Born To Be a Newspaper Man

by Martin J. McGowan Jr.

Betty

The third major event associated with Jan. 1, 1943, was meeting my wife, Betty. More formally she was born Elizabeth Jane Nolan, of Brainerd, Minn., but she went through life under the name of Betty.

The first time I saw her was in one of the lower halls of the high school. I had gone there to interview the football coach of Appleton High School about some details of his team. As I went looking for his room I passed this attractive woman heading for her office in the girl's athletic department. She looked attractive even in a sweat suit. She had just worked out some girls in outdoor physical education.

This was early in World War II and at that time federal requirements called for physical education in all grades, not just the lower grades. So she had a full load of work.

She had just graduated from St. Cloud State University-or rather St. Cloud State Teachers College, as it was first known. She obtained a degree in English and this led to her other assignment at Appleton. That was the position of school librarian. As her schedule worked out she seemed to alternate between physical education and library, so she had to change clothes several times in the school day.

I didn't learn all these details until that fateful date at the first of the year. By this time I had moved out of my father's home to the apartment of my Aunt Gertrude. She had a daybed in addition to her bedroom. It seemed a bit crowded but she was happy to have me and my stepmother was agreeable to see me go. My father did not express an opinion and the move was made.

My relations with my stepmother, Elizabeth, were not openly hostile, just uncomfortable. My father wanted both of us to get along, and I suppose we did. It was not until years later that I came to appreciate the many fine qualities Elizabeth had. But at the time I seemed to be a fifth wheel, as I felt when she married my father. They had a lovely daughter, Eleanor, who was their pride and joy. By 1943 I was an adult in their way and accepted Gertrude's offer to live with her.

She was the nearest thing I had to a mother. While my grandmother was living she supervised my upbringing. As she failed I recall driving her around the countryside, even though I was only 13 and 14. Regulations on driver's licenses were not so strict in those days. One could get a license at 15 by paying a fee of 35 cents. I kept renewing that license until I was 79, without ever being tested for my ability.

All this is getting ahead of the story. Back to Jan. 1, 1943. At about that time Gertrude, who was a good Bridge player, decided to get out the card table and have a foursome. I had seen this attractive teacher at church along with her roommate, Elizabeth Davis, the home economics teacher. So Gertrude invited them for this Bridge session.

Gertrude may have been acting as matchmaker for her nephew. I was about the only eligible young man in town at the time and to have a Catholic teacher in this strong Lutheran town was a unique situation. In fact, Betty and Davey, as she was called, filled the unofficial quota for Catholics on the faculty.

Aunt Gertie's matchmaking worked. She introduced me to Betty in January, we became engaged in April and were married July 3, 1943.

We dated some that spring. Without a car our dates consisted of walks to the Reno theater. Our first date was to attend the movie "My Sister Eileen," starring Rosalind Russell. Betty recalls that I particularly enjoyed the movie because I laughed so heartily.

There was one unusual aspect to the engagement. My father must have seen what was happening. One day that spring he came to me and handed me the engagement ring he had given my mother. I was totally surprised. I didn't know he had the ring and I don't know where he kept it for the 20 years following my mother's death. I was overjoyed to receive it for its sentimental attachment. I put it to use one evening when Betty and I were riding to Montevideo with two other teachers. From the back seat of that car we announced our engagement to those in the front seat. The engagement became official when her parents had it announced in the Brainerd newspaper.

Our wedding was a low-key affair. Msgr. Scott officiated. He remarked ours was the first all-Catholic wedding he had in the St. Francis church. Betty's brother, Henry Nolan, stood up with me. Mary Catherine (Mickey) O'Brien, a longtime friend of Betty, was her attendant. My cousin, Alicia McGowan Nelson, was the soloist. Ed Tom O'Brien, local merchant, politician and developer of the first Brainerd radio station, was the organist. Joe Dunn, another local merchant and postmaster, was the usher.

We had a meal in a downtown restaurant and made plans for a short trip to Duluth. To do this we had to borrow my father's car. He and Elizabeth spent the weekend on a vacation at one of the local resorts and made their way home with others from Appleton.

Something unusual occurred on that trip. Betty's roommate, Davey, was at the wedding and her home was in Duluth. We invited her to ride along with us. She was reluctant to go along on our honeymoon, but we persuaded her to have a free ride home. This was a war year and gasoline was rationed and ration coupons were needed. There were A, B and C coupons based on who needed gasoline the most. Doctors and clergymen rated the highest. Farmers also had a high rating along with police and firemen. Ordinary citizens had the lowest standing.

Ben Pulkrabek, who lived across the street from us in Appleton and who ran a bulk gasoline business, operated a station in Brainerd when we married. He came to our rescue for gasoline. He had us fill our tank with unrationed gasoline as a wedding gift and sent us on our way.

There was a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine which portrayed the situation at that time. It showed two cars passing on the highway in an open area with no other cars in sight. One fellow leaned out of his car window and said. "Hi, Doc." The other driver replied, "Hi, Reverend." That was the situation at the time with only the top priority drivers visible on the highways. We felt lonely as we made our way to Duluth.

We spent our honeymoon at the Hotel Duluth and went to Mass Sunday, July 4, at the nearby cathedral. It was a small, older church that went through several changes after a new cathedral was built on a hill in the eastern part of town. We walked around visiting the sights. Monday was a holiday since the 4^th^ was on a Sunday and we made the trip home through Brainerd and on to Appleton. I was back at the Linotype on Tuesday morning for the start of a short week.

Betty did a fabulous job with the nine children with whom we were blessed. It was no small job washing clothes, feeding and mothering such a large crew. As she got older Margaret was a great help to her mother. At one time we had eight children in school and one at home. Fortunately we had three bathrooms in our house to relieve the congestion. Nevertheless it was a big job getting them all off to school on time. As we look back on it now we wonder how we were able to do it. It was largely due to Betty's organizational effort.

When we went to Mass on Sunday at St. John's church in Appleton we came in a side door directly into a front pew. We took up the entire pew. Then we had to participate in school activities and social groups. Betty had her Bridge club and we were members of a couple's Bridge club. Appleton was a lively small town.

When I was in the legislature more of a burden fell on Betty both at home and at work. She kept an eye on what was happening at the Press office and with the children getting older she had to keep an eye on what they were getting into outside the home. She always pinch hit where she was needed in our newspaper operations gathering news, taking pictures and collecting bills.

When Vince joined me at the Blue Earth Post I gave him a title of editor.

Betty sometimes needled me that I didn't give her a title. The only answer I had was that she did so many things that I didn't know what title to give her.

I was quite proud of Betty when we were in Blue Earth and she decided to take some advance studies. She started taking some courses at Mankato State University. When we moved to St. Cloud it was easy to enroll at St. Cloud State. At one point she was getting tired of it and wanted to quit. I wouldn't let her and I urged her to continue. She had put too much effort into the courses to stop then. So in June, 1992, she received a Masters degree in Gerontology, 50 years after she received her baccalaureate degree at the same school. This drew some attention from the media and a feature story was carried on one of the Twin City television stations.

She did her internship for the degree when we moved to Pequot Lakes and did it with the Minnesota Senior Federation. She has a great interest in health care issues. She became president of the Heartland region of the Minnesota Senior Federation and worked on one of their programs called Senior Partners Care.

If Betty had her way we never would have left Appleton. We were comfortable and accepted there but it was apparent we could not educate nine children on the income provided by the Appleton Press. As a consequence, we made several moves looking for a large newspaper operation and the income it would provide. While Betty doesn't like moving, she always accepted my decisions and went along with them. I am not an easy person to live with. She has been a very helpful, patient and loving wife who I am honored to have as my life partner.

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