{"id":1487,"date":"2026-10-31T17:27:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1487"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:27:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:27:49","slug":"bridget-memories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1487","title":{"rendered":"Bridget\u2019s school days and family memories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.family-topic-breadcrumb{font-size:.95rem;margin:0 0 22px}.family-topic-intro{max-width:68ch;line-height:1.7}.family-topic-menu{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(2,minmax(0,1fr));gap:14px;margin:26px 0}.family-topic-menu a{display:block;padding:18px;border:1px solid #c9cec8;border-radius:4px;background:#f5f2e9;text-decoration:none;color:#293d30;min-height:52px}.family-topic-menu strong{display:block;font-size:1.1rem}.family-topic-menu span{display:block;margin-top:6px;color:#4f574e;line-height:1.55;font-size:.95rem}.family-topic-related{border-top:1px solid #d8d2c5;margin-top:32px;padding-top:18px}.family-topic-related a{display:inline-block;margin:6px 22px 6px 0}.family-topic-breadcrumb a:focus-visible,.family-topic-menu a:focus-visible,.family-topic-related a:focus-visible{outline:3px solid #98513b;outline-offset:4px}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb){max-width:960px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb)>p{line-height:1.7}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb) :is(h2,h3){scroll-margin-top:24px}.wp-block-post-content:has(.family-topic-breadcrumb) a{overflow-wrap:anywhere}@media(max-width:600px){.family-topic-menu{grid-template-columns:1fr}.family-topic-menu a{padding:16px}}<\/style>\n<nav class=\"family-topic-breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/\">Home<\/a> \u203a <a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=7\">Roling family<\/a> \u203a Bridget\u2019s school days and family memories<\/nav>\n<p class=\"family-topic-intro\">School, courtship, home and service, in Bridget\u2019s recollections and family records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bridget-memories\">Bridget\u2019s memories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bridget also caught a prize-winning moment with her camera: <a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1535#ron-having-fun-photo\">little Ron \u201cHaving Fun,\u201d her second-place picture-contest snapshot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tim remembers going along with Bridget for <a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1540#tim-craft-ladies-school-memory\">craft mornings at the old St. Joseph High School<\/a>, with a little exploring when he felt brave. A 1977 newspaper notice also names Bridget as a contact for the church\u2019s Craft Ladies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bridget Morrison Roling\u2019s handwritten memoir preserves her recollections of school, her first date with Bob, and their family life. These stories are drawn from her own account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Working her way through St. Joe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bridget attended the one-room Pleyer School before going on to St. Joe High School. When her family moved to the Prairie Hill farm, she could no longer use the same school bus. Determined to continue at St. Joe, she found a place to live and work with Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins. She remembered earning $3 a week while tuition cost $3 a month, or $27 a year. Her school days included a trip back to prepare the doctor\u2019s lunch, followed by housework and supper after classes. The work enabled her to finish high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure id=\"bridget-class-ring\" style=\"max-width:360px;margin:1.5rem auto 2rem\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public.jpeg\"><img class=\"wp-image-493\" src=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-768x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Bridget Morrison Roling\u2019s class ring standing on a countertop, showing an SJ emblem.\" width=\"768\" height=\"768\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bridget-roling-class-ring-detail-public.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><figcaption style=\"font-size:.95em;line-height:1.5;margin-top:.7rem\">Bridget Morrison Roling\u2019s Saint Joseph High School class ring, Class of 1949.<details style=\"margin-top:.5rem\"><summary>About this keepsake<\/summary><p>The visible emblem reads \u201cSJ\u201d. The class year follows family identification and is not legible in this photograph. The photograph\u2019s date is unknown. This is Bridget\u2019s own ring, distinct from the account of Bob\u2019s class ring worn on a ribbon.<\/p><\/details><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Christmas party and a gold deer pin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bridget remembered her first date with Bob at a Boy Scout Christmas party in the scout cabin at the city park. Each scout was to bring a date and a gift. There was a decorated tree, refreshments and music for dancing. In the margin of her account, she identified Bob\u2019s gift as a gold deer pin. The evening brought her first Christmas party, first dance and first good-night kiss. Even the muddy walk home remained part of a happy memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Home and family<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking back on their early married life, Bridget placed their home at 407 College in Salisbury. Her later memories included Bob\u2019s love of farms, ponds and fishing, an enthusiasm she did not share. She closed her account by remembering their \u201c49 good years together\u201d and the pleasure they took in their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: Bridget Morrison Roling\u2019s family-held handwritten memoir, pp. 7, 11\u201312, 15\u201316, 29 and 34. <a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=916\">Browse the Boy Scout newspaper articles<\/a>. The Christmas-party reports have not yet been matched to the first-date memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bob-bridget-family-homes\">Room for a growing family<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bob and Bridget\u2019s home at 407 S. College had two bedrooms. When their sixth child, Jane Maria, was born, they moved next door to 211 West 4th Street. The five-bedroom, two-story house became the home where they raised their children, and they lived there for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Source: family recollection recorded in October 2026. The year of the move has not been established.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bridget-senior-service-award\">Bridget\u2019s service to St. Joseph School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A newspaper clipping kept by the family reports that Bridget Roling received a Senior Service Award from Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder for volunteering at St. Joseph School. The award was presented during a school assembly. The family identifies the newspaper as the <em>Salisbury Press-Spectator<\/em>; the publication date remains unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Source: family-held clipping headed \u201cReceives Senior Service Award.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Memories kept in the family papers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"family-addendum-story-3\">A mother\u2019s small rewards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Mother&#x27;s Day newspaper feature, Bridget described the rewards of raising nine children. They were not all grand milestones. She remembered a child&#x27;s happiness with a new puppy, an older brother standing up for a younger one, and teenage daughters offering to babysit so she could travel with Bob. For her, the lasting reward was seeing a child become a good person who would be a blessing to others. The clipping preserves her voice as a mother alongside the names and dates in the family tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Source: Mike Colgan, \u201cMoms agree IOUs do get paid,\u201d undated newspaper clipping.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<nav class=\"family-topic-related\" aria-label=\"Related pages\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=7\">\u2190 Roling family<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/?page_id=1510\">Roling stories<\/a><\/nav>\n\n\n<script>(function(){function revealTopicTarget(){var name;try{name=decodeURIComponent(window.location.hash.slice(1));}catch(e){return;}if(!name){return;}var target=document.getElementById(name);if(!target){return;}var node=target.parentElement;while(node){if(node.tagName==='DETAILS'){node.open=true;}node=node.parentElement;}}revealTopicTarget();window.addEventListener('hashchange',revealTopicTarget);})();<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home \u203a Roling family \u203a Bridget\u2019s school days and family memories School, courtship, home and service, in Bridget\u2019s recollections and family records. Bridget\u2019s memories Bridget also caught a prize-winning moment with her camera: little Ron \u201cHaving Fun,\u201d her second-place picture-contest snapshot. Tim remembers going along with Bridget for craft mornings at the old St. Joseph [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1487","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1620,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1487\/revisions\/1620"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tim-roling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}