My ancestors first appeared in Frederick Co. Virginia before the Revolutionary War.
At this time I don't know where they came from but they lived in a German speaking 
community and are probably of Prussian origin.

The first known generation of Dakes owned property, lived and died in Shenandoah Co., VA 
during the late 1700s and early 1800s.  Dunmore Co. was formed from Frederick Co. and 
later renamed Shenandoah Co.

The second generation migrated from Shenandoah Co., VA to Shelby Co. IN in the early 1800s.  
The third generation migrated to Iowa for a short time then back to Indiana and finally to 
Wright Co. MO before 1870.

The fourth and fifth generations remained in Wright Co. MO except for brief periods in 
California from the depression years until the start of WW II.
My paternal grandparents had rented their farm in Missouri and gone to California to 
find work around 1929. My father was about 15 and still in school but had known my mother 
as a close neighbor back in Missouri. He and his parents apparently made several trips to 
and from California and the Missouri farm over the course of several years. Mother was 
staying with Bill and Lizzie Kemp and working for them at the age of 15 when she married 
my father and went with him back to California in December 1935. My brother, Jackie Lee, 
was born in California in 1936.  Mother's parents had abandoned their farm in Missouri 
and moved to California around 1936 but was able to make enough money in California to 
buy it back and return to Missouri.  Mother's dad bought my parents a 120 acre farm in 
Missouri for $1200.00 and they stayed in California and worked until the farm was paid for.  
After WW II started they all moved back to MO in May of 1942.  They set up a saw mill on 
the farm, cut and sawed lumber for a house, barn, and other farm buildings. Some lumber 
was sold and some used to build buildings for Mother and Daddy's parents.  WW II was in 
progress and material was hard to get so building progress was slow.

I am the sixth generation.  I was born September 26, 1947 in Missouri.

My earliest memory is of one before I was able to walk.  The house where I grew up was 
completed the same year I was born but the concrete front porch was added at a later time. 
I can remember pulling myself up to the front door screen and watching the construction of 
the front porch with great interest.  It was formed with oak planking and filled with field 
stone then concrete was mixed on site and poured over the rocks.  My mother says that I must 
have seen a picture of this because I was too young to remember it but she has never been 
able to produce the picture (It's in my memory).

Another early memory is one of setting on my mother's lap in front of the wood heating stove.  
She had just built a fresh fire and the sides were glowing red.  I remember thinking this was 
so pretty, I reached out and touched the side with my toe :(

The farm where I grew up was located between the town of Mountain Grove and Norwood, MO.  
We received our mail from Mountain Grove but I went to school in Norwood.  My mother worked 
at a shoe factory in Mountain Grove and I stayed with my paternal grandparents during the 
day in my pre-school years. They were Dempsey Merritt and Mary Frances (Davis) Dake but I 
called them Dad and Mom Dake (I called my parents "Daddy & Mother").  They lived on a farm 
north of Norwood, MO. Mother would take me there very early every morning and pick me up 
after work. She would let me stay overnight only on rare occasions. She thought is was 
important that I knew who my real parents were and where my real home was.  There were 
times however, when I was sure they had it reversed :)

Dad and Mom Dake had a dark Maroon colored Chevy Pickup that we used to go into Mountain 
Grove every Wednesday ("Sale Day") and Saturday (socializing & grocery day).  Being in the 
days before seat belts, I would stand in the seat with my left arm around Dad Dake's neck 
while we drove.  The country roads were gravel (still are in many places) as was the main 
County road ("E" hwy). Only the state highway (60) was paved with concrete and had a curb 
with occasional breaks in the curb for water-ways.  Hitting the curb and water-ways was a 
lot of fun and never considered dangerous. In fact I would do this for thrills when I became 
old enough to drive and had a car of my own. Mom Dake would slip me some money, saying not 
to tell anyone because she "couldn't afford to give it to ALL the kids" and I would spend 
hours cruising the isles of the "Dime Store" (Ben Franklin 5&10) usually ending up blowing 
bubbles on the front sidewalk while Mom Dake talked to her sister Marinda and other friends.  
Mom Dake was pretty bad to brag about how I was such a "Good boy" or "Pretty boy" and goad 
her friends into doing the same.  Remarkably, I was never embarrassed by this behavior :)

Daddy and Dad Dake milked cows in the days before Grade "A" dairies were required. The milking 
area of the barns had poured concrete floors with a trench behind the cows just the width of a
scoop shovel which was used to clean the trench. The cows were milked with a vacuum milker 
system powered with a noisy electric pump located at one end of the barn.  Final milking was 
done by hand into a bucket.  If a cow wouldn't cooperate a set of shackles, called kickers, 
would be placed on her rear legs. The milk was poured into a 20 gallon can through a large 
funnel with a strainer pad inserted into the neck.  When a can was full the lid was hammered 
on and the next empty can would be opened.  The filled cans were stored in a water trough 
in the well house and would be picked up daily by a "Milk Truck".  Daddy's Milk Truck driver 
had one arm missing but could pick up the cans and set them up on the high flat-bed of the 
milk truck with ease.  When grade "A" milk facilities became a requirement both Daddy and 
Dad Dake sold their milk cows (except for one) and switched to the beef cattle business.  
Daddy's milk cow was quite a pet and he would just take the bucket out to the field and 
milk her by hand.  We skimmed the cream of the milk for churning butter and used the rest 
for drinking and cooking.

Daddy and Dad Dake took turns cutting each other's hair (and mine), initially with hand 
powered clippers and eventually with electric clippers. They were a smaller version of the 
"Sheep Shears" which were used to shear goats and the farm dogs.  Being untrained barbers 
but expert goat shearers the hair-cut style choices were "butch" or "Crew-cut" (Flat top).  
The farm dogs got an annual shearing along with the goats but the dog hair was discarded 
and not mixed with the goat hair.  Daddy's dog was "Old Joe", black and white in color, 
and a good cattle herder in the days before they quit milking but a pain to my mother 
because he liked the cool shade of her flower beds.  His job was to bring the cows in at 
milking time. He would also announce visitors or stray animals on the premises but only 
defend the premises when no one was home.  Dad Dake's dog was named "Bernie", solid black 
in color, and my companion when I stayed with my grandparents.  I could safely be left 
in his care when playing outside.  I would wander out of the house while Mom Dake was 
talking (constantly), play for hours and come back in and she would still be talking, 
apparently unaware that I had been gone. The only problem that ever occurred with Bernie 
was when we returned home from Mountain Grove one day.  I jumped out of the truck, ran 
and jumped on Bernie while he was sleeping and he instinctively snapped me in the left 
eye leaving me with a little crescent shaped scar and a scratch on the eye ball which 
my eye doctor likes to comment on.  Bernie was scolded by Dad Dake and forgiven by all.  
Dad Dake also had a Cocker Spaniel named "Ginger" that was considered "my dog" for a 
short time, but Ginger disappeared.  I never knew what happened to her but can now reason 
that Cocker Spaniels are of so little value as a farm dog that she was probably just 
disposed of.  My uncle, Merlin Rumfelt, usually got the job of disposing of unneeded 
dogs in the family and I've always suspected him :) Merlin and Thelma (Dake) Rumfelt 
lived across and down the country road on the next farm. Merlin would come by every 
morning for a cup of coffee before going on to his daily routine.  He drank his coffee 
"Black" and Mom Dake would give me a cup of milk with a little coffee in it. I eventually 
decided if Merlin could drink it black, so could I.  This was a difficult transition but 
now prefer coffee without any additives.  Mom Dake and I would sometimes walk over to 
Merlin and Thelma's place.  Mom Dake would always carry a stick with a piece of iron 
attached to one end just in case we met a "Mad Dog" on the road.  I later learned that 
she also carried a 25 cal. automatic pistol in her apron pocket, when I saw her shoot 
a chicken hawk that was attacking her chickens.  They would hang the hawks on a fence 
post as a "warning to other hawks".  I've heard talk about her shooting a goat that 
butted her down, but didn't see that one. 

The house where Mom and Dad Dake lived on the farm had a tin roof and no insulation.  
There was never any doubt about when it was raining :)  One winter a huge ice-sickle 
formed where the back porch roof joined the house roof.  Dad Dake was quite proud of 
it and being a kid I just backed off and ran right through it.  This is only time I 
can remember him getting really angry with me :(

The well-house was located across the sidewalk from the back porch and was where the 
milk was kept and where hay hands would wash-up for dinner (lunch) during hay season.  
Mom Dake would cook dinner and Dad Dake would draw one pan of water from the well.  
Everyone was expected to wash up using this one pan of water.  I suspect this was a 
trait developed during the hard times of the depression years.  Dad Dake continued 
this trait even after they retired and moved to town.  When the family would gather 
for Christmas dinner he would draw one basin of water for everyone to wash up for dinner.

Life on my grandparent's farm was pretty simple and a visit by the "Raleigh Man" was 
a major highlight.  The "Raleigh Man" was a traveling salesman with a case full of 
patent medicines and vitamins.  He came around periodically, would be invited in, 
where he would set up his wares and present the latest new "snake-oil".

When staying with Mom and Dad Dake it was my job was to meet Rutherford the mail man 
and get the mail. If a letter was to be mailed I had to make the transaction for the 
stamp needed.  If we were to be away when a letter had to be mailed I could leave the 
unstamped letter in the box with 3 cents and he would take care of it.

If someone drove by there was a race to the window to see who it was.  If someone 
drove by during the night there was much discussion the next day as to who it might 
have been and why they were out at night.  Most of the neighbors could be identified 
by the sound of their vehicles.  After Mom and Dad Dake retired and moved to town 
this became a habit that had to be abandoned but they initially continued to run to 
the window every time a car went by.

My maternal grandparents were Sherman Charles and Zadie Etna (Light) Jones but I 
called them Mom and Dad Jones.  They lived on a farm close to my paternal grandparents 
but I spent very little time with them when I was young.  We would visit them frequently 
and have family gatherings on holidays but I rarely ever stayed with them when my parents 
were not around.  When I was a teenager I spent one summer vacation with them.  Mom Jones 
had been in an automobile accident and had been diagnosed with cancer.  She was still 
ambulatory but was not in very good health.  She was raised as a preacher's daughter 
and her whole family (Lights) were notably different from other families that I knew.  
I found them to be pleasant and intriguing.  I am glad for the time I spent with her 
that summer.

When I was older I would work there during hay season running the hay rake.  Mom Jones 
would fix dinner for the hay hands and we were allowed to wash up directly from the 
outside faucet using as much water as we wanted :)

We had a tractor but daddy kept a work horse to plow the garden.  When old "Jim" died 
daddy would hitch the plow to the tractor and I would drive while he walked behind and 
plowed the garden.  He would yell "Gee", "Haw" and "Whoh" at me like he had done with 
the horse.  I couldn't reach the pedals so I would have to jump out of the seat onto 
the clutch pedal to stop.

Daddy and Dad Dake would put me in the seat of the tractor whenever they were working 
on machinery. I would watch what they were doing and ask questions. Whenever I asked 
how they knew how to do something they would always answer "It's just common sense".  
They had a large wood saw that connected to the tractor on the 3-point hitch and was 
driven by a large flat belt.  My job was to start and stop the saw and adjust the speed. 
I didn't realize at the time just how dangerous this arrangement was.  I later learned 
that Dad Dake's brother, John, had been killed when his coat was caught in the flat belt 
of a similar contraption.  In retrospect I'm sure that my job was designed to keep be 
in a safe place.

I started First grade when I was five (turned 6 in September).  There was no kindergarten 
in those days at Norwood.  My teacher was Mrs. Summers.  Her husband ran a farm in the 
area and she had taught school for many years.  We sat at tables with cut-out shelves 
underneath for our books. We had blankets and would spread them on the floor and take 
a nap in the afternoon.  My grandmother had been working with me before I started school 
so I already knew my alphabet and could recognize some words; but the school used "whole 
language" readers (See Dick. See Dick run. etc.) instead of phonics which I found 
uninteresting and difficult to use.  Word memorization is a reading method which I 
will struggle with all my life.

Second grade was hard on the knees of my pants.  A lot of time was spent on the floor 
pushing toy cars and trucks.  My mother resorted to double-knee pants and a lot of patching.  
I don't know if this was just a phase that second graders go through or if Mrs. Bolder just 
permitted excessive play time during class.  My brother was in his last year of high school 
and had a single seated car (coupe). Sometimes he would take me to town at noon. He usually 
had his girlfriend Mary and Mary's sister or brother with him so I would have to lay on the 
flat area behind the seat.

Third grade was taught by Maude Dixon a mature teacher of considerable experience and a 
no-nonsense approach to education.  The only way to have any fun in her class was to get 
her out of the room and post a watch.  Seating was now classic school desks where the 
desk top was attached to the back of the desk in front. The frames were metal but the 
tops, backs and seats were wooden with fold-up seats.  They were wide and we were seated 
two to a desk and shared storage under the top.  This shared storage arrangement led to 
many disputes, which were usually settled when Mrs. Dixon was out of the room. Violence 
was first introduce here as a mechanism to settle disputes.  Mrs. Dixon had a "real paddle" 
and wasn't afraid to use it. Fists and sharp objects (sharpened lead pencil works nicely) 
were frequently used also. My brother, Jack, had graduated so I was "on my own" at last.

Jack, had married Mary K. (Schudy) and managed a furniture store in Branson, MO. They 
lived in a small house in Hollister, MO and we went there almost every weekend for 
several (7?) years to visit and fish on the lakes.  I sometimes  stayed with them for 
a while during the summer and hung-around the store and the streets of old Branson. I 
obtained my first 3-speed bicycle (with hand brakes) there but was not allowed to ride 
it in town for fear that "I might run-off into the lake."

Forth Grade was taught by Alma Lou Dixon, a daughter to my third grade teacher.  Miss 
Dixon had a hardly respectable ping-pong paddle which we had to sign after each encounter. 
She was much less experienced than her mother and we had a lot more fun in her class. 
She would also be our teacher in the Fifth and Sixth grades and our English Teacher in 
High School.

Seventh Grade was taught by Lonn Penner my first male teacher.  I liked him and probably 
learned more from him than any other elementary school teacher although there is nothing 
that really stands out in my mind about seventh grade.  Well there was one episode where 
I bought a switch-blade knife from another student then asked Mr. Penner to keep it for 
me until school was out.  This resulted in both sets of parents being called into school 
and the transaction nullified.  Daddy and I never did understand what all the excitement 
was about. Apparently the knife belonged to the other student's father and he apparently 
was not authorized to sell it!

By the time I reached the Eighth Grade the old multi-story High School Building had been 
torn down and a new single story school built.  Eighth grade was now moved into the new 
building.  We had individual wooden desks with an attached desk top and storage under 
the seat.  We also had lockers out in the passage-way (hall) which were shared by two 
people. They had combination locks built into the door and a master key which the High 
School Principal kept.  Osa Van Noy, a mature and experienced teacher with a no-nonsense 
approach to education, was already known to me, as her daughter had married my cousin 
and I would be expected to get along with without any problems!  Every thing went pretty 
well except for the big clothes-pin BB gun conspiracy.  I turns out that the spring-type 
cloth-pin can be easily modified to fire a small projectile (BB) and then quickly restored 
to its original configuration and used to innocently hold papers or close a food wrapper.  
This allowed occasional use during class and all-out war during recess, lunch hour and 
any time Mrs. Van Noy was out of the room (look-out posted of coarse).  Activity of this 
magnitude could not be kept totally undetected however, which resulted in a raid on the 
lockers, desks, lunch boxes, etc.  The entire class was implicated, clothes-pins and 
ammunition confiscated and spankings for all assigned as punishment.  The girls wore 
full skirts with petti-coats for the next week or so until the whole thing was considered 
forgotten then returned to the usual dress of jeans and slacks at which time we were called 
into one of the High School class rooms and the principal and math teacher took turns with 
the official High School paddle and the matter was finally settled.  My class size was 30 
students and we had a graduation ceremony upon completion of Eighth grade.

High School was the first instance where I had classes in different rooms with different 
teachers.  The school had Baseball, Track & Basketball for sports (No Football).  Industrial 
Education was in a separate building (The Shop) as was the Cafeteria (The Lunch Room) and 
the Gymnasium (The Gym).
The Gym had wooden bleacher seating and a stage where school performances were held.  The 
bleachers could be moved (with enough students) out onto the basketball court and folding 
chairs setup on the floor.  This was the configuration and a school play in progress when 
it was announced that president John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, TX.  High School 
was pretty much standard for the times; Global Warming theory was out of fashion as a new 
Ice Age was about to descend upon us. We also received instruction on building fallout 
shelters and survival techniques for a possible nuclear holocaust.

Norwood was such a small town that I hung-out at Mountain Grove most of the time once I was 
mobile.  Dad and Mom Dake had sold their farm and moved to Mountain Grove. Dad Dake bought 
a new 1964 Chevy about the same time I turned 16 so I was offered his old '55 Chevy.  It 
was a blue and white four door with a six-cylinder engine and a stick shift.  He took me 
and the car to take my drivers test.  After some searching for the current license plate 
sticker (found in the glove compartment) the driving test proceeded and I got my license 
(I had been driving farm equipment since preschool days after all).

I made friends with kids from Mountain Grove and worked at the newspaper office for a time 
during my final year of High School.  I poured lead to make type for advertisments, folded 
and cut newspaper using a machine designed for that purpose, bound books for special print 
jobs and performed various other tasks as needed.

My dad had a Custom Bulldozing business and I helped him as a mechanic on the tractors and 
trucks as well as various farm equipment.  I had an interest in cars and had extensively 
reworked the '55 Chevy by the time I graduated from High School.  Because of this experience 
I continued my education in Auto Mechanics trade school in Kansas City, MO after graduation 
from High School.  I traded the '55 Chevy for a '60 Chevy with a V-8 engine and raced the 
car at the KC Drag strip during the time I attended School there.  I worked in a print shop, 
an import warehouse and a parking garage while in KC.

By the time I completed Auto Mechanics school I had decided that I did not want to work as 
an Auto Mechanic.  I had taken a Radio & Television class in High School and had worked on 
electronics equipment at home, building some ECHO test equipment and repairing Radios and 
Televisions.  I then attended two semesters at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College 
(SMS) in Springfield, MO concentrating on Electronics and Machinist Technologies. I then 
attended a Radio & Television trade school at the Springfield College of Technology and 
worked at a TV repair business running service calls.  Dad Dake had helped me finance a 
car (Mustang Convertible) and a one bedroom mobile home which I located at the Silver 
Bell Trailer park at Rogersville, MO.  I married Betty Sue Williams on May 24th 1968. 
After I had completed school the TV repair business closed and we moved the trailer to 
Mountain Grove, MO and went to work for Don Walker repairing Television.  Dad Dake owned 
a lot on each side of his house and we set up our trailer on one of the lots.  This is 
were we lived when our first child, Tami Jo, was born.

The Viet Nam war was in progress at this time (Started by president John F. Kennedy and 
escalated by president Lyndon B. Johnson) and I received my notice of induction in to the 
armed forces.  I joined the Navy on a delayed entry program to give us time to reorganize 
our lives.  I had passed the tests required for entry into the Nuclear Power program and 
signed a contract for a six-year term required to get into that program.  I left my job 
as a TV repairman, sold our mobile home and moved into an apartment.  I worked for my dad 
that summer (Better pay and flexible hours) and reported for active duty in September of 
1969 at St. Louis, MO.  I was sent to Orlando, FL for 10 weeks of boot camp where the 
Navy changed my program from Nuclear Power to Aviation Electronics.  I could have been 
released from the Navy due to a breach of contract but would have only faced the draft 
again so I continued on with the Electronics career.  In retrospect the civilian Nuclear 
Power program was severely suppressed by political pressure while the Electronics and 
Computer fields prospered so I came out a winner in the long run.

After basic training we were sent to Memphis, TN for advanced Electronics training then 
assigned to the Naval Air Station at Albany, GA. We purchased a house in Albany with the 
belief that we could sell it if and when transferred in four years.  This is where we 
lived when son, Tony Lee, was born.  I worked in Intermediate repair facilities on second 
shift repairing reconnaissance equipment such as Side-looking radar and analog tracking 
computers until the base was closed and moved to Key West, FL.  Due to the base closure 
we were unable to sell the house.  I had accumulated equipment that the Navy would not 
move so I built a trailer/workshop to accommodate the equipment.  We had an unfortunate 
accicent in a rain storm on the way to Key West and had to have the trailer towed to 
Key West at a later time.  I had also loaned a second car to a Navy buddy that didn't 
have transportation and he abandoned the car somewhere in Florida when he had some 
mechanical problems.  Upon arrival in Key West we learned that the Navy didn't have 
housing accomodations for the people they had assigned there.  We lived in the tranisent 
quarters until we could rent a house on Stock Island.  The Navy finally stopped destruction 
of some condemed units and allowed us to move in to one of them.  There was a crack in the 
concrete block wall of the bedroom large enough that I could put my hand through it but it 
was home for the few month that it took to get a transfer out of Key West. The home in 
Albany, GA was lost (signed over to the Navy after making payments on it for an additional 
six months).  The trailer was left in Key West and later sold as was the car that had been 
abandoned (Thanks a lot John).

Our next duty assignment was VA-35 Air Squadron based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia 
Beach, VA.  VA-35 was assigned to a newly built Aircraft Carrier "Nimitz"  CVAN-68.  My final 
years in the Navy were spent on sea trials of the Carrier in the Caribbean including a visit 
to Cuba and a three month cruise to Germany, Scotland and England after it was commissioned.  
I invited my parents to the commissioning of the Nimitz. President Gerald Ford flew in for 
the commissioning and was the first and only time my parents ever saw a president of the USA 
in person.
 
After my final tour of duty in the Navy we temporarily moved back to Mountain Grove, MO.  
A job offer was accepted in Waukesha, WI in September 1976 and the family was moved.  We 
rented a townhouse for a few years until a starter home could be purchased.  It was an 
older home that required some renovation and work proceeded as time and money were available.

The job consisted of the design and build of a new medical machine called Computerized Axial 
Tomography (CAT scanners).  The early machines were used only for neurological studies as the 
units were not large enough to fit a whole body into the machine.  They took eight minutes 
to complete a scan and the patient's head had to be secured motionless during that time.  
We soon developed a larger machine with less complex mechanical motion requirements and 
scan time was reduced to just a few seconds. Over the next 23 years we continued to 
improve and develop better and faster machines until I retired early to travel and do 
this genealogy work at which time we were performing four simultaneous scans in less 
than one second.

		--Owen C. Dake		May, 2001