"Shorty"
Cyril Herman Boeding (1908 - 1995)
Great grandson of Franz Xavier Boeding (1796 - 1878)
Cyril Herman Boeding is the youngest of the eleven children of Edward Otto Boeding and Elizabeth Lohman. He is also the only one of the eleven children born in Kansas. He was born on August 21, 1908 on the farm northeast of Seneca, Kansas. He was baptized by the pastor Father Cyril Bayer, OSB in St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Seneca. The sponsors were Mrs. Lena (Wenzel) Waller and uncle Herman Boeding.
Wilma Gertrude Yarger was born on April 22, 1912 on the family farm northwest of Centralia, Kansas. She is the oldest of eight children of Clyde and Laura Yarger.
Shorty attended elementary school in St. Peter and Paul Catholic School, Seneca. During the colder winter months of the early years of his schooling, he attended the one-room school which was about a quarter mile "down the road" from the farm home. At the end of his first year of school, at the age of seven, he made his First Holy Communion.
In the fall of 1917, shortly after the beginning of Shorty's third grade in school, he became seriously ill with scarlet fever and inflammatory rheumatism. The illness lasted four months. Antobiotics were not yet available at that time. The principal remedy in this case was gallons of rubbing alcohol. The illness was very painful. In order to divert his mind from the pain, my mother played cards with him, "hour after hour", often through a large part of the night. As a result, Shorty emerged from his illness an "adult" card player in all the card games popular at the time. I can remember seeing him calmly holding his own in card games with "grown-ups".
The illness also had physical after effects: Shorty stopped growing - at least so it seemed - for six years. In other words, for that period, he remained, in size, a nine year old boy. The slower growth seemed to affect the arms and legs more than the rest of his body. He was very active playing games grade school boys play. But it was difficult to compete with boys his own age.
After the eighth grade he spent one year at St. Benedict's in Atchison, Kansas. At that time he gave some serious thought to becoming a priest. But he soon gave that up, due principally, to his small size, and, he was needed on the farm. By this time the family consisted of our mother, brother Eddie and Shorty. When Eddie was married in February 1932, he as left alone to farm the home place. For him, such physical tasks as harnessing horses were hard but not as strenuous as competing with normal size men in such jobs as thrashing and putting up hay. He continued on the farm for nine years, till he and mother moved to ton in 1941. In town, he cared for mother till she died in 1944.
In 1924, at the time of my First Solemn Mass, with a house full of company, Shorty as asked to kill some chickens for dinner. One of the chickens "flopped", the axe slipped and Shorty nearly lost a little toe. Sister Cyril, newly graduated nurse, repaired the damage.
As long as mother lived, children were "in and out" of the Boeding house. During Shorty's childhood there were the John Waller and Quinlan children. About this time, too, nephews and nieces began to show up in increasing numbers on Sundays and during vacations. Shorty loved children, and children loved Shorty. In romping 'with the kids" he developed a series of gymnastic-like stunts which delighted the little ones. When prolonged for any length of time they exhausted him. They also caused many mothers to hold their breath when they witnessed the performance for the first time. He continued this through the years, till the advancing years put a stop to it.
He as also fond of athletics, or "sports" as we called them. For several years he played baseball. But his participation in sports was soon limited to umpiring and refereeing. And: for five years he coached the St. Peter and Paul Catholic School girls' basketball team. with the farm work, this made for a busy schedule. Once, hen one of the girls got a 'charlie horse' in her leg, he had to rub it down. The crowd roared.
When the original Globe Trotters came to Seneca to play the ton team, Shorty refereed. He recalls that the Globe Trotters then had the same trick plays used today, such as the "ball that won't bounce".
In 1944, after the death of mother, he began to work at the Smoky Hills Army Air Force near Salina, Kansas. He handled incoming and outgoing freight. He did this for four years, till this work was discontinued at the end of World War II.
Returning to Seneca, he worked for two years in John Waller's liquor store. Then he leased the store and operated it for ten years. During this time he met Tobias Strahm and his wife Wilma. Strahm worked in a liquor store in Sabetha. They associated and were close friends till Strahm died in 1961.
In 1939, Wilma Yarger married Tobias Strahm of Sabetha. They lived on a farm near Sabetha until 1947, when they moved into Sabetha. She worked as a nurse's aid in the Sabetha Hospital for three and a half years; then as a checker in a grocery store for nine and two years at the Farmers State Bank.
Wilma joined the Catholic Church on April 20, 1962 and was baptized on that date at the Sacred Heart Church, Sabetha by the pastor, Father John Stitz. Her sponsors were Mary and Daniel Kohake.
Shorty and Wilma were married at the same church on June 20, 1962. I came from Hermleigh, Texas to officiate at the wedding. In the meanwhile their new home was nearing completion at 611 Pioneer Street in Seneca. They moved into it on July fourth of that year.
The honeymoon included visits in Concordia and Manhattan: in Concordia to call on Sister M. Antonella who had been in charge of obstetrics at Sabetha Hospital when Wilma worked there, and in Manhattan to visit Father Cyril Bayer OSB who had baptized Shorty. After settling in their new house, a second honeymoon took them to Dubuque and West Point, Iowa. At Dubuque they visited Sisters Cyril and Helen. The highlight of this visit was a "chivaree" in the large kitchen of the convent. In West Point they visited the surviving aunts and uncles: uncle Barney Lohman, aunt Eda and uncle Al Harmeyer and aunt Clara Vonderhaar in Fort Madison.
Traditionally, on Thanksgiving morning the firemen of Seneca canvas the city to promote and sell tickets to their annual Firemen's Ball. Often the weather does not cooperate. So, about ten a.m. Shorty had hot coffee and snacks for them. He did this for eight years before his marriage. After their marriage he and Wilma continued this in their home for another twelve years. The menu was kept simple: home-made buns, cold cuts and coffee. Liquor was available but its use was discreet. Some wives expressed their appreciation that the men came home fed and sober.
After 1962, Wilma worked several years at the Seneca Hospital, principally in Obstetrics.
As a volunteer, Shorty has put in twenty five years as a parish "counter", sorting and counting the receipts from collections at the Sunday Masses. After twenty five years of this, he switched, and was recording the individual envelope contributions. This he continued to do up until this writing in April 1983. He has passed the fifty year mark as an active member of the Knights of Columbus.
After their marriage, the volunteer work of Shorty and Wilma became largely a joint effort. The passing years have phased out most of this. But they remain active in St. Peter and Paul Catholic Parish. For a number of years they held an annual Christmas party for children in their home. This quickly grew beyond their capacity, so they gave it up.
Wilma is an accomplished gardener. Shorty is the assistant. The shelves in their cellar and in their deep-freeze are always well stocked with homegrown provisions from the garden. Age is slowly reducing this activity.
Like our mother, Shorty loves to fish. So does Wilma. This is now their principal recreation. And, it produces a sizable share of the things stored in their deep-freeze. In their fishing activities they have built up an impressive collection of fishing equipment, much of it home-made.