SEGMENT: CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, FAMILY ACTIVITIES, & CHILDHOOD WORK

Dr. Edward Runge>LPL Interviews N-Z>LPL Interviews K-Z, Segment 5

SEGMENT: CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, FAMILY ACTIVITIES, & CHILDHOOD WORK,

duration 11:03
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CHILDHOOD WORK
He did not have to take time off school for harvest or planting. If you went to school you did not have to do field work. Did the milking in the early evening.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
Christmas Eve was a church program. Got a sack of treats. Oranges and bananas were an annual treat. Ate a lot and often during field work time; breakfast, snack, lunch, 3p.m. lunch, supper. Holidays, birthdays, played cards. Games called Sheepshead, Solo, Rook. Made homemade ice cream. Extended family attended. Aunts and uncles lived close. Russell Dell and John Alexander were mentors.
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
High school in 1947-51. Class of 30; 24 graduated. Not enough kids for football. Dropped band, physics. He always had the idea that he would not farm because there were five brothers. Brothers became insurance agent, restaurateur. He wanted to go to college; got county scholarship to University of Illinois.
COLLEGE EDUCATION
He paid fees for eighty dollars a semester. Had a meal job. Graduated in 1955. Got a Masters in education. Offered jobs, but went back and picked up science courses. Dr. Wymer guided him in science. Steered into soil science; you could spend time outside, not just in a lab.