Surnames: AUSTIN SHORT

----Source: Clark County Republican & Press (Neillsville, Wis.) 10/20/1921

Short, Ramona (Marriage - 11 OCT 1921)

Mr. Kenneth Austin and Miss Ramona Short, both of the town of Levis, Clark County, Wis., were quietly married at Sparta on Oct. 11, 1921. The groom is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Austin. He grew to manhood here, and graduated from Neillsville High School and attended the state university. In the fall of 1917 he enlisted in aviation and was shortly sent overseas where he served till the close of the war. Since his return he has been farming with his father on their farm at Day Corners. He is an industrious and intelligent young man of a fine type.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Short. She graduated this year from the teachers’ training course in Neillsville. She is a bright attractive young lady and is greatly esteemed by all who know her.

The young couple will live on the Austin farm. We join with their many other friends in offering best wishes for their success and happiness.

Family Notes

SHORT-AUSTIN MARRIAGE

Ramona Birdine Short (22 May 1902/8 April 1983) and Kenneth Ward Austin (10 Nov 1895/21 Oct 1953) were married at the M.E. Parsonage in Sparta, Monroe Co., WI on 10 Oct 1921 separated in Sep 1923, filed for divorce 10 Dec 1924 in Clark Co., WI. Kenneth and Ramona lived with the Charles Eugene and Esther "Essie" Ward Austin family on their farm near Day Corners in Levis Township, Clark Co., WI all during their brief marriage. They had two children:

Calvin Eugene Austin 6 Feb 1922/12 Feb 1922 born/died Levis Township, Clark Co., WI.  Cause of death "unknown".  Per Ramona: "Calvin was a blue-baby, Mrs. Austin (Essie) was Christian Scientist and wouldn’t call a doctor. (The Austin family donated the land for the Christian Scientist church dedicated in Jan 1917, and were charter members.)

Nedra Eloise "Kitty Ann" Austin born 25 Jul 1923, in 2007 she was in a FL nursing home. Kenneth choose the name "Nedra" from novel, he was a romantic and an avid reader.  When Kenneth and Ramona divorced Ramona change the name to "Kitty Ann".

Per Ramona and Kitty Ann: Kenneth was never mean to Ramona, always a gentleman, but his mother’s ways were so different from her Short family, Ramona couldn’t get used to the extreme Scotch thriftiness that Essie practiced.  Ramona wasn’t allowed to be in the house while Essie was napping. When Kitty Ann was three weeks old Ramona left Kenneth and the Austin family and moved back to her J.W. Short family who lived nearby. Grandpa Charles Austin would come to see Kitty Ann and hold her while visiting with Grandpa J. W. Short.

Kenneth Austin remarried in 1935 to a nurse, Margaret A. McKee.  Their children: William Charles Austin; Jon Dwight Austin; Karen Allison Austin, and Sharon Austin.  They lived in Rice Lake, WI on the cattle farm of Dr. Post. Kitty Ann spent the summer of 1935 with her father and his new family.  Kenneth would come out of the fields and sit on one of the small chairs while Kitty Ann played with the leather dolls and small china. Kenneth had asthma so bad he could hardly breath, which depressed him to the point of suicide. In October 1953 Kenneth mixed strychnine with ice cream then went out into the woods and sat under his favorite tree where he died.

Ramona Short Austin next married Harold Louis Eidenberger (1902/1976) in 1927 in Waukegan, Illinois.  Their children: Charlotta 29 April 1932; Lewis 1 Oct 1934; Suzzane 1 Jan 1943.  The family lived in Milwaukee and Butler, WI prior to moving to CA.

Contributed by Sharon Short.