Biography

Vivian Henderson Schelker was born in 1945 in Brookport, Illinois, near the Ohio River. Her family was proud of its African American, Native American, and white ancestors. At age four she moved with her parents to East St. Louis and in 1953 came to Tama County, Iowa. Her father worked first at the Jocelyn Manufacturing Company outside of Tama. When that company closed, the family moved into Tama and he hired out to a local farmer, Willliam Schelker. Vivian Henderson Schelker attended Tama High School until 1961 when she married William Schelker, then forty-one years of age. His ancestry was mixed European. The Schelkers farmed together and raised two children. The oldest son William graduated from Buena Vista College—Marshal Center. Their daughter Kim has two children. In 1988 their farm house burned and her husband William Schelker died 1992. Vivian Schelker lives on the farm, gardens extensively, and socializes with her friends.

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