Grandma Irene Won a Prize at Cooking School!

When I was looking for something else, I ran into this interesting article about a Cooking School held in Sandusky in November of 1939. The Cooking School was sponsored by the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star-Journal newspapers. Miss Mary Ann Kidd was the instructor, and sessions were held at the auditorium of the Sandusky Senior High School, now Adams Junior High.

An article which appeared in the November 18, 1939 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal listed the winners of the prizes that were won on the last evening of the Cooking School classes. Included in the list was the name of my great grandmother, Irene Larkins, who lived at 1309 Shelby Street. Gram Irene won a room of wallpaper, provided by the Brinnon Wallpaper and Paint Company. I never heard which room she had wallpapered! What a delight to read this article about Great Grandma Irene winning a prize!

My beloved Gram Irene had a full life, but it was filled  with a lot of loss of love and loss of dear family members. In 1939, she did not know that in the next few years her only daughter, as well as her father would  pass away from serious illness. Gram Irene was married several times. There are so many questions I wish I had asked her! Mom always told me that the person to whom Gram Irene was married when Grandma Doris was born was not the biological father of Doris. So who was? It may have been a man named Hal McIntyre, but I have no idea of where he lived, or how to spell his last name, or when he was born and died. Why didn't Gram Irene marry Hal? Later, Gram Irene was known as Mrs. George Shirey (per the 1930 Census.) Mom always said that George was the love of her life....so why did that marriage end? So, so many questions! Below is a document I created a few years ago, with dates, if known, of the marriages of my great grandmother Irene. I loved her so, and I know she loved me. She had a stroke when I was a little girl, and so we did not have nearly as many heart-felt talks as I would have liked! I include this document not to dishonor my sweet Gram Irene, but to help fill in the gaps for future researchers who may wish to know what I learned in my genealogical diggings.