The Shoe Repairmen

We had a conversation with Alice Gregory tonight about the shoe repairman in Haigler and thought I’d share it with you.

Many of you know Alice, who grew up and lived in the Haigler/St. Francis community before moving to Tucson, Arizona in the 1980s. She will be having her 92nd birthday in November and uses her computer to write, keep genealogy records, study her bible, “surf” the net, send email to her sister (Floy Ruggles), children and friends some of whom are in their 60s, 70s, 80s.

Another thing she does is get online and chat with us on MSN Messenger. Tonight Leah was in St. Francis, Leone was in Tucson and I was in Lincoln. Here is part of our conversation:

Leone says:
Mamma, do you remember the Lorance's who lived in Wray?
Leah says:
What was Mr. Lorance's name?
Alice says:
Yes I remember the Lorances
Leone says:
What was his business? And his name?
Alice says:
He was a shoe repairman. Ed Egley and Eddie Heye were too
Leah says:
Who was Virgil Lorance's dad? First name?
Alice says:
I know Cressie but I can't think of his first name now
Leone says:
Price Lorantz?
Alice says:
Oh yes, Price. Virgil was the little boy
Leone says:
Ok. Was there an Ed Egley, AND an Eddie Heye?
Shoe repairmen?
Alice says:
Yes both were shoe repairmen. And both were crippled
Leone says:
Oh, ok! Which one was in Haigler before he went to Wray?
Alice says:
Eddie Heye. I don't think Ed Egly went to Wray
Leone says:
Ok, then Don Harford was right.
Alice says:
Ed Egley used crutches
Leone says:
Don Harford was writing remembrances about Haigler, and he said the shoe repairman was Ed Egley. And I thought he was wrong because I thought the name was Eddie Heye.
Alice says:
I think Eddie Heye was the one that used the blocks. Ed Egley helped us in harvest once. He drove the tractor for us during harvest one summer. He was on crutches, but he could drive.
Leone says:
The way Don Harford described him sounds more like Eddie Heye. But I see I'm wrong. I never heard about Ed Egley
Sherri says:
Were they both in Haigler at the same time?
Alice says:
They might have been for a little while
Alice says:
Ed Egley grew up in Haigler and I faintly remember that Erma Zuege remembered his mother. She said something about his mother spoiling him or else heard her mother talk about it. But I remember him as the shoe man.