When the Iris Bloom…

I’m always reminded of my great-grandaunt, or “Auntie” as we all called her, when the iris start to bloom. Pauline Bessie Shuler Rapp (1903-1996) was renowned in town for her expansive iris beds. Almost her whole back yard was a garden, but her iris beds were a wonder in late spring. And she could tell you the name of every single iris (or rose, or any other flower she grew).

Auntie in iris beds, circa 1988. (photo, Theresa Billow)

Because the iris bloomed right around Memorial Day, they figured greatly in the bouquets for which she and my grandmother would raid their gardens to decorate graves in the cemeteries. Iris and red poppies would grace not a few gravestones.

Iris and poppies ready for Memorial Day bouquets, circa 1988. (Photo, Theresa Billow)

I learned a lot about gardening from her – like planting peas on St. Patrick’s Day. She loved her garden and spent a good part of every day outside. But beyond her garden, she was known for her musicianship, her love of ice cream (every day, if you please!), and her fondness for pets. She also loved to watch sports, especially baseball, and often had a game on her tv on a Saturday afternoon. She even flew to New York with a group of Liverpool friends in June 1951 to attend a Yankees-White Sox game at Yankee Stadium, in what may have been her only plane ride.[1]

For six decades, she played organ and piano at church services – and for dozens of weddings. She could play a polka on the organ like nobody’s business. Her fingers and feet would fly over the organ keys and pedals, her head nodding to the music. And, although the years would catch up with her, muscle memory was tremendous. I’ll never forget her playing a spirited polka one day for some of the family – with nary a note missed – and then turn around to us and ask “Now, what was that?” (not remembering the title). We laughed pretty hard, and she did too.

A graduate of a senior class of seven at Liverpool High School, she went on to attend Williamsport Dickinson Seminary (later Lycoming College) for a year, where she was enrolled in the Commercial Course and studied pianoforte and voice. Shortly thereafter, in 1922, she married Park Rapp.

Snapshot of her enrollment at Williamsport Dickson Seminary for 1919-1920.[2]

Her musicianship extended to playing in the local band, garnering the attention of a Harrisburg newspaper.

Photo of Pauline (2^nd from right) with her bandmates in 1930. The photo caption reads: Ice cream spoons decorate blue coats and brown paper bags of Kitchenette Band, formed by Liverpool, Perry County, women to help enlarge village school house [photo]. Kitchen utensils are the band implements. Pictured in front of Methodist Church made famous by President Hoover’s recent visit. Band members, left to right, Mrs. H.A. Long, Mrs. R. L. Shumaker, Mrs. Fields Dodge, Mrs. G.M. Deckard, Mrs. Herman Bucher, Mrs. H.A.S. Shuler, Mrs. J.L. Erlenmeyer, Mrs. G.Y. Miller, Mrs. Maurice Shuler, Mrs. M.A. Grubb, Mrs. Park Rapp, Mrs. H.E. Ritter, leader. [3]

Fortunately, a cousin has a much better photo of the kitchenette band (undated). Auntie is front center.

(family photo, courtesy of Scott Shuler)

Church was a mainstay of her life. Besides playing for services, Auntie taught Sunday school for many years. And, in 1955, her perfect attendance of 21 years was noted. [4] She also frequently visited the local nursing home and played piano for residents there.

For such a quiet, unassuming woman, you wouldn’t think she would be at the center of an unsolved mystery. But, in December 1939, as she was sitting in her home, she heard a crash, like a heavy pan falling on the floor. She couldn’t find the cause of the noise for some hours, but finally discovered that her basement door had been shattered. The mystery of the noise she heard was solved, but what caused the damage to the basement door? It wasn’t until her husband came home that it was discovered that it was a gunshot. Park Rapp dug out a thirty-two calibre rifle bullet from the door with his pocketknife. But the mystery of who shot the door remains. The incident was written up in several local newspapers[5] and compared to the famous Jennie Wade story, where a young woman was killed by a stray bullet as she was kneading bread in the middle of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg on 1 July 1863.[6]

Auntie digging up an iris for her grand-niece about 1988. Note the basement door to the right – obviously a replacement for the one shattered by the bullet in 1939. (photo, Theresa Billow)

Throughout her life, family, gardening and music were her joys, and we certainly loved and enjoyed her.

For a few years I had iris from her yard and from my grandmother’s, but sadly, my yard grew more shady and the iris eventually died. But I’ve removed trees and now have a nice sunny patch with iris growing and set to bloom right around Mother’s Day this year. While she had no children, she was a huge presence in so many of our lives, taking an interest in each and every new child born into the family and enjoying them all so much. So, of course, I think of Auntie and her amazing flowers when I see my iris bloom this Mother’s Day and thank her for inspiring a love of flowers. Now, if I could only find that “Butterscotch” rose she had growing up a trellis.

---

Iris blooming on Mother’s Day in Theresa’s garden, May 2021. (photo, Theresa Billow)

[1] Duncannon Record (Duncannon, Pennsylvania), 28 June 1951, p. 8 (newspapers.com, accessed 7 May 2021)

[2] Lycoming College and predecessor institutions,. (1887). Record of Students [1887-1951]. Retrieved from https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3A128029. Accessed 8 May 2021

[3] Harrisburg Evening News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 5 July 1930, p. 22 (newspapers.com, accessed 4 April 2015).

[4] Perry County Times (New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania), 27 January 1955. p. 9.  (newspapers.com, accessed 3 May 2018).

[5] The incident was originally reported in the Newport News-Sun (Newport, Pennsylvania), 7 December 1939, p. 7. (newspapers.com, accessed 9 May 2021).

[6] For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennie_Wade, accessed 9 May 2021. The Gettysburg Times (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) carried a story on the incident on 11 August 2007 (p. 1) when the descendants of the soldier who killed Jennie Wade returned the bullet that killed her to Gettysburg. (newspapers.com, accessed 9 May 2021).