My mother wrote about her personal history. She told the following story.
Sterling, a small village in Fountain County, Indiana, was my birthplace. Sterling lies next to Veedersburg, which being larger, has a post office. That was our address. I believe Sterling has now been incorporated with Veedersburg.
My father, the Rev. Charles E Howard, began his ministerial career in the Christian Church. Later it merged with the Congregationalists. He continued preaching for a total of 50 years. When I was almost 12, I made a public confession of my faith in Christ. A few months later my father baptized me in running water.
Verna F. Wilson from near Wingate, Indiana, was my mother. She was a fine Christian and dedicated to her home and family. There were seven children; I am the youngest having been born February 19, 1917, in my parents’ home.
These were Depression years. My father’s salary was never large, so there was no money for college. There were no jobs available. I had doubts about my future. About three weeks before the fall term began, one of my married brothers offered to loan me money for two years teachers’ training. I had already chosen Indiana Central College (now University of Indianapolis) as the place I wanted to attend. This was a United Brethren college and preachers’ kids were given a discount.
Two years later, armed with a teacher’s certificate, I began my job hunt. All kinds of jobs were still very scarce. Still hoping to find a school by fall, I found work at R.R. Donnelley’s in Crawfordsville, Indiana. I was fortunate in starting in immediately to work in the bindery at $.33 an hour. I soon made timekeeper for the day shift during the summer. Later I became a cost clerk and was moved upstairs.
The work was pleasant and pays adequate for the times. There were opportunities for advancement. However, I still wanted to be a teacher. After two years with Donnelley’s, I resigned to teach at Rob Roy a few miles from my parents.
While in college I met Thomas Adler. We were married May 3, 1941, by my father in our home. Tom was buying a farm in Adams County, Indiana, near his folks. We have lived on that farm for 52 years. Besides farming he taught school for 39 years. I taught for some years and did a lot of substitute teaching. With three children and helping with farm chores, there was hardly time for full-time teaching.
We continued our education and by 1956 both of us had earned Bachelors’ Degrees at Huntington College, Huntington, Indiana. In 1970, we received Masters’ Degrees in Guidance in Education from St. Francis, a Catholic College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Our church background is varied. Tom’s family was members of the Reformed Church, which later merged with the Evangelical Church. Soon after our marriage, he and I joined a Methodist church. For several years we attended a Church of the Brethren. In 1954, we united with Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, Decatur, Indiana. It was in the early 60s when we merged with the CC Church.
We have been active in each church we have attended. Both of us have been Sunday School teachers. On occasion both of us have filled in when the pastor was away. At times we do dialogues in lieu of a sermon or when teaching adult classes. These are always well received. We have been writing our own scripts for Sunday School lessons and talks for men or ladies groups. We also give talks for various groups outside the church and have been featured as after dinner speakers a number of times. Usually these talks are given solo, but we get some requests for, “Tom and Dorothy do something together.”