Laverna was born on a homestead (just 11 miles east of Imperial) to Harry and Lucy Fanning. She had one younger brother, Frank, and one younger sister, Arlene. When she was four-years-old, Laverna started to school at Hamlet. Her third grade year, the family moved. She started going to Blue Ridge, a rural school in Chase County.

Farm life for the Fanning family was typical of the era. At harvest time, the whole family shocked cane. They butchered their own beef and pork. They ate produce from the garden. During the depression, they survived mostly on cream and eggs, selling them in order to purchase what they needed. They did have a car most of the time.

To pass eighth grade and go on to high school, Laverna had to take 14 exams. She went to high school in Wauneta for three years. Her junior year, she took "normal training" (classes to prepare students who want to teach). The Stinnette kids (Orville, Glenda, and Murville) and Laverna drove to Imperial (CCHS) for these classes. At that time, they could have gone to Imperial or Wauneta without paying tuition. At the tender age of 16, Laverna took the final seventeen exams. At 17, she was ready to teach.

In fact, from a very young age, Laverna knew she wanted to teach. There was no question in her mind; it was her calling. Yet, she did not get a school her first year out. "Teachers were a dime a dozen," she recalled. " I took a post-graduate course in Wauneta instead. I took accounting and home economics. I learned a lot."

When a teacher at Zell (Faye Troxall Anderson) got sick, Laverna filled in. It was her first teaching assignment. "Grandma fixed me an egg sandwich, apple, and cookies for lunch. I taught for a week."

Laverna's parents, aware of their child's longing to teach, drove her all over the area in search of a school needing a teacher. They found one, a school district northwest of the area that is now the Maddux ranch. While teaching, she stayed with Larry and Ruby Collins and their daughter, Shirley. Laverna's salary was $45 per month, and she paid $12 per month for rent. Her folks drove in and brought her home for the weekends.

On weekdays, Shirley (student) and Laverna rode a horse ("Beauty") to and from the schoolhouse, approximately 2 miles. Laverna taught 5 students for one term. With sparkling eyes, she describes the experience, "Throughout my years of teaching, I often had to pinch myself. I was actually teaching, a career I really loved."

Indeed, she was adept at her craft. "I tried to have a surprise for the kids once in a while. One time, I asked them to go out and get long, thin branches. They didn't know what it was for, but they got them. Then, we had a wiener and marshmallow roast."

She taught at Pioneer (District #1) school for a couple terms during WWII. While there, she and her students would hike to a favorite picnic spot (a cement culvert under a road), eat their sack lunches, and listen to the cars whisk by overhead.

Various schools around the area enjoyed her talents over the years, including Enterprise, Hillcrest, Champion, Star (District 12 in Hayes County), and Imperial. In her early years of teaching, she usually taught all grades (first through eighth). In 1955, she started in Imperial and taught kindergarten. Altogether, she taught 49 terms and 17 summers (3 remedial and 14 migrant school) before retiring. She has a lot of memories and keepsakes from those years. Two small boxes are filled with school photographs her students had given her, and she remembers the names and family lineage of almost all of them.

When asked what she enjoyed most about teaching, a big smile graced her face as she thought through all the wonderful times she'd experienced. "If I were playing, I couldn't do anything I like better. I just loved the kids, parents, other teachers, and administration. I loved them all. I always played outdoors with the kids. I think it is the 'teacher's duty' to play with the kids at recess. We also learned our ABC's, sounds, and numbers. We acted out stories, learned nursery rhymes, and even did a little reading. Do you remember the teeter totter?"

Who doesn't remember the teeter-totter, the piano, the puzzles, and all the other wonderful things that made Miss Fanning's classroom a lively adventure every time we crossed its threshold? She still keeps herself busy. After she first retired, she helped in the art room and first grade once a week. She plays piano and loves to sing. She likes to cook, sew, and garden. Animals have a special place in her heart, so she adores visiting farms. Also, she has a little time for reading -- National Geographic, Guideposts, Newsweek, and her favorite, Jeanette Oake books.

A final comment explains the gentle strength found in her life: "Because of the separation between church and state, I could never directly tell the children about Christ. I'd like to think I lived some kind of example for them, though."

She did, and still does. Merry Christmas, Miss Fanning! Thank you for always hugging and loving us.