Who is Anna Marie?

This diary was started January 1st, 1942; 3 days after my Grandmother, Anna Marie Reifers, turned 14.

In 1942 she lived on a farm in rural Spring Lake, South Dakota with her parents Gus and Zella and some of her siblings. Her parents had been farming in south eastern South Dakota since they married in 1912.

Her oldest 5 siblings; Alice (30), Bill (29), Cecil (27), Doris (26), & Bud (18); had left home with the oldest 4 already married and starting families.

WWII doesn't seem to have affected the family much yet, but her older brothers had all moved to Southern California or metro Detroit for work.

Anna Marie and her siblings Bernard (16), Jack (11), & Marguerite (10) attended the new Spring Lake School where they enjoyed modern toilets, running water and a new, non-coal furnace for the 40 students to warm their hands on after their walk to school. She was a pretty good student with excellent penmanship. Her teacher thought she was neat, & had a good attitude, but she could work harder. I can't wait to hear more about the play she has been practicing for!

She had attended St. Peters School in Farmer South Dakota for 1st - 3rd grades. I'm not sure where Spring Lake School was located, but the remnants of St. Peter's is a registered National Historic Landmark.

When the family goes "To Town", they head 7 miles South to Farmer (population 130) where they possibly attended the nearest Catholic Church; 9 miles into Spencer (population 600); or 17 miles south to either Alexandria (population 750) or Emery (population 500).

There are names I remember hearing from my Grandma growing up that are already popping up in the first month of her writings: Koepkes, Schnieders, Wegners, & Laufmans were always mentioned with a smile when recalling her childhood. I hope as I learn more about her life, I'll be able to flush out their stories as well.