Homecoming queen of 1941 still going strong

At least that’s the way it is with the Chadron State College homecoming queen of 1941.

She’s Helen DeLaine McCray Roth, who lives in Gordon and continually amazes those around her with her with her sweetness, vim and vigor.

“She’s a wonderful person who never seems to slow down or run out of steam. Both DeLaine and her husband are delightful. They always see the best in everyone,” said Sybil Berndt, now of Chadron but a long-time Gordon-area resident and friend of the Roths for many years.

Known as Helen McCray while growing up in Merriman and while attending Chadron State, she explains that after she was married to her husband, Don, nearly 64 years ago there were several other Helen Roths where they lived so she began using her middle name, DeLaine.

It doesn’t matter whether you call her Helen or DeLaine, she one of a kind, full of stories and compliments for everyone who is mentioned. “I remember all those nice people,” or “She’s such a nice person,” DeLaine stated with nearly every other breath during the interview. If she’s always been that way, it’s no wonder she was crowned what was then called “the gridiron queen” her senior year at Chadron State.

“I decided a long time ago, I might as well have a good time in life, and I do,” she said with a grin. “There are so many things I like to do. I have had a great life.”

DeLaine and the homecoming queen of 1947—60 years ago—Leora Zeman Kennedy, a Chadron native who has lived in Lander, Wyo., for many years, will serve as the marshals for the CSC homecoming parade down Chadron’s Main Street at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29.

Prior to homecoming, DeLaine will tell stories and perhaps read a couple of her poems during the “Survivors,” luncheon at Prairie Pine Lodge in Chadron on Thursday, Sept. 27. The group is made up largely of Chadron State students from the World War II era.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all my good friends from that group,” said DeLaine. “They are such nice people.”

Among them, DeLaine says, are long-time Chadron residents Delma Gregersen, Jean Henkens and Hope Anderson, whom DeLaine calls “Hopie.”

“We all used to ride the train (Chicago and North Western) to Chadron while were in college. We’re friends forever. We had such fun while we were students.”

DeLaine’s father, Charles McCray, was the Merriman postmaster when she was a child, but he died suddenly and her mother, Orpha, was appointed as the replacement.

“There were six of us kids, but because of my mother’s government job we did all right. After I was the valedictorian of my class, I received a scholarship to attend Chadron State. We had such good teachers and we never had any fear that something bad might happen to us.”

Among the teachers she remembers best are Garnet Larsen in English, Ross Armstrong and Adelaide Miller in physical education, Ethel Delzell in home economics and V. Calvon McKim in geography. Her major was education, she earned minors in both English and geography, and served as McKim’s secretary a couple of years. Her salary was $17 a month, she recalls.

Her duties included correcting papers and helping McKim organize the geography tours of the United States that he directed each summer during the late 1930s and early ‘40s.

She was among the approximately 40 students who participated in the 1939 trip to California. Highlights included going “on location” in Hollywood during the filming of “The Flying Deuces” that starred comedians Laurel and Hardy and continuing on to the San Francisco Exhibition. The entourage traveled by bus and in several other well-used vehicles that McKim somehow rented or borrowed. The participants slept on army cots in large tents and ate meals prepared along the way.

“Laurel and Hardy were so nice and posed with us for pictures. Somebody wrote afterwards that I was verbally offered a contract to be in a movie, but that’s not true,” DeLaine said. “Dr. McKim had a way of getting us in to any place he wanted to go.”

Besides being the homecoming queen, DeLaine was a member of the Women’s Athletic Association, YWCA, Sigma Tau Delta (an English honorary) Gamma Chi Omega Sorority and was the senior class vice president.

After graduating with honors in May 1942, DeLaine taught one year in a rural school south of Merriman and was the second grade teacher in Valentine for a year. Members of the latter class said they “looked for their favorite teacher” for 49 years before finding her in Gordon in the 1990s and holding a reunion in which she was the guest of honor.

During the summer of 1942, DeLaine met her future husband in Merriman. Don Roth grew up on a ranch in Hayes County and started working on ranches in the Merriman area in the summers while he was attending the Nebraska School of Agriculture, a high school at Curtis. He was initially employed by Eva Bowring, who was appointed by President Eisenhower to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1954 following the death of Dwight Griswold.

When he met DeLaine, he was working on Ed Belsky’s Pioneer Hereford Ranch west of Merriman during the summer prior to his senior year at the University of Nebraska.

“We were pinned in two weeks and I ask her to marry me six weeks after we met,” Don said with a grin. “Things went pretty fast after we got started.”

They had to wait to get married, however, because he was in ROTC at the university and was obligated to attend officer candidate’s school as soon as he graduated. They finally tied the knot on Dec. 18, 1943, a couple of days after he received his commission at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Following the war, Don was the herdsman nine years for George Heinz, who owned a registered Hereford operation located on the famed Pratt and Ferris Ranch at Henry, Neb. In the mid-1950s, the family moved to California, where he initially was a fieldman for the American Hereford Journal and then fed cattle for several well-heeled Hereford ranches. During their final 18 years in California, he was a brand inspector.

“The day after I retired we moved back to this area,” said Don. The couple has lived in Gordon since 1984. Their daughter, Rita, lives in California and their son, David, owns a ranch north of Merriman that joins the Bowring Ranch that is now a state historical park. The Roths have five grandchildren.

True to her nature, DeLaine remained active while the couple lived in California. She took several college courses, did volunteer work and was what she calls “a crisis teacher” in special education.

“I never had any discipline problems when I taught. They often called me when they needed some help in classes,” she said. “I could never get enough education. I would still take classes from Chadron State if I lived there.”

Also while living in California, DeLaine, who wears neither glasses nor a hearing aid, took up dancing. “If you haven’t met a belly dancer, you have now, although I’m supposed to say I was an ethnic dancer,” she said with a mischievous grin. “There were from three to five of us who danced at schools, colleges, fairs, rest homes and wherever we were invited.

“We did Tahitian, hula and gypsy dancing. It was always in good taste and appropriate for any age group. It was fun and good exercise. I also modeled western wear and swim wear.”

After the Roths moved to Gordon, she took karate lessons from George Colella and earned a third degree belt. “I was his oldest student, but everybody was nice to me and I had a fantastic time,” she said. “I’m retired as a dancer now. My body won’t go like it used to, even though I don’t like to admit it.”

DeLaine remains active in their church, Daughters of American Revolution, Eastern Star and the Social Improvement Club in Gordon. Don raises a garden, does much of the cooking and plays pitch with a group of men, including one who is 97.