WADLOW, WALTER AND BERNIECE

by Walter Wadlow

Entry F436 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Walter and Berniece Wadlow 50th Anniversary, May 31, 1982

Walter was born March 16, 1911 in Lester-
ville, Missouri. His parents, Edgar (Ed) and
Effie Wadlow, owned a general store in
Lesterville.

About 1913 Edgar made a prospective trip
to the Sandhills of Nebraska. Some time was
spent in Mullen prior to his return to
Missouri. In 1916 the Edgar Wadlow family
and the Glen Hodges family loaded their
worldly belongings, furniture, clothes, 2
saddle horses, a buggy team, and a pair of
grey hounds, in a railroad immigrant car and
headed for Mullen, Nebraska. Effie Wadlow
and Ina Hodges were sisters. The Hodges
family returned to Missouri in 1917.

In addition to residing in Mullen the
Wadlow family lived on 3 different ranches
in Hooker County. Those places were known
as the Adams Ranch, the Homer Crain Place
and the Hog Ranch (2 times). In Cherry
County they lived on the L.O. Ranch 2
different times. This was the Louis Lowe
Ranch.

Walter attended rural school in south
Cherry County for a few years. He attended
school in Mullen during the upper grades and
high school, graduating with the class of 1929.
He rode horseback, several miles, from the
Hooker County ranches to Mullen for school.
He attended Grand Island Business College
the wintcr months of 1930-31 and 1931-32.

Berniece Worrell Wadlow was born Sep-
tember 30, 1907 at Gandy, Nebraska. Ber-
niece's parents, John and Effie Worrell, lived
on a farm 4 miles south of Stapleton,
Nebraska. She attended rural school through
the 3rd grade, her parents moved into
Stapleton where Berniece completed the
grades and high school at the Baker Rural
High School in Stapleton, Nebraska, gradu-
ating with the class of 1925. She attended the
University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska,
graduating in 1929, and came to Mullen in
September of 1929 to teach Home economics.

Walter and Berniece were married May 31,
1932. They lived on the L.O. Ranch for a few
months, then moved to Walthill, Nebraska to
manage a movie theater and later managed
a theater in Dayton, Iowa. They returned to
Mullen in mid 1935 and went in partnership
with Walter's parents in the Sand Hills
Commercial Company which stocked grocer-
ies, meat and men's furnishings. This store
was operated by the Wadlows for 20 years.
During this time Walter also served, part
time, as deputy County Clerk, until he
entered the army.

Walter served in the U.S. Army 1942 to
1946, 2 years were with the Signal Corps and
overseas Motion picture Service in New
Guinea. After his return from service he
resumed working in the store and also served
as deputy County Clerk. He served as elected
County Clerk from 1950 until he retired in
January 1979, which gave him a total of 36
years in the Hooker County Clerk's office, 8
years as deputy and 28 years as an elected
official.

Berniece's career years in Mullen included
teaching for 12 years, managed the School
Lunch project for 7 years and helped Walter
in the County Clerk's office the last 12 years
that he was in the office.

Walter's special hobby, since retirement, is
golf which he enjoys very much for recreation,
exercise and fresh air as well as the compa-
nionship of his golfing friends. He also spends
time in his basement shop at wood working,
mainly picture frames and also lock smith
work. He also helps care for our own yard and
a neighbor's yard.

Berniece keeps busy sewing, knitting and
crocheting. She also helps with some of the
recreational activities at the local Nursing
Home. Berniece takes care of the flower beds
in the yards as Walter says that he does not
know a flower from a weed until it blooms,
which may be too late.

Walter and Berniece have one daughter,
Nadine Wall, and 3 grandsons. Nadine and
husband, Dwain, and sons live in Oakland,
Iowa so we do not see them as often as we
would like but the telephone is a wonderful
way to stay in touch.