Iva Mae Lux
Harvey Albert Goucher, son of Henry and Susannah Mary (Leeper) Goucher, was was born on October 22, 1896, in Stockton, Missouri.
Iva Mae Lux, daughter of Ivan and Sarah Inez "Sadie" Lux was born on July 25, 1896, in Shelton, Nebraska. Her father farmed. When she was young, her father acquired an 80 acre farm in Gardner Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska, not far from her mother's parent's farm, and the family attended most of the holiday gatherings there. Iva Mae was raised there and attended the nearby Gardner School No. 112, from which she graduated.
Her father, with the help of her grandfather John Hogg, built a 3-room sod house, which the housed the family the entire time they lived there. As her younger siblings were born, eventually her Dad added a framed kitchen to the house, to better accommodate his growing family.
Iva Mae then attended high school in Shelton. She roomed with another girl for awhile, but when her roomate left to take a job, her grandfather was worried that she wasn't safe on her own, and invited her to stay with them. (By that time, her grandfather John Hogg had retired from farming, had turned over the operation of his farm to his son, Irwin, and had moved into Shelton.) The following school year she got an apartment in Shelton, but when her grandfather Hogg fell ill, she again stayed with him, to help with the chores and to run errands. After finishing the 11th grade in Shelton, Iva Mae took and passed the exams that would allow her to teach.
Needing more land to support his family, Iva Mae's father bought 320 acres of farmland near Crookston, Nebraska, not far from the South Dakota border. He added 3 rooms to the existing small house for his family of 9, and his last two children were born there.
Iva Mae got her teaching certificate, and taught school for many years in and around Crookston, Kilgore, Merriman, and Valentine, Nebraska, and even across the border in South Dakota. While in South Dakota she met Ruby Mundt, and they became friends. After attending Grand Island Business College one summer, she returned to teaching. When teaching at a school between Eli and Merriman, Nebraska, Iva Mae met Harvey. Harvey, or 'Harve' as she called him, courted her, attending her 'pie supper', taking her to and from school, and taking her to many local dances.
Harvey and Iva Mae were married on November 15, 1924, in Martin, Bennett County, South Dakota, and they had 7 children:
| Harold Goucher | Born July 4, 1925 in Crookston, Nebraska. Harold died on the day he was born. |
| Helen Elaine Goucher | Born in 1927 in Crookston, Nebraska. Helen married Robert T. Neal, and they had 5 children: Janice Darlene Neal (b 1949), Thomas Wayne Neal (b 1953), Judith Elaine Neal (born February 5, 1954 - died July 6, 1999, in Kansas City, Missouri), Jeanne Elizabeth Neal (b 1954), and Robert Edward Neal (b 1957). Janice, Helen's oldest daughter, married Phillip Raymond Schneider, born in 1947, and they had three children: Katherine Marie Schneider (b 1969), Phillip Jason Schneider (b 1971), and Michael Aaron Schneider (b 1976). Helen's husband Robert died October 25, 1978, in Warrensburg, Missouri. After his death, Helen remarried to Marion Edward "Ed" Simon (February 18, 1915 - died February 18, 2006, in Warrensburg, Missouri). |
| Henry Ivan Goucher | Born May2, 1929, in Crookston, Nebraska. Henry married Lillian Alvena Barber, born May 16, 1931, and they had 4 children: Jacqueline Ann Goucher (b 1954), Twylah Irene Goucher (b 1955), Michael David Goucher (b 1960), and Mark Douglas Goucher (b 1961). Henry died January 22, 2016, in Lee's Summit, Missouri. |
| Wayne Franklin Goucher | Born June 20, 1930, in Crookston, Nebraska. Wayne married Mildred Pauline Meads, born in 1932, and they had two children: Patsy Elaine Goucher (b 1955) and Ronald Wayne Goucher (b 1956). Patsy Elaine married William Carver, and they had 3 children: James D. Carver (b 1973), William Edward Carver (b 1978), and Gina Maried Carver (b 1980). Ronald Wayne first married Beverly Ann Kuehn and they had one child: Kevin Wayne Goucher (b 1978). They divorced, and he then remarried to Melissa G. Narron, and they had one child: Jarrett Adam Goucher (b 1982). Wayne died in Windsor, Missouri on December 10, 1993. |
| Wanda Ruth Goucher | Born March 17, 1932 in Valentine, Nebraska. Wanda never married, and died in Higginsville, Missouri on December 12, 2014. |
| Barbara Ann Goucher | Born in 1933 in Kilgore, Nebraska. Barbara married Duane Champion, born in 1935. They had no children. Duane died October 25, 2000, in Marshall, Missouri. |
| Lyle Albert Goucher | Born in 1936 in Kilgore, Nebraska. Lyle married Virginia Lee Herron, who was born in 1937, and they had two children: Lori Lee Goucher (b 1966) and Sara Mae Goucher (b 1971). Lori Lee married Chris Quinn, and they had one child, Loren Quinn. Sara Mae married Robert John Given, born in 1957, and they had one child, Riley James Given (b 2001). |
Harve and Iva Mae started married life at a ranch north of Merriman where they lived and worked for the owner. Harve started a garden and it was doing nicely, but on the eve of July 25, 1925, a hail storm wiped out the garden. Even the corn patch and pumpkins were gone.
The house they lived in was large and was built on a lake shore. Fishing was very good and they had the use of a boat. During winter Harve fed the cattle and trapped. Then as Harve wanted to farm on his own, the family moved into a 4-room house on a farm near Crookston. Dry weather and many other things were against them, and they didn't do too well farming. They did start building a herd of cattle. They had purchased 2 cows and calves before they left Merriman and had 5 head of horses, which they acquired in trade for Harve's car (so no car for some time). In addition to farming, they raised hogs, sold cream from their cows, raised chickens and a lot of turkeys. They raised much of their food in a garden, and would pick wild plums, grapes, and choke cherries. Their first four children were born on this farm.
Six years after Harve and Iva Mae were married, Iva Mae's younger brother Donald married her friend Ruby Mundt.
During the depression, times were hard for Harve and his family. With years of drought, there was little feed for the animals, so they sold their livestock. Harve had to work for the W.P.A. to support his family.
Around 1937 Henry Goucher, Harve's father, had a bad stroke. Despite the snowy winter weather, Harve, Iva Mae, and their family traveled to Missouri so that Henry could see their family. They decided to remain in Missouri. These were hard times, and the family had to move several times to where some work was available. At one time, Harve again found work with the W.P.A., this time in Calhoun, Missouri. These moves took them to Calhoun, Leeton, Post Oak, and back to Leeton, where their youngest children finished high school.
Harvey died on March 3, 1960, at the age of 63. Since Iva Mae did not drive a car and her children all lived in the Warrensburg area, she decided to move closer to them, and in 1969 she relocated to the town of Warrensburg, Missouri. Wanda Goucher, Iva Mae's 2nd daughter, lived with Iva Mae and worked for the University. They first lived in a large two-story house on Broad Street, directly across from the Central Missouri State University campus in Warrensburg. While living in this house, Iva Mae and Wanda rented rooms to young men who were students at the University. This provided a nice supplemental income for the two women. Later, Iva Mae and Wanda moved to a smaller house where they lived until Iva Mae passed away in 1986. Iva Mae continued her quilting business until she died. She pieced quilt tops and completed quilts for clients across the United States. Additionally, she remained active in church activities as a member of the First Christian Church, in Leeton, Missouri and later in Warrensburg.
Late in her life, Iva Mae documented her memories of her early life. She died in 1986 in Warrensburg, Missouri, at the age of 90.
