Velta Valentine MIERS ¹

   Other names for Velta were Mrs. Velta Valentine KUNKEL and Mrs. Worth Sherwood KUNKEL.

   User ID: P00050759.

  General Notes:

Velta and Worth were farmers near Knoxville, Iowa, until they retired and
moved into town. They owned two farms, one was theirs and one was left
to them by Worth's father. They farmed theirs.

Lucille Miers Webster stayed for a week at a time for several summers
with Velta and Worth on their farm. Lucille recalls the fun she had
helping churn butter by hand then having a snack of Hostess chocolate
cupcakes and real rich cream. Playing in an old black buggy that had
been pulled by a horse and used before cars for transportation was
exciting. Lucille and her aunt always had a good time on the farm, her
aunt giving Lucille a baby chicken one time to take home. The mother
chicken rejected the baby chick as it was black and the rest of her brood
were yellow. The chick almost died from being pecked by the mother when
Lucille rescued it, fed it, and played with it and it recovered. Lucille
was also thrilled to be given a kitten of her choice to take home on each
stay at Velta's farm. What a good time that was!

Velta was an active attendant at the Methodist Church and often gave
people rides to church functions until she was forced by her health to
live in a nursing home. She told her granddaughter, Wanda Goering
Anderson, once, that she felt that she had truely wanted to be a
missionary but she married instead. She did end up loving her husband
very much, though.

Velta died in the nursing home in Knoxville, Iowa.

Velta and Worth are Buried Indian Chapel Cemetry, Attica, Marion Co.,
Iowa, Row 6 (see reference 3, pages 552-580).
Worth's parents were Jacob S. (1868-1950) and Olie D. (1874-1896) Kunkel
and are also burried at Indian Chapel Cemetry.

Per Velta, her father, Joseph Miers, used to speak of an Aunt Lydia and
Uncle Jake Probaco. Note: It is pretty certain that Jake and Lydia are
Jacob (called Jake) and Elizabeth Probasco. Jake is the son of Joseph
Miers' Aunt Mary Ann (Miers) Probasco. Lydia could be a nickname for
Elizabeth. Also, Lydia was Mary's mother. That may possibly have caused
the mix up in names. Joseph was five years old when he moved away from
Jake and Elizabeth Probasco. Jake was an adult when Joseph was five.

References: (1) Buriel place found in cemetry records, Marion County
Courthouse, Knoxville, Iowa, and on the tombstone at Indian Chapel
Cemetry. (2) Data about Velta and Worth's only child, Estella, their
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren was provided by their
granddaughter, Wanda Goering Anderson.
(3) Cemeteries of Marion County, Iowa, 1776-1976 book by Marion Co.
Genealogical society, published by R.C. Booth Enterprises, Harlan, Iowa,
with a publication date of 1974. (4) Record of Births Marion County,
Iowa, 1897-1918 (at Knoxville, Iowa), Book 6, page 327. (5) Data
received from Myrtle VanLoon, daughter of Stanley Earl Smith, brother to
Orville and sister to Ruth who collected family history data. When Ruth
died, Myrtle acquired Ruth's data. Myrtle gave Lucille (Miers) Webster
the family history data to make copies on April 6, 2000 at Myrtle's home
in Knoxville, Marion Co., Iowa. (6) Electronic mail (e-mail) from Wanda
(Goering) Anderson dated February 14, 2003. Wanda was remembering her
grandparents, Velta and Worth Kunkel.

Velta married Worth Sherwood KUNKEL on 26 Jun 1918 in Knoxville, Marion, Iowa, USA. (Worth Sherwood KUNKEL was born on 21 Mar 1896, died on 7 Oct 1969 in Knoxville, Marion, Iowa, USA and was buried in Indiana Cemetery, South Of Attica, Marion Co., IA,.)