This collection contains letters written by Irene Lucille Overman Oxley to her son Jack while he was in the service during World War II. The letters are quite charming and they are filled with news of the neighborhood and of family and friends. Dad must have been tormented by the descriptions of family meals Nanny sent him. He was on board an Army ship in the South Pacific eating C-Rations while his Mom was fixing fried chicken with the fixings or spareribs and sauerkraut! My grandmother was a fabulous cook and his mouth must have watered as he read her letters from home.

Irene Lucille was born to William and Sarah Overman of Toledo, Ohio on March 21, 1899. She had an older sister, Nina, and a younger brother, Joseph. Irene married Raymond Ream Oxley September, 6, 1918. They adopted my Dad, Jack Oxley, when he was two years old from an orphanage in Toledo in 1926. Ray and Irene later moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where Ray opened a typewriter sales and repair shop. Irene passed away on October 13, 1986.

~~ Maureen Oxley Gaff