Eleanor was married to Fred Neeley at the First Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN on July 28th, 1945. Reverend Herschel Roper was the pastor and Lorraine Albers and Ruby Soeffker were the witnesses for the wedding. After the ceremony, Fred and Eleanor went to Goodhue for a couple of weeks before moving to Cochranton, PA.
Fred's family lived in Cochranton, so they decided to move there to see if they liked it. Fred found employment at a zipper factory, and Eleanor took the bus to one of the surrounding towns where she applied at a Catholic Hospital for a nursing position. Nurses were is such demand that they offered to let her start that day, even though she wasn't Catholic.When Fred returned home that evening and asked what she had done today, she told him that she had found a job and was starting tomorrow. They rented an upstairs apartment from the Powell's. She remembers the name of the family, because when she went into labor and needed to go to the hospital for my sister Janet, Mr. Powell drove her to the hospital, as Fred was at work and they didn't own a car.
Eleanor remembers how nice Fred's half brother Buster and his wife Velma were to them. Buster was a bread delivery man, and Velma was a school teacher. They had two girls from Velma's previous marriage. Eleanor described Velma as a beautiful woman with golden hair. One day Buster and Velma drove Fred and Eleanor out to the Neeley family home in their car. She remembers Buster's comment of "My God, she's pregnant again!" as Fred's mother came out of the house. Cora Neeley was pregnant with Paul Neeley, who was born a couple months before Janet.
Janet Neeley was born on April 29th, 1946 and was baptized in an Episcopal Church in Cochranton, PA.; Buster and Velma Neeley were her god parents.Shortly thereafter, Fred decided that he wanted to rejoin the military, as he didn't see himself working the rest of his life in a zipper factory. Eleanor was happy with the decision as she had enjoyed military life and the idea of travel appealed to her. When Fred returned to the Air Force, he had to go to a training program, so Eleanor took Janet and returned to Minnesota where she lived with her Aunt Margaret until Fred received his assignment.
Note: When I use italics, I am injecting editorial comments. I hope that what I write here is not offensive to people, but I have made an effort to record her thoughts as accurately as possible.
I would speculate that Fred and Eleanor had enjoyed the thrill of the military during WWII. You were doing something of vital importance and literally risking all on a daily basis; so life in Cochranton and a job at the zipper factory weren't as satisfying as they would have liked. My mother has always had a special affection for her Aunt Margaret, and as I have been talking with her, it is always Margaret who my mother had confidence in and knows that the door is always opened for her. Eleanor has commented several times as we have been working on this project that Fred did not graduate from high school. He was embarrassed about this and kept it a secret for quite a while. "He was very intelligent, but never had the opportunity to get his education, he could have been an officer".
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