Jennie Lenore Fowlkes (a.k.a. Lenore) was born 20 Jan 1924 in Hulett, Crook, Wyoming to Arthur Ernest and Lena (Stockton) Fowlkes. She grew up on her dad’s ranch, attending the local one room school house. In her teen years she worked for a time for Belle Rathbun on her ranch just down the road. She graduated from Hulett High School in 1945 salutatorian of her class. She had a scholarship to go to University of Wyoming but didn’t go because her dad didn’t believe women should go to college. After high school she worked for Fount Bush on his ranch before she married Burt Dale Rathbun on 7 Nov 1942 in Broadus, Powder River, MT. While her husband was in the military she worked the telephone switch board in Hulett. When Dale got out of the service they went to Syracuse, NY where Dale worked for Solvay Chemical and she worked for General Electric. In 1948 the family returned to the ranch in Crook County, Wyoming. She had to sell her electric appliances before coming back as the ranch did not yet have electricity. Electrical power became available in 1951 and Dale got his television in 1958. Lenore had seven children, Leonard, Lyle, Roger, Dela, Lloyd Dow, Barbara, and a baby girl who died – plus she raised Leonard’s three children, Brad, Stacy, and Brenda and helped care for her mother for many years. Her family was very important to her. She always supported them in their activities, going to their football games and band concerts, etc. She also helped Dale in his filling station, worked in the cafes and post plant, then worked for the school as a cook for 20 years. Her religion was very important to her and she was an active member of Hulett Community Baptist Church. She sang in the choir and cleaned the building. Lenore died 1 May 1999 in her home in Hulett, Wyoming.
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Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in his plane The Spirit of St. Louis.
13 million people become unemployed after the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers what becomes known as the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover rejects direct federal relief.
The G.I. Bill was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans that were on active duty during the war and weren't dishonorably discharged. The goal was to provide rewards for all World War II veterans. The act avoided life insurance policy payouts because of political distress caused after the end of World War I. But the Benefits that were included were: Dedicated payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school, college or vocational/technical school, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. By the mid-1950s, around 7.8 million veterans used the G.I. Bill education benefits.
English: variant of Foulks .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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