Country School Kids – Lois Paine Widmark – College, farming, family, and Arco Public School

Lois met her future husband, Arnold Widmark, while in high school and corresponded with him during WWII, when he served with the Merchant Marine. When Lois was discharged from the WAVES, she moved to Blair, Nebraska, to live with her parents and attended two years of college on the GI Bill. She explained her reasons for attending college.

“I always thought, if I ever had the chance, I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher. Mom and Dad lived on the acreage that adjoined Dana College, a church college. Since I lived there, I could walk up the hill and get to the college. So, that’s why I went there two years. I did my student teaching in third grade in the Westing School in Blair. I liked it! I finished a two-year teaching degree there.”

While Lois worked through college, she remained in touch with Arnold and they eventually became engaged.

“We were married in March, but I still had the rest of the school year, so I had to stay in Blair and Arnold rented a farm (in Lincoln, County, Minnesota). I went to school from March until I finished there in the summer of 1948.”

Lois joined Arnold in Minnesota after she finished at Dana College.

“Arnold’s folks lived west of (Ivanhoe). We lived with them one year and then we were able to buy a farm. Arnold always thought he was lucky — he got a son and farm in the same year, 1950.”

Lois’ kindergarten dreams went on hold while she helped operate the farm and raised their three children, Alan, Dianne, and Jackie.

“I liked being at home. I did a lot of farm work. I liked the chores and I had my family. Oh, I just loved my kids. It was so neat to see (them grow up on the farm)!”

As her kids grew and became more self-sufficient, she returned to her dream of teaching kindergarten.

“I was taking care of Gladys Crane, who was going to these off-campus night classes. She found out about my background and said, ‘I’ll find another sitter for a while and you come with me.’ We went to classes in Pipestone, Canby, and Marshall. It took me 10 years of night classes to get my junior year off-campus from St. Cloud and Mankato. A lot of the teachers just had Normal training. (A course of study at state-certified, Normal Schools for elementary school teachers.)

The completion of Southwest Minnesota State College in Marshall accelerated Lois’ bachelor’s degree in elementary education studies.

“The college was built so I could go to school at the college my senior year. I wasn’t always on-campus as I did a lot through night work. But I was on-campus while both of my kids, Dianne and Alan, were on-campus. I never saw them (Lois chuckled) and they didn’t want to see me either.”

An opportunity to teach at Arco’s small public school reached out to Lois while she was still completing her studies at SMSC.

“It was pretty close to when school started in Arco that they needed a teacher. Somehow, I met one of the school board members. I taught 3rd and 4th grade in Arco from ’66 to ’67. I only had nine students. That was really fun because I taught the seven girls how to knit and do embroidery and the two boys did some wood-burning projects. We read all of the Little House on the Prairie books. They couldn’t wait to get their regular class work done. Oh, they begged! They got so wrapped up in those stories. With only nine kids what do you do? (Lois chuckled) I had a great time in Arco. It was fun. (Lois chuckled again) I liked everything about school.”

Arco Public School had a very small staff.

“Eleanor Tolk was the 1st and 2nd grade teacher and Angie Reidel was the 5th and 6th grade teacher. Mrs. Hendrickson was the cook. The kitchen was where we could have coffee if we took turns taking the kids out for recess or our noon meals. She liked to cook cinnamon rolls for the teachers’ breakfast, (Lois laughed) so the teachers liked her, too.”

Lois described the Arco school building.

“You come in the east door and turn to the right and that was the 3rd and 4th grade. The 1st and 2nd grade was across the hall. They were attached to the lunch room. The 5th and 6th grade was (further down the hall). There was an upstairs and it had a gym. They did the Christmas program up there. They also had (unused) classrooms up there from when they had high school there.”

The Arco Public School had no on-site administrators.

“The (Ivanhoe) superintendent used to come to Arco, but he never got to my room. He didn’t have time because of the 5th and 6th grade. That teacher had a student she could not control.”

Lois enjoyed her teaching gig in Arco, but it lasted just one year. The staff received word the school was closing.

“I’m not sure why; whether there wouldn’t be enough students or if the money was running out, I have no idea. I just knew it wouldn’t be there the next year.”

But Lois continued her degree work at SMSC and another school door opened to her in the fall of 1967.

2025 William D. Palmer.