<Begin Segment 13>

KL: Did you enroll at Drake also?

MT: Yes, after we got married in the end of December, so I had, Jack had gotten me this housegirl job.

KL: Oh, you were married, were you married in Manzanar?

MT: No, we weren't. We were married...

KL: A year later?

MT: ...a year later at this Central church that I joined, I went for, we went for marriage counseling. Jack and I decided to get married during Christmas or wait until Easter vacation when school break was, but we decided to get married in December and the minister was able to marry us the day after Christmas of '43, when he was through with the Christmas worship celebrations. He said, "I have time on Sunday afternoon," so at four o'clock, he put us through marriage counseling, and we were married then. My folks were already in Chicago, so they came, and my sister's host family that she lived with, Wanda Walker and George gave us a reception, so we were married. And at that time, he was already a student minister out in a little town outside of Des Moines. And our life, married life started then.

KL: When did your parents leave Manzanar?

MT: In the late part of '43, about August.

KL: How did they get to Chicago, I mean, logistics-wise, work?

MT: My father interviewed for a job at this greenhouse where they raised hothouse roses for the market, picked roses, and they grew the roses for the wholesale market. And my father did all of the writing and connection with Spandico and it was accepted, and so I think they went by train, probably, from Manzanar.

KL: And they stopped to see you on the way?

MT: No, just my father stopped when he was interviewing for the job. So I guess within, I guess he stayed less long than I thought they stayed, as I look back now, because they came to our wedding from Chicago. They had just been there a short time when they came to Illinois.

KL: And the company was called Spandico?

MT: Spandico nursery. There was a big rose grower, their name started with A, I have it on the tip of my tongue, but they were big growers, but the Spandicos had a smaller operation, and they hired my mother and father and my little sister and little brother were in high school, so they gave them an apartment in the basement of their house. That's where they worked after relocation.

KL: And when did your folks come from Poston and your brother to Des Moines? Was that in '43 also? When did they arrive in Des Moines?

MJT: Oh, they arrived there in end of '43.

KL: They were there for your wedding?

MJT: No, they didn't get there.

MT: No, I don't think they were there.

MJT: No, they weren't there. Must have been...

MT: '44.

MJT: ...early '44.

KL: You said it took a little while to get to know Iowans. Had you already made friendships?

MT: A few friendships. The Quakers have a house that they'd let.

MJT: Called a hostel.

MT: Hostel where relocates could stay for a few days before they went to, made final plans of where they were going to work and live. And so they were a big support group, the Quakers, Friends, we called them the Friends, the churches.

KL: And you were already pastoring a church?

MJT: In Granger, Iowa. I used to go out on a Sunday morning and come back Sunday night on the trolley, went to Granger.

KL: Did you talk to --

MT: The woman who was very active in his church and the woman that I worked for was, she worked for that group that supported the war, the women. There was a special name for them, and she'd go, she went out from the national organization promoting the mothers for the servicemen, and very active in this group. And she and the woman that was very active in the little church got together and they were arguing about each of us, and said, "Well, I hope Jack is worthy of Mary." And the other woman was putting up for him and she said, "Well, I just hope Mary is good enough to be a minister's wife." And so they finally got to know each of us and they decided we were both okay.

KL: You were a good match.

MT: But that was, they did value who we were. I think that's followed us all our lives, that we've never had any difficulty getting along with people because of hopefully who we are. And our children have always been accepted, and we're very proud of our children and what they each are doing.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2012 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.