Pat Smith
Thanks to Jim and Sheila Doerflinger, I had the opportunity to meet with Bill and Mike Gannon last week. The sons of William and Dorothy Meek Gannon brought a gift to the people of Decatur County that will delight us for generations. And, they can see this gift only four blocks from where the family lived.
Many readers will remember William and Dorothy Gannon and their sons, Bill and Mike. The family lived in the home at 512 North Franklin. Part of the button collection that their mother assembled over more than half a century now rests in the Decatur County Historical Society Museum on North Franklin in Greensburg. Dorothy Gannon was born August 5, 1916 and died February 24, 2007. When a young woman in her 30s, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery to remove it.
While recovering from the surgery Dorothy decided that what she really needed was a new hobby. She found one that, before long, had become a passion. That hobby was collecting buttons and her sons estimated that she collected more than 25,000 of them.
“Mother never looked at any of her buttons for their monetary value,” said Bill. “She loved them for their sentimental value. If she saw one she liked she bought it and then learned everything there was to learn about it.”
“She was an avid reader,” said Mike. “She especially loved mythology and she read everything she could find about buttons, especially the ones she had in her collection. She loved the stories about them, the material they were made from, and how to identify or test to determine the materials that made up the button.”
Bill and Mike did not bring the whole collection back to Greensburg. There are some cards that they decided to keep and display in their own homes. Mike said, “We wanted to keep some. I don’t know that the ones we kept were necessarily any of Mom’s favorites, but they are definitely some that we enjoy. Our children have their favorites as well.”
“Mom had the most positive attitude of anybody I’ve ever known,” said Bill. Mike wholeheartedly agreed with that statement. That positive attitude served her well when she was diagnosed with the brain tumor. Lois Carol McCormack remembers Dorothy as being a “real lady, quietly dignified and typical of the ladies of the earlier era. Dorothy Meek graduated from Greensburg High School in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. The class motto that year was, “Labor Conquers All,” the colors were violet and silver. She married William E. Gannon who was president of the Lucas Motor Express on North Anderson Street.
The National Button Society put a memorial page on the NBS web site. That link is nationalbuttonsociety.org. When you go to the site you will see on the left where you can access the “NBS Member Memorials,” page. Dorothy’s page shows two pictures of her, including one when she won her first blue ribbon, and several of the cards of buttons she collected. The cards include emerald plic-la-jur, screen backs, salt buttons, kaleidoscopes, couples, Egyptian head, cobalt Satsuma, topsy turvey A and topsy turvey B and design under glass.
The historical society will let us know when we can view Dorothy’s buttons at the museum. These several cards include buttons called belt buckles, Satsuma, and an unusual card titled “Seven Deities of Good Luck.” The faces of the buttons depict the seven Deities of health, wisdom, defense, beauty, fishing, harvest and longevity.
Bill Gannon and Jim Doerflinger graduated from Greensburg High School together in the class of 1955. After high school, Bill attended the University of Cincinnati and then worked for IBM as an assistant programmer for 30 years. After he retired he was talked into taking on another career and now works for the Federal Government at the Department of State which Hillary Clinton now heads. Bill now lives in Richmond, Kentucky.
Mike Gannon graduated from Greensburg High School in the class of 1962 and then from Purdue in 1966. After serving two years in the Army, he received his degree from the Indiana University School of Law. Although he has a busy life as an attorney, he is quite serious about his hobby of photography. The work has been featured in shows and has been well received. Mike now lives in Tennessee but was living in New Orleans in August 2005 when Katrina hit the city. His loss was great, but his brother and son-in-law immediately offered to help. The three worked together to preserve what they could amongst the appalling devastation.
I love hearing from readers but am seldom at the Daily News building. Please feel free to email me at patjsmith@verizon.net or regular mail at 122 W. Sheridan St., Greensburg, IN 47240.
