Dear Folks,

I got your letter Saturday so am writing this letter Sunday evening, glad you asked about these things, Allen's son's name is Ray Allen - the last time they were up here was in 1967 - they were here two times before that an the way they acted towards mother an me the were so puffed up an sour, I was mad at them.  An mother an me was doing our best to be good to them.  Anyway so when they came up here in 1967 I wouldn't even shake hands with him - then he got mad an they were going to go home after driving 3,000 miles up - here - then I had really got down & talk to him you mother is on her last days an then she will be gone - then I said what in the hell is the matter with you why are you acting this way.  He wouldn't say, but got him to stay then they were here for 7 days, before they left then we all set in the living room an mother asked him to be sure and come to her funeral when she dies.  He promised her he would. When she died May 28, 1971, he was the first one I called on the phone, he wouldn't come.  It hurt me very much.  He wouldn't help me with funeral expenses not one cent.  Before mother died she came up to me and she said, you be sure to give me a nice burial.  I said, Mother don't you worry about it, I will do the best I can.  An I did, she looked so nice it cost me $1,400.00 this hurt me so much, he wouldn't even help me carry her to her final resting place.  His mother and me even had a $100.00 saved up for to help pay his fare here.  I devoted my whole life to my mother ever since I was a big enough to work, I never wanted to get married, I've seen so much troubles in this world with these marriages - I didn't want the responsibility raising a family.  I went to dance for 40 years, I love that old time music - waltzes was my favorite dance - now then you said you couldn't get no answer from them - a few years before he died they bought a trailer house an a lot maybe that wasn't paid for when he died - an I don't know if she can get his social security check or half of it - I could find out - so her and the boy could be in bad shape the way this inflation is going when they came up here in 1967 they brought another man with them, so when they went home my mother 1968 went in the rest home, this man wrote a letter to my mother, I had this letter here - But had a hard time to find it - anyway I found it - an I wrote him a letter last year an put a stamp letter an paper for return mail - this was after Allen died an I asked some questions about my Bro's death never got no answers either - so then about three years ago I got a letter from North Dakota from where I was raised I went to school with this girl, so they were going to have the 75 anniversary of the Lutheran Church where I was confirmed in  so she wanted to know if I would come - I wrote her an said I didn't care to come, so then she wrote back an wanted my Bro's address down in Florida.  So then a while later I got another letter stating that my Bro died May 19, 1985 - It was unbelievable, I couldn't hardly believe it.  So they lived in Bartow, Florida.  I  wrote a letter down there and I addressed the letter like this -

Mail Man
Please
deliver this letter to any
funeral home in
Bartlow, Florida

So then I got a letter back stating it was true that he died in Panama City.  That's in northern Florida where they lived the first 18 years when he worked in the paper mill down there.  So then I wrote a letter to the hospital an I wanted to know what he died from, since he was my Bros I have a right to know, so waited an waited for a long time an I was going to write another letter finally got a letter, he was having pains in his chest they gave him a by-pass.  So then it didn't seem to do much good then they give him another by-pass of the heart, then he got another surge of the hear and he jumped way up in bed and came down to his death.  This was the report I got from the hospital - so this looked to me as a hard death.  His wife or son wouldn't let me know - when mother was here with me I kept them well informed of mother when before she died for years about her health - an the same with my oldest Bro.  I kept them well informed of him before he died too.  When you called Ray Allen on the phone what year was this when he talked so good.  I don't know nothing about their business , I've only been there once since they were married that was in 1949, mother an me made a trip down there then went through 16 states made nearly 8000 miles on that trip, after we had been there a week or so we were going for a ride with Allen's car.  Allen made a hellava remark to us all that was enough for me.  Never went near them no more after that.  My 2 - Bro's were mean.  I never liked them.  When we were back home on the farm mother an I had several milk cows an 22 head of cattle.  I raised hogs too an mother raised chickens an turkeys an put in a big garden an potatoes - mother an me spent 5 years in sending Allen through high school.  I was just like a dad to him.  I used my own private car to haul him to school.  We had a hard time with him.  They I worked on the W.P.A, went to work with a team an Bob laid 5 miles to work an gravel county roads - with horses an wagons.  We never even got thanks for it.  Allen turned mean the later years and my oldest brother was the same way.

Sincerely
Clarence Bodeen

I have out lived them an many other men I've worked with.