Oh yah, here it is...........

In my search I've just come across a book by the daughter of my second cousin 2x removed Amos, and his wife Phoebe. Here it is, its a direct quote from the reviewer Elaine Rich from the Nov.7, 2005 issue of Mennonite Weekly Review. The story answers a couple questions I had in mind, what a blessing. The name of the book is 'Beyond Mere Survival: The Story of Adella S_________ O_______ and Her Five Orphans.' The book was privately published and could only be purchased from the author, Ruth, who passed away in 2010. Ruth is Amos & Phoebe's daughter.

"Ruth was just 10yrs old in 1929 when her mother Phoebe S.O. died, leaving her father with five children to care for. The family had just moved to Chicago from rural Bluffton Ohio to assume the pastorate of a new church being built by the Mennonite Conference.
Ruth is now 86 and looking back over her life. She greatly admires her stepmother STella, for providing a home, inspiring the children, keeping them together and encouraging their education. Because Ruth felt she had to get her stepmothers life onto paper, she has written this brief biography. She tells the story in the first person.
A year after his wife's death Amos married his first wife's 29yr. old cousin STella, a school teacher. What a decision for her! A few months after they were married Amos was shot in a local Chicago pharmacy. That is another story, told elsewhere in the biography of Pastor Amos. The family moved from Chicago back to Bluffton. Stella taught in the Buffton public school system for more than 37 years. She died of cancer in 1964 at 64yrs of age"

Elaine adds: 'I believe strongly that stories about people like Adella should be told and retold. Ruth has done a worthy piece of work, and her professional writer-daughter helped design the layout and cover, making the book attractive.

Let me say on a personal note, while researching the family I found out that Ruth had an older brother Robert who was a medical doctor; a younger brother Hebert J. who is quite reknown in the auditory research field and has a grant named after him.
Ruth herself was a registered nurse and volunteered in hospitals in her retirement.