I wouldn’t be here to tell this story if my dad hadn’t gotten his first teaching job in Brethren, Michigan. That job didn’t just launch his career, it sparked an eventual romance. I once read that "some stories shape a lifetime, and others shape a family." This is one such story.
In this chapter of my father's autobiography, I share the serendipitous moments that brought my parents together. Join me as I step back in time to discover how one teaching job became a love story that lasted 66 years.
Brethren, Michigan JV Basketball Team, 1951
Pictured is the Norman Dickson High School Junior Varsity basketball team in Brethren, Michigan, coached by Bruce Glover. Seated (L-R): Bobby Johnson, Richard Spoor, David Welch, David Potter, Darrel Leckrone, Norman Fredricks. Standing (L-R): Dean Archer, Dick Dombrouski, Dick Beane, Robert Phillips, John Archer, Darwin Lagerquist, Robert McCary, and Bob Paulus, Coach Bruce Glover. Seated in the front row, wearing jersey number 27, is Norman Fredricks, who would later become Glover's brother-in-law. In the collection of the Glover family photographs of Brenda Glover Leyndyke. Picture is also in the 1951 Nor-Dic Yearbook.
My first year at Brethren was very
enjoyable, the kids were great, fellow teachers were great, and my roommates and I got along very well even though I was the only jock. Bill was a great cook and did all the cooking
when we ate in. Sherwood and I shared the chores such as dishes, dusting, and
sweeping and any other duties needed around the house. We all chipped in for the groceries and went
together most of the time when shopping for groceries. Day to day items we purchased at Jess
Sturdivant's market in Brethren and would go to Manistee or sometimes Kaleva on
Saturday to do our major shopping. We
didn’t pal around that much outside of school as our interest didn’t exactly
jibe with each other. Bill started
dating a second-grade teacher; they hit it off and eventually married. Sherwood was pretty much a loner and
frequently went home to Kalamazoo on weekends.
As for me I was busy with my coaching that occasionally included
Saturday competition. I did date the fifth-grade
teacher, a local Brethren girl, Grace Schmidt, a very pretty, young lady, but
we had absolutely nothing in common as she didn’t have the faintest interest in
sports, and I think she thought of me as a jock period. (She was right on that
part.)
A fellow jock I met one day the first
month in Brethren was a sixth-grade teacher Doyle Eckhardt and we hit it off
immediately. One day I was in the locker room in the basement after school and Doyle
walked in and hemmed and hawed and finally hesitatingly asked me if I drank beer.
I said yes and we took off (in his car of course) for Sportsman’s Port, 17
miles away. It was a bar that probably could seat 10 persons if they squeezed
together. That fall I coached the Varsity Baseball team (Brethren didn’t
sponsor football) and taught Junior Hi Health, Conservation, U.S. History, and
I believe Government as well as a couple of P.E. Classes. I had to look up a definition of conservation
before I could teach it but managed to struggle through without damaging the
kids or the trees. One thing I was most
proud of was my class planted literally a couple of hundred trees around the
northern edge of the High School property.
What were seedlings in 1950 today are huge trees and I proudly point out
to the grandkids and anyone else who will listen: See those trees? Grandpa’s class planted those trees over 50
years ago. That winter I coached Junior High basketball and J.V. basketball.
A 1951 photograph of Bruce Glover and Audrey Fredricks in the family photograph collection of Brenda Glover Leyndyke
THE
GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE
On a cold winter day in mid-January of
1951 with snow on the ground and a winter storm forecast I was eating my lunch
in the school cafeteria (I believe it was a Wednesday) when Supt. Dunnavan
dropped by and asked me if I would supervise the gym that evening as the town
team was scheduled for a game with Manistee, which I had no problem with. I just needed to be there to see things run
smoothly, open and close the gym, put out the lights, etc. As it turned out, little did I think my life
would forever change that beautiful stormy evening. The opponents because of the weather did not
show up and the town team along with several spectators simply continued to
shoot baskets. One young lady caught my
eye. When I told her, it was ok to shoot
baskets, but please remove her street shoes, she replied something to the
effect would I see her socks got washed, or something close to that. I can honestly say after watching her awhile
that I had to know more about her. I
don't think I ever saw such a combination of beauty and athletic ability and
wondered where in the world she came from.
I was smoking in those days and went to boiler room for a few puffs and
first thing I did was ask Ross Cook, the janitor, who that gal was. He said she was a Fredrick’s girl. I assumed she was an older sister to Ray,
Norman, and Jeannie all of whom I either had in class or participated on the
Baseball and JV basketball teams which I coached. She was with a secretary at the school Mickey
Fredericks who was married to one of her older brothers. I think I might have mentioned something to
Mickey the next day but put it out of my mind for the time being.
Anyway, that Friday night we had an out-of-town
game and afterwards I stopped in at Jim Barr’s house (the high school
Principal) who frequently entertained coaches and teachers after a game. Lo and behold who was there but Audrey
Fredrick, the girl from the gym. I
immediately started up a conversation with her and it didn’t take long to make
up my mind that this was a girl I wanted to get to know better. I walked her home that evening, all of one
block, to her sister Kate’s home, which was just up the street from where I was
living. It was hard for me to believe I
had been in Brethren for five months and just noticed her for the first
time. I asked her for a date that night
and we went bowling with Junie and Nancy Anderson to Manistee that Sunday.
They had to make up a bowling match from
their Friday night League and afterwards we bowled three games. Audrey couldn’t believe I was wearing a pair
of hi-top bowling shoes, which were old, fashioned to her, but when I whipped
off a 540 series she was impressed, I think.
From that time on, I was completely enamored, and we continued to see
each other regularly the rest of the school year whenever we could. We would meet a night or two during the week
when I wasn’t coaching a game and went out steadily on Saturday nights, usually
for dancing at the Sleepy Owl or the Pines in Manistee or Canfield Lake Inn,
south of Manistee, where at one time the likes of Frankie Yankovic and other
famous polka bands and orchestras use to perform.
Often, I would be invited to Kate’s house
or Audrey’s parents on the farm for Sunday dinner. Those Sunday farm dinners use to amaze me as
Audrey was one of 12 kids and it was amazing how many people, family or
otherwise, seemed to pop-in at dinner time whether invited or not. We had many
memorable Sunday afternoon get-togethers on the farm playing ball, chewing the
fat, and me taking the brunt of good-natured ribbing as a city slicker.
 |
| Johnny Tritten, age unknown |
On Easter Sunday we were having dinner at
Kate’s house when her son Johnny, who was only 8 or 9 years old, gave me an
Easter Egg he had decorated with “Uncle Bruce” on it. I don’t know who blushed the most, Audrey or
me, but it brought about several good laughs.
As it turned out later Johnny proved to be a good prophet.
That same evening Richard, Mickey, Audrey,
and I went to the Pines in Cadillac for an evening of drinking and dancing.
Afterwards, we were heading into Cadillac for a late snack when someone
mentioned going to Detroit and daring Richard to go. That was all Richard needed and next thing we
knew he was dropping us off at my Mother’s house in Hazel Park and they went on
to Mickey’s parent’s home in East Detroit.
I don’t know what my mother thought about me bringing a strange girl
home at 2 in the morning, but she was gracious enough about it. Audrey remembered her asking me if that was
Grace. The next afternoon we headed back to Brethren. It was spring break for Mickey and me, but Audrey missed a day’s
work at Kaleva where she worked at MakKraft tying and painting fishing flies and working in the
shipping department.
Somewhere between Cadillac and Brethren on
M-55 as darkness was descending and we were smooching in the back seat I got brave
and popped the question— “Sweetheart will you marry me”? --- I’m sure this was
the last thing she was expecting to hear out of me and after some silence she
said she would have to think about it.
Sometime later that week she gave me the answer I was hoping for—YES—and
it made me the happiest guy in the world at the time. The rest of that school year was like a blur
to me as I couldn’t get over my ecstasy.
At the end of the year in late May I accompanied the track team to the
State finals in Lansing. Audrey had gone
with Kate and I asked her to ride back on the bus with me. The students had a field day as they
serenaded us most of the way home with Audrey to the tune of Margie.
That summer I returned home to stay with
my mother in Hazel Park while working in a factory taking the place of various
unskilled workers while they were on vacation.
This was also the time when I bought my first car, a 1951 Ford, and had
to take Mr. McIlvride (Don’s) dad with me to drive it home. The next three
weeks practically every night when he got home from his milk route Mr. Mac gave
me driving lessons and I must have been a good student as I passed my driver’s
test and secured a license on my first try.
In the meantime, Audrey and I corresponded back and forth and after I
secured my license, I drove up to see her and was completely taken off balance
when she returned my ring saying she was not ready to settle down yet.
The next few weeks were among the worst
times I had ever experienced, but I wasn’t about to let her get away if there
was any way I could prevent it. I was
head over heels in love and determined not to take no for an answer, so
eventually I asked her if she would meet me in Saginaw one Saturday to discuss
our situation and to my relief she said yes.
We met in Saginaw at the Bus Station, went to a movie, and out to eat
and I don’t remember all the details, but I told her how much I loved her and
in no way wanted to call it quits, but also if she decided that was what she
wanted to be 100% sure before she took the ring back. When she decided to take
it back, I was once again on top of the world. We stayed at my house that night
as my mother who was with Hank and Mabel that weekend. I took her back to Brethren and everything
was “hunky dory” from that moment on and when I returned to school that fall,
we started in seriously to make our wedding plans.
One Saturday night before our marriage,
Audrey’s sister Kate, husband Carl, Audrey and I were going into Manistee along
Highway 55 when a drunk pulled out of the Stockade Bar, pulled across center
line, and hit us head on. I was ok, but Audrey rammed her knee into the buttons
on the radio and still has some lingering effects to this day. Carl suffered bruised ribs and the car was
damaged beyond repair and I replaced it with a 1952 Ford, which I purchased in
Cadillac. This turned out to be the last Ford I owned as subsequent car
purchases for the most part went to Les Kaskinen husband of Jeanie, Audrey’s
sister. Les owned a Chevrolet garage in
Kaleva and subsequently moved to Bellaire where he is still in the car business,
but mainly in a rental capacity.
Originally, we had set the wedding date
for May 24th until I learned the State Final track meet was
scheduled for that date and thus would have to postpone it a week until
Saturday the 31st. Luckily,
we didn’t have any programs or announcements printed for that date so things
went rather smoothly, but I’m sure Audrey could read the handwriting on the
wall that my coaching was going to be a problem and thankfully loved me enough
to go along with it. The year passed all too slowly for me as I couldn’t wait
to take her for my bride and start our life together.
We were both in agreement that we didn’t
want to start our married life in Brethren, so one important task was for me to
secure a coaching job, not just any job, but a Varsity Head Coach of basketball
as I felt after 2 years of Junior High and JV basketball coaching, I was ready
to step up to a Varsity position. I had
several interviews at Hesperia, Bronson, Cement City, and Kingsley. Only Kingsley was a head position that was
likely to open that summer but was far from a sure thing. I took a great gamble hoping against hope the
Kingsley job would open and we sweat it out, but sure enough that summer where
Audrey and I were spending our first married year we finally got the call-in
early August the job was mine which I gladly accepted at the sum of $3300 for
Varsity baseball, Varsity Basketball, Varsity Track, and teacher of Social
Studies.
One incident I was not proud of, but at
the time thought it was a good prank was when I took Audrey’s wallet which she
left lying around one night at Mickey and Richard’s house stuck it in my pocket
and let her think for a week she lost it.
When I returned it to her, she was relieved to get it back, but didn’t
share my idea of a good prank. That
school year as previously stated seemed to pass by slowly, but finally the big
day was upon us.
Thinking about my parents' story, I’m reminded how small moments can shape an entire life. Who would have thought that a simple gym night and a shared love for sports would lead to a lifetime together? Their journey wasn’t always easy, but it was filled with love, laughter, and determination. Stories like this remind me that family history isn’t just about dates and facts, it’s about the moments that shape who we are. I’m so grateful my dad took a chance that night, and that my mom said yes. Sharing this story is my way of keeping their memory alive and honoring the love that started it all.
