Yeah I know, everyone loves their grandma and thinks that their grandma is the bee's knees. Well, bad news - my Gramme is the best. She is the exactly the type of woman I strive to be: hard working, brave, loving, loyal, generous, happy, and gorgeous. The more you know about Gramme the more amazed you will be. I am so excited to share her story with everyone.
First of all, can we just talk about all the American history she has lived through? It makes me totes jealous. She was born in the roaring 20's, survived well during the Great Depression thanks to their family farm, lived in worry while her brother served as a bomber pilot in World War II, got married and had her babies during the baby boom, supported the civil rights movement, thought the rock n' roll of the 60s was "different," and remembers she was in Hirsch's Department store when JFK was shot. I can also guarentee you that she was up on the latest fashions the whole time.
First of all, can we just talk about all the American history she has lived through? It makes me totes jealous. She was born in the roaring 20's, survived well during the Great Depression thanks to their family farm, lived in worry while her brother served as a bomber pilot in World War II, got married and had her babies during the baby boom, supported the civil rights movement, thought the rock n' roll of the 60s was "different," and remembers she was in Hirsch's Department store when JFK was shot. I can also guarentee you that she was up on the latest fashions the whole time.
Okay, so here's her story:
Alice Geneva Hagee was born January 27, 1924 in Southwestern Iowa, near Lenox (if anyone here happens to be familiar with Iowa...). Her family lived on a farm where they raised cattle, hogs, horses, and chicken. Her Father was a successful corn farmer; he farmed about 400 acres of corn every year - so as you can imagine, she really likes good corn. Geneva has an older brother Dale, and two younger brothers Bob and Ray. She's crazy about them, and they are crazy about her. It's pretty cute.
Dale, Gramme and Bob - I love how Bob is holding her shoe. So adorbs. Gramme attended Nevinville High School where she was, get this, one of the five students in her graduating class (can you even calculate the Top 10% of that??). After high school she attended Creston Junior college in Creston Iowa, which was only about 25 miles away from her parent's home. She went to college during World War II and at that time the country was desperate for teachers, so Geneva studied teaching. Once she completed the program she became a 5th grade teacher, and while she was teaching she met Joy.
Joy Eldon Hagee grew up in Missouri (pronounced "Missour-ah" if you've lived there long enough) where his Father was a Preacher. He has three sisters, two are older and one younger (exactly the same as my siblings). As a little boy he suffered from rheumatic fever and when he recovered his heart had been damaged. However, Doctors estimated he would be able to live a pretty normal life, but warned that at around age 39/40 it might get difficult. When World War II broke out and men were enlisting Joy wanted to join as well. However, due to his heart condition he was never able to pass the physical exams, which was extremely devastating for him. Joy then decided to attend Northwest Missouri State University and graduated with his bachelors degree, he later studied mortuary science in St. Louis.
While Geneva and Joy were in college, Joy's Father moved his family to Lenox to begin preaching at the local Christian church. This, as you might guess, just happened to be the church that Geneva's entire family attended. Joy was often visiting and quickly he and his family became friends with Gramme's family and extended family. Gramme first met Joy at her Aunt Ruth's house when she back in town visiting. They began dating not long after but then Joy and his family moved back to Missouri. Over the course of a year, Geneva and Joy traveled between Missouri and Iowa to visit one another before they were engaged. They were married October 27, 1946 in her family's church in Lenox. Joy's Father and Uncle performed the marriage ceremony and after they had a small reception in the church basement. They had a short honeymoon in South Missouri (of course) and Gramme can still remember how even though it was late October it was "sun-shiney and beautiful."
Joy and Geneva - I am for reals obsessed with this picture. I mean, have you ever seen anything with this much 1950's perfection? And you can feel their happiness just looking at their smiles.
After Joy graduated college he began selling insurance and opened an insurance agency in St. Joseph, Missouri. After they were married Gramme moved down to St. Joseph to start their lives together. While Joy worked at "Hagee Insurance Agency" Geneva worked at Western Tablet Company until they started their family. In 1953 they welcomed Annis Joy and then in 1956 they had little William "Billy" Harlow, my Dad.
The Hagee Family - This picture is golden. I'm dying.
Unfortunately, Joy's childhood Doctors had been correct; Joy began having difficulty with his heart exactly when they predicted. His heart had been enlarged and had been having to work much harder than normal for several years. My Dad has explained to me that his heart almost always felt like it was racing and Joy would often have to go to the hospital for oxygen. Due to these problems, Joy passed away in February of 1962. Gramme has never remarried and recently when I was on the phone with her she told me, "I'm still very much in love with Joy and always will be."
After Joy passed, Geneva took over the Insurance Company to support their family. They stayed in St. Joseph and my Dad and his sister Annis lived there until they left for college. (Side note - Harlow met this sassy girl named Jennifer Cox in St. Joe while they were in high school and pretty much that's where my story starts...) When Annis was in high school she was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was instantly interested. Soon the missionaries were in their home teaching Geneva, Annis and Harlow about their church and its teachings. When the gospel of eternal families was introduced it immediately rang true to them and soon they were all baptized into the church. Eventually the time came when Annis left for Harvard and Harlow to the University of Missouri, but Geneva stayed in St. Jospeh and currently lives there today (in the same house, I might add - with fantastic sparkly-popcorn ceilings).
Throughout Gramme's life the thing that stands out the most to me is the value she places on family. She has made sure to keep in close contact with all her family members and with Joy's. One of her longest and best friends is Joy's younger sister Bonnie. She might not remember what she had for lunch last Tuesday, but she can tell you exactly where her children, her cousins, her siblings, her nieces and nephews, and her grandchildren are living and what they are doing. Her favorite thing to do is talk about her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and her super-fantastic-amazing great-grandson. Throughout my life she has taught me so many things and mostly by her wonderful example. See below:
So, Gramme's story is pretty much awesome. If you're ever in St. Joseph, MO you need to stop by her house for realz. Also you need to play a few rounds at Cool Crest and play dress up at the Pony Express Museum. But actually, for the past month Gramme has been staying with my parents in Texas. She's perfectly healthy and happy but February is just a hard month, especially in Missouri with all the snow. When we learned that Gramme was going to be staying with my parents, Garrett offered to fly Jack and I to visit (plus this was early Feb. so Jack was still free - those were the days! Sad face.) Let me just say, it was fantastic. Gramme is such a joy to be around and I loved watching her and Jack together.
Throughout Gramme's life the thing that stands out the most to me is the value she places on family. She has made sure to keep in close contact with all her family members and with Joy's. One of her longest and best friends is Joy's younger sister Bonnie. She might not remember what she had for lunch last Tuesday, but she can tell you exactly where her children, her cousins, her siblings, her nieces and nephews, and her grandchildren are living and what they are doing. Her favorite thing to do is talk about her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and her super-fantastic-amazing great-grandson. Throughout my life she has taught me so many things and mostly by her wonderful example. See below:
Top Ten Things I've Learned from Geneva the Diva
10. Great mashed potatoes take a lot of salt, butter, a splash of milk and love. This lady's mashed potatoes are divine and I'd pick them over any other mashed potato anywhere. No joke.
9. Oprah can do no wrong. Obviously. Gramme is a big Oprah fan and she's passed it down to me. I've watched several Oprah episodes with my Gramme and she always has the latest O Magazine waiting on her coffee table for me to flip through.
8. A quick drive-thru to get a "cold pop" can solve almost any problem. It has solved heated arguments in the Hagee household, cured lots of headaches, and sometimes just gives you 10 minutes of peace.
7. Animals need as much love as humans... even cats. Well in Gramme's case, especially cats. One of my favorite stories to tell about Geneva is how during the winter she puts a heated blanket in a box in her backyard to make sure all the little kitties can stay warm. Precious.
6. You can never have too many clothes. Geneva the Diva loves her clothes - and I love that about her. She lives in a three bedroom home and every single closet is stuffed full of clothes (not to mention the extra closets in her basement). She is always down for a trip to the mall, and you can bet your bottom dollar she always looks fabulous.
5. There is no age limit when it comes to getting your hair done or getting manicures. Gramme is truly a believer in looking good/feeling good mentality, but lesbehonest, there is just really no better feeling than having fresh highlights and shiny new gel nails.
4. Celebrate everything. Clearly this is something I practice and I hope to pass along to my children. I mean, why wouldn't you? Not celebrating = boring, celebrating = FUN. No brainer. Anywee, Gramme has always made birthdays and holidays special for us. On top of that, it felt like every time we were together she was celebrating just that. When we were kids she made sure to bring Lauren and I new Barbies every time she visited. Even now, her home is always stocked with Double Stuffed Oreos and Cheetoh Puffs just for us sibs and cousins to snack on.
3. Education, education, education. I know this is a lesson that Gramme's parents taught her and she passed it down to her children. Although Gramme grew up on a corn farm in Iowa she knew that college was her goal. As a single parent she instilled the value of education in her children (obvs since Annis went to Harvard) and my Dad (and Mom) have always placed a high value on education. You can never learn too much.
2. Work hard and never complain. This lady has obviously worked hard - she grew up on a farm, graduated high school, completed a two-year collegiate teaching program, worked as a 5th grade teacher for three years, worked as a newly wed, took over an entire insurance agency when her husband passed away and raised two children. Plus I can honestly say that I have never heard Gramme complain once in my entire life. Never. Not even about the weather. She's extremely gracious and kind; something that everyone notices.
1. Do anything and everything for family. It would be impossible to list everything Gramme has done for her family members. But I can guarantee you that if we were to make a list it would be long enough to wrap around the globe, probably twice. She's completely selfless and wonderful.
So, Gramme's story is pretty much awesome. If you're ever in St. Joseph, MO you need to stop by her house for realz. Also you need to play a few rounds at Cool Crest and play dress up at the Pony Express Museum. But actually, for the past month Gramme has been staying with my parents in Texas. She's perfectly healthy and happy but February is just a hard month, especially in Missouri with all the snow. When we learned that Gramme was going to be staying with my parents, Garrett offered to fly Jack and I to visit (plus this was early Feb. so Jack was still free - those were the days! Sad face.) Let me just say, it was fantastic. Gramme is such a joy to be around and I loved watching her and Jack together.
Love you always Miss Geneva the Diva.
