LeTourneau Tech's NOW, Volume 4, Number 3, February 1, 1950 Page: 3
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: LeTourneau University Archives and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the LeTourneau University Margaret Estes Library.
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She'd Rather Be Called "Mom"
By Henry A. Pucek
"Reprinted from CHRISTIAN LIFE Magazine,
Copyright November, 1949, SUNDAY Magazine,
Inc., 434 So. Wabash Ave., Chicago 5, III."
7 HE trim new Studebaker skidded
to a stop in front of the pastor's
residence. An attractive, middle-aged
woman slid from behind the wheel.
She had intended to pay a casual
visit, but it was obvious that a wedd-
ing was in process.
Entering through a rear door, she
slipped quietly into a vacant seat.
At the conclusion of the ceremony,
it was discovered that the girls who
were to have prepared the sandwiches
had become so engrossed in the pro-
ceedings that the refreshments were
not ready. Sizing up the situation,
the visitor promptly donned an apron
and efficiently prepared the sand-
wiches.
Later, the embarrassed girls apolo-
gized to the pastor's wife and praised
the efficient "maid," who had been so
helpful.
"Don't you know who she is?" And
she led two embarrassed girls over to
meet Mrs. R.G. LeTourneau, wife of
the famous earth-moving machinery
manufacturer and Christian business
man.
As uncomfortable as the situation
seemed to the girls, it was entirely to
the liking of Mrs. LeTourneau. For
nothing pleases her more than to
pitch in when help is needed. It is
this characteristic, too, which has won
her the respect of plain people wher-
ever she has gone and endeared her
to the hearts of the young people
attending her camps. As a matter of
personal admission, she would rather
be known as "Mom" than catered to
as a famous woman.
Her unhappiest moments come
when she senses that plant employees
(the LeTourneau empire consists of
four plants in four states) regard her
with awe. It is her belief that God
has called her to be a steward of the
time, talent and money with which
He has entrusted her. She can do the
best job only when those with whom
she works recognize she is "just plain
folks."
As a matter of record, many per-
sons are familiar with the exploits of
R. G. LeTourneau; whose life story
has appeared in two books and a
number of national magazines. Few
people, however, are aware of the factthat Evelyn LeTourneau is an impor-
tant cog in helping to run the vast
multi-million dollar LeTourneau ma-
chine.
When she is not speaking at some
civic affair or before a church group,
she may be in Longview, Texas, su-
pervising matters at the LeTourneau
Technical Institute, a school which
she founded in 1946.
Or, she may be at Lindale, Texas,
at work on the juvenile rehabilitation
camp, which she launched in 1948.
On the other hand, she may be en-
route by plane to the Winona Lake
(Indiana) Christian Assembly or the
Lake Louise (Georgia) Conference
Grounds, where she is active on the
Board of Directors.
She might be engaged in any one
of these activities - provided, of
course, she was not already busy han-
dling some of the a f f a i r s of the
LeTourneau Foundation of which she
is also Vice President and a member
of the Board of Directors, or perform-
ing some task in connection with her
position as Vice President of R. G.
LeTourneau, Inc.
These and other responsibilities of
a woman in her position, however,
seem to weigh little upon the ebul-
lient spirit of Mrs. R. G. LeTourneau.
One reason may be that her early
background accustomed her to hard
work, for things have changed a lot
since the early days when Evelyn was
the oldest of five children of Oscar
W. Petersen of Santa Rosa, Calif. The
family had only fair means of liveli-
hood, and all of the children worked
hard. Mrs. Petersen operated a cur-
tain laundry, and the children ped-
dIed the milk and vegetables. Young
Evelyn spent much time in the laun-
dry, and to this day she has an
aversion for curtains.
Curiously enough, the two most im-
portant events in her life occurred the
same night. At an evangelistic tent
meeting in Stockton, at the age of 12,
she accepted Christ as her Saviour.
At the same meeting she met Robert
G. LeTourneau.
There was no question about the
reality of the conversion, but it was
some time before the romance de-
veloped. As a matter of fact, Mrs.
LeTourneau confides, it went through
some rather embarrassing stages.
Young LeTourneau, 12 years her
senior, roomed at the Petersen home.
She was "Sis" to him and he "UncleBob" to her. This platonic relation-
ship, however, was worsened by the
fact that in the interests of family
discipline "Uncle Bob" often took
over the task of spanking "Sis!"
Despite the humiliation, young
Evelyn fell soundly in love with vig-
orous young LeTourneau. Whenever
he left for a date with another girl
she would wave to him from the
porch, then go to her room crying,
asking the Lord that if it was His will,
to save Bob for her until she was old
enough to marry him.
It wasn't long before a "domestic"
romance started, and when Evelyn
was 16, Robert asked her dad for
permission to get married. When he
refused, they got into Robert's racer
auto and eloped to Tijuana, Mexico,
in 1917.
With the United States entry into
the First World War, Robert went
into the service and let a friend run
their now successful garage business.
Shortly after their first child, Caleb,
was born - only to become a casu-
alty of the flu epidemic.
Wher: "Pop" (as she always calls
him) returned they found themselves
$5-0U1in debt because of the ineffi-
ciency of the friend. LeTourneau
found a farm job while she took care
of children.
LeTourneau's inventive genius and
industriousness and his wife's help
soon brought them out of debt, how-
ever, and they were back in business
again - this time expanding it to in-
clude the manufacture of earth-mov-
ing and road grading equipment. Mrs.
LeTourneau took care of the books
and was general errand girl, often
driving the Model-T Ford to town
to pick up needed materials with her
two children - Louise at her side
and Don on her lap.
Evelyn was always active in taking
neighborhood children to Sunday
school. After becoming a Christian
she had made candy to entice the
"kids" over to her home on Sundays
for the Sunday school which she held.
After their marriage "Pop" made
a two-wheel trailer. Sundays she
went about the neighborhood picking
up youngsters to take them to Sunday
school. The only times she missed
were when her children were born.
Up to this time she had done many
kinds of -Christian work, but never
that of personally dealing with a per-
son concerning his salvation. She
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LeTourneau Technical Institute. LeTourneau Tech's NOW, Volume 4, Number 3, February 1, 1950, periodical, February 1, 1950; Longview, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1526609/m1/3/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting LeTourneau University Margaret Estes Library.