My Mother Had Many Strengths

My mother was born Marie Ruth Price on April 27, 1915, in New Madrid County, Missouri in the area they called Big Prairie.  She was the daughter of Henry Price and Caroline "Carrie" Rettig Price.  Her father was born in Saline County, Illinois to a farming family.  He lived there until his parents moved to New Madrid County, Missouri about 1908.  Henry's brother Hillery Price married Clara Parma in New Madrid County on 17 Feb 1909. Finding this marriage in southeast Missouri somewhat confirms family tradition that J.D. and Anyan Grandstaff Price moved to southeast Missouri around 1908. 

The Rettig family, on my mother's side, were second generation Germans from Evansville, Indiana, and her mother Carrie Rettig was born in Evansville, Indiana among mostly German-speaking family and friends.  Her father Fred Joseph Rettig, born 1868 in Jefferson County, Kentucky, moved to Evansville with this family as a child.   After marrying Anna Krieg, he moved his family to Henderson, Kentucky, and then in 1911; the family moved to Scott County, Missouri near McMullin.  Fred Joseph Rettig was a farmer and died at the age of 77 years old at his son, Otto Rettig's house. Otto’s farm was six miles north of Sikeston, Missouri, on the east side of Highway 61.

So, within three years, both the Price family from southern Illinois and the Rettig family from Evansville, Indiana moved to New Madrid County, Missouri.  One of Carrie's sisters, Katherine, met and married Isaac Brummett, who lived on the adjoining farm to the Price family in New Madrid County.  That is how Henry and Carrie met.  They married within a year and had two daughters; Marie and Beulah Price.  Sadly, Henry was killed from injuries received from a tornado two days after the birth of his second daughter Beulah.

My mother and her sister grew up with a widowed mother who was undereducated and forced to live with one relative, then another, for most of their formative years.  Marie learned many things from her mother, however, including shared values and beliefs like honesty, faith, and the Golden Rule.  Marie Price married Curtis H. Cline November 2, 1935, in Sikeston, Missouri.  They had two sons, Eugene and C. F. Cline, and a daughter Margaret Cline Harmon.  Marie's favorite roles in life was that of being a mother and grandmother.

My mother enjoyed flowers and always had flowers around the perimeter of the backyard.  In the south-western back corner were roses and a bird bath.  On the north-eastern corner, she had her prized hydrangeas. She often cut these flowers and brought some inside the house which made it smell wonderful.

She had a beautiful soprano voice, and I loved to hear her sing around the house and in church.  At one time she sang on the radio on behalf of the First Church of the Nazarene.  She passed her musical talent on to my brothers and me.

She enjoyed visual art and took my brothers and me to St. Louis at least once a year to tour the St. Louis Art Museum.  I used to go antique shopping with her, and she was always drawn to paintings and sculptures.  Today, my brother Gene and I are artists and enjoy sculptures too.

I have fond memories of watching her sew my outfits when I was young.  She sewed beautifully.  I was always well dressed, and my clothes were unique.  I remember one time she was trying on an outfit, and I can still feel the love in her hands as she tried on the dress or whatever the clothing.  That is a memory I will always treasure.

After her children were grown, she felt lost.  She gained weight over the years and was not happy for fifteen or twenty years.  Later in life, she joined the Eastern Star, and that made her happy again.  She enjoyed the fellowship and sisterhood.  It also gave both my parents a conventional outlet to enjoy.  I am grateful for God blessing me with a loving mother who did her best to expose me to many opportunities in life.  I believe she is in heaven with my father now, and they are happy.  Before I know it, I will join them.