Family history, Moreland

Alice Mary Moreland May biography

April 1994

            I was born on December 7, 1946, in Audubon, Iowa, at the home of Lucy Winther (a midwife). My parents were Mary Ellen Ross Moreland and Lawrence Duane Moreland. They were living at 308 Freeman Ave. at that time but were in the process of building a new house on an 80-acre farm adjacent to that of my father’s older brother, Ellis.

            I joined two older brothers, Paul and David. Paul was gentle and kind, always making something or wiring up an electrical project; David was the touch guy -- athlete, artist, popular type.

            Two sisters came along when I was 6 (Jane Ann) and 7 (Rosalee Kay). They were close in age and so cute! Jane was probably the more outgoing and Rosalee the quiet one. Mark was born when I was 10, so he was really fun to take care of when he was little. He loved to be outdoors and enjoyed his dogs. (He still does!)

            As a child, I especially enjoyed playing with my cousins and friends (Lucille Eddy was my best friend). Also, I enjoyed staying overnight at the home of my grandparents, Sam and Iola Ross (409 First Ave.). Granddad always wanted to play carom. I played with my town friends and learned to ride a shiny purple bike that my granddad kept at his house for us. And that grape pop -- what a treat!

            Good times were had at the home of grandparents Rose and Amos Moreland (507 Tracy St.), too, but Grandma was more stern and serious (very religious). She would not tolerate shorts, smoking or cards!

            Like another grandmother to me was Bessie Ross (my grandfather Ross’ sister, who never married). She lived at 419 First Ave. -- just down the street from Sam and Iola’s. I visited her often. She loved to sew and play games. Her favorite color was red; her house was red, and she often wore red.

            School was generally a pleasant experience. The grade school was almost new when I started kindergarten. I could walk to Grammy’s (Iola’s) once in awhile. I attended junior high and high school in what now is the middle school.

            The summer after I turned 16, I started working as a bookkeeper for Dave Lansman at Lansman Seed Co. This was a job I did for several summers. When I was a senior, we moved into a new high school building on the south edge of town. I was active in instrumental and, particularly, vocal music, and was a member of various clubs. A highlight was attending All-State Vocal Concert in Des Moines.

            In 1965, my class was the first to graduate at the new high school. As salutatorian, I had to give a speech to a packed gym!

            I attended college for two full years and a summer at State College of Iowa in Cedar Falls. I majored in vocal music. But I became sidetracked when I fell in love with Stephen May from Exira.

            He was at the time working at the family ready-mix in Exira. (His father had died when he was a junior in high school. Steve worked for his brother Chuck, who ran the business for awhile. Later, when Steve was attending school at Drake, and Chuck took a job with Missouri Portland Cement, Steve decided to leave college and return to Exira to take over the management.)

            We married on June 24, 1967, at the First United Methodist Church in Audubon and moved into our first home -- an apartment in the upstairs of an old house at 124 1/2 Kilworth in Exira. I worked at Dave Lansman’s for the summer but then took a job that fall as a teacher’s aide and office assistant at the elementary school. We also moved that fall to 110 1/2 Washington, which was the upstairs of a vacant store at the southwest corner of the intersection of Main Street and the city park. (We rode back and forth in a freight elevator until it broke down.)

            The following spring, Steve took a job at Economy Forms in Des Moines, and I found work in the personnel department at The Register and Tribune newspaper offices. We moved into 3121 Kingman Blvd., Apt. 13. I don’t know if the “13” had anything to do with it or not, but we had been there all of two weeks when Steve was activated from his National Guard status to “real” Army. Two weeks later, he left for Colorado Springs and active duty.

            I tried to continue working in Des Moines while living at my brother Paul’s, but since the Army decided Steve would stay for quite awhile, I moved out (to Colorado) to join him.

            We lived at 3010 N. Hancock St., Apt. 6 (later moved to Apt. 16). Steve became Supply Sergeant, and I got a job at the Memorial Hospital in personnel.

            When Joan Marie was born in May 1969, I left my job. While I stayed home with her, I also kept an eye on “Ted’s Tubs” (a laundromat across the street) for a small amount of pay.

            Steve was discharged from the service in December 1969. We moved to Fort Collins, where he took a job with Flatiron (F&F Concrete) as an estimator. I found work in the office of Dr. Albertsen, a civil engineer. We lived in a duplex at 1724 Pecan Drive for a couple of years then built our “brown and yellow” house at 713 Verde St. in eastern Fort Collins.

            While I was pregnant with Janell, my father was dying from lung and brain cancer. I quit my job and went back to help out my mother. He died two days after Christmas in 1972. Janell was born in May 1973.

            In December 1974, we moved into a story-and-a-half house at 701 Louise Lane in western Fort Collins, which we thoroughly redecorated. Then in June 1975, we moved to Rocky Ford (803 Astro), where Steve took a job with Valley Paving Co. as an estimator. We lived there for a year, until returning to Audubon, Iowa, to live in June 1976.

            We bought the farmhouse from Mary Ellen since she was then living in Glenwood, Iowa, with her new husband, Harvey Quandt (they married in 1975). We started May Construction, which we ran out of our home for awhile until building an office in Audubon.

            During this period of time, besides working, I gave piano lessons and directed the junior choir at church. Nichole was born November 3, 1977. We built a major addition onto our house in 1982.

            We built a new home in Audubon in 1989. Just after moving into the house, I discovered that I had breast cancer. I had surgery in May and treatment for the next six months. I went back to work until 1990, when I retired from office work to concentrate on piano lessons, choir, housework, bridge, sewing, etc. The business had progressed from house building to offices and then churches.

            Joan graduated from Iowa State University in 1991 and married Paul Bundy in 1992. Janell graduated from high school in 1991 and soon began working at May Construction. She bought her own home in Audubon in August 1992.