Pendergast was able to place many of
his associates to positions of authority.
Pendergast handpicked Harry S. Truman, the
1934 candidate for U.S. Senate. Vice
President Truman attended Boss Tom’s funeral
in 1945.
We got to see the former site of Harry
Truman’s haberdashery, as well as hear some
amazing stories about KC history.
While we were in KC we also got to
visit the WWI Museum. The entire museum is
underground and beautifully done. The thing
that struck us most was the number of men
around the world who died in the war. Nine
million men died! Yes, I said 9 million.
Because the US entered the war late, the
death toll of American soldiers were about
116,000. While that number is huge since it
represents so many families who were
affected, yet the number is hard to compare
to 9 million.
The other thing we noticed is how
history seems to be repeating itself.
Marilyn found a quote from Woodrow Wilson
that definitely showed how America’s opinion
is so repetitive.
We attended a night of worship and
praise at Legacy Christian Church in Lee’s
Summit, MO. We were especially drawn to the
mandolin/guitar player. He is our grandson,
Nate Heavilin.
We also had the privilege of driving
to Warrensburg, MO to meet a young woman who
had e-mailed Marilyn to thank her for
writing Becoming A Woman of Honor. That book
had an influence on Niki’s life. The book
was given to Niki by her mother in 1992. And
Praise the Lord, Niki turned out ‘good’ and
just wanted to thank Marilyn. We loved
meeting Niki and had such a wonderful time
chatting with her.
Our visit to KS has also included
three visits to Olathe, KS for repairs on
our ‘house.’ We are never excited about
these visits, but we survived...much poorer
financially, but we think all is well now.
Fortunately the repairs only included one
night in a motel. That was definitely good
news for us. We really miss being in our
little house and we know we are getting
older because we are dyed in the wool
creatures of habit.
We plan to head toward Michigan on the
11th of May, and then we will head toward
Indianapolis to see Marilyn’s doctor and
attend the Heavilin reunion. Then we will be
on our way to New Jersey. Alright!