'Round Robin' still bonds friends after 54 years
By Jean Tennant, Journal correspondent | Posted: Monday, March 24, 2008
Betty Taylor of Hartley, Iowa, looks over the scrapbook she's kept since 1954, when she attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Taylor and several friends have maintained a "Round Robin" series of letters for fifty-four years. (Photo by Jean Tennant)
HARTLEY, Iowa -- In 1952 17-year-old Betty Hembd (now Taylor) left her hometown of Ocheyedan, Iowa, to attend Augustana College in Sioux Falls. She went there to earn a degree in elementary education. What she found was a lifetime of friendships and a "Round Robin" that continues to this day.
One of Taylor's roommates in her first year at Augustana was Margaret "Mugs" Bensen (Bradley) from Ravinia, S.D.
Taylor and Mugs soon met Audrey Peterson (Jensen) from Irene, S.D., Verna Hobbie (Hind), from Eagan, Minn., Mary Beatty (Engelbrecht) from Luverne, Minn., LaVonne Jones (Metz) from Lake Wilson, Minn. and Patty Breen (Bruegmann) and Janice Johnson (Kuehl), both from Westbrook, Minn.
Because the young women were all in the accelerated, two-year program, they didn't quite fit in with the other, four-year students.
"We were kind of a cloistered group," Taylor says from her home in Hartley, Iowa. She sits with her scrapbook, filled with black-and-white images of those women as they were back then. "We didn't quite fit in with everyone else on campus," she said.
Perhaps because of this perceived difference, the group of eight women grew especially close. They studied and found jobs together. They often walked the 28 blocks from campus to downtown Sioux Falls rather than spend 15 cents to ride the bus. And, showing their rebellious spirit, they would wear their Augustana sweatshirts over frowned-upon Levis.
Later, as they prepared to move on, the friends all agreed they wanted to stay in touch. The idea for the Round Robin was born.
Round Robin defined
A Round Robin is a series of letters that goes from one person to the next, with each participant adding her own letter to the bunch, then sending them all to the next person on the mailing list. When a person receives the letters back again, she takes her original letter out and adds a new one to the bunch. And the cycle continues.
Over the years, the eight friends shared the events of their lives: weddings, moves, births and deaths.
"Audrey played the organ at my wedding," says Taylor. "And I was at LaVonne and Patty's weddings.
"Mary developed breast cancer while in her thirties. When she was too ill to write, her mother wrote the letters that continued in the Round Robin. And when Mary died, the group mourned," Taylor recounted.
Life scattered the women in different directions. Mugs and her husband moved to Oregon and had two daughters. Later Mugs was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As her condition worsened, she used a cane, then a walker and eventually was confined to a motorized wheelchair.
"She never lost her upbeat attitude," Taylor says.
Mugs continued to include her letters in the Round Robin even after her husband died and writing became more difficult for her.
Taylor says the letters always made their way back to her three to four times in a year, a testament as to how faithful the women remained in adding to and sending them along. Though important, the letters weren't the only way the women stayed in touch.
"We used to have reunions in Sioux Falls," says Taylor, adding that their spouses all got along, as well. "We'd have a picnic in the park and bring our husbands and our kids."
Taylor taught elementary education in Harris, Iowa, for four years and then in Sutherland, Iowa, for 23 years. When she retired from teaching, she and her husband, Orv, ran an antiques business from their home.
Patty's husband died, Janice's husband had a heart transplant and Verna lost a daughter. The Round Robin continued with the letters of friendship and support.
Mugs' condition continued to deteriorate. She moved to McAllen, Texas, to live with her daughter who was a nurse.
"The last time I saw her, she could only move her head and her left arm," says Taylor. "She still kept up with the Round Robin, though a lot of times it stayed at her house for a long time. She could use her computer."
One of the last letters Taylor received from Mugs contained an e-mail address. Taylor was delighted at this new opportunity to communicate with her old friend.
Her delight was short-lived. Mugs died a short while later.
Heartbreak turns to outrage
When Mugs died, the remaining six women in the Round Robin were, understandably, heartbroken. But Mugs was 70 years old at the time of her death and had been wheelchair-bound for many years.
The news of Mugs' death took a shocking turn when the women learned their friend had been murdered.
Though Mugs' daughter had cared for her in the evenings, a caretaker had been hired to come to the house during the day. That caretaker, it turned out, had a shady past that included another suspicious death which she'd kept hidden by assuming a different name. Blood samples taken during Mugs' brief hospital stay revealed she had received a lethal dose of insulin. Mugs had not been prescribed insulin.
Suspicion fell first on Mugs' daughter, Rhonda Bradley, who spent the next two years investigating the case herself to clear her name. Bradley learned that the caretaker had also stolen money from her mother's account and it was through Bradley's efforts that the guilty party was eventually brought to justice. After a trial in Texas, the caretaker was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of Margaret Bensen Bradley.
During this period, the former college friends exchanged frequent phone calls and the Round Robin continued to travel. Again, they turned to each other for support during a difficult time.
"The letters kept us together over the years," says LaVonne Metz, who lives in Windom, Minn., with her husband, Willy. "The girls that we lost through death, we really miss them."
The letters continue. One member, Patty, has dropped out, though she is still in communication with the other women. The remaining five members have kept the Round Robin going strong after 54 years.
For Taylor, the Round Robin remains an important part of her life.
"It's been a continuing friendship," she says, flipping through a page in the scrapbook. "It's a bonding that has lasted all these years. Just a rich experience of bonding."
One of Taylor's roommates in her first year at Augustana was Margaret "Mugs" Bensen (Bradley) from Ravinia, S.D.
Taylor and Mugs soon met Audrey Peterson (Jensen) from Irene, S.D., Verna Hobbie (Hind), from Eagan, Minn., Mary Beatty (Engelbrecht) from Luverne, Minn., LaVonne Jones (Metz) from Lake Wilson, Minn. and Patty Breen (Bruegmann) and Janice Johnson (Kuehl), both from Westbrook, Minn.
Because the young women were all in the accelerated, two-year program, they didn't quite fit in with the other, four-year students.
"We were kind of a cloistered group," Taylor says from her home in Hartley, Iowa. She sits with her scrapbook, filled with black-and-white images of those women as they were back then. "We didn't quite fit in with everyone else on campus," she said.
Perhaps because of this perceived difference, the group of eight women grew especially close. They studied and found jobs together. They often walked the 28 blocks from campus to downtown Sioux Falls rather than spend 15 cents to ride the bus. And, showing their rebellious spirit, they would wear their Augustana sweatshirts over frowned-upon Levis.
Later, as they prepared to move on, the friends all agreed they wanted to stay in touch. The idea for the Round Robin was born.
Round Robin defined
A Round Robin is a series of letters that goes from one person to the next, with each participant adding her own letter to the bunch, then sending them all to the next person on the mailing list. When a person receives the letters back again, she takes her original letter out and adds a new one to the bunch. And the cycle continues.
Over the years, the eight friends shared the events of their lives: weddings, moves, births and deaths.
"Audrey played the organ at my wedding," says Taylor. "And I was at LaVonne and Patty's weddings.
"Mary developed breast cancer while in her thirties. When she was too ill to write, her mother wrote the letters that continued in the Round Robin. And when Mary died, the group mourned," Taylor recounted.
Life scattered the women in different directions. Mugs and her husband moved to Oregon and had two daughters. Later Mugs was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As her condition worsened, she used a cane, then a walker and eventually was confined to a motorized wheelchair.
"She never lost her upbeat attitude," Taylor says.
Mugs continued to include her letters in the Round Robin even after her husband died and writing became more difficult for her.
Taylor says the letters always made their way back to her three to four times in a year, a testament as to how faithful the women remained in adding to and sending them along. Though important, the letters weren't the only way the women stayed in touch.
"We used to have reunions in Sioux Falls," says Taylor, adding that their spouses all got along, as well. "We'd have a picnic in the park and bring our husbands and our kids."
Taylor taught elementary education in Harris, Iowa, for four years and then in Sutherland, Iowa, for 23 years. When she retired from teaching, she and her husband, Orv, ran an antiques business from their home.
Patty's husband died, Janice's husband had a heart transplant and Verna lost a daughter. The Round Robin continued with the letters of friendship and support.
Mugs' condition continued to deteriorate. She moved to McAllen, Texas, to live with her daughter who was a nurse.
"The last time I saw her, she could only move her head and her left arm," says Taylor. "She still kept up with the Round Robin, though a lot of times it stayed at her house for a long time. She could use her computer."
One of the last letters Taylor received from Mugs contained an e-mail address. Taylor was delighted at this new opportunity to communicate with her old friend.
Her delight was short-lived. Mugs died a short while later.
Heartbreak turns to outrage
When Mugs died, the remaining six women in the Round Robin were, understandably, heartbroken. But Mugs was 70 years old at the time of her death and had been wheelchair-bound for many years.
The news of Mugs' death took a shocking turn when the women learned their friend had been murdered.
Though Mugs' daughter had cared for her in the evenings, a caretaker had been hired to come to the house during the day. That caretaker, it turned out, had a shady past that included another suspicious death which she'd kept hidden by assuming a different name. Blood samples taken during Mugs' brief hospital stay revealed she had received a lethal dose of insulin. Mugs had not been prescribed insulin.
Suspicion fell first on Mugs' daughter, Rhonda Bradley, who spent the next two years investigating the case herself to clear her name. Bradley learned that the caretaker had also stolen money from her mother's account and it was through Bradley's efforts that the guilty party was eventually brought to justice. After a trial in Texas, the caretaker was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of Margaret Bensen Bradley.
During this period, the former college friends exchanged frequent phone calls and the Round Robin continued to travel. Again, they turned to each other for support during a difficult time.
"The letters kept us together over the years," says LaVonne Metz, who lives in Windom, Minn., with her husband, Willy. "The girls that we lost through death, we really miss them."
The letters continue. One member, Patty, has dropped out, though she is still in communication with the other women. The remaining five members have kept the Round Robin going strong after 54 years.
For Taylor, the Round Robin remains an important part of her life.
"It's been a continuing friendship," she says, flipping through a page in the scrapbook. "It's a bonding that has lasted all these years. Just a rich experience of bonding."
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Judy wrote on Mar 24, 2008 7:05 AM: