It must have been 1945 before WWII ended. It gets harder and harder to capture old memories. My great aunt, Rachel Peebler, made frequent trips to Wichita and sometimes took my sister, Sylvia, and I along. Our favorite area was the intersection of Broadway and Douglas and a couple of blocks in every direction.

On the northeast corner was Bucks Department Store. My favorite attraction was the floor where they displayed the clothing and equipment for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. This was also where they sold agates for those interested in shooting marbles. It took forever for me to save enough to buy a small agate, but I had it for years. It was probably thrown out or given away when my room was cleaned out after I joined the Navy.

Across the street, on the SE corner, there was a tall office building. The bottom floor was occupied by a Rexall Drug Store. One of the floors above was the office of Swearinger Oil where Aunt Rachel’s daughter, Maxine, worked. We went up and visited with Maxine and met her boss, Ed Swearinger. Maxine had worked there during the war and had married another employee, Woody Fisher. Woody served in the 8^th Air Force and was eventually stationed in England. Woody’s parents, Bob and Ruby Fisher, owned the Locker Plant in Augusta. If you are not familiar with locker plants, the way it works is that you buy a side of beef or shoot a deer, and you bring it to the locker plant. Bob would butcher and package it and store it in the freezer/locker that you had rented from him. From then on, you would just go to the locker plant and select the cuts of your own meat that you wanted. Bob was also known for the excellent sausage he made and sold.

The locker plant was newly designed and built. It was a brick building, and I believe that the bricks were laid by my dad, Al Thomas, and Dolan Brandt.

Across the street on the SW corner was another office building. Upstairs, on the second or third floor, there was an impressive looking restaurant. Aunt Rachel took us up there for lunch. As we entered the place, she spotted a man she knew. She led us over and introduced us to a man named Mr. Brown. I later learned that Mr. Brown had been a businessman in Augusta before moving to Wichita. After Aunt Rachel introduced us, she visited with the man for a moment. Leaving his table, she spotted a woman she knew and led us to her. The lady was Olive Ann Beech. Everyone knew her, even a kid like me. She and her husband, Walter Beech, owned Beechcraft, one of the big names in aviation that made Wichita the “Air Capitol of the World.” Olive Ann was in the Wichita papers or on the radio news every day. Olive Ann was President and Chairman of the Board of Beechcraft and didn’t step down until 1980.

I wondered today, October 26, 2026, how my aunt knew Olive Ann. Looking for other information, I asked my wife, Pat, to do some research on the internet. There she discovered that Olive Ann (born in 1903) had, at the age of eighteen, taken a job in Augusta with an electrical contractor. That’s where we were from! There it is! There’s the answer! In 1921, Rachel would have known everyone in Augusta. Also, the home that Aunt Rachel and Uncle Dave built at 124 High Street was completed in 1923, so Rachel could have met Olive Ann through the electrical contractor at the job at their house.

Discussing all of this with Pat, she reminded me that Olive Ann’s maiden name was Mellor. She also reminded me that my late, good friend, Stan Mellor, was from Burden, Kansas, just north of Wichita. We also met Stan’s brother, Phil Mellor, who was a lawyer in Wichita. It made us wonder if Stan and Phil were related to Olive Ann.

After talking about all of this with Pat, another memory surfaced for her. During WWII, her mother, Melba, worked at Beechcraft as a “Rosie the Riveter.” She worked her way up and became a supervisor of an aircraft assembly crew. Melba’s younger sister, Mabel, also worked as a “Rosie the Riveter” at Beechcraft. They both appreciated having good jobs and helping with the war effort.

Anyhow, after lunch, Aunt Rachel ran her errands, and we returned to Augusta. What an adventure! It has remained with me for all these years.

Dave Thomas

11/05/2026