[Nfb-history] hard work paid off

[Peggy Chong]

Hello All:

 

I have found little on this blind couple, but found then to be interesting
and inspiring.  They were the people you would want as your neighbor and
friend.  Here they are.  

 

 

Harold A. Bouschlicher

Evelyn Hope Turner

 

Harold Bouschlicher was the first child born to Rudolph and Rosie
Bouschlicher  on May 8, 1914.  The family lived near Wheatland Iowa.  Harold
was an average boy with an above average curiosity that led to his
blindness.

 

One day, while going through his great Uncles things, he ran across a shiny
object that caught his eye.  It was not much smaller than a cigarette.  The
brass cylinder had some wires sticking out of the thing.  Harold was
intrigued by the item.  Thinking that it was some kind of electrical
component, he hooked it up to a dry cell battery.  The cylinder turned out
to be a dynamite cap and it exploded in his face when he hooked it up,
leaving Harold blind.  

 

Until this time Harold had been attending school in Wheatland.  Now his
family decided to send him to the Iowa School for the Blind.  At first,
Harold thought that his life had come to an end.  He was devastated by his
blindness.  After a while at the school and observing how the other children
and blind adults that they were exposed to, were coping with their lives, he
began to feel better about himself.  

 

Herald spent five years at the school, learning Braille and all of the
academic classes as well.  He wanted also to have a career for himself when
he left the school.  Henry Schluntz, an alumnus of the school and also a
successful chiropractor in Iowa, kept active with the School for the Blind.
Harold went to visit Mr. Schluntz at his place of business and saw that Mr.
Schluntz was making a good living for himself.  If Henry could do this, he
reasoned,  then so could Harold.  

 

Harold Graduated from the School for the Blind at Vinton in 1934.  Right
away, he went off to school to become a chiropractor at the National College
of Chiropractic.  Upon graduating at the top of his class in 1936, he moved
to Clarence Iowa and married his High School sweetheart, Evelyn Hope Turner
on August 15, 1936.  

 

The couple bought a house at 401 8th Avenue in Clarence, Iowa.  That house
was to be their home and Harold's office for the next 67 ears.  They had a
son, Murray, who would later become a dentist in Iowa City.

 

His wife Evelyn, was born November 8, 1912 in Monmouth IL. She acquired the
nick name of Billie that lasted all her life.  As a child, she too went to
the school for the blind in Vinton, graduating in 1936.   Billie was albino
and, although she could see some, she was still considered blind.

 

The couple set up shop in the two front rooms of their home.  Harold kept
all of his patient records in Braille.  Billie handled the reception desk,
making out receipts and such.  At first, some of the town's people were a
bit skeptical of the new blind chiropractor in town.  But Harold kept hours
that meant workers would not have to take time off to come and see him.
Slowly, workers from the nearby Louis Rich turkey processing plant would
stop by.  Harold provided relief for their pains, so they came back. Then
they brought their friends.  

 

The work days were long ones for the couple.  Most mornings, the couple
would go for a brisk walk.  Billie liked exercise.  They left the doors open
to the house, planning to be back before seven thirty to start the day.  If
a patient arrived before they got there, they were welcome to take a seat in
the waiting room and Harold would be with him just as soon as he got in.
In the evening, Harold had office hours from 6 till 9, but if he had a
patient that needed him after that, he was known to stay late. 

 

Harold kept busy in his community.  He was asked to join the Lions Club in
the area.  From time to time, he enjoyed playing a game or two of cards with
friends.  Billie also took outside work. She had a job for many years at the
Clarence nursing home.  

 

Besides raising their son, Billie manages the home and much of the paperwork
for her husband's practice.  They also had many pets that Billie loved with
all her heart.  She was a great cook, especially remembered were her lemon
meringue pies.  

  

When asked about his life by a reporter from the Cedar Rapids in April of
1992, Harold remarked that his business never made him rich, but they were
never poor.  He enjoyed his job and had no plans to retire.  

 

Harold passed away in 2001.  He worked at his profession right up until his
death.  Billie continued to live in their home for another three years.
Then She moved to Melrose Meadows, an Independent Living facility in Iowa
City.  she chose Iowa City as that is where her son and his family lived.
Billie passed away on March 27, 2011

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