Lola Mae: A Life of Love and Learning (Paperback or Softback)

A personal history of Lola Mae Wilson Geisendorfer, a talented artist, loving wife and mother, generous teacher, and faithful Christian. Born on a small farm outside Granada, Minnesota in 1926, Lola recounts her early years growing up in the rural Midwest as the seventh of nine sibilings in a loving, industrious family. When she was eight, her father lost his farm in the Depression, and the family relocated to another farm in Round Lake, Minnesota. An avid reader her whole life, Lola taught in country schools in Iowa and Minnesota for several years in her early 20s. Lola and her husband, Robert Geisendorfer, started their married life in Ocheyedan, Iowa. They relocated to Minnesota in 1952 and raised their three children in the towns of Windom and Worthington. After their youngest child started school, Lola returned to college at Mankato State College and earned her bachelor's degree. She then resumed her teaching career. As Lola recounts her history, a vivid picture emerges of place and time. She recalls funny and touching stories from her past and shares how she learned to handle loss and adveristy in her life. Lola died at age 92 in 2018, shortly after finishing her manuscript.

The book includes as an appendix the personal history of Lola's mother, Anna Geneva Peterson Wilson, born in 1890 outside Clermont, Iowa.