Dorothy Darline Van Vacter, b.1922
Dorothy, was the second child of Vivian Juanita (Parker) and Oren David Van Vacter. She remembered living in the Patee Park area of St. Joseph, Missouri. When she was only four years old the family moved a good distance from Patee Park on 7300 Sherman Street, an area then referred to as the Fish Hatchery addition. Patee Park is located near downtown St. Joseph and the Fish Hatchery Addition is South of St. Joseph, but at that time was not in the city limits. Through her childhood training became very industrious, making do on little or nothing. In her childhood her father taught her some of the basic skills known today as gymnastics. But most important are the skills she learned from her mother about cooking, cleaning, canning, sewing and the general skills connected with being a home maker. As a child she often competed with her older sister Vivian in sporting activities.
Dorothy began school at the age of five in the first grade of Hosea school. At that time the school had grades one through six. Dorothy began school early because her mother and father did not want her older sister Vivian going to school alone. She was always ahead of children her own age because of starting school earlier than what was usually permitted. From Hosea she entered Benton High school whose grades at that time were seven through twelve. Dorothy entered the seventh grade at age eleven.
The family began to grow and Dorothy cared for the younger children. Her mother taught her the skills needed to prepare meals from meager food supplies. She taught her how to stretch money to make it last from payday to payday. Dorothy was very proud of her younger brothers and sisters to whom she gave loving care. Dorothy has many fond memories of her childhood. She has often spoken of the times mom, dad and the kids would visit Grandma and Grandpa Parker at 602 Thompson street in the Hyde Park area of St. Joseph. She remembers that Grandpa had a bread route at that time. While mom was a very good cook, she delighted in eating at Grandma's because she always had a big spread and everything was so good.
Living at 7300 Sherman Street did not sever the ties the Van Vacter's had with Patee Park and the Patee Park Baptist Church. Several of the families visited back and forth for several years. Dorothy remembers mom's good friend Mrs. Harbor and that she and her husband took Dorothy and Vivian to Shenandoah, Iowa for a visit and to the Kansas City, Missouri Zoo. Vivian and Dorothy were given the opportunity to attend a summer camp at Bean Lake, south of St. Joseph that was for children from poor families. Dorothy remembers being at the Patee Park Baptist church often. "Dad did janitorial service for the church and also tended its furnace. Throughout most of their life, mom and dad remained friends with several of the church members; names that come to mind are Mr. and Mrs Irwin and Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell."
Dorothy has spoken often of Great-Grandma Inscho (Mary Melvina McGinley, born April 30, 1856, died December 7, 1938) and that she visited at least twice a year. Grandma Inscho would often tell the kids fortune with cards. On the afternoon of December 7, 1938, Grandma Inscho visited at the Van Vacter home. Later that day she was in a car driven by her son Elza when it stalled. The men folks got out of the car to push it when a truck, that couldn't swerve enough to miss the car, hit the car and Grandma was killed. She lived in Omaha, Nebraska at the time, but she is buried in St. Joseph.
Dorothy quit school in the ninth grade but went back for a time in 1938. But her desire to leave the nest and start a family of her own became a driving force in her young life. She met Charles Pritchett and they went together for eleven months and were married on January 14, 1939, twelve days from her seventeenth birthday. Life was difficult from the beginning. Charles worked all the time, but the money was scarce and the family was growing and the skills she learned from her mother were put to good use. In 1945 the house they lived in caught on fire. The fire started from the kerosene cook stove. When she noticed the fire, the wall in back of the stove was already burning. Her son Donald Allen was sitting under the stove at the time. She grabbed him and gathered the other children outside the house to safety. Before help could arrive the house was engulfed in flames.
The next several months were exceptionally difficult. Getting started again was not an easy task. World War II came to an end. The job market was depressed. Dorothy held a job at Sietz meat packing company for a while during the war, but when the war ended there no jobs to be had. In 1946 she and Charlie purchased a house in Sugar Town, an area located in the east-central part of St. Joseph.
After a few years her and Charles realized that two incomes were needed if they were ever to accomplish their goals. In 1948 their fifth child, Robert Lee, was born. In 1950 they moved again and Dorothy went to work on a full time basis at Sietz meat packing company. Soon thereafter their financial condition began to improve. In addition to working outside the home and caring for the home she was elected recording secretary of the local meat packers union, an office she held for fifteen years. But soon tragedy hit the family. In 1957 Dorothy, Charles, son Robert and a friend (Ernie Coons) were involved in a traffic accident. Charles' life ended on the next day on October12, 1957.
Dorothy then became the sole bread winner for the family. Again the skills she learned early in life helped sustain her and her family through some very difficult times. The next few years were tough. It seemed that every problem that single working moms have to face were problems Dorothy had to overcome on a daily basis. One by one the children began to marry and leave the nest. The problems were fewer and farther apart. But then she realized how much the children filled spaces in her life. She felt lost without having them with her.
But then, in 1965, she met Wilbur Boeh. They were both lonely and looking for companionship and in December of 1965 they were married. Wilbur had an apple orchard in Wathena, Kansas. The Boeh apple orchard was well known during the years Dorothy helped to market the apples. Customers came from Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas to buy their apples. Dorothy helped as much as possible while still working at Sietz. Finally in 1967 she decided to quit and devote her time and energy to homemaking and helping in the orchard. A few years later she did work as a meat inspector for the U.S. Government. Her duties included inspecting meat at Armour, Swift and Dugdale meat packing companies. She quit the job as a meat inspector so she could take care of her grandson Charles E. Pritchett III, the son of her oldest son. Charles III, was called Puddin, a nick name that stayed with him till his death when he was hit and killed by a train at the the age of eighteen.
Dorothy and Wilbur lived together on the farm for twenty years and in 1985 when they decided to retire and move to St. Joseph. They purchased a nice home in north eastern St. Joseph on Francis street that sit on ten lots. Wilbur cultivated a sizeable portion of the property and planted a beautiful garden. In addition to the many vegetables grown in his garden he also planted raspberries, grapes and strawberries. On July 4, 1990, Wilbur was working in the raspberry patch when he was stricken with a heart attack and died on the spot. At the time of his death Dorothy's feet were so crippled with arthritis that she could hardly walk. Her general health has gone downhill since. She moved several times after Wilbur's death, trying to find a place more suited for her and the health problems she faces. At the time of this writing, March 2001, Dorothy lives in a senior citizen apartment complex. She has been confined to a wheel chair for about three or four years. In addition to her five children Dorothy has fifteen grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren