Nimrod writes story of her life
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Many people think about recording their history for posterity but never get around to it.
Vera Nimrod, a 94-year-old resident of Indian Guide Terrace apartments in Peabody, spent two years writing about her life. She completed the arduous task in 1992.
Gary and Lou Ann Bowlin, former owners of the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, transcribed her work into typewritten pages and compiled them into a spiral-bound book.
She named her book, "Molding the Clay." The phrase was taken from a poem composed for her many years ago by a friend. It aptly describes how the circumstances and experiences of her life shaped and molded her into the person she is today.
"Life is like a river, it flows along gently in its carved out channel until it comes to an obstacle that it can't flow over or under, so it has to go around it, changing its course in an entirely different direction than was planned," she wrote, "and it repeats this pattern over and over again until we reach that great reservoir at the end of our course."
Vera and her sister, Eva, now 89, moved to Peabody in 1983, where they shared a house on Elm Street. When the large house and yard became too much for them to maintain, they decided to move to separate apartments at Indian Guide Terrace.
Even before moving to the housing unit, Vera was familiar with it because of her involvement in the Career Women's Guild, comprised mainly of people who lived there. They often met there.
She soon was voted president, and her active leadership caused the membership to grow from nine to 18. Vera wrote several humorous and romantic plays which were enacted by members and presented as entertainment at various care homes and senior centers in Marion County.
After moving to Indian Guide Terrace, Vera began contributing excerpts of her life for the monthly newsletter, "Smoke Signals," edited by administrator Donna Windsor.
When friends and relatives encouraged Vera to write her life story, she began writing in earnest, devoting at least half of every day to the effort. She edited her work and made changes as necessary.
The resulting book is comprised of many short chapters, each one as intriguing as the others.
At least 100 copies of the autobiography have been printed. Most have been given away or sold, with only a few remaining in Vera's possession.
Vera paints in great detail her experiences growing up on the wide open prairie, taking trips to the mountains, and visiting relatives. She also provides compelling historical information about her pioneer ancestors who settled in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.
It is the fascinating story of a girl born Feb. 17, 1910, in a sod house in western Kansas and living an interesting life on several homesteads in eastern Colorado.
Her parents both were chiropractors, a new practice in those days. At the age of six or seven, Vera moved with her parents and sister to Belleville, where they opened an office. They acquired a large, stately house which sat on an entire city block.
In 1918, as World War I was coming to a close, a flu epidemic spread throughout the country. Vera's mother was one of many victims, leaving Vera motherless at age eight. Eva was three years old.
The following May, their home burned to the ground. Vera's father sold the property, (which now holds the city park and water tower,) and moved back to eastern Colorado, where he remarried and the family lived on several farms and ranches.
Vera loved the rugged, country life but also was eager to go on to other things. She moved back to Kansas after graduating from Rocky Ford High School and became a teacher at Smokey Vale School near Utica. She then moved to Wichita and became a beautician.
She and her husband Vaun Nimrod spent several years in California, but returned to Kansas after the United States became involved in World War II. He served in the Armed Forces.
The couple divorced in 1957. Their son Galend was an eighth grader and Vera's son Dennis, from a previous marriage, was at Wichita State University.
She eventually opened a beauty shop in her home, which she operated for 17 years. She often visited Eva in San Antonio, Texas, and enjoyed traveling.
At age 70, when health problems set in, she and her sister Eva, who was widowed, decided to sell their homes and move some place together.
"We were both tired of big city living and decided to look for something in a smaller town but had no idea where," Vera wrote. "I'd prayed about it and started out in my little blue '77 Plymouth Coupe, headed north out of Wichita and landed up at the little town of Peabody."
She and her sister lived in their Elm Street home for 15 years and have been at Indian Guide Terrace seven years.
Eva no longer drives, but Vera still drives in town. They often go places together.
"Our car is almost as old as I am," and I can't change a tire," Vera said with a chuckle, "so we stay close to home."
She had bypass surgery and a valve replacement in 1991, which restricts her activity somewhat, but she still enjoys cooking and does a lot of reading. She enjoys the covered dish meals and once-a-month birthday parties in the communal dining room.
She has one remaining son, Galend of Augusta, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. They often get her and include her in family activities.
"I enjoy my family a lot," she said.
Her book, "Molding The Clay," is available at the Peabody library.
