By Beverly Clinkingbeard
Long overdue, but better late than never . . . belated congratulations to Carrol and Dorothy Green.
On a cold day, January 21, 1949, the son of Kyle and Ruby Green and the daughter of Clarence and Lizzie Matheny tied a matrimonial knot. They wed in Shenan- doah, Iowa, and after cake and ice cream went for a short honeymoon in Omaha, Nebraska. They remember driving home on very icy roads.
Carrol and Dorothy at- tended grade school and graduated from Westboro High School. In fact, Carrol laughs and says, “I picked Dorothy to be mine early on. She was in first grade.”
Prior to farming with his father and grandfather, Carrol attended what was then called Northwest Missouri State Teacher’s College. He missed the Korean War draft by six months, but served in the local National Guard. In the big Missouri flood of 1952, the Guard Unit was stationed at Thur- man, Iowa. Carrol remembered keeping the peace patrolling with Ford tractors.
In the polio epidemic of the early 50s Carrol spent several weeks in the hospital. He remembers hearing the wheeze of many iron lungs
Through the Methodist Church they heard where help was needed and joined crews in disaster clean-up in Texas, Mexico, Missouri, and Arkansas. They worked at Sunshine Acres, a special school for children with dis- abilities. Carrol is handy with tools and has helped build numerous Habitat for Humanity homes. They met Mel West, founder of PET (Personal Energy Trans- port) now known as Mobility Worldwide. Carrol crafted wood frames and seats for the tricycle-type heavy-du- ty vehicles that are person powered by hand cranks and are designed specifically for those who have lost limbs, generally through hidden explosives in war-torn ar- eas, or due to childhood dis- ease, such as polio.
They also rode Amtrak through the Rocky Moun- tains and made a trip to Ire- land.
Carrol and Dorothy now reside at Eiler Place, Clar- inda, Iowa. Their bulletin board is filled with family photos – the grandchildren, their activities and achieve- ments, of which, Carrol and Dorothy are understandably proud of.
Belated congratulations and a big thank you to two folks who have lived life well and set an example for the rest of us.
