Locals in the limelight- Eddy Kern

My interview target this week is not an easy man to catch up with. Even though he is “retired”, he currently serves as chairman for the County Noxious Weed Board and also as chairman for the County Retired Public Employees Council. Driving around town in his signature blue Toyota 5 speed, he is typically running errands and going out to check on his farm. The amazing thing…he is 97 years old. Eddie Kern is a humble man with a spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye. I had questions for him…specific ones. I sat down with Eddie on a quiet, hot summer evening at his residence at Quail Court to talk not only about his life, but about the wisdom and experience that only a person who was born when Woodrow Wilson was president, could share with us.

Eddie was born May 25th, 1916 in Marlin. His moved to Odessa with his parents and brothers Oscar and Harold when he was 8, making him the current record holder for the longest residency among current Odessa residents. The family farm was located over the county line so Eddie walked 2 ½ miles every day to the school bus regardless of weather. When he was a sophomore, the school provided him a rickety old Model T if he would agree to drive 4 other kids to the bus stop. He had no license and the car had no windows. The gravel road they travelled was rough and they froze during the winter. The following year, he refused to do it and gratefully went back to walking.

I told him I had watched his interview on the documentary last year about Grand Coulee Dam. He told me that was the single, most historically significant event in his life. Eddie was a young 19 year old, desperately wanting a job. The other men on the project were in their mid to late 20’s and they didn’t think he could handle the work. He started in 1935 during the excavation phase of the project. For the first 3 days, they paid him 50 cents an hour to jackhammer and bust up rocks. Surely, that would separate the men from the boys and he would go home. He said he had never been so exhausted, but he perservered. Three days later, they realized he was there to stay and he was moved to a cleanup gang which was a welcome reprieve. Performing various jobs for a total of four years, Eddie was upgraded to $1 an hour when a union contract took over. The highest paid workers were the crane operators who made $1.50 an hour. They were highly skilled, and had to pour concrete below them with only instructions from a telephone operator on the ground to guide them as they could not see from the crane seat. When he left the project, the Grand Coulee bridge was almost completed. Eddie is now believed to be the only living employee that worked on the Grand Coulee Dam.

Perhaps the most significant thing about that phase of his life, is that Eddie met his beloved wife Joyce. They were married in Seattle and she passed away 3 months shy of their 70 year anniversary. Eddie said he was blessed to have such a “good woman” and credits her for making wise investments and being the saver in the family. Although they lived conservatively, they had a comfortable life. After her death, he said he found a significant (secret) stash of cash in the family home that she had managed to put away out of their small social security income. He credits the longevity of their marriage to being “agreeable” and says they rarely had a fight or disagreement. They adopted a son Kenneth who holds a masters degree in mathematics, taught for 36 years and is now a cattle farmer.

Eddie spent 36 years on the family farm. Throughout lean times, Eddie supplemented his income by playing the accordion in a four piece band during the winters. Called the Sagebrush Serenaders, the other members played the banjo, harmonica and guitar. They entertained crowds out at the farm and house dances around town. All of the member’s instruments are now housed in the Odessa Historical Museum. People would give the band members donations and he said that even a quarter or fifty cents made a huge difference in his life, especially during the depression.

We talked about all the changes he has seen in farming practices over the years. After the depression, it was extremely difficult to start a farm. Wheat was selling for about 70 cents a bushel. He decided to take a big risk and obtain an FSA loan. The first year, he had a bad crop and barely made the interest payments. Year two, he had a bumper crop. Year three, he had the best crop that farm has ever seen, wheat was $1.25 a bushel and he was able to pay off his farm loan in full. He accredits his survival to luck and good timing. World War II had brought the need for lots of wheat to be exported. The first brand new combine he purchased was an Oliver self-propelled…for a whopping total of $8500. I asked him what advice he would give to a young man starting out farming today. He said he would advise them work the farm themselves as much as possible and be conservative with their finances to get through the lean years. He currently leases out his farm to his tenant Neil Lobe whom he has high regard. Eddie isn’t one to just sit back and collect his share of the crop. He keeps on top of what is going on in the wheat market.

During the years he farmed, Eddie also spent 26 seasons driving school bus. He stated “they had me running all over the place for sports and events, even as far as Idaho”. He shared several stories, many of them off the record, as he would politely request “no need to write this down.” One of his favorite memories was when he drove a bus load of seniors to Spokane for a senior sneak trip for a few days. Suffice it to say, they didn’t have enough chaperones, and an overwhelmed Eddie rounded them up and brought them back the evening of the first day. We talked about all the kids who had ridden his bus over the years and if he had any favorites. He mentioned the Finkbeiner boys and especially Bruce, who made him laugh with his antics. “Even today, those boys are all hard workers” he said fondly. Interestingly, he also picked up 13 buses in Indiana and drove them to Spokane to be outfitted and customized for the school district during that time.

Eddie credits his longevity to a very active lifestyle. He is an avid coin collector, loves to restore old cars, still plays the accordion and loved to play baseball as a youngster. When he was in his 60’s, he found out his blood sugar and cholesterol were at heart attack levels. He wholeheartedly believes in regular checkups. He drinks minimally, a little beer every now and then. His advice to young people? Stay active, don’t be a couch potato. Stay away from hard liquor, smoking, and try to live within your means. He didn’t have a credit card until he was 85 years old. I asked him why then? He said it is only so he can do mail order. As an afterthought, he mentioned that he always pays off the balance each month.

My last question to Eddie was if there was anything he hasn’t done in his life that he wishes he had? He said he has always wanted to go to Hawaii. He and his brother, who had been in the military, planned a trip in the 80’s for the 50 year anniversary of Pearl Harbor. They were unable to go when his brother became ill. I told him he should go now and he said “Awwww, I’m too old.” Well Mr. Kern, I respectfully disagree.