This postcard features Park Villa and the Lily Pond in Riverside Park (now North Riverside Park) in Wichita, Kansas. It is surprisingly unchanged today. This card was posted on April 23, 1928 and was sent to Ethel Larkey.
The sender who signed only as “Laura,” was Anna Laura Larkey. She was born September 24, 1908 in Garland County, Oklahoma.
The recipient of the card was Ethel Melvina Larkey, the sister closest in age to Laura. Ethel was born July 6, 1903. Laura was the youngest of the eleven children born to their parents: Thomas Martin Larkey and Alice Elizabeth Ketron/Cattron. One child died young, and that was Henry Milburn who died in 1891 at 3 months old.
Since the last name of the “Sallie” mentioned by Laura isn’t given on the card, I wasn’t able to be sure information who she was. I don’t think it was any of Laura’s sisters; none were named Sarah, Sallie is often a nickname for Sarah, and all of them were married in 1928, so most likely were not moving to Wichita with their youngest sister.
Perhaps Laura and Sallie were friends from Enid who were attending college in Wichita. The location of the house Laura said she was settling into was within two blocks of the campus of Friends University. It’s conjecture, but Laura and Sallie may have been attending the university.
Laura is noted as a telephone operator beginning in 1926. This was an occupation she would keep throughout her life as the company name changed over time ending with Southwestern Bell. Her sister, Ethel also worked as a telephone operator until she married.
In 1939 and 1941, Laura went on vacations with friends; both trips were noted in the Enid Morning News. In August of 1938, Laura, Esther Arnold, and Virginia Williams embarked on a month-long trip which included Washington, DC, New York City, Syracuse, Chicago, Detroit, and Des Moines.
In 1941 Laura and Virginia took a two-week motor trip through the south visiting Atlanta, Florida, and New Orleans. They were accompanied by Virginia’s parents as far as Houston.
Virginia was also a telephone operator for Bell Telephone and is recorded as such until she married Arlo Shelton in 1946. She and her husband retired to Arizona in 1963. Arlo died in 1980 and Virginia in 1982.
Ethel married Troy Houts Carico in 1930. They had two children. Ethel died at 80 years of age in 1984 in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Laura lived in Enid until she died at age 91 on June 18, 1996, having never married. All the Larkey siblings lived long lives, each of them reaching their 80s or 90s, with the exception of Joseph who died at 58. Laura’s mother, Alice, lived to be 93, passing away in 1961 and her father, Thomas, died in 1938 at 81.
Anna, I have done research on my ancestors, a laborious process, and appreciate your work.
I love these postcard stories! Very creative. Thanks.