Stratton, Edna Stoelk, 1908-

Edna Stoelk Stratton was born in 1908 to Theodore and Wilhelmena Wieble Stoelk. Her family moved to Wilton, Iowa, when she was six years old, and by the age of twelve she was already working for other families in the area providing child care or any other services which might provide additional income for her family. In 1924 the family moved to West Liberty, Iowa, and in 1928 at the age of twenty, Edna married a neighbor who worked for a dairy farmer. In.

1930, Stratton and her family moved onto a tenant farm where they lived until 1932, when they were forced off the farm because of the Depression and had to move to town. In 1933, they moved back to West Liberty, Iowa, to work on a dairy farm. Stratton took in washing for three families to make extra money. In 1958, Stratton started to work for Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, in the housekeeping department. Stratton has also worked in a school lunchroom and at the Burkhart Home for Elderly Men.