Subject: MOM (01/05/22)
What was your Mom like when you were a child?
by Jim Stamp on January 04, 2021.
Fae Lucelia Andre was born on December 6, 1919, the third daughter of LeRoy W and Nova
Humphrey Andre. Nova Andre, daughter of Samuel and Eliza Jane Humphrey, was born
September 6, 1890 and had 7 siblings. LeRoy, son of William Edgar and Rachel Rebecca
Andre, was born March 14, 1889 and had 4 sisters.
My Mom had two older sisters, Ellen and Mary, and a younger brother, William. Aunt
Ellen would become a registered nurse and then serve as a nurse in the US Army. Aunt
Mary became a teacher, like her mother before her. William (Uncle Bill) would become
a soldier in World War II and killed in action in France at The Battle of Reipertswiller in
mid-January, 1945.
The legend is that Fae and a boy named Elmer were boyfriend and girlfriend in the first
grade and that relationship continued until Mom died, June 29, 1982. Elmer suffered a
serious injury in High School and was in a full body cast for six months, causing him to
fall behind a hear in school. Fae would go to his parents home (Richard and Leora) after
school and help take care of him.
After graduating from High School in Salem, Mom attended Kent State University in Kent,
Ohio. She attended for two years which gave her a teaching certificate at that time. For
the next two years she taught school in the Butler Township schools.
On Thursday morning, August 14, 1941 she married Elmer R Stamp and they moved into
an enormous house in Winona, Ohio. The house was west of the intersection and on the
North side of Winona Rd. On the Northwest corner of Winona was the General store,
then the Dusenberry’s, the Whinnery’s and then our house. Winona was a small farming
community with one intersection and no stop lights. Winona was so small we didn’t
even have a village idiot so we had to take turns.
I was born on November 3rd, 1942. Dad was a draftsman for Salem Engineering and Mom
was a full-time mother. She had learned the art of cooking from her Mother, my Grandma
Andre. They both baked award winning pies (at the Columbiana and Carrolton County fairs,
Grandma qualifying for the State competition) and wonderful breads. I think one of the
secrets to the pies were the cherries from the orchard on Grandpa and Grandma’s farm. The
best pies come from sour cherries! That is a secret so just forget that I mentioned it.
Mom read to me a lot. That was something that continued until I went to first grade. She
would later read to my siblings and I usually sat in – auditing the course. My brother Elmer
Lee (Lee) was born December 16, 1944. Since our house was a two story Mom had to carry
Lee up and down the stairs. I was two so I learned to crawl up the steps and slide down on
my stomach. That was so much fun I would climb the stairs on my own so I could slide back
down. Something like a slinky…
My Grandpa Andre died October 30, 1946 before my fourth birthday. The farm animals, grain,
and equipment were sold at auction. My Mom and Dad bought the farm from Grandma with
part of the deal being our house in Winona. My brother Lee would be two years old in
December of that year.
We moved to the farm and Dad started getting cows, chickens, pigs and equipment. For a
couple years we didn’t have a tractor so we used Mr. Hawthorne’s Belgian horses to plow.
I got to sit on one of the horses when Dad plowed. How fun!
We had a huge garden, mulberry trees, cherry trees, pear trees, quince trees, grape vines,
rhubarb and asparagus. Mom canned vegetables, made ketchup, made grape juice, and
baked. We all got to help!
Every Saturday we churned butter and got the eggs cleaned for the egg man who picked
up the eggs every Saturday afternoon.
On May 28, 1947, our youngest brother Jay LeRoy Stamp was born. Two years later, on
November 5, 1949, our sister, Sue Ellen died at birth. Then we welcomed another December
baby. On December 1, 1952, Sharon Ann was born.
Mom would get tired and lay down in the afternoons while she read to us. The doctor said
she was anemic but later in life it would be diagnosed as a much worse blood problem and
require her to have transfusions almost weekly.
Even with Mom’s “anemic” situation, she was very active. She was a life member of the
Winona Methodist Church. She was a member of the Mizpah class and she served as an
advisor to the MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) She also was very active in the Hazel
Circle at church. She was a member of the Beta Theta Sorority. She also belonged to the
Winona Mother’s Club and the Who Listens Club. Mom and Dad were enthusiastic
square dancers and belonged to a couple square dance clubs.
Mom taught sixth grade at United Local School from 1956 until she died in 1982
We never missed Sunday School or church. It was not uncommon for church members to
decide that if everyone went home and got dinner out of the oven, we could meet at the
playground pavilion and have a covered dish picnic. Or, we would have dinner with
Grandma Andre and/or Grandpa and Grandma Stamp. We might go to Leetonia and
have Sunday dinner with the Edgerton’s – Aunt Mary was Mom’s older sister or they
would come to our house. After Great-Grandma Andre died, Aunt Ethel might join us
(one of Grandpa Andre’s sisters). It was always about family and we spent time with
Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, etal.
We (kids) always thought going to Grandma Andre’s for Sunday dinner or Thanksgiving
dinner or Christmas dinner was a REAL treat because of her homemade rolls. We found
out later that our praise for Grandma’s rolls was a mild irritation to Mom – Grandma was
using Mom’s recipe! We also learned later that both Mom and Grandma guarded their
prized recipes. When someone asked for the recipe, they would always leave out one ingredient!
By the time I was starting high school, Mom had finished her baccalaureate degree in
Education from Youngstown State University and was teaching 6th grade at United Local.
Since I drove the tractor all the time, by the time I was 14, Mom would let me drive the car
down to Route 172 by Uncle John Batzli’s farm. Then she would drive the rest of the way to school.
In the 1970s, Mom and Dad took in an Exchange Student from Australia – Sharon. They
would later fly to Australia to visit Sharon there.
She was a great teacher, greatly missed by family and friends, and fondly remembered by
many, many of her students. Mom died June 29, 1982.
Mom and Dad at 16 years old!
Our Winona house on the hill
Ready to leave on honeymoon
School picture at United Local SchoolJim Stamp, January 04, 2021