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ITEM: Manus Veenendaal, Jr., autobiographical narrative SOURCE: Riverdale Manor, Markesan, Wisconsin, recording and transcription.
THE LIFE STORY OF MANUS VEENENDAAL
JR.
He wanted his life history written down. While at Riverdale Manor, Markesan, he told his story:
Bom November 20th, 1901, Manus Veenendaal was the youngest of three brothers in the family of Mines and Anna Veenendaal. He had an older sister born July 20", 1894. She died in March of 1896. His oldest brother John was born July 4th, 1896. Then Bill was born July 2nd, 1898.
John, Bill and Manus lived with their folks on a farm which was homesteaded by their family on Radio Road. They were simple, hard-working people.
When Manus was 17 years old his Father passed away. This left the three sons and their Mother to run the farm. They acquired a farm next door too, and Manus did a lot of the chore work on this farm. After their Mother passed away in 1934 it left the three sons to take care of themselves. At this time they rented the other farm out and Manus became the cook and housekeeper until John decided to get married to Dorothy Westerveld in September of 1939. John and Dorothy made their home with Bill and Manus on the home farm.
After a sudden illness, John passed away on November 11th, 1951. He was 55 years old. After this Dorothy stayed in the house and became a partner in the farms and the housekeeper for Bill and Manus.
All Bill and Manus every really knew was hard work. They lived in a small world that consisted of going to church every Sunday, the feed mill in FairWater, and Waupun or Brandon for other businesses. Occasionally they would make a trip to Fond du Lac to the "foot doctor" or to the Markesan Home to deliver eggs. They always sat in the Sunday School room under the balcony, in about the 3rd row on the south side.
Manus was always the person that had to go get this tool or that thing. He seldom got to make a decision on his own because someone always made it for him. He seldom got to drive car - only to church on Sunday. He didn't drive the big tractor or the truck. That was done by John or Bill. He was a quiet man, doing what he was told and never having too much to say about anything.
Manus always had to do the "chores" while Bill did fieldwork or went to the mill. Many was the day that Manus would spend from early morning to late at night (5 a.m. - 10 p.m.) in the barn. The older Bill and Manus got - the later it got before they got done at night.
In 1978 Dorothy became ill and passed away in September. This put the house hold chores back on Manus shoulders.
About a year after Dorothy passed away, the "boys" were forced, because of Bill's health and their age, to retire from milking cows. They rented the land out and had chickens and a large garden.
Manus was content with this, but Bill never was. They supplied the whole neighborhood with eggs of which Manus was in charge of cleaning and packaging.
Manus cooked and kept house for the next few years while Bill's health began to fail. Manus's work load became heavier taking care of Bill and finally in 1984 Bill's health failed to the point where Manus could not care for him anymore.
Because they had always been together, it was decided they would move to a Home together. First to the Beaver Dam Care Center for a few months until they were able to get in the home which was their first choice - Riverdale Manor.
These were very trying times for Manus. But he accepted the events that were changing his life as something that had to be and never complained. He saw the only home he ever knew and everything in it left behind as he made his new home in Riverdale Manor.
Manus continued to watch his brother's health fail until Bill passed away on April 25, 1985. This was very hard on Manus because it left him completely alone - no family except a few cousins and many of the people he had known had already passed away.
But Manus adjusted very well to his new life in Riverdale Manor. His world expanded tremendously as he got involved in all the events held for the residents. He went on every van ride he could - he loved going for rides to a restaurant or on a picnic. He loved having an ice-cream cone or winning a banana at the bingo games. He went to weekly Bible Study groups, exercise class. And just took in every opportunity that came along to do some activity. He was enjoyed by the residents and everyone who cared for him at the home.
Manus enjoyed the tape ministry of his church very much. He always looked forward to the visits by the people who brought the tapes and enjoyed all the visitors that he got. This was one way he was able to keep in touch with the people from his church and he always remembered who visited and who brought the tape. If he didn't really know the younger people, he could associate them with their parents.
The calendar and a watch were a very important part of Manus's life. He especially enjoyed the church birthday calendar and knew many people's birth date by heart, and many times how old they were. He never missed a "full moon" or "new moon" or whatever phase the moon was in. His watch was always set on time and wound tight. He was happy in his own room in Markesan. He enjoyed his privacy and being on his own.
Manus was a very tender-hearted man. He seldom could talk about his brothers or Dorothy without shedding a tear. He never complained about anything even when he became sick in the home. The last day before he went to the hospital he told the ladies that he wanted to go along on the picnic so much, so they let him go, even though he had to go in a wheel chair.
Manus will be missed - by many people in the home that he came to love and call home and also by all the others who came in contact with him throughout his life. He wasn't the most popular guy in the world, but he left an impression on the people who knew him and cared for him.
Manus was the end of a family lineage. That is really hard to comprehend when you think about it. But that in no way means that his family will be forgotten by those who his life touched.
Manus passed to glory 5:07 p.m. July 30th. What a happy reunion that evening must have been.
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