It's my story

By Bailey Hofland

Editor’s note: Sundance FCCLA members have been spending time with the elderly within the community, including at the Crook County Long Term Care facility. As part of their time together, FCCLA members have interviewed residents and created biographies to honor them and their lives. These are their stories.

Marlene was born on Monday November 13, at her home in Nebraska. She was born a twin and she remembers her parents telling her that she was the first one born. She remembers hearing from her parents that the doctor came in and told them there was another one coming. Her first home was in Nebraska. It had one bedroom downstairs and five upstairs. 

She then moved to a house with only two bedrooms and it was out in the country near Sundance. She has three brothers including her twin. Growing up she had lots of pets like sheep and pigs, and even a Shetland pony. She enjoyed getting to ride the pony and bottle feed the lambs. She remembers that getting to go to town once a year was a big thing. 

The first school that she attended was a small country school, and she then graduated from Sundance High School. Her favorite subject in school was math, even though she doesn’t think she was very good at it.

For fun in the winter she enjoyed sleigh riding, ice skating and skiing. She never really went anywhere as a child because all of the other kids around would always come to them. Families getting together was great entertainment when she was young. She learned how to drive at around six years old because they needed her to help out on the ranch. She didn’t get gifts much as a kid but one that stood out to her was a doll set and high chair. 

Her maiden name was Snook. As a teenager her goal in life was to become an airline stewardess, however that never happened because she got married instead, which most women did in that era.

One event that happened in her life that she will never forget was when her twin brother got burned. Her parents were away at a funeral and it was just she and her siblings at home. She was only about eight or nine at the time. They were heating up water (no hot water in the house) to wash the dishes before their parents got home when her brother was carrying a can with stuff from the fire outside.

However he tripped, and then his clothes caught on fire. Once they got it out they decided they should go to town to get him help. Marlene told us that they had a telephone, but her older brother who was probably 12, didn’t want to call anybody because then they would have to come all the way out to them. Before they went to town she remembers putting syrup on the burns because they had remembered their grandma saying that that helps with burns. 

They took off to town, but first they had to reach the truck that was four miles away so they got on the Shetland pony. She remembers having to walk beside the pony and help to keep her brother on it while the other one was steering the pony. Once they reached the truck they laid their brother on the wooden bench in the back as they went to town. Marlene remembers she made sure he stayed awake, because they thought that if he fell asleep he would probably die. 

Marlene’s advice for future generations is to learn how to not be dependent on a device and to learn how to do things on your own without them.