Betty Fellows
Betty Fellows has spent a lifetime balancing work, family, and community service with remarkable dedication. Her story reflects the strength, kindness, and resilience that have defined generations of Evansville families.
Betty Fellows, who has lived in Evansville for over fifty years, was born in Madison at St. Mary’s Hospital. She was raised on a few different farms near Sauk City. After she finished high school, she worked for the State of Wisconsin Real Estate Reassessment Department. She was a member of the team that re-assessed Evansville and Belleville in 1950. When the project was completed, she decided to remain in Evansville.
Betty soon found work as a waitress at a local restaurant, and she lived in a boarding house run by Barbara Allen, just west of the old Rex Theater. It was at the restaurant that she met her future husband, Robert “Buzz” Fellows. Buzz was an auxiliary police officer in Evansville, meaning that he filled in when needed. Betty also worked as a secretary to Jerry Matson, who was the general manager of Baker Manufacturing at the time. Gordon Baker was the President, and Betty also served as Mr. Baker’s secretary when his full-time secretary was on vacation. Betty clearly was not afraid to work.
After Betty and Buzz married, at the age of twenty, she gave birth to their first daughter. A little over a year later, she had a son. Betty’s father came to see them at the hospital. He encouraged her to stop at two children, since she already had a girl and a boy, and two children were enough. But Betty had other ideas, and she told her father that she wanted four children. She had grown up an only child and remembered being lonely without any siblings to play with. She didn’t want that for her children. By the time she and Buzz were finished having children, there were eight of them: Terry, Lewis, Bob, Nancy, Jerry, Richard, Carla, and Walter. If you grew up in Evansville during the 60s, 70s, or 80s, chances are there was a Fellows in your class at school.
Buzz was a WWII veteran who had served in the US Army. He fought to help repel the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands and was also part of the retaking of the island of Kiska. After the war, he worked for a time at the Brunsell-Fellows Feed Company in Evansville (next door to Nelson-Young Lumber). Buzz’s father, Ace Fellows, sold his interest in the company to Fred Brunsell when he retired. Buzz then moved on to the Gisholt Company in Madison. After that, he served as the only police officer in Orfordville. He eventually left police work and joined the Highway Trailer Company in Edgerton. Later on, he worked as a welder at the Chrysler Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois.
Meanwhile, Betty worked for Attorney Richard Eager as a secretary when his usual secretary went on her two-week vacation. Even though her secretarial skills must have been in high demand, she still found time to raise her children. She served as the Chief Den Leader for her daughters’ Girl Scout troops and as a Den Leader for the Cub Scouts for approximately five years. She accumulated twenty-five years of volunteer work experience with the Girl Scouts.
In 1971, she began working at Head Start, which at the time was a federally funded preschool program. She worked as a teacher’s aide for approximately twenty-six years. The program strove to prepare children for Kindergarten, either because their families were at or below the poverty level or because the children had special needs. The kids whose parents were more well-off went to day care centers. When the Evansville Head Start office closed, Betty went to work at Walmart in Janesville. She worked as a checkout clerk and in the crafts, fabrics, and bedding department for the next 27 years. During her time there, she was also in charge of the “Warm Up America Program”, which was created to encourage Walmart employees and customers to come together to make quilts, afghans, baby blankets, and many other items that were then donated to local charities. At that time, new employees were given Walmart stock during their first three years, after which they were enrolled in a 401(k) plan. Betty retired after 27 years of service. Not one to sit down for long, Betty then became a Tupperware Dealer for several years after that.
Buzz was born in his parents’ house at 230 W. Church Street. He was the youngest of three children. He had a sister named Miriam and a brother named Jerry. They were all raised in Evansville. Miriam eventually married Walter Spratler, and they lived in the same house where Miriam grew up, on the Northeast corner of the intersection of S. Third and W. Church Streets. Betty says this house is haunted. I have also heard other stories of hauntings in the house from Lisa Spratler, who grew up there and is the current owner.
.When Betty came to Evansville in 1950, the Gollmar Bros. Circus was still based here. Mrs. Gollmar was the daughter of Colonel George “Popcorn” Hall, the owner of the Hall Circus. Some of you may have heard the story of a leopard escaping from the Hall Circus while it was in Evansville. It is depicted on the west wall of what is now “The Slice” on the SE corner of Main and Madison Streets. It was quite an exciting event with a tragic ending as the leopard was tracked down by circus employees, local citizens, and police, and then had to be killed. In any case, Mrs. Gollmar was a snake charmer who sometimes came into the restaurant where Betty worked for lunch.
One time, when Betty was waitressing at the restaurant, Mrs. Gollmar came in, sat at the counter, and ordered a coffee. The restaurant’s policy was that if someone wanted coffee at the counter, it was served in a mug instead of a cup and saucer. Betty decided to give Mrs. Gollmar her coffee in a cup and saucer instead of a mug, because she felt an older woman should be served coffee that way. Later, the restaurant owner called Betty to the back and asked whether she had served Mrs. Gollmar her coffee in a mug. Betty truthfully replied, “No, I served it to her in a cup and saucer”. The owner breathed a sigh of relief saying, “Thank goodness!” and proceeded to share that the last time someone served Mrs. Gollmar coffee in a mug, she exclaimed, “I’ve had enough of drinking coffee in mugs when I was in the circus and I’m not going to drink coffee in a mug here!” After which she picked up the mug and threw it across the room where it hit the wall and broke, spilling coffee all over the floor!
When Betty first came to town, there were eight grocery stores. Finnanes, which was located next to what was then the grade school on First Street, in the building that was most recently used as the Evansville Youth Center. It was later run by the Chapins. There was also The Grange Store; Smitty’s Market at 17 W. Main Street; The Royal Blue Store (in the middle of the south side of West Main Street); Krogers (where Rock’n Rollz is now), Patterson’s Market (on the south side of E. Main Street next to what is now Mosher Insurance); Taprin’s Grocery (near the old Chevy garage); and of course Brzezinski’s East Side Grocery (on the NE corner of East Main and Union Streets.
Main Street was made of cobblestones at that time, and it was smoother and didn’t make any noise when it was driven on. Arndt Plaza was a Ford dealership owned by Don Thompson. There was a cheese factory where the Veterinary Clinic is now located on Maple Street. The Lutheran Church used to be just South of the Eager Free Public Library. When it relocated to South Third Street, the US Post Office was built in its place. When the post office relocated to Water Street several years ago, the Library expanded to the South.
Betty says she has been lucky to live to age 94 and to have lived in the same house since 1955. In addition to her eight children, she has six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson (so far)! That is quite a legacy!
In response to my question about how she was able to raise eight children in a three-bedroom house, Betty said it was a bit crowded, but with over twenty years between the youngest and oldest children, there was never a time when all eight of them lived in the house at the same time.
When I asked how she was able to take care of the kids while she was working at her various jobs, she replied, “I either took the younger kids with me or my mother-in-law, Nan Fellows, watched them for me. I had the best mother-in-law in the world, and I mean that sincerely.”
She went on to say that by the time the younger ones were ready for Boy Scouts, the older children were able to watch the little ones, or she took them with her. Boy Scout Den Meetings were in her house, so there was never a problem. She didn’t start working full-time at Head Start until only the three youngest kids needed a sitter while she was gone. Also, since Buzz worked nights, everything worked out fine. In Head Start, she only worked 6 hours a day, so she was home by the time the kids got out of school. By the time she started at Walmart, they were all old enough to take care of themselves.
Buzz passed away in November of 2002. Betty retired from Walmart in 2016. She is doing very well and keeps busy at home. Of course, she has slowed down, and it takes her much longer to accomplish things. She has joined the knitting group at Creekside Place, which meets every Monday and helps her get out of the house. Her children and grandchildren keep her very involved, so she doesn’t have time to get lonesome.
Betty has lived a long and fulfilling life. Together, she and Buzz raised eight children. She has had many careers, working first as a waitress, then as a secretary for local businesses, teaching children at Head Start, working at Walmart, and finally selling Tupperware after retiring. Throughout this time, she raised her children and volunteered for many years with both the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts. Betty has certainly given back to Evansville through her volunteer work, and she has left quite a legacy. She loves her family and has certainly earned her retirement.
