W. W. SCHOOF & THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

And So They Were Married

Written by Gladys Schoof (Karl's mother, transcribed and edited by Rebecca Schoof)

Gladys Adeline Forsythe Schoof 1914-1973

"It was 2:00 p.m. on January 7,1946.  The minister began reading the words of the simple ceremony.  The room was crowded with relatives.  It was very warm even though the door was open.  As he nervously mopped his perspiring brow, he thought of the events of the morning.
  In his mind there ran the hurried preparations for departure, the wrinkled suit that had to be pressed at the last minute, the car getting stuck against the side of the garage door, his meeting the friendly old minister, Rev. Pommerenke.

Rev. Pommerenke

 They had finally arrived at her brother's house about one o'clock. 
 There had been introductions, snatches of conversation and much bustling about.  
        Now she was saying, "I Do".  He felt a little at ease.  His hands seemed to be in the way, and he was afraid his vocal responses would stick in his throat.  But at last it was over!

Then they cut the big wedding cake, ate the reception lunch, took some pictures, and drove to Clay Center, Kansas to board the train.  They were showered with rice, but no old shoes, for the days of shoe rationing were still fresh in everyone's minds.
The conductor made a joke remark about the days events as he took their tickets.  It seems that he shared in the shower of rice that followed them onto the train.

HOTEL PRESIDENT, NOW A HISTORICAL LANDMARK

  Manhattan, Topeka, and Lawrence were scarcely more than blurs of light that evening superimposed on the brightness of their happiness. When they arrived in Kansas City, they took a cab to the Hotel President.
At the hotel entrance he was in such a dither that he forgot to pay the driver until he received a reminding tap on the shoulder.  And then he signed the guest register with his personal signature only to be reminded by the suave desk clerk that he had a wife with him, didn't he?
Tuesday morning they had breakfast in the hotel's dining room, and then they ventured forth to shop in the city's big stores.  They had their pictures taken, and made a few purchases; but, soon tiring of the noises and crowds, they returned to the hotel.

  They addressed, stamped, and mailed a number of wedding announcements and prepared for an early departure next morning.
 Wednesday morning the MOP stream liner whisked them into St. Louis, and the B (Baltimore) and O (Ohio) had them in Cincinnati before midnight.  They stopped at the Hotel Metropolis.  Thursday they had breakfast at noon at a queer little place that resembled a cafeteria, but wasn't, and seemed like a cafe, but wasn't.  That afternoon they saw "The Bells of St. Mary" at a nearby theater.        
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S MOVIE
 Friday morning they arose early.  In fact it was an hour too early as they discovered when they got down to the station.  They were at the boundary between the Eastern and Central Time Zones and the time changes were confusing.  But finally the L(Louisville) and N (Nashville) made its departure, and they crossed the Ohio into the rolling Kentucky hills.
  They rushed through the bluegrass and tobacco region and plunged into the tunnels under the Cumberlands.
 (The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in southern West Virginia, western Virginia, eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee,) 

 It had rained hard that day and the mountain streams were swollen so that there was water on both sides in Knoxville by early afternoon.

 They were almost home!  It was time to begin searching for the many household articles they would need.  And what a search it was!  The war had made many common articles scarce or virtually unobtainable.  Hen's teeth were plentiful in those days compared with electric irons, lids for cooking pans, bed sheets, nylon hosiery and many other articles.  But they bought their bedroom furniture that afternoon at Miller's.

    They caught the bus for Oak Ridge and arrived at "Atomic City" in the early winter dusk ."ATOMIC CITY" AT OAK RIDGE TENNESEE   

THE GUEST HOUSE

They stayed at the guest house the next three nights.  It was certainly an unpretentious establishment compared with the hotels in Cincinnati and Kansas City, but it was clean and roomy and the food was good.
 Saturday morning he taught her the first of a long series of lessons in patience.

Wilbur Willis Schoof 1920=1965

 While she anxiously awaited an opportunity to see their apartment, he dwadled away the morning, breakfasting, delivering soiled laundry, reading the morning paper and in general conducting himself as though he had as much time as the slow freight train through Arkansas.

  Finally they arrived at the door of 225 W. Fairview Rd.225 W. FAIRVIEW RD. -BUILT 1943  He swung her off her feet, shouldered open the door and deposited her on the threshold of their new home. Home!

  What a variety of physical situations that word can connote.  This was an apartment in which bugs cavorted on the floors uninhibited, seemingly unaware of the smoke blackened ceiling overhead.  Smoky window shades hung askew over the uncurtained windows.
  The fireplace hearthstone was dark and cheerless, but a blast of hot air from the furnace register struck the rain-streaked  faces of the newlyweds like a desert blast from the far Sahara. She began to examine the apartment and he also scrutinized it more carefully than had been possible on his earlier hurried visit.
  It was barren except for the kitchen which was completely furnished with an electric stove, refrigerator, cupboards and sinks.  To them it was home with all the promises and expectations the work can hold.

"Today the whole world knows the secret which you have helped us keep for many months. I am pleased to be able to add that the warlords of Japan now know its effects better, even than we ourselves. The atomic bomb which you have helped to develop with high devotion to patriotic duty is the most devastating military weapon that any country has ever been able to tum against its enemy. No one of you has worked on the entire project or knows the whole story. Each of you has done his own job and kept his own secret, and so today I speak for a grateful nation when I say congratulations, and thank you all. I hope you will continue to keep the secrets you have kept so well. The need for security and for continued effort is fully as great now as it ever was. We are proud of every one of you.^{" IN OAK RIDGE TENNESEE Wikepedia}

  She was already visualizing curtains over the windows and began estimating the number of yards it would take.  (It later developed that her arithmetic was a bit faulty, but it was a gallant effort.)

 He, too, had romantic visions of how the home was going to look.  While thoughts of polished floors, newly painted walls and sparkling windows, revolved in his cerebrum; he absentmindedly turned a knob in the bathroom and awakened from his daydreaming to find himself taking a shower in his Sunday suit.  Shortly thereafter, he discovered that another piece of bathroom furniture had the obnoxious habit of inundating the floor."

1965 Karl, Ron with Gladys,mom

Sadly, Karl's father passed away March 7, 1965 in San Pedro, California of lymphatic cancer at the age of 45.

  Shortly after his death a gov't official showed up at their door to discuss the circumstances of his death.

  Karl was around 18 yrs. old at the time and his younger brother around 14.

His mother passed away several years later, 1973 at the age of 59 shortly after having moved to Sun City Arizona, a retirement community,  for a very brief time due to health reasons.  She never even had a chance to unpack her belongings. 
 I never got to meet either of them but I was told that they both loved the Lord and served in their church.  Both are buried in Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

A SECRET CITY  CLICK HERE

1949

https://www.didyouknowdaily.com/story/oak-ridge-atomic-town

DEATHS DUE TO TOXIC EXPOSURE AT ATOMIC CITY