| i. | Russell Eugene Kauffman, born June 11, 1921 in Ketchum, Craig Co, Ok; married Flora Dikeman July 3, 1938; born June 3, 1920 in Talala, Rogers Co., OK. | |||
| ii. | Vivian Lucille Kauffman, born December 12, 1922 in Ketchum, Craig Co, Ok; died March 12, 1923 in Ketchum, Craig Co, Ok. | |||
| 2 | iii. | Farl Glenn Kauffman, born April 21, 1924 in Afton, Oklahoma; married Mary Jane Webb March 27, 1943 in Claremore, OK. | ||
| iv. | Gwendolyn Jeanette Kauffman, born September 27, 1931 in Owasso, Tulsa Co., Oklahoma; married (1) Charles Elburn Girkin; married (2) Samuel Eugene Redman. |
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Notes for Gwendolyn Jeanette Kauffman: My Life - Gwendolyn Jeanette Kauffman I was born at Owasso, Oklahoma, Tulsa County on September 27, 1931. My parents were Russell Alexander Kauffman and Inez Lucille Augenstein. I was born on 86th Street North, just west of the railroad tracks at the top of the hill on the south side of the road. The earliest recollection I have is of living approximately where Reaser's grocery store is on east 86 St. North in Owasso. Dad farmed there, from stories by mom he drove a truck with cattle to Kansas City and did any other task which would bring money in for his family. I remember riding a horse from an early age. Mom told me that my brothers Gene and Glenn had me riding a horse before I was a year old by myself. I think I remember (may have been just stories that I remember) of a mad dog circling our house one day. My dad finally shot him with a gun. The dog was frothing at the mouth. When we lived there the police broke into our house one night searching for a fugitive. Someone told them that he was at our house. Mom said Gene and Glenn jumped out of bed and were almost shot by the police. We moved to a farm near Talala, Oklahoma when I was about 5. I started school at Talala, the boys went to Vera since we were going to move there in a short time. I almost got my leg cut off when we lived at this farm. I was riding on the back of the binder with my dad, I was carrying an umbrella which blew out of my hands. I grabbed for this umbrella. At the same time the chain broke on the back of the binder and wrapped itself around my lower left leg. I remember it looked like sausage. Mom cleaned me up before she would take me to a doctor. Our doctor at Collinsville, Dr. Hille, had just died; therefore, they took me to a doctor at Nowata. I don't remember his name, but doctors today say he did a wonderful job and that I should not be walking without a limp. I spent much time in the corner at school in Talala. For talking, now who would believe that would of gotten me in trouble. The picture I bought a few years ago of a little girl and her dog in the corner reminded me of that experience. I knew I did not need this picture; however, I finally grabbed it and paid for it before I could back out. We moved to Vera when I was still in the first grade. I have wonderful memories of living at the farm 2 miles west of Vera. Every time I pass this place I still think of all of those wonderful times and would love to buy the property. I had a creek to explore, cave to have a wonderful time at, my horse and what more could a girl want for!! I rode my pony all over the country side, even to bible school in Vera during the summer. The horse's name was Blue. She died when we went to California and we were all very sad. A lot of kid in Owasso and Vera learned to ride on Blue. I use to go out to the field, put an ear of corn down, when she put her head down, I jumped on her back, turned around and she would go to the house where Dad would saddle her and put the bridle on. Had a good thing going there. Dad raised cattle, farmed and worked very hard to put very little money in the till. Dad had a dog who would go out and bring the cows into be milked. The cows were so gentle that you could ride on their back. The term "cooking for threshers" came from when all of the farmers would get together to help each other get the crops in. Someone had the equipment needed. The ladies would cook much, much food. Mom canned meat, vegetables and we never went hungry. She made me beautiful dresses out of "feed sacks", these were very nice percale, and she would iron and starch them to perfection. When we still lived on the farm I had the brilliant idea of trimming my eyebrows like my sister-in-law did. Only I shaved mine. The kids at school called me eyebrows which made me very angry. We always went to Collinsville on Saturday night. Dad would take cream, eggs, etc. into town and sell them at Turk's creamery. Often we would go to the sale barn and dad would either sell or buy cows. We would go to Guenther grocery store and buy what staples we needed. Many times Mr. Guenther carried dad on the books until the crops could be sold. We usually went to the show for a nickle and it was also time for a root beer at the local drug store. What a life!! Mom and I were in Guenther's store when a tornado came through Collinsville. Mom wanted to go out and try to outrun the storm, Mr. Guenther said we needed to get in the back of the store away from the glass. You could see houses and debris flying through the air. He probably saved our lives. The tornado destroyed buildings approximately two blocks away. I have been close to several tornados and thankfully none hit where I lived. I was a good student in school. When I graduated from the 8th grade I was valedictorian. My speech In December of 1942 dad sold all of the livestock, equipment, etc. and we moved to Orange, California in January of 1943. Dad worked in the ship yard (working on ships to be used in the war) and also worked in an orange grove. We lived in apartments. That was another world from the small town of Vera, Oklahoma. I remember a group of white kids and Mexican kids got into a fight over a volleyball at school. This was in the 6th grade. The Mexican boys told us they were going to cut us with knifes. We were scared. I had to wear long brown socks which we kept fastened above the knee with a piece of elastic. I hated those socks and would take them off or roll them down when I was away from Mom. We moved back in July of 1943. It was very nice to be back in school with kids that I had grown up with. My best friend was Marylee Searle. We usually spent weekends at each others house. She liked to come to the farm and I loved to go into the big town of Vera. Sometime dad worked at Douglas Bomber Plant. I don't know when. There is a pin for service from Douglas. I cannot find out what year is was given out. (Mom said I was too interested in boys to know where my dad worked, not I don't think that was "true".) I played basketball, softball, and anything else that I could. Marylee and I were really tomboys and liked to play with the boys better than the girls. I was playing with the boys once and a boy wanted his gun back. I gave it to him, threw it and hit him between the eyes. He started bleeding and I just knew that he was going to die. I run and hid in the "outhouse", we didn't have wonderful indoor plumbing then. He lived, but I am sure still bears a scar between his eyes. In the middle of the 9th grade my dad moved to Collinsville, Oklahoma. We lived over the local drug store. The first day of school at Collinsville I had a full skirt on and when I went up the steps a big puff of wind blew my skirt up, the boys all yelled. Yuk, or that is what I thought then. We only lived there for about 1 month until dad got a job with Fred Richards running his dairy just east of Owasso, Oklahoma on what is now called 76 Street North. The dairy was approximately two miles east of town. I enjoyed school at Owasso. However, in the second semester of the 10th grade I went to Friends Bible College in Haviland Kansas for about two months. They were going to take my appendix out and I came home. I was President of the 10th grade. I was also chosen by the FFA boys to represent them at Tulsa in the Dairy Princess contest. I think this is what it was called then. I had all of my clothes ready and am sure that I was on my way to stardom. However, mom found out that I had to wear a bathing suit and my career went down the tubes. I was heartbroken, but recovered fast. I am sure I would of went on to become a famous movie star. Hah. Mom bought me a watch to keep me from playing basketball. I would play and have severe attacks of appendicitis. Of course, like a lot of wonderful children, I did not mind and kept playing. A man at a gas station told my dad that he had seen me play at East Central high school the night before. I was in a lot of trouble! One week before Mom died she was still telling me she should have taken the watch away, and she should have. My friend through high school was Jean Montamat from Tulsa. She went to the Friends church in Tulsa. She was my maid of honor when I was married. We have remained in touch over the years. She lives in Anaheim, California. Mom called her daughter number 2. Over Christmas of 1946 I was at Maxine Girkin's house in Owasso getting ready to go out on a double date with her. The boy was suppose to pick me up at her house. Charles was home on leave from the navy and sent a message the next day that he wanted me to meet him at the local cafe. I went, we dated for one week, and he returned to the Navy in Green Cove Springs, Florida. When I was going to school at Haviland in March of 1947 I received a package. It contained an engagement ring. I said yes. He came home from the Navy in October of 1947, we were married in February of 1948. We really didn't know each other, were too young and it did not work out. However, I do have three beautiful children, ten wonderful grandchildren and one great grand baby from this marriage. I guess I really didn't think about how long we were going together until I was typing these notes and it was only one week prior to him going back to Florida. We lived in several apartments in Tulsa and when Ron was about 8 months old we moved to Roswell, New Mexico. Loyd Girkin was very ill and they thought he was dying. Charles promised him if he would get well he would move there. We moved on a Greyhound bus. Can you imagine doing that today! We stayed there approximately 8 months. One night we were playing cards with some friends and we both said lets go home. We packed up and left the next day on a Greyhound bus again. Ron had pneumonia while we lived there and was in the hospital several days. Charles worked for a dairy company driving a truck. He could not find a job for several months after we got back to Tulsa. We lived with his uncle Lloyd Jones. It was rough. We ate a lot of rabbits. He went to work for Glencliff dairy, he has also worked for Hawk dairy, Carnation dairy and Guys Potato Chip company. He always worked very hard and these jobs were very demanding, long and tiring. He was not lazy on the job. When Vivian was about 6 months old and Ron 4 we moved to our first home at 112 N. 71 E. Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We thought we were millionaires. In 1955 we sold the house and moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma where Charles managed a Pepsi warehouse. We lived there five years until some problems forced us to return to Tulsa. We rented a house on East Eastin for awhile and then bought for $200 down a house on East 43 St. North. This house was behind Cincinnati hill. The boys especially enjoyed this hill. We even had to borrow the $200 to get into this house. On November 11, 1970 (Ron's birthday) we moved into the house at 2310 S. Hickory Place in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The guy who sold the house gave us $5000 for out house in north Tulsa. Most of the people walked out and left their houses. We felt very fortunate to get the house in Broken Arrow. In 1964 I went to work at Hillcrest Hospital in the Medical Record department in the lowest paying job ($1.25/hour) sorting medical records and marking them for deficiencies. A couple of months later I had the opportunity to learn how to do medical transcription. In 1966 I went to St. John's Medical Record Department. After transcribing for about a year I started doing the tumor registry information. I learned about Accredited Record Technician (ART); however, I had to have my high school diploma to be able to go to correspondent school. I obtained this seven weeks after Ron graduated from high school in 1967. I then started to correspondence school to obtain my ART. This was suppose to take 2 years, I completed in four months. I took the national exam at Tulsa University and passed. An opening was at Doctor's Hospital for the Director of the Medical Record Department. I started there in 1969. Couldn't hardly believe that I had this type of position. In 1970 Tulsa Junior College opened its doors. I was on the Advisory Committee for that year. In 1971 the administrator of Doctor's Hospital pulled something that made me very unhappy. I had just obtained a letter asking me if I knew of anyone who wanted to teach at TJC. I had thrown it in the trash. I called Mr. Bill Wells and told him my credentials. After three interviews I was hired by Bill Sutterfield to be the head of the medical record program. I started work at TJC on the Monday after Kyrie Ann was born on Friday August 20, 1971. This program was discontinued one year after I went to TJC. I also had the Medical Secretary program. No one told me that I had to go to college, but I did. I started taking 3 hours (Freshman Composition I) in January of 1972. From there I completed my Associate Degree in May of 1976, started to Oklahoma State University in June of that year and completed by Bachelor of Science degree in May of 1978, still stayed in school and obtained my Master's of Science Degree in December of 1979. Don't ask me why!!, but I continued to go to school. I completed my doctorate in May of 1983. Can you believe this high school drop out did this??? I lived in Stillwater for five years, never dreamed about going to college and then when I move 90 miles away, go to school there. Monday I started teaching my 25th year at Tulsa Junior College. My fancy title is now Program Director for the Medical Assistant and Medical Office Administration Programs. In 1974 I developed the curriculum and started the medical assistant program. This has been a wonderful organization to be involved with. I have served as President of Tulsa County Medical Assistants, President of Oklahoma Medical Assistants Society and was very fortunate to have served at the national level as Secretary/Treasurer of the American Association of Medical Assistants. At present I am an educator surveyor for CAAHEP, which is the accrediting body from American Medical Association and AAMA. It has been a lot of fun going across the United States surveying other medical assistant programs. My life has been full of a lot of wonderful things. I thank God for having the mother and father that I had, for having the privilege of living in the country on a farm and for the wonderful friends and family which been blessed my life. My children are all married, are happy and have produced some very wonderful, handsome grandsons and beautiful granddaughters. I even have been blessed with a beautiful great-grand baby and am sure there will be many more before I leave this world. My family have had sadness in our lives, but thanks to a very strong, sturdy stock, we have all survived. The happy times have outweighed the sad ones. It was very hard to give up my mom and dad, but I know they are not suffering, lived a very long and productive life and left a wonderful heritage for their descendents down the line. I have been blessed with the privilege of traveling to the majority of the states, Mexico, Canada, Oahu, Maui and even took a cruise to the Eastern Carribean. Approximately 1990 I went to Ohio and met Mom's cousins, second-cousins, etc. This has been a wonderful experience. I hope each of you enjoy the material that I have put together and will continue my search for our past. In March of 1994 Gene and I went to Carrollton, MO to see where my dad was raised. We met Gerald and Catherine Hart in Platte City and he took me to a cemetery and showed me where Henry Hart had lived while in that area. It has been so much fun doing genealogy, meeting such wonderful people. In July of 1998 Gene and I attended a family reunion of the Howard clan, my dad's sister was a Howard. Comparing notes with a cousin's daughter Sharon Coleman from DeSoto, TX I gave her the name of siblings of my grandfather. Through contacts on e-mail we found out these names were real people and on August 26 drove to Carrollton and met some new relatives. Genealogy is fun, not just finding out new information, but the wonderful people that you meet. At this time, after years of researching for any info on my Grandfather Abraham (Lincoln) Kauffman we now know his parents name and where he was born. Sept. 1998 - July 9, 1998 I retired from my position at TCC (now Tulsa Community College) instead of Tulsa Junior College. Approximately five years ago I started seeing Gene Redman from Ramona, OK. His father Fay had been my mailman when I lived in the country near Vera. I would take Fay flowers from our garden when we had them, otherwise they would be weeds but he took them home and had his wife put them in water. Our love grew and on May 23, 1998 we "eloped" to Alba, Jasper County, Missouri where we were married. Vivian and James Brown were out attendants and Paige Kathleen Turney, my beautiful baby, was out flower girl. This was a last minute decision to even ask the family. James, Vivian, Kyrie and Paige, Jeremy and Amber were present as well as Don, Adam and Stephen Girkin. Pastor Richard Buck performed the ceremony. His daughter Melody was home and took the wedding pictures. At this time we are building a new home in Ramona, Ok on a hillside overlooking a pond. Many happy years are going to be spent there. More About GWENDOLYN JEANETTE KAUFFMAN: Degree: May 1976, Tulsa Junior College, Tulsa, OK - Associate Degree; BS 1978 Oklahoma State University; 12/1979 Master's Degree OSU; 1983 Doctorate of Education, OSU, Stillwater, Payne Co., OK High School: 1967, GeD Nickname: Jet Occupation: Hillcrest Hospital/St. John's Hospital/Doctor's Hospital (Director of Medical Records Department); Tulsa Junior College (Director of Medical Assistant Program) Remarried: May 23, 1998, Alba, Jasper Co., MO to Gene Redman Retirement: July 09, 1998, YEAH Social Security Number: 525-62-7391 By the way, that beautiful young lady on a pony is me, her name was Blue. Everyone in Owasso and Vera, I think, learned to ride on her. she was my pride and joy. I use to take a ear of corn out to the pasture, she would put her head down to get it, I would jump on her neck and when she raised her neck up, would guide her to the barn where dad would saddle and put the bridle on her. She was so gentle, you could set between her feet and she wouldn't move. When we were in CA in 1943 she died, she was very old at that time. |
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