Chalkboard Thoughts

      Arlene Gehrke was 58 in 1976. She had grown up in a very large family. She was a wife and mother and the church organist. She often practiced at Cottage Community Church all alone. I have not been able to find a photo of her.  That is upsetting because her cold case should be investigated. Without a photo it is hard to get people to care.   Farm wives can often be lonely. It’s good to have a church to go to. It’s a good way to keep up friendships and a way to do nice things for other people. Your little community can celebrate each other’s milestones. Arlene would have played for many Weddings and Christenings and Funerals. She would have played at all the Easters  and all the Christmases. How many people learned all the words to a hymn because she played it often? How many people get a tear in their eye when they think about the church music they grew up hearing her play?    On Saturday, September 4th, 1976 Arlene went to chur...

       Julia Benning was born on December 12th, 1956. Her mother was Joann M. Demro Benning and her father was Lowell Benning. She was one of five daughters.      Julia grew up with a love of reading and art. On Find a Grave there are several wonderful photos of her with her family. In one photo she poses in her room with her paintings. In another photo she is lifting a very large rock on her family’s farm.    She was working as a server in 1975 at the Sir Lounge and living in Waverly with her Grandmother.    On November 28th, 1975, she was on her way to work but never made it.    Months went by with no sign of Julia. The Christmas holidays came and went. She was finally found in March in a ditch in the area of Shell Rock, Iowa. That’s a little town west of Waverly. It’s officially in Butler County.     She had not been far from home but Winter snow likely concealed her rem...

       Valerie Klossowsky was born on March 7th, 1957 to Jeanenne Seeliger Wedemeier and Harold Rae Klossowsky. The couple had three daughters. They had a tumultuous relationship and married and divorced three times. Sometimes people try really hard to make it work for the kids. But sometimes two people are just incompatible. Valerie’s mother was remarried by the Summer of 1971.    Valerie lived at 217 Fifth Street Northwest in Waverly, Iowa with her father, her sisters and Grandmother. It’s a lovely neighborhood with sidewalks, large shade trees, and well kept houses. It looks like an ideal neighborhood to raise children.   Valerie was 14 in the summer of 1971. She was a student at Waverly-Shell Rock Junior High School and was probably enjoying the free time that summer brings.   On June 13th, 1971 someone abducted Valerie.   What was her address?  Who were her neighbors? Was she the first victim of a serial k...

     Maria Lisa Peak   Maria Lisa Peak was born on December 10th, 1956 to Mary Virginia Scrivener Peak and Dr. Frank Allen Peak. She had a younger sister named Carmen Dana Peak.    Dr. Peak was a veterinarian and the family was very active in their community of Knoxville, Iowa. That is a town southeast of Des Moines.    She attended Wartburg College which is located in Waverly, Iowa. It is situated northeast of Des Moines. Wartburg is known for its instrumental and vocal music programs. Maria Lisa Peak studied journalism there.    On September 7th, 1976, Maria, who went by her middle name of Lisa, was moving back into her dorm in Waverly. She was a sophomore. That evening she left the dorm to go to the store and pick up a few things.    She never made it back to the dorm. She had a date planned that night. He came by the dorm to pick her up and she had not returned which caused her friends to report h...