Grace Truman Vardiman Nall (1878-1952)       

Shelby County, Kentucky & Saline County, Missouri


Photos:

Grace Vardiman Nall

Nall Children:
3 boys, 3 girls:

Vardeman B "Uncle Bo"
Frank
Howard Russell "Uncle Bud"
Bonnie
Virginia
Grace 

Content:

Age at Death: 74

State: Missouri

# of Children: 6


Click on any photo to enlarge

Left to Right: I believe the photo is labeled by birth order, not by how they are standing


Links:


  • Husband - Howard B Nall

  • Son - Vardeman Boone Nall

  • Son - Frank Nall

  • Son - Russell Nall

  • Daughter - Bonnie Nall Yokeley

  • Daughter - Virginia Nall Latham

  • Daughter - Grace "Little Grace" Nall Johnson



1939 Vardiman Family Reunion

11 Adult Children of
John Thomas & Cornelia


1939 Vardiman Family Reunion

Same photo as left, different source




Howard B. Nall at Ridgepark Cemetery (fought in Spanish American War)
d. 1 April 1940


Grace T. Vardiman Nall Obituary and
Death Certificate
d. 17 December 1952

Grandfather and Grandmother Nall

"My Grandfather Howard B Nall was in the Spanish American War as I recall him talking about riding with Teddy Roosevelt and remember my Grandma getting a monthly check until the time of her death."

Email from Dongene Yokeley May 2011


"Uncle Bo" at 1939 Vardeman Family Reunion


Corene Yokeley Nall, First wife of
Vardeman Boone Nall "Uncle Bo"


Bo & Corene Nall
with Rex Strawbridge
(Corene's brother-in-law)
(the husband of Irene (Yokeley) Strawbridge, a sister of Estel (Pete) Yokeley & Corene (Yokeley) Nall


Charles (Chuck) Nall,
Bo & Cora Lee Nall's son


Howard Russell Nall "Uncle Bud" Obituary
d. 16 August 1993

Uncle Bo

"Vardeman Boone Nall (Uncle Bo) worked at the shoe factory when he was married to Corene Yokeley (a sister of my Dad).  Uncle Bo took my older brother, Bill, and I fishing and hunting and Bill duck and goose hunting. I thought I was big enough to go duck hunting so I rode my bike to his house and got sympathy from his wife, Corene.  Corene was born in 1907 and died in 1946. 

Uncle Bo stayed single for a number of years until he married Cora Lee.  They had a son named Chuck Nall. He is currently working with the Leesburg police in Florida.  Uncle Bo bought a Western Auto Store in Sweet Springs, MO where they had a nice home. Business was good until a discount store moved in. Bo sold his franchise because he couldn't cut his prices down and make any money. Uncle Bo stayed in Sweet Springs but drove 50 miles to Marshall where he worked in the hardware department of an MFA store.  Uncle Bo died suddenly in 1969.

Cora Lee moved down to Florida to be with her son and his family. Cora Lee remarried to Mac Eacheren. He passed away and we heard she married again and that husband passed away. We all liked Cora Lee. She was a very nice lady."

Uncle Frank

"My first memory of Uncle Frank was on Christmas day and several more Christmases and Thanksgiving dinners at my grandmother's house. He had a very nice wife named Lorene. I was in grade school when I first stayed with them for a week. At that time Uncle Frank was a Missouri Highway Patrolman. He really looked good to me in his uniform and his pistol by his side. Back in those days they had to furnish their own cars. I remember he had a green car with a red light on top of i. One night we all went out to this tavern; I had teh biggest hamburger and french fries I had ever eaten. They also gave me money to play the pinball machine. They seemed to have a lot of friends and I had a good time. I visited with them again in my teens. Uncle Frank had quit the MHP and bought a salvage yard in Boonville, MO. I entered the military and later years working in California so I didn't get to hear very much about my relatives. Uncle Frank is deceased and I believe so is his wife, Lorene."

Uncle Bud

Howard Russell Nall (Uncle Bud) was the quiet one of my uncles. I don't remember very much about him until I was in my teens. In the early part of WWII he worked at a small factory where he built propellers for airplanes. By the time he was drafted the war was almost over. I can't be sure but I don't think he ever left the States. Uncle Bud's hobby was photography. After his discharge he got a job in the photography department at University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (for 31 years according to his obituary). We thought he would never get married; he surprised us by marrying Mary Francis, a very nice person. She worked in the library at the University, was a divorcee with a grown daughter already out of the house. I was in California but Mom told me Mary Francis had a stroke. I called a few times to see how she was doing. The last time she really sounded good. Some weeks later Uncle Bud suddenly died of a heart attack. I don't know what happened to Mary Francis, however, I think she is with her daughter."

Letter from Dongene Yokeley 23 November 2010


Bonnie Murle Nall and Corene Yokeley married each other's siblings


Sisters - Bonnie & Virginia Nall at 1939 Vardeman Family Reunion in Marshall, MO


Bonnie Murle Nall Yokeley
and son, Bill Yokeley


1991 Letter from "Little Grace's" husband, Riley to
Bonnie Murle Yokeley Nall Wood regarding her nephew,
Marvin Johnson ("Little Grace's" son) who died in an accident caused by a drunk driver

 

 

 

 

Aunt Virginia

"Uncle Oval and Aunt Virginia Latham:
I was in preschool when I first really got to know them. They had a daughter named Iris G Latham. She married Robert T Fitzsimmons who was in the Army Air Force.  They had two children, Virginia J. Fitzsimmons and Kathy J. Fitzsimmons, who are both deceased and buried at Sunset Memorial, Saline County the same cemetery where Uncle Ody and Aunt Virginia are buried.  Virginia was working at the shoe factory and Uncle Ody at the state school when I first remembered them.  Aunt Virginia later got a job at the state school.  For some unknown reason they both quit their state jobs and bought a bowling alley in Marshall, MO which only had four alleys and was never crowded.  It didn't take them long to see this was a losing proposition. They sold the bowling alley, moved to Chicago, IL where they both worked in an institution.  Uncle Ody cut my brother Bill's and my hair.  Aunt Virginia paid for my high school graduation ring."

(Note: Dongene Yokeley contacted Doris Hoyes in Marshall for Latham and Fitzsimmons family details.) 

Aunt Grace

"I never saw Aunt Grace.  I was real little when she died (at 28 years old) and she lived in Colorado.  She was divorced with two boys, Tommy, the oldest, and Marvin. All the relatives pitched in with enough money for mom, (Bonnie), to go by train and bring the body back.  I don't remember the particulars but not long after the boys were sent to Marshall and lived a number of years with Grandma.  Later Riley Johnson wanted his boys back.  He had remarried and his wife wanted the kids to live with them.  I don't know the truth but heard they didn't live long with Riley.  Marvin stayed in Colorado and Tommy hitchiked all over the U.S.  Marvin got hit by a car and is deceased. Don't know the status on Tommy; if alive should be 78 years old. " (See Ridge Park Cemetery)

Bonnie Murle Nall Yokeley (Mom)

"She was a single mom trying to provide shelter, food, and clothing for three kids during the depression.  My mother was fortunate as the International Shoe Factory was hiring.  Mom worked there for 30 plus years.  We moved five times before I went into the service.  We moved in with Grandma a couple times during that period.  I didn't know why but now I think mom didn't have enough money to pay the rent.  We lived in two houses that didn't have inside plumbing.  Mom heated the bath water either on the coal oil stove or the potbelly stove.  We bathed in a washtub and I was usually the last one to bathe in the dirty water.  Mom made sure we each had duties around the house.

My sister, Betty, kept the house clean and my brother, Bill, and I would bring in the coal and corn cobs in the witner time and in summer made sure the lawn was kept up.  We all had jobs at an early age.  Bill and I sold vegetables and magazines and mowed people's lawns.  Around the age of thirteeen we started delivering the Kansas City Star, twice daily.  I delivered the paper until I was a senior in high school.  We would bale hay for the farmers during the summers.  When summer was over and we went back to school our newspaper boss lady would always hire us back.  I know she knew our family needed the money.  Betty worked at the corner grocery store in the summer. 

Mom was very religious.  She taught Sunday School for over thirty years.  In the later years she taught people in their eighties and nineties.  We never had a car and I can remember the many times we walked to church in blizzard conditions.  My mom did not deserve such a hard life, yet even in the worst of times I never heard her complain.  She didn't have the energy or time to shower us with love but we knew she loved us.  In her later years Mom had dementia.  She never knew she outlived two of her children."

Letter and photos from Dongene Yokeley 23 November 2010. Updated via email 6 August 2011.  Thank you!

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