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Lots 4 and 5, West Liberty Heights758 and 770 South Maple Road____________________________________ |
Benjamin Steinman completed construction of the house
at 770 S. Maple in December 1927. To view his notes on building
this house Click
here. Benjamin and
Eleanor Steinman sold "House and Lot no
5 on contract June 7, 1930 $4,300.00" (From Benjamin Steinman's
notebook). Mr. Steinman's notes then say "Nov 5 1934 Sold Lot No
5 to Dan Steele and Helen, his wife paymnts as for $4,050 with $400
down
and $40.00 per mo Starting Jan 2-1935," and "Mr Steele moved in Dec
3-1934 gave him keys." Here are some notes from Ben Steinman's book
about the cost of a 1934 addition to 770 S. Maple (a little difficult
to read). The property was transferred to Anna D. Feldkamp on September
30, 1942. Mrs. Feldkamp was Ottmar Kaercher's cousin.
At this point my research results are fuzzy.
The City Directory shows Paul A. Jedele and his wife Ruth living at 770
S. Maple as early as 1941, but I was unable to find the deed transfer
record from Mrs. Feldkamp to the Jedeles. I am sure they owned
the property, however, since they lived there for over 60 years until
they passed away. I did find the record showing their purchase of
Lot 4 from Benjamin Steinman on January 19, 1947.
For some reason, Lots 4 and 5 were not conveyed
wholly. When Lot 5 was sold, it included (and still does) the
south eight feet of Lot 4, and Lot 4 owners own only the north 50 feet
of Lot 4. It's a mystery. Also, with the exception of the
sale of Lot 4 to J. W. and Jennie M. Hastings on May 25, 1936, the
owner of Lot 5 also owned Lot 4.
The Jedeles were married on June 6, 1936. Paul
Jedele was a milk hauler until he retired. Ruth graduated from
Michigan Normal Teachers College and taught at Oak Grove School for
over eight years. They had two children, John Jedele and
Joanne. Joanne Jedele (Scott) passed away April 26, 1977.
I have fond memories of Mr. and Mrs.
Jedele. They were both very active until their last few
years. I remember
one winter, when there were ice dams on a lot of houses, I saw
Paul Jedele up on a ladder correcting the problem at his house while
Ruth held the ladder. I thought to myself, "Those two are
certainly putting me to shame." Ruth spent a lot of time
gardening in the summer. She grew and canned tomatoes every year
that I knew her, except for the last. Her perennial garden was
beautiful, especially her poppies
and columbine. I used to enjoy sitting with Ruth and Paul on
summer evenings in their back yard or on their front porch. When
I broke my knee in the fall of 2001, Ruth brought me cookies that she
had made.
On August 8, 2004, I was working in my garden when I
heard an ambulance and saw that it had stopped at the Jedeles'
house. In spite of the EMT's efforts, Ruth died later that
day. After Ruth passed, their son, John, stayed with Paul until
he went into a nursing home and took care of the house until Paul
Jedele passed away June 27, 2005. During this time, John, his
wife Judy, and their grandson moved into the house. I was very
happy to have them as neighbors and felt sad when they put the house on
the market in June, 2006.
The house and Lot 4 (758 S. Maple) were sold to new
owners on December 6, 2006. They have had a
garden the last two summers (2007 and 2008). Ruth Jedele would
have liked the
fact that things were growing on the land.
This page was updated September 16, 2008.