Person you should know

Published 3:22 pm Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Clara Dunn, 81, has lived in Warrior her entire life, with the exception of a short stint in Arizona and Colorado for health reasons for a family member.

• Tell me about your family.

I’ve been a widow for 12 and a half years. My husband was Bob Dunn. My daughter is Wanda Olson, who lives in Bibb County with her husband Dennis. My two grandsons are Erik (wife Andrea) and Dr. Gavin Olsen of Ames, Iowa.

• Where did you work before retirement?

I worked 27 years at Continental Insurance Company. I was a personal lines supervisor. I retired in 1983 to take care of my husband.

• What do you do in your spare time?

I go to the Warrior Senior Center almost every day. We play cards and have a good time. It’s a wonderful bunch. I also like cooking.

• You must have seen some changes in 81 years.

There was no electricity then. We had kerosene lamps, well water and outside toilets. We didn’t have to keep with the Joneses because they were just like us. Just good old country people.

• What sort of chores did you have?

My dad was a miner but the rest of us farmed. We raised our own food and canned it. We raised pears, apples and peaches and made jelly out of them. We had a good life.

• What else do you remember from your childhood?

I remember the first TV we got. It was in the 1940s. Back then, TV was not on all the time. We were out doing chores. We got our first radio in the 1930s. We listened to daytime stories and President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats. We found a way to make it to the radio to hear our shows.

• Do you think life is easier now?

Gosh, yes. Now we have things like washing machines. I used a rub board, drew my own water and boiled it. We made our own lye soap and hung clothes out on the clothes line. Irons had to be heated on the stove. Shoot yeah, life is easier now.