Contributing Writer
88-year old Elna Greenfield of rural Birmingham in Van Buren County had heard that the country-school teacher she had at Mt. Zion was still alive and living in Keosauqua. Elna remembered the teacher’s name, it was Veneta Pierce, and she was 10 years older than Elna. So she would be 98. “Lord have mercy!” Elna said to herself.
Elna searched and searched in the Keosauqua phone book, which was hard on her eyes because she has both glaucoma and macular degeneration. Then she remembered–the pretty young school teacher had gotten married. The man would drive by when they were out playing softball at noon and the kids would wave at him and make jokes and kissing sounds. “Oh, what was his name?” Elna wondered. “Leroy? Yes, that was it. Leroy Teal.” And there the name was in the phone book, Veneta Teal. With trembling fingers (she has polymyalgia), Elna dialed the number.