Pat Webb Kaufmann, was born to Louise and Floyd Webb on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1936 in New Mexico. She is the oldest of 3 brothers and 2 sisters. They lived in the country and loved making their own games to stay busy. “One of my favorite memories was at Christmas when our grandfather brought a pony inside the house and tied it to the Christmas Tree. My mother started me crocheting, knitting and embroidering at age 6, it was always fun to me. In 5th grade I made my first dress. I was in school during the war when gas and other things were rationed. Dad was a pinto beans & dairy farmer. Mother drove a school bus with a 60- mile route. She would bring a sandwich for the two of us to share during lunch break because she would stay all day. While she waited for school to get out she would do hand work and reading, then we would load up the kids and start the trip home. When I was in 3rd grade we moved to Vaughn, New Mexico where my parents ran Glen Gold Dairy. They milked between 35-50 cows. We then moved when I was in the 7th grade to Gentry, Arkansas and continued with another dairy farm. In high school I was played basketball and was voted the most school spirited person. I enjoyed being editor of the school newspaper and my junior year I was president of our class. I graduated from Gentry High School in 1954.”
Harry Kaufmann, was born to Amos and Amelia Kaufmann on January 28, 1929 near Belmont, Kansas on a farm. He is the 6th of 9 children. Harry’s grandparents on both sides of the family immigrated to America from Germany by way of Russia in 1874 on the ship, City of Richmond. In Newton, Kansas there is a Kaufmann Museum which highlights the arrival of the family’s immigration. Harry recounted, “In 1936 my family moved to Gentry, Arkansas. That’s where I graduated high school in 1947. Shortly after graduation I enlisted in the Navy for 3 years. In the third year the personnel officer informed me that due to the invasion of South Korea all discharges had been frozen. They would extend my enlistment for an undetermined amount of time and if I would reenlist for two years they would pay reenlistment bonus of $600. I said where do I sign! I was independently wealthy for a short time. Being in the aviation branch of the Navy, we patrolled the Pacific Area for the duration of my enlistment. After my discharge I went back to Gentry and was involved with several businesses. The last one being with Benton County Telephone Company which started my career of 31 years at Southwestern Bell.”
The story of how Harry and Pat met was a simple one, but filled with twists and turns. One Sunday at church, Pat’s coat dropped behind her while she sat in the pew. When she turned around to put it back, she saw Harry sitting in the pew behind her, which was unusual because he never sat there. Pat recalls, “after church Harry asked if I would like to go for a coke. I said yes and sent my brother home with the car to let my folks know where I was and when I’d be home. Shortly after that we were headed home and met my mother looking for me. We stopped and I got out of Harry’s car and got into my mother’s car. Mother was not very happy, she said he is too old for you, I was only 18, Harry was 24. Harry thought, well ok, I’ll have to work at this. Three months later, in March, Harry came out and asked my folks if he could take me to a movie. My folks said yes. Six months later on December 10, 1954 started 61.5 years of marital bliss! We have 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren, soon to be 6! We are blessed.”
“We’ve always wanted to move to a retirement community while we are still active and could enjoy making new friends. Living at University Village is great! We joined the UV Choir before we moved here and found Wii Bowling was something we wanted to do too. We joined the UV Harmonica Club and are now helping with the practices. There are great evening programs and we don’t want to miss them. We hope to live here for a long, long time!”
For more information on senior living retirement communities or continuing care retirement communities in the Tulsa area, contact us here to schedule a tour.
