dancing was at Speed, Kansas. There was once a family photograph of her from that time, a flapper sitting on a rail fence, dangling her legs, with someone's inscription, "All legs!"

Loretta married Leonard Kendall when she was 16, and he, 20. They shared a birthday. In the middle of the Great Depression, they established a successful farm near Norton, Kansas, on which they raised sheep. They hauled water in a horse-drawn wagon and carried it in buckets to the trees in the shelter belt they planted. Loretta learned to drive on the farm in a Ford Model "T." On one of her early driving lessons, she was driving when the steering wheel came off in her hands!

Leonard's father, John Detroit Kendall (Kendall-7389), lived with them during many of those years on the farm, helping look after Myrna Pearson (Pearson-6132), the daughter of Loretta's brother, Harold (Pearson-7248), whom Loretta and Leonard informally adopted and raised after the death of Harold's wife, Leona Arasmith Pearson (Arasmith-6).

Loretta contracted polio in her 40s and was almost completely paralyzed. Using the Sister Kenny method of physical therapy, Loretta regained full functioning and continued with an active life, although one leg was shorter than the other, requiring customized shoes.

In 1952, inspired by Leonard's sister and brother-in-law, Gertrude and Gifford Parkhurst, who owned a Western Auto in Edmond, OK, Loretta and Leonard sold the farm and relocated to Bethany, OK, buying a Western Auto Hardware store on College Avenue in downtown Bethany. Leonard and Loretta were quite successful in this and subsequent business endeavors. Loretta was on friendly terms with the other merchants in Bethany and enjoyed taking her grandchildren into their businesses.

Loretta had an appreciation for beauty. She enjoyed sewing and was an accomplished gardener and cook. She made spiced and bay-flavored pickles and memorably delicious apple butter and apple pies from the 'Lodi' trees in her yard, a subdivision of what had once been an apple orchard. She enjoyed flowers, especially bachelor buttons, four-o'clocks, tiger lilies and hymenocallis. She formed many enduring friendships with her neighbors, especially with Mrs. Bradshaw and with Mr. Clyde Leitner, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65970583/clyde-garfield-leitner), an elderly man who cultivated a small truck farm across the street. The three of them enjoyed trading plants.

In 1977, it became necessary for Loretta to divorce Leonard. Loretta moved to Lawrence, KS, to be near her sister, Lucy Messenheimer, and, later, moved to Phillipsburg, KS, to be near her brother, Norman Pearson. She was experiencing advancing post-polio syndrome, misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, but she greatly enjoyed those years of independence. In 1981, she returned to Oklahoma to be nearer Myrna and her family, subsequently entering a care home as her mobility declined. During this period, her oldest grandson, Victor, began his first relationship, with another man, whom he introduced to Loretta. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at the introduction. In her day, such things weren't mentioned, but she knew she was in on the secret, and she approved!

Loretta maintained a positive outlook throughout her life and remained mentally alert and engaged, finally stating her desire to forego life-sustaining treatment after a severe stroke. Loretta owned her life.