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History:
About John J. and Margaret
(Dreiling) Denning
(Excerpted from
2004 memorial calendar produced by Dennis Denning, John J.
and Margaret (Dreiling) Denning - August 2003.)
John J. Denning was born May 16, 1891 near Emmeram, Kansas
and died in Russell, Kansas September 2, 1958. Margaret Dreiling
was born July 25, 1892 in Victoria, Kansas and died in Russell,
Kansas July 13, 1970.
Our parents were Volga Germans whose parents
immigrated to America around 1877. They were married February
14, 1913. They settled near Emmeram where they had thirteen
children. Mom and Dad never moved farther than twenty miles
from their original homestead. Their hobbies varied.
Dad loved to sing in the church choir. He
played baseball and was the manager of the Emmeram town team.
He enjoyed observing and discussing court cases in Ellis and
Russell counties. He was a good visitor, a good listener,
and he could be described as the strong, silent type.
Mom, by contrast, loved to talk and
was a great conversationalist on just about any topic. She
was extremely well read and loved radio and movies. She attended
many of the Russell High Scholl plays. When Carroll and Dennis
were plays, she was "front row center." Mom loved
Jack Parr and enjoyed watching news programs and documentaries
on television. Dad loved to dance while Mom would converse
on the sidelines. Dad ran for political office (the school
boards in District 34 Emmeram) and Mom would write articles
for the Hays Daily News.
Dad was conservative while mom was
more adventuresome. She and Cy were instrumental in making
the move from Emmeram to Russell in 1940.
Our parents usually voted Democrat,
although they switched to Republican during FDR's last two
terms. Mom never forgave Roosevelt for promising that he would
never send American boys to war overseas and then breaking
that promise after Dec. 7th, 1941. She had eight sons.
Dad was a tall five-foot nine, handsome
with black hair; mom was five foot four and had brown hair.
Religion was very important to both;
mass on Sunday was never an option, and during lent we prayed
the rosary five nights each week. Sometimes we prayed in German,
sometimes in English. We learned the German vocabulary before
English. When we began school, we were required to speak English
in the classroom.
Mom was adamant about a good education. She would work with
us on our lessons and was our best teacher. Our parents would
be proud to know out of 43 grandchildren, 36 had a college
degree and a number have masters and doctors degrees.
Our parent used alcohol sparingly.
I never saw either intoxicated. They were honest, believed
in a strong work ethic and dad believed in paying cash.
Mom cooked Volga German foods. She
was not a great gourmet cook, but we loved her ethnic dishes.
Their greatest pride was their family,
and they raised us with love, care and joy. During the depression,
we experienced years of poverty, but there was never a poverty
of spirit. We always knew we were wanted and loved. To paraphrase
Harry Truman: "They did their damn-dest!"
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