Ambrose “Spec” Wilmes, 85, Ida Grove, IA – Interviewed by Molly Wilmes.

Father of Mark Wilmes (Calmar), Grandfather of John (Decorah) & Molly (Ames).

Spec Wilmes is a living history book; a father and Grandpa, a veteran, entrepreneur, and a heck of a guy. From hopping freights to singing for barn dances, surviving The Great Depression or fighting in WWII, “Spec” is not short of stories. All it takes is the slap of your arm and the statement “Hey, have I ever told you of the time…” and suddenly you are there, in another world, sharing the memories of a man who no one could call dull.

What did you want to be when you grew up?I was in the plays at country school when I was seven or eight and always liked that. I also really liked baseball. There was no radio then to listen to the games, but we had our own team. We played in the pasture without gloves and a ball made of socks because we couldn’t afford to buy one.

What jobs did you do?When I was a really little kid my first job was as a water boy. I had a cart and pony and drove water out to the threshers in the fields. I made good money doing that, $.50 a day.
When I got older I worked as a hired farm worker from Missouri to Canada and hopped a freight train to CA where I even topped sugar beets. I went on to do construction, work in a souvenir shop, bottle Coca-Cola, and ended up in the Marine Corps as a Radar Gunner. I spent my service time with an experimental night flying and bombing unit. We were the first unit to work with this new technology. After I got out of the service I worked as a railroad telegraph operator for 20 years, and then opened my own store in Brushy Creek, and then businesses in Ida Grove.

Can you tell me what the Great Depression was like for you?Just before the Depression, my father bought a 240-acre farm – he died shortly after that. I was nine, and had 2 sisters and 5 brothers. When the depression hit, we lost the farm but we moved to a little rental farm near Maryville, MO. My mother was able to keep the whole family together and she never turned away a beggar from town. At some point she sold off some animals and was able to get ahead a little, with that we put a down payment on a farm – one of my siblings and I were able to go to High School (we were the only two in my family to do that), and the rest worked the farm.

What was a defining moment in your life?
The first time I learned to stand up for my rights was when I was working as a hired farm worker. We were working for a very large man in Fargo, SD and we were supposed to meet him in a bar in town to receive our wages. When we got to the bar, he was not there. The other guy I was working with wanted to just forget the pay and leave, but I just couldn’t do it. We went and found the guy and I stood up to him face to face and told him to pay us our money. I wouldn’t budge. The guy tried to say that my team had damaged a grain spout and I had to pay for that. I said that was ok and he could take that cost out of my wages but we WOULD get paid for the rest of the summer. That was the first time I was scared in my life but the man paid us our money.