Another man named Trump

Over the years I have rarely encountered anyone named Trump. Today, of course, one cannot turn on the TV set or open a newspaper or magazine without seeing one or many stories about Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the President of the United States. But for hundreds of people, who went through the Plainview, Nebraska school system in the '20s '30s and '40s, the name Trump belonged to B.E. Trump, the soft-spoken half of a dynamic duo of "Mabel and B.E.", who were synonymous with the Plainview school system for so many years.

Byron Estel Trump (but always called B.E. in Plainview) was born in 1893, in Ohio, the son of Methodist minister, who was moved frequently during B. E.'s early years. Before World War I the family was living in northeast Nebraska and B.E. finished his schooling at Randolph High and Wayne Normal School.

B.E.'s first teaching job was in western Iowa, where he was hired to teach Math and Science, which he enjoyed a great deal. But the job also required that he coach the basketball team. B.E. was just a little fellow, and had never played basketball, but he read a book on the subject and from that book he learned enough that he was confident to coach the team. Apparently it was enough, because B.E.'s Iowa teams were able to win enough games to be respected, and one year went to the finals of the Iowa State Basketball Championships.

When World War I began B.E. went into the Army. He never talked much about his military experience, but we know that he served in France, saw action in several key battles, for which he received medals, and was caught in a poison mustard gas attack. He was hospitalized after the gas attack and received a medical discharge from the Army. He recovered his health enough that he was able to resume his teaching career, though for the rest of his life he carried lingering affects of the poison gas and suffered chronic lung ailments.

After the Army, B.E. taught for several years at some of the smaller schools near Wayne, including Creighton, Nebraska, where he taught science. Radio was just becoming popular and B.E. was able to help a number of his students assemble their own radios from mail order kits. B.E. got permission to help the students at school, but only after school hours. Things went well, and the students were learning about the new technology. However, a school board member found that the students were using school electricity to test their radios -- each using the equivalent of a 20-watt bulb. He made his report to the superintendent, who ordered B.E. to stop the project. B.E. soft spoken as always, obliged. At the same time he tendered his resignation from the Creighton schools and took his skills to Plainview, where he was more appreciated.

By this time, Mabel Hansen, four years B.E.'s junior, had finished her work at Wayne Normal and was teaching in a rural school near Wayne. The two were married in the early 20s. Mabel accepted a position at Plainview High and the two set up housekeeping in Plainview -- for the rest of their lives, the first 30 years in the Plainview School system.

Mabel was a rather tall, raw-boned woman, with never changing auburn hair. B.E. was somewhat shorter, and completely bald. Mabel was always in a hurry. When she entered a room it was as if she was charging a fortress. (Her theatric nature led to her putting on many enjoyable school and community stage productions in Plainview.) B.E., on the other hand, was deliberate. She sauntered. He walked. He never seemed to be in a hurry. As a consequence, he was usually a pace or two behind his wife as they walked.

Mabel and B.E. never had children, but Mabel had a small English bulldog, whom some said resembled B.E. Mabel treated this bulldog like her child, talking to it in baby talk, picking it up and snuggling it with great affection. Some wags commented that Mabel treated that little bulldog with a lot more attention and affection than she did B.E.

It is true that Mabel was quite lavish with her criticism of B.E., and often in public. She made her demands, theatrically, and admonished him to wait on her more than some of us thought necessary. But B.E. did not seem to notice that he was being put upon, and did her bidding with good grace, silently, although at his own pace.

But B.E. had his limits. I got in on one of the times that B.E. reached his limit. Mabel and B.E. were taking some of us to a Boy Scout camp at Fremont in their fancy, large car (a Whippet?) that Mabel had won in some sort of contest. Mabel had been nagging B.E. over some trivial matter from the time we left Plainview. The matter would seem to be settled, then she would reopen it after just a few miles. B.E. was driving and he would grunt, or shrug, or mumble, never contradicting her. She kept bringing up the grievance again and again. Finally, B.E. had enough. He turned to her, raised his voice ever so slightly, and said, "Mom, Shut up!"

Mabel stopped in mid-sentence, as if she had been physically struck. She looked at him for a long moment, then began to cry. "Why, Daddy, you don't need to yell at me. I don't think you love me anymore." The subject was closed.

Mabel considered herself a grammarian and an authority on parliamentary procedure, and did not hesitate to correct her students and former students in school or at a public event. Often, her calls for "Point of Order" and her instance on conducting meetings according to Roberts Rules of Order brought groans from the audience, for prolonging a meeting.

In those lean days of the 30s the Trumps must have been on a very tight budget, but they managed their money well and were considered among the elite in Plainview social circles. They camped in the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming during the summers. They had many interests and thoroughly enjoyed the life that they had chosen for themselves.

The war years of the '40s had to be particularly stressful for the Trumps. It was a time of sacrifice and everyone was asked to do more -- it was the patriotic thing to do. As teachers left the system, either by the draft or natural attrition, replacements were not readily available. Former teachers were lured out of retirement. Current teachers took on additional classes, often outside their chosen field.

Mabel and B.E. certainly shouldered their share of the load. B.E. took over the principal's duties. He served as assistant basketball coach and taught a full schedule plus a little more of classes. In 1943, at the height of the war, Trumps were saddled with the entire administration duties. B.E. became Superintendent when John Weatherhogg left the system and Mabel was named Principal of the High School.

Both B.E. and Mabel managed to insert bits of their philosophy of life into their classes. Mabel used her own example to show how through hard work, wit, and study each of us could make a positive difference in the world. B.E., during a General Science class gave us the best difference between Communism and Free Enterprise that I ever heard. During that discussion he predicted that the USSR would eventually fail because under the Communist system no one would have the incentive to strive to excel.

I'm sure that each of the Trumps' former students will remember them, and judge them in his or her own way, but certainly Mabel's and B.E.'s personality traits -- their loyalty to the school, the community, and the United States -- their confidence, their determination, their belief in the worth of each student, have stood out like road signs, and assisted each of us in plotting our way along life's highway.

Source: Growing Up In Plain View