Volume 6 , Issue 37

Mantz in Ingersol, Okla

"I remember the Mantz's very well, but I never heard Mr. Mantz called 'Leonard.' Their names were Raymond and Nettie Mantz and they opened that filling station around 1949 or 1950. Raymond was a fishing buddy of my dad's and we went on many outings (fishing, picnicking, sand plum and wild grape picking, etc.) with them when they lived in Alva in the late forties.

Raymond had a brother who sharpened one-way plows, but I can't remember his first name. Raymond was usually self-employed during that time, and took part in the annual broomcorn harvest in the southwest Kansas - southeast Colorado area. My older brother John went out there and worked for him for two years at harvest time. Raymond also had a commercial fishing license and dealt in live minnows, and my brother was his right-hand man in that operation, also.

As it was the twilight of the broomcorn era and Raymond was getting on in years, he invested in the small station at Ingersoll. At the time, Nettie's mother (whom I knew only as Mrs. McGee) was still living with them. Mrs. McGee was very thin and frail and was not very talkative. The station (Mantz' 66 Station) had three rooms: a small front room where they sold beer, candy, cigarettes, ice cream bars and a few non-perishable grocery items; a room immediately behind that contained a table and chairs, small stove, refrigerator and a day bed for Mrs. McGee; and there was a tiny bedroom in the west end where Raymond and Nettie slept.

Later they lived in a building across the street, but I was never in it. Along with the three people, they also had an indoor dog named 'Grumpy.' Grumpy was an old, short-haired, short-legged mongrel with a large wart on his head and pretty well lived up to his name.

Nettie and Raymond had no children of their own, but I think Raymond had at least one child by a previous marriage. I don't know much at all about his earlier life nor Nettie's. There were still quite a number of families living in Ingersoll at the time, and I remember going with Raymond once as he ran a milk route. I don't know what else he did, but he was a varied small entreprenuer in the years I knew him. The last time I talked to them was in 1978, and I think Raymond died not too long after that. Nettie lived for quite some time after that and I would see her occasionally near her home as I passed through town on the highway." -- Jim Barker   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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