The kids of the Guardian Angel Boarding School

206 Pages·2001·26.709 MB·English

by  Ken Keyser

The Kids of the
Guardian Angel
Boarding School
by
Ken Keyser
KeyHill Publishing Co.
Athelstane, Wisconsin
Photos, illustrations and news clippings in this book used with permission.
© 2001 KeyH.iJJ Publishing Co.
Copyright Number TXU 927-562
This book published and distributed by
KeyHill Publishing Co., N11069 Boatlanding 10 Road,
Athelstane, Wisconsin 54104.
Phone: [phone]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
without the written permission of KeyHill Publishing Co.
Printed in the United States of America
Published by KeyHilJ Publishing Co.
Athelstane, Wisconsin 54104
Table of Contents
Dedication ............................................... 1
Preface ................................................... 2
1. The Tearing Apart .................................... 7
2. Away We Go ........................................ 13
3. Our New Home ........ ............................. 20
4. Straightening Out ................................... 25
5. The First Christmas ................................. 30
6. Grinding On ........................................ 35
7. Getting Better .... ............... .................... 43
8. Father Edward J. Le Mieux, or Pots Eddie ........... 46
9. The Nuns, the Priests, the Kids and the Bishop ...... 49
10. Our Games .......................................... 56
11. The Football Team .............................. ..... 59
12. The Goats ...... ........... .......................... 62
13. School Dogs ......................................... 64
14. Stinky and the Snipes ............................... 67
15. Glenn the "Jinx" ..................................... 68
16. Babe ................................ ................. 70
17. The Frigo Family ........................ ............ 73
18. The Arrival of the Campers ......................... 74
19. Sister Justina ........................................ 78
20. The Nuns ............................. ............ .. 81
21. The Desecration .................. ................... 85
22. Another Desecration ................................ 87
23. The Swimming Pool ................................. 89
24. Indian Lore: Bart Kools and Chief Flash Powder .... 93
25. The Log Cabin ...................' .................. 100
26. The Maple Tapping ................................ 106
27. The Cesspool ....................................... 108
28. Prayer Bones ....................................... 110
29. Mean Snappers, Meaner Boys ...................... 113
30. The Duck Pond .................................... 116
31. The Duck Creek River .............................. 118
32. Pirates Cove on Duck Creek ....................... 123
33. The Fires and the Trinity Tree ...................... 126
34. Slaughtering the Animals for Food ................. 128
35. A-Hunting We Will Go ............................. 130
36. The Movie House and Grandma ................... 136
37. Clubbing Suckers at Pamperin Park ................ 144
38. The Visits .......................................... 146
39. The Shetland Ponies ............................... 149
40. Horse and Wagon .................................. 153
41. The Stallions and Johnny the Bull .................. 154
42. Single File, Lots of Mil.es ........................... 159
43. Working in the Fields .............................. 1.62
44. All for a Tango .................. ................... 165
45. The Runaways ............................. ........ 168
46. The Slingshot and the Red Rubber Tubes .......... 172
47. Toys and Popsicles ................................. 180
48. Sister Meanie ....................................... 185
49. World War II-So What! ........................... 188
50. The Pony Rider .................................... 189
51. The Grass Widow ........... ....................... 191
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Dedication
This book is written in loving memory of my mother,
Marcelline Keyser, my grandmother, Adele Hannon, my
four brothers and our sister Jane, and to all the kids at the
Guardian Angel Boarding School who shared our child
hood, and the wonderful nuns who took care of us.
Special thanks to my editor, Chris Roerden, who said
that my manuscript was good. That was the boost I needed
to get me going.
And last, but not least, to my wife, Betty "Boop" who
was my inspiration and the driving force behind me to start
and finish this book. Thank you, "Boop."
Ken - a care-free two year old at Grandma's house
Pref ace
Oneida Indian School
The construction of the school began in 1892 by the
United States government. Built for the Oneida Indian chil
dren, it was an industrial and literary school. The children
were put there for ten months out of the year. It first
opened for schooling on March 27, 1893. After World War I
the school was shut down. The government ran out of
money and could no longer support these types of pro
grams. This was 1919.
The school lay idle until 1924 when the Green Bay
Diocese bought the school and 250 acres. This tract was sit
uated on the Oneida Indian Reservation in northern
Wisconsin. The school itself was set on a high ridge. One of
its conspicuous boundaries was the Duck Creek River to
the east. Another was Highway 54, to the north where the
Village of Oneida was located about one-fourth mile north
of the school. This was an obscure part of Outagamie
County. The property lay in the northeast end of the coun
ty, at that time fairly remote and unheard of by many peo
ple. The school was seventeen miles west of Green Bay,
Wisconsin.
There were gardens, orchards and hundreds of all sorts
of animals. A large tract of land was wooded. It contained
tall white pines, maples, oaks, and elm. Also, along the
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Duck Creek River many trees and bushes grew that were
tolerant of wet ground. In the year 1928 the school was
reopened. Its function became the education of underpriv
ileged children of all ages and races, giving them a home
away from home, free from the burdens of a broken home
or abuse. Some of the education was to bring religion into
the children's lives, and a few of the children came to be at
the school just because of the religious teachings.
This school was named by Bishop Rhode of Green Bay. It
was then the Guardian Angel Boarding School. It operated
for twenty years as a boarding school for boys and girls.
The school's farm was run by experienced farmers, who
had put forth a maximum effort to supply all the food for
the hundreds of children who lived at the school. They also
had to feed the people who worked there. The arduous task
of bringing this together and organizing it fell on the shoul
ders of a young priest, Father Edward J. Le Mieux and the
Sisters of the Franciscan Order of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
That had to be a hard task in 1928.
In the late 1950s the school was returned to the Oneida
Tribe and is now a high school named Norbert Hill Center.
So, the school went full circle and is back where it belonged
in the first place. It was always Indian property. No one
else had a right to it at all, ever!
Many things happened to the Indians in the name of the
U.S. government. Most of these decisions were morally
wrong and in some cases caused the death and horrible
poverty among all the tribes, not just the Oneidas. Of
course, the whole country at the time was in the Great
Depression and millions of people were on welfare.
As I write this book, I feel that a great injustice had been
committed on the Oneida people. Yet, I feel that this school
saved our family and countless others. It was right in that
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