Students conducted interviews with family members, and some were able to gather additional resources and pictures to help tell their story. While there were many great stories written, not all will be published.
This project was a collaborative effort between students’ history classes with Mrs. Kruthoff & Mr. Armstrong, English class with Ms. Baldwin, and their families. It was inspired by the original project that long-time English teacher, Mrs. Wiersema, made a tradition in her 8th grade class.
Students enjoyed getting to know more about their families, and many were surprised to learn how interesting their families were. We hope you all will enjoy their stories, too!
Iva Mae Dorothy, by Owen Misfeldt
If you want to see the best lawn ever, come on over to Grandma D’s house! Her full name is Iva Mae Dorothy, and she is my Paternal Great Grandmother. I chose her because I thought her life would be very interesting. She was born in the early 1900’s, and died early this year, so she lived through many historical events in U.S. History.
Grandma D was born on December 14, 1930, in Prophetstown, Illinois. Her parents are Ralph and Minnie Tiffany. She had three brothers, Ron Tiffany, Lloyd Tiffany, and Robert Tiffany. She had two sisters, Norita Franks and Carol Jaecques. Growing up, she loved cooking and baking for her family. She also loved working in the garden, and she had a giant garden full of flowers. Growing up, she also loved making dinner for her family.
She married Ross William Dorothy on September 3, 1950 in Spring Hill, Illinois, they spent 52 years together, but then Ross died on January 2, 2003. She had two children, daughter Christena and son Raynord. She did not go to college, but she worked as a cashier at Shaheen’s for 25 years. She was always super friendly, and always had a giant smile on her face. In her free time, she worked on her lawn and walked her dog, Reba. Grandma D died at the Allure of Sterling in Sterling, Illinois on January 25, 2026.
Her biggest achievement that was really important to her was that she had a perfect lawn. She never let me walk on her grass, because she didn’t know if I would tear the grass by accident. It was important to her because she never had any trash in her yard or any grass missing, it was always perfectly mowed. One fact I didn’t know about her, was that she worked at Shaheen’s for 25 years! Another fun fact about her I didn’t know, was that if someone tried to break into her house she would beat the intruder with her little plastic bat, no matter her condition.
If I had to describe her life in one word, I’d say hardworking or willing because she always worked hard outside, no matter the weather, just to keep her lawn perfect. She was willing to do anything for her yard, dog, or house. One thing I’ll always remember is when she was 93, suffering from dementia, she took her dog for a walk, and nobody knew where she was, not even her, we looked everywhere and ended up finding her walking Reba, far away from her house. I feel like I learned a lot about her life and how nice she was when she was younger.
Owen Misfeldt, Miss Baldwin’s Language Arts class
