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  • Writer's pictureRochelle Gridley

Young and Single on the West Side


The young women in the photo were for the most part already graduated from high school and working. Their basketball team was a leisure team organized on the West Side of Bloomington where they lived. A preacher at the Lutheran church organized sports for the benefit of the young people on the West Side where large employers such as the railroad shops and Beich Candy sponsored teams. Entertainments such as basketball, card parties and even road trips to visit family were important diversions for young people -- due to other temptations that were not as savory. The lives of these women will demonstrate that not all young women married immediately after leaving school, and like many young women today, delayed marriage until their late twenties, enjoying the independence of the single life!

The first from the left was Cecilia Jannick. Her parents came from Poland in 1905 and at age 16 Cecilia was already working as a candy wrapper at Beich candy. In 1934 she played on the State Farm women's softball team along with friends Mary Belz and Evelyn Gerth (neither of these women worked for State Farm at the time). She worked at Beich for ten years, and then married Glen E. Reidel on December 8, 1943 at age 28. He was stationed with the armed forces in Georgia, and it was Cecilia's intention to join him there soon after their marriage. After the war they returned to Bloomington, and Glen worked as a foreman for the telephone company.

The second woman was Irene Sweeney, the daughter of Edmund and Myrtle Sweeney. Edmund and Myrtle were both born in Illinois. Edmund worked as a machinist in the railroad shops on the West Side. Irene was the first of the women to leave Bloomington --to become a novice nun at Sinsinawa, Wisconsin in January of 1936. This was the home of the Order of St. Dominic, and she spent her life there, dying in 1999. She took the name Sister Narcissa according to one report, but a later Pantagraph announcement indicated her new name was Sister Petronius. This devout family included her brother John, a priest in the Peoria diocese.

Evelyn Gerth was the daughter of Carl and Martha (Seeger) Gerth. Carl Gerth was a painter in the railroad shops, and the family lived at 105 Magoun Street on the West Side. Evelyn Gerth worked with Beich Candy Co and was active with the confectioner's union during the 1930s. She would have been one of the young women facing down the railroad engines during the strike of 1938! She married Russell Taylor in 1938 and although they had two young sons, Russell enlisted and served in the Army during World War II. During the war Evelyn relocated with her sons to Tennessee to be near her husband. Later, they lived at 1024 Lafayette, and Evelyn worked as a housekeeper for ISU through retirement age. After military service, Russell worked as an auto mechanic and then in different positions at the American Foundry and Furnace Co until he rose to the position of foreman. After Russell's death in 1992, Evelyn lived with her daughter in the Fort Worth area and died there in 2001.

Mildred Lartz was the daughter of Alvina and William Lartz, two natives of McLean County. William Lartz worked for the MaGirl Foundry and Furnace Works. At the time of his death in 1935 he was the superintendent there. Mildred worked for several years for State Farm before her marriage in 1942. In 1940 she was elected to the leadership of the local S.P.U.R.S. club, a social sorority embracing the ideals of Service, Patriotism, Unity, Responsibility and Sacrifice. SPURS began as a college sorority in 1932, but was embraced by young women everywhere. Social clubs were a popular pastime for all people in the 1930s and members took part in frequent teas, card parties and dinners. Mildred married Delmar Martens, another member of Trinity Lutheran Church at age 27. They were married in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was stationed with the army. Mildred continued working at State Farm and later in the offices of Laesch Dairy, even after having two daughters. Her husband worked as a sheet metal worker for Melvin Lartz Co., a furnace company owned by Mildred's brother.

The last young woman photographed was Mary Belz. She attended high school with Irene Sweeney at Trinity High School. Her parents were Frank and Catherine Belz. Frank Belz was a rail road engineer in 1940, and Mary was a bookkeeper for a meat factory at the age of 23. In 1936 women like Mary Belz (shortstop) and Evelyn Gerth (catcher) were involved in forming a softball team and looked forward to playing teams from other cities. Mary never married, but moved to Chicago and then Phoenix, Arizona, always working for Armour and Co. She returned to Normal, IL in 1981 after her retirement and died in 2005.

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