I am a teacher!So was my grandmother, Frankie Joy Root Prime!
My grandmother lived the last years of her life at Leisure World in Seal Beach, Orange, California. Many of her siblings also lived there and were able to share a lot of time, memories, friendship and fun together.
When she passed away, I helped clean out her home, distributing and packing up her belongings. In one of the cabinets I found this small ceramic jar, an apple. I asked if I might keep it, and was granted permission.
I have no idea what the story is behind this apple. Was it a gift from a former student? An item my grandmother purchased for herself? I will never know.
What I know now, but I did not know as a child when I found it, was how this small apple connects my grandmother to me, representing both of our teaching careers.
Frankie Joy Root Prime was born April 24, 1895 in Murray, Cass, Nebraska.She attended Nebraska State University at Lincoln, Nebraska to earn her Teacher's Certificate, and later, the University School of Music.
Frankie taught at the following locations:
McCoy School (Imperial, Chase, Nebraska), 1913-1914
Spring Green (Beaver City, Furnas, Nebraska), 1914-1916
Tobias Elementary (Tobias, Saline, Nebraska), 1916-1918
West A Street School (Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska), 1919-1920
Bluff School (Arapahoe, Furnas, Nebraska), 1922-1923
Torrance Extended Day Care Center (Torrance, Los Angeles, California), 1944-??
My grandparents were married September 28, 1920. My grandfather, Elmer Campbell Prime, passed away September 19, 1943, due to complications following an automobile accident.
Frankie Joy Root Prime died June 1, 1968, and is buried at Roosevelt Memorial Cemetery in Gardena, Los Angeles, California.
