Charles E. Beck

Charles E. Beck: 1993 taped interview w/ Bill Spurgeon’s son; paraphrased in 2013 by Ann Garceau

First came to the area at an early age with parents – Calvin E. and I. Beck. Lived on a farm on Warner Road just north of the railroad. Dad was raised here and mother came from Remington, IN. The family moved to the farm somewhere around 1919 or 1920 – Charles started to a country school (Moore School – NE corner of 1300 N 750 E – east from Warner Rd. (editor’s note: now named Bishop Road), 1st road to your left and; on northeast corner) up about a mile from where we lived; I remember walking there and; Dad taught me there the first two years. I went there 3 years. There were about 20 -25 kids maybe; grades 1 –8. Dad was teaching and also farming. He taught a year in Syracuse; then moved to Milford for one year; and then we moved back to old Beck homestead (Charles grandmother born there around 1870 – granddad came over from Germany when he was a boy, met and married her and they settled there – 89 acre farm came from her family (just north of where school was – 2nd house north – now fenced in with white plastic fence – at T of airport rd. go left – instead of going around lake – go left again and at first rd. to rt. is where old school used to be and Beck homestead is on that road – Mrs. Beck showed the interviewer an aerial view picture (must have been on hill) – grandparents lived in a log cabin and moved it to present location and built on to it; other directions are from Warner Rd. – cross rr. tracks & turn rt. and then left – 2nd house on left-hand side) when Charles was in fifth grade and lived there until he finished college and was on his own.

When Charles started coaching, he moved to Wabash & Whitely Co., South Whitley & Ligonier; ended up teaching in Ft. Wayne and we moved to present home in 1973 (built it) or ’74.

As a child, they had a radio; played baseball in the summer and shot baskets in the barn in the winter; weren’t any kids within a mile; Dad would always play at noon before he’d go back to work; two younger brothers; neighbors get together now and then; play ball with next-door neighbors; few more city kids than farm kids.

When we lived on the first farm, Dad started the first milk route along the north side of the lake. We filled in a lot of the lots on Sand Point – that was all marsh – road came down where the Catholic Church is, went out to the lake and down along the lake and then came back and down towards Ogden. In the summer for maybe a month when they didn’t have much to do on the farm, Dad and his brother would take a team of horses and a wagon and go over there – there was a gravel pit on Ogden Island somewhere close to where Strieby’s Grocery used to be and would haul dirt from there down and fill in the lots –

Charles was around 2nd, 3rd, 4 th grade.  Sat. night go to town; Sun. family picnic or get-together now and then, church. Last couple of years of high school in the summer, Charles played on the independent Syracuse baseball team – played about every position there was, ended up being pitcher. About every town had a baseball team. Was a diamond up where old high school was; before that it was just west of town. Rabid fans; sometimes 2 towns would get in a fight.

Summers had several hotels; some came on the railroad, got off at Wawasee Station and were picked up by wife.

Couple fires at Pickwick (1946 – was in the Navy at Great Lakes and heard about it over the radio)

The Spink drew quite a crowd with their gambling; quite a crowd would come in by train from Chicago and stay the weekend and spend their year’s savings.

Big Bands (Cab Calloway, Ted Weems, Glen Miller, Fats Waller) at Waco on weekends – place to go; packed the place. When Charles and; wife were just married they drove by when Glen Miller was playing and the cars were lined up on both sides of 13 half way to town; Charles was working at the Wawasee Golf Course (he and wife lived in a little cottage by the practice green – right at the east end of the parking lot) and the next morning about 5:00 a.m. Glen Miller and part of his band were on the practice green so Charles opened the clubhouse up and they played golf there before they went.

(Charles and wife would come back to live in the area for the summer when they were first married.) The next summer, Charles helped build State Road 13 for a while, got tired of that and then he went to work for the ice company – delivered ice on the north side for 3 summers (’37, ’38, ’39 & ’42). One customer, Mrs. Henry, always wanted fresh cow manure for her flowers – Charles would take a couple bucketfuls over and make about 2 bucks. The ice house was beyond where condos are now. Later got artificial ice trucked in from Elkhart and would deliver that. Used to be feed mill right across railroad track on SW corner and that was ice co. also. After 1943, he went into Navy for 3 years; came back and rented a cottage next to where he lives now for one summer and then wasn’t back for some time. Bought in 1965 (would rent it out in the summertime at first) and in 1973 moved to present location permanently.

Several new houses in the neighborhood – no rentals like it used to be; more and more people starting to stay year-round. Change has been in what they have fun with
snowmobiles, jet skis… TV has changed things – people don’t go out as much as they
used to.

Enjoyed fishing – used to be better than it is now. Family used to have a lot along Sand Point – paid all of $200 for it in the ‘20s. Would go over there every 4 th of July and have a picnic, take the boat around to Johnson’s Bay and fish – come back with a whole sack full of bluegills, some perch; come over about 4 – 5 times a summer. Calvin sold it in the late 1930s (around when family moved to Beck homestead) – and traded it in for like $1,700 worth of farm equipment. His brothers bought lots too.

Delivered ice on North side: North side was more plush; Willow Grove not so plush; part of Ogden Island was plush; Pickwick Park was plush. Someone else delivered on the south side.

Characters: Herb King and Guy Hay – grocery store and restaurant (later Beacon) – delivered ice there; Frank Remy owned Wawasee Golf Course, Noel Epperson was the pro and Guy Rarig was the manager and groundskeeper (the clubhouse is in the same location, just added on to) – oldest course, the configuration hasn’t changed Referred to living on “the beach” (Natticrow?) Mrs. Charles Beck was originally from Ligonier, grandparents bought cottage on a 25’ lot in 1928, and she was out here every summer – if her mother would let me; she and Charles bought it from her parents in 1965; 3 cottages burned (Feb., ’71, one caught on fire – they think by accident – one in middle was going to be foreclosed and people had moved out of Thurs. before fire on Fri.); could have swept them up in a dustpan and they rebuilt. Charles bought 25’ lot next door in sheriff sale. She and Charles met in college.

Waco closed around midnight; run by Mr. Franklin; big building, open all around/shutters down to keep rain out; benches around outside (of dance floor); no alcohol (some “sneaked in”), kind of like a barn – open all the way up; dance floor pretty good size –not like tabletops they have now; when Ted Weems there, it was so packed you couldn’t dance remembers Mrs. Beck who was there.

Noticed that can’t see the lake much from the road in many places.

(Charles and wife would come back to live in the area for the summer when they were first married.) The next summer, Charles helped build State Road 13 for a while, got tired of that and then he went to work for the ice company – delivered ice on the north side for 3 summers (’37, ’38, ’39 and ’42). One customer, Mrs. Henry, always wanted fresh cow manure for her flowers – Charles would take a couple bucketfuls over and make about 2 bucks. The ice house was beyond where condos are now. Later got artificial ice trucked in from Elkhart and would deliver that. Used to be feed mill right across railroad track on SW corner and that was ice co. also.; bottled, pasteurized, everything – building still there when tape was made; Dairy sold out to someone; one of the Jones brothers moved to town and bought the feed mill and had the ice company for several years – died rather young; with coming of electricity and refrigerators didn’t need ice anymore. Charles remembered that at the Spink on Fridays they’d deliver a ton and a half of ice for the weekend; going into Eli Lilly’s on Labor Day which would be his last day, and get a $10 tip – pretty big back in those days; finish up the ice route on Mon. (Labor Day), go down to college that evening and start football practice the next day.

Grocery stores would deliver groceries; Greigers in Syracuse & Galloways would deliver – probably Seider’s and Klinks (where Bales was uptown) would deliver; Solt’s on south shore; Emerson’s Grocery near Waco; Streiby’s on Ogden Island (now tennis court);King’s on Kale Island (grocery part is where bar is now, restaurant on back side); Charles’ Jr.-Sr. Reception at Johnson’s Hotel; South Shore Inn had dancing; Tavern Hotel had restaurant; across from Enchanted Hills’ swimming pool (on double curve) was a restaurant and grocery owned by Rupples (sp.?), then owned by Lattigs (sp.?); Guide restaurant and grocery (vacant at time of interview)

Al Capone is supposed to be at the Spink at one time; didn’t remember anything about someone’s letter about Joe Louis training at the Spink. Mrs. Beck’s Jr. – Sr. Reception was at Sargents. When Charles was the ice man; they’d call him the Red Grange of Wawasee. Hooked toboggan sled behind a car – might even dump you out in the country.

First year he worked for ice company the winter before must have been a cold one – the blocks they’d store were about 30’ by 30’ by 30’; they didn’t get enough sawdust between them to keep them from freezing together; fellows would arrive about 5:00 in the morning and before they went out to deliver at 8:00, they’d done a day’s work – get them out, clean them, saw them into parts you could handle and load your trucks – much easier when they had artificial ice.

Calvin Beck sold the homestead in 1962 and built another house. He developed the east side of Bonar Lake – bought farm west of the homestead in the ‘30s or somewhere in there; he sold part of it – the part that adjoined the homestead – to a guy who raised onions there and kept the part on the west side of the road that is next to Bonar Lake. In the early ‘50s or somewhere in there, he dredged and filled in; made lots; in the ‘60s he built their house there. When they went fishing, they made a lot of noise to get the rattlesnakes out of the way. Hunted rabbits, ducks (in the Dismal – follow road toward 6 along county line road (Dismal School was along there too) –a “Dismal” looking place – great place to hunt ducks but now the farmers pick everything so clean they don’t come in there any more), pheasants. His father, Calvin taught (may have started teaching there) SE of lake at the Africa School; then moved to Brushy Prairie (where Charles born) (between LaGrange and Angola) for about 2 years in LaGrange Co.; then to Syracuse.

Band concerts; class plays; 4-H; FFA came later (not when Charles in school); Thornburg’s Drug Store (in 1938/’39, you could buy a chocolate pecan sundae for 25 cents) right at alley by school (post office next door); Court Slabaugh (Ralph Thornburgh’s father-in-law) was principal.