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Note: From Iris Dillard Sanwell (Samuel), Sep 2001:
"I was spoiled by both mother and grandmother when we lived in Chicago. Both Rose and Iris went to College and were good students. The money ran out and I never advanced my education. There have been times when I envied the opportunities that a College education can bring."
"Grandmother was financially well off. For example, grandmother had a cousin who was a diamond broker. She had him order diamond rings from Holland and gave them to Dale and Iris at High School graduation." (TRH - both about 1 carat and of high quality)
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From TRH, Mar 2002: Named for her father who died shortly after her birth. I first got to know my Aunt Iris when she move from Illinois to Atherton, California. For many years Iris had had a close friendship with Elaine Hildebrand in Chicago. Both ladies worked for a Company which produced printed catalogs and they shared an apartment. Their primary outside interest was raising and showing Afghan dogs. Then Elaine decided to marry. Iris did not ancipate this event and found herself somewhat adrift and ready to retire.
With encouragement from Mom, Iris moved to the San Francisco area of California without difficulty. This lasted only for a few years because she did not like the "warm" climate. She wanted to move to cooler location in Northern California. Mom and Phil Fillerup helped her locate a house builder in Eureka and, later, make the move. The modest duplex house in Atherton that she purchased had increased so much in value that it paided for the new home.
Since then, she has lived comfortably in Eureka. My wife, Sharon, and I have visited with Aunt Iris many times. Personality-wise, she is a individualist and pragmatist. She does not like to rely on others and has her house well stocked, indeed over-stocked, with food and supplies. Her sole support comes from Social Security and modest interest from CDs in the bank. She is tactful and considerate. While friendly and an excellent conversationalist, she does not require a large circle of friends to be happy. Our visits with her are always a delight. She has an appetite for history, science and politics, which she follows through book reading and TV. Recently she has been struggling with reincurrent breast cancer, a condition which was treated successfully many years ago and now has reimmerged. The chemotherpy and radiation treatments have not dampened her spirit. Addendum: Treatment was sucessful. Her cancer remitted.
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From TRH, Sep 2010: Auntie is now 91 years old. She is well and still living alone in her Eureka house. She drives herself to the store to shop and continues to maintain an independent attitude. Her long-time Eureka friends Dan and Diana Lockett, some 30 years her junior, continue to look in on her from time to time and are there for her should she need them. She corresponds regularly with cousin Bonnie (Bodine) Gravelle, Sharon and me and Diana Lockett. That is a small circle of significant others, but she does not seem lonesome. Sharon and I notice some slowing down. The recent hearing aids she received are only partically overcoming the impairment. Iris claims that back troubles force her to sleep on a reclining chair. She goes to bed about 11 pm and rises about 12 hours later. Efforts to find a special bed have not been sucessful but on our last visit we got her a spacious electronic medical recliner which provides easy positioning and exit from the chair. She is young looking for her age and is pleased when people routinely underestimate her age.
Iris recalls the following time sequence in her early days in Illinois: Dillard and Gussie lived in Braidwood for one or two years; they then moved to Willmington where Dale and Iris were born. Eleven years later, after the death of Dillard, they moved to Chicago to live with granmother Rosa Marx. Seven or eight years later they all moved to Urbana to further sisters Dale and Rose college education. Iris regrets that she was not given the opportunity to advance her education.
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From TRH, Jan 2012 visit to Eureka: Since her fall last year Aunt Iris is using using a walker. She was hospitalized last September and has very recently been diagnosed with heart trouble (Aeortic stenosis - flow resistance through the Aeorta). Her physical limitations are apparent and we are considering bring her down to TX to live close to us, should she agree.
Iris related that Aunt Liz, Uncle Oscar (Marx) was very kind to Iris when she was a child. Iris would visit Aunt Liz in Chicago every summer for about two weeks. They would go to the Loop for a soda at the Ice Cream Place. Uncle Oscar was a quiet man and showed little emotional expression. He worked at the Post Office.
Iris's Uncle Louis lived in the apartment with his mother, Rosa. For a time Iris mother, Gussie, and children also lived with Rosa. Uncle Louis sometimes took Iris for a walk and at the same time visited with his girl friend. This arrangement was kept a secret from Grandma Rosa. Grandma Rosa was a sucessful businesswoman and as a consequence, both Louis and Gussie recieved a very generous inheritance. Much of their inheritance was lost, however. Gussie lost her's in the Chicago real estate crash and Louis lost his in the purchase of an unsucessful chicken farm. Uncle Morris was married to (Anna) Margarite - the one who drank coffee (in contrast, Iris notes that Margarite's sister, Liz, drank tea). Morris was not a favorite - he was viewed as a "ner-do-well".
Iris's namesake was Iris Eyer - a cowork of Iris's father, Dillard prior to Dillard going to Med School. Iris recalls visiting her namesake in a womans "prison". There, Iris wandered away on the visit and was found on the grounds in the quarters of some of the women inmates. No harm was done - they loved little Iris' unscheuled visit.
[Internet Genealogy data: Iris Eyer is listed in the 1902 Bloomington City Directory as a student, in 1910 as a book keeper for a grocery store and in 1927 (about the time Iris would have met her), chief clerk of Alton State Hospital for the Insane in Madison County.]
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30 May 2012, 6PM pacific time: Iris Sanwell died in Eureka, Humbolt Co., CA at the age of 93. She was preceded in death by her two sisters, Rose Hopkins Fillerup and Dale Bodine. Surviving relatives are nephew Thomas (Tim) Hopkins residing in Port Mansfield, TX; niece Mary Jean Grinsell of Manteca, CA and nieces Betty Lew Coda, Bonnie Gravelle both residing in Honolulu, HI. Iris live a modest but well planned life doing it, as the song goes, "my way". While advanced years left her with physical problems, her mind was clear and her polished soclal skills remained unblemished. Her long term interests included dog raising, poetry and history. She was always curious and wanting to learning about new things. It is accurate to say everyone liked Iris. She will reside forever in the thoughts of those people who were fortunate enough to get to know her. Iris requested cremation. Her ashes will be place next to those of her mother, Gussie Marx Samuell in Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, IL.
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