To the Editor:

I have a story to tell. Both wonderful and sad.

My grandmother, then with her first husband, Theodore Farnam and children moved from Perry, Iowa to Webster City in 1913. Why they moved here away from their home, I don’t know. He was really sick by then.

Even though he wasn’t a member, the members from the Elks Lodge noticed what hard times they were having. They took him to Des Moines for treatment, but he passed away the next day.

My grandmother and her children were destitute. The Elks stepped in again an helped her move back to Perry for her husband’s funeral. They are both buried in a pretty little cemetery along with two babies.

I want people to know about the members of the club and what wonderful people they are. I just learned all this researching relatives in Perry. My grandmother went on to marry a second time and had two more children — one of them being my mother.

Thank you members of the Elks Lodge and God bless you.

Vivian Whitehill

Fort Dodge