Welcome to Darrell's Genealogy Stories

Other than Le Mars, there is probably no location that would invoke long-ago memories for our small Coppock family as would Battle Lake, Minnesota.  Located about 65 miles SE of Fargo, ND, our "summer place" was 250 miles north of Le Mars.  For 20+ summers, beginning in 1953, it was our family getaway. Why Battle Lake?  Well, one of Arnold's cousins (Merlin Zenner) lived in nearby Fergus Falls, MN, and he and his family owned a cottage on Otter Tail Lake.  Grandma and Grandpa would visit them occasionally, and they enjoyed the area.  They loved to fish, and they began searching for a small cottage in and around Fergus Falls.  Ashton and Clyde joined the search, and in 1953, the 3 families purchased 50' of lakefront and a cottage on West Battle Lake (shown above after remodeling).  Oh, the purchase price was a whopping $2,400!!!  (yes, the comma is in the right place - DAC) It was very basic, meaning that it had no indoor plumbing.  That's right, there was a

Note from Darrell:  This story was told several times by my Mother, Helen Kern Coppock.  I will leave it to the reader to determine your belief or interpretation.  In order to make it more interesting, I've taken the liberty to create an imaginary dialogue in Part 1 between Ada and my Mother.  Even so, that "dialogue" remains true to what was told to me over the years. PART I:  The Summer of 1943, Le Mars, Iowa Like all Iowa summers, 1943 was hot and humid.  The world was ravaged by World War II and the Allies were slowly gaining ground on Germany and Japan, but it was long from being over.  The Coppock brothers, Ashton and Clyde, were in the Navy and Army, respectively, a long way from their hometown of Le Mars. Like most weekday mornings, Helen reported to work as Secretary and Receptionist at the Meares Insurance Agency.  Not only the heat was uncomfortable, but she was six months pregnant with her first child.  The front door opened, and Ada Richards came i