WELCOME TO
    RHODA'S WEB SITE

    Rhoda in an Iowa corn field

    On one of my daughter Elizabeth's web sites, she described me as being a Singer, Quilter and Genealogy Researcher, and as having a degree in Cost Accounting. These are certainly things I do and have done in my lifetime. What I am not sure of is whether these feats really say who I am. When I ask myself the question, I tend to come up with the answer that I am the youngest of Florence Owen and Albert B. Berry's children. Born in Jasper County, Iowa, across from a corn field similar to the one I am standing in front of in the picture shown here.

    My dad and mother were both educated people, and my dad operated a lumber and hardware store in a small town. My mother was kept busy rearing her four children and nurturing the town folk when needed. I remember her fondly, leading PTA for years, singing in the choir and as soloist in the church. I also recall her taking me with her to visit many families in town, taking them eggs and milk or helping out with their sewing. She belonged to a quilting circle that met weekly. The room was large (or, was it that I was small?), and all the ladies did their stitching in their area of the quilt and chatted away the time. Rhoda in front of quilted hanging

    They gave me a view of life beyond the perimeters of that small town and into a bigger world. Being their child helped me to define who I am and how I wanted to live my life. Quite simply, it taught me that I was destined to lead. I haven't always known what or whom to lead, but, as one of my high school class mates remarked last month at our 60th high school reunion, "You're bossing us around, as usual." How wonderful of George K. to remember that attribute of my nature! He said, he had no trouble following, as I always knew where we were suppose to be heading.

    Were it not for these wonderful children that God has given me to rear, I would not be able to greet all of you through this medium. I want to personally thank Elizabeth, Timothy, Christine, Scott, Eric, Bryce, and Matthew who each in their individual ways have made contributions to my present ability to share these web pages with you.


    My Great-Grandparents: Jonathan Owen &
    Elizabeth Ann Dean and their Forebears
    by Rhoda Elleen Berry
    book link
    My genealogy book is now available
    on CD. Click on the picture above
    for details and ordering information
    in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format
    .

    Descendants can be found on the Okobojo, South Dakota site:
    Scott Green's Okobojo.com
    and in the History of Sully County, South Dakota, in Pierre, South Dakota
    State Library, along with the old newspapers of the Okobojo Times,
    archives in Pierre.

    miniature of Onions oil
    Click on the picture above to visit
    Rhoda's Gallery of Oils.

    Graphic
    Click on the picture above to visit
    Rhoda's Gallery of Quilts.


    AT&T WorldNet Community Showcase Site: Lifestyles -- July 2000  
     

    Please sign my guest book
    and feel free to browse through previous entries,
    or send an e-mail to REWicker@att.net.

    Some of the graphics on this site are used with permission from http://quilting.about.com
    Free Quilting Clip Art and Auntie's Free Borders and Backgrounds.

    Other free quilting graphics, including this page background,
    were provided by: Web Design Studio.

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