By the time I came on the scene in Feb 1940, Mother "V" and Daddy "V" had been retired on the 5 acre plot in Forsyth, a few miles north of Decatur. Mother "V" was Lucy Peabody Venters and Daddy "V" was Ross Carroll Venters.

Their standard of living was modest but adequate with Mother "V" raising chickens and tending a garden and Daddy "V" raising a head or 2 of calves to fatten and sell. I do not remember them "going on a vacation" e.g., to a camp in Wisconsin or Minnesota like many folks did - they were mostly home bodies and seemed very content at that. I never heard any complaints from either about their lot in life.

As I understand it, our family (Mom, Dad, Phil, Sally and me) moved in with the Venters for a few months until we moved to 1330 N. Huron Street in Decatur. I am too young to remember this phase of things but this is my best shot.

I do not remember either of the Venters being excessively jovial. But they were always pleasant to be around. I frequently "stuck" to Daddy "V" like glue ... he used to give me "big nickels" - quarters. A special treat was for Sally and I to ride in a small trailer behind the big La Salle while Daddy "V" drove to Elwin (south of Decatur) to have a few bags of grain ground up for calf and chicken feed.

Somebody (probably Daddy "V") gave me the nickname of Uncle Raaf (or Oncle Raafe) from a comic strip of the mid-1940s. Uncle Raaf was a "character" ... and my fractious nature fitted the image. Daddy "V" told Mom, "Skeet, you'll never raise that boy!" I was very difficult to "contain." I remembered Oncle Raafe on the SVRR and placed it as a flag stop link just south of Binghamburg. [Note: you will likely need to increase your monitor's viewing size to see this - check lower right on your screen to adjust viewing size].

Some great memories about Mother "V" - she could do anything with her hands - but hard work was her forte! She raised chickens and sold them at about $1.00 "dressed" - hold the phone Ned: if the chickens had no heads or feathers, should they have been sold as "undressed?" She grew wonderful tomatoes - both red and yellow: beefsteak! She made the best tomato soup I have even eaten, before or since. She did cucumbers, onion and pepper - superb. Everything was home grown.

A major treat was to load up the La Salle and drive over to the Illinois River to buy a watermelon. These were the very big dark green melons - delicious. They cost about $0.25 in those days. To make sure the melon was good, you could "plug" it. If you did not like the taste of the plug, you put is back and selected a different melon.

After WW II they got a refrigerator - probably Westinghouse. The coils were on top. It did not have a freezer section. Frozen food was stored in a commercial freezer business. You walked in to your "basket" and took what you wanted.

Daddy "V" taught Phil to drive in the big La Salle - standard transmission of course - on the floor.

To keep his cattle stock controlled, Daddy "V" had an electric fence around the pasture. The small current was on-off-on with just enough juice to cause the livestock to back off. On the barn wall was a control box with a red light to indicate when the current was on. Brother Phil used to touch the wire during the "off" period to show me that there was nothing to fear - then ask me to grab the wire. I did and received a shock!

Daddy "V" was a golf enthusiast and won several championships at South Side Country Club in Decatur. Bill Andrews has a few golf certificates from those days.

------------------- Here's a piece from Sally: -------------------

ROSS CARROLL VENTERS Daddy "V" Ross was born 17 May, 1879 near Grove City, Christian Co, IL to Sarah Jane (Jennie) Huggins and Pleasant Venters. Ross and his older brother, Earl, grew up with a mother who was blind in her youth, but never let this handicap her from living a full, useful life.

 As a young man Ross was hired by Mueller Manufacturing Company in Decatur IL, 26 June, 1899.  He worked there first as a stock clerk, then later as a billing clerk, receiving and billing clerk, special record man, paymaster, credit man and finally head buyer in the purchasing department. 

 On 23 January, 1901, he married Lucy Esther Peabody of Stonington, Christian Co IL.  Lucy was the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Hewitt and James Allen Peabody. Their first home was on West King St, Decatur.

On 1 January, 1907, Ross quit his job at Mueller’s and started working with the plumbing firm, Field & Shorb, as buyer and cashier for $30 per week with an opportunity to buy stock in the company.  By 1912 Ross decided to venture out on his own, and opened a hardware store at 120 E Prairie St in Decatur. About 1915, Ross bought,  as an investment, a farm in Shelbina, Shelby Co, MO and had tenants live on it.  He had a chance to sell the farm in 1929, but chose to take a trip to Banff Canada before signing the deal. The 1929 financial crash happened while he was vacationing. When he returned, the deal fell through, he wasn’t able to continue making the payments, and lost the property and all his equity in it. This was the beginning of hard times, from which he never totally recovered financially. He retired in 1932 to a five acre farm near Forsyth, Hickory Point Twp, Macon Co, IL.  There he raised registered Hampshire hogs and Jersey cattle.  Lucy did the work to maintain a weekly chicken and egg route, getting up very early each Saturday morning to butcher and dress chickens and crate the eggs for Ross to deliver to customers in Decatur.

 Ross and Lucy were members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Decatur. He was a member of Macon Lodge #8 AF&AM, Macon Chapter #21 Royal Arch Masons, Beaumanoir Commandery #9 Knights Templar, Springfield Consistory, Ansar Shrine, and Grotto of Decatur.