Ethnic Life Stories Trail of Trees Friends of the Garden

Ilga Vise was born April 13, 1934, in Riga, the capital city of Latvia. She grew up during a brief post-war freedom Latvians enjoyed, having declared their independence in 1918. She spent much of her childhood in Riga and Gulbene with her mother, Brona, her father, Janis, who was in the Latvian Air Force, and her cousin, Richie.

Some of her most cherished childhood memories include making music with her extended family, all of whom could play a variety of instruments and sang in their free time. The Vise family had a large garden with lots of animals, including chickens, goats and rabbits.

Vise’s life changed forever with the Russian occupation and later German invasion in the summer of 1939. In 1941 Germans began attacking, and danger became ever-present. On October 11, 1944, the Soviet Army captured Riga, and the family became refugees. In her story, Vise describes an enduring month in a German forced-labor camp in the winter of 1944.

Vise and her family, after they were unceremoniously released from the labor camp, spent the next two months walking hundreds of miles, to Eutin, a trek that almost killed her. After the war ended, the family spent a few years in Eutin and later journeyed to the United States in 1951.

She spent the rest of her high school years in a Chicago suburb and later went to college at Northwestern.  After college, she met Sidney Vice, who she would marry in 1958. The couple had two children, Silvia and David. The family moved to Missouri when Sidney got a job at Drury, and Vise would later be employed at the University, too, teaching geography and advising non-traditional students.

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Read all of Vise's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

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Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.

Tong Trithara was born in March 1952 in Ban Ban Province, Thailand. He was the fifth of seven children. Until the age of 7, Trithara lived and traveled with his grandmother, who raised him Buddhist. He later practiced Catholicism when he lived with his parents.

His fondest childhood memories are of fishing on the rivers in his hometown of Audhaya and riding on the backs of water buffalo. He started kindergarten at age 6 or 7 and started learning English that year.

Trithara’s father and older brother helped him gather and complete the necessary paperwork to live in America. He lived briefly with his brother, Seri, in Los Angeles before striking out on his own. He worked many odd jobs at restaurants, gas stations and hotels in LA while in school.

Through work connections, a boss invited Trithara in 1979 to come live and work in Springfield at Vantage House. Three years later, he and his wife at the time welcomed a daughter, Chantra, into the world. More than a decade later, he had a son, Dakota, with his third wife.

After traveling across the States and seeing much of the world through his work in the sport of kickboxing, and opening several restaurants around Missouri, Springfield remained Trithara’s favorite place to live. The city’s been perfect for him to pursue his hobbies, find ways to help the youth of the community, and serve authentic Thai food at his restaurant, Tong’s.

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Read all of Trithra's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

Follow Friends of the gardens on social media! We post park events, promos, and announcements of new ELSTOT releases on our Facebook and Instagram.

Find out more about Friends of the Garden by visiting our website, friendsofthegarden.org.

Interested in supporting the 501(c)3 nonprofit that maintains and enhances the gardens and trails at the Springfield Botanical Gardens? Find out more by clicking here.

Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.

Eligio Augie Sanchez was born in November 1959 in Mexico City. He lived with both his parents and his two older brothers, Victor and Leo, but he spent most of his time living with his aunt in Acapulco when he was growing up. His family did chores during the day and ate meals together at a big table in the kitchen.

Sanchez was dreaming of life in the United States ever since elementary school. After he finished his Bachelor’s in Laboratory Chemistry at the University of Mexico City, his parents wanted him to become a doctor. But Sanchez was disillusioned with the path his parents had set for him, and he went to live with his cousin in Kansas in 1981.

While he was in Kansas, he met Dr. Raymond Rice, his wife, Sally, and their two sons. The Rice family invited Sanchez to live with them, and they helped him learn English and attend university. The Rices became Sanchez’s second family, and they all moved to Missouri together in 1983.

Sanchez landed at Drury University in 1986 and worked on a degree in biology and later received a job offer from the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners to become the Hispanic Program Manager and be on the Hostage Negotiator Team.

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Read all of Sanchez's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

Follow Friends of the gardens on social media! We post park events, promos, and announcements of new ELSTOT releases on our Facebook and Instagram.

Find out more about Friends of the Garden by visiting our website, friendsofthegarden.org.

Interested in supporting the 501(c)3 nonprofit that maintains and enhances the gardens and trails at the Springfield Botanical Gardens? Find out more by clicking here.

Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.

Jorge Luis Padron was born in March 1931 in Cuba. He was the third and youngest son. He had a happy childhood in Havana with his older brothers, Adriano and Carlos, and younger sister Olga.

His favorite person when he was a child was his grandmother, Carmen, who doted on him and told him stories. His father owned a pharmacy, which inspired Padron to go into the science and medical fields when he got older.

Padron attended Candler College in Cuba and worked to improve his English, and after graduating second in his class, he was offered a full scholarship to study in the US. Arriving in Shawnee, Oklahoma to attend OBU was a culture shock. Despite this, Padron recalled his college years with fondness, and he made lots of friends.

While he was teaching at OBU after graduation, he met Dorothy Busha, whom he would later marry. They were married in 1957 and moved into a house on Walnut Street in Springfield together. The couple raised three children together: Anne, Charles and Phillip.

The family traveled all over on account of Padron’s Fulbright lectureships with Drury University, and he later became an administrator at the college, too. He retired from the school in 1996.

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Read all of Padron's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

Follow Friends of the gardens on social media! We post park events, promos, and announcements of new ELSTOT releases on our Facebook and Instagram.

Find out more about Friends of the Garden by visiting our website, friendsofthegarden.org.

Interested in supporting the 501(c)3 nonprofit that maintains and enhances the gardens and trails at the Springfield Botanical Gardens? Find out more by clicking here.

Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.

Loan Thi Vu Nigh was born in June 1948 in Sa-cat, North Vietnam. The village is right next to the Thai Binh and Hong Ha rivers, both of which served as sources of clean water for the residents. The village has lots of ponds, each with specific purposes: washing food, dishes, bathing, etc.Sa-cat is an agricultural village, and the residents raise rice, fish, poultry, and fruits and vegetables.

Nigh’s childhood memories include going to church, helping run her mother’s store and attending school with her ten brothers and five sisters. She always loved art and drew as a hobby starting at a young age.

Her father was a soldier in the South Vietnamese army fighting Communism. Nigh and her family had to flee the Communists several times. She escaped Vietnam in 1981 and lived briefly in a Malaysian refugee camp before coming to the United States in 1982 to attend college. She arrived in Springfield on a sponsorship from her older brother, who was a member of the U.S. Catholic Council.

She studied at Missouri State University and met her future husband, Boyd, her first semester at the school. They were married in September 1985 and had a son, John, four years later. While raising John, she continued her passion for art and spent day and night creating religious paintings and depicting scenes from her life in Vietnam.

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Read all of Nigh's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

Follow Friends of the gardens on social media! We post park events, promos, and announcements of new ELSTOT releases on our Facebook and Instagram.

Find out more about Friends of the Garden by visiting our website, friendsofthegarden.org.

Interested in supporting the 501(c)3 nonprofit that maintains and enhances the gardens and trails at the Springfield Botanical Gardens? Find out more by clicking here.

Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.

Edith Middleton was born in April 1923 in Glasgow, Scotland. She was the youngest of three and the only daughter between Daniel and Isabella Laird. Her life was changed forever when she was 14 years old, when her mother died of heart disease, and she adopted her mother’s housekeeping responsibilities.

After high school, Middleton attended West of Scotland College of Domestic Science and later got a job on a marine ship as a cook. It was after this four-month trip in the Langlee Scot that Middleton met her future husband, Morrison, at a party.

The couple married in New York and enjoyed a happy marriage until Morrison’s death in 2003. The two raised three children together: David, Bruce and Moira.

Life brought Middleton to Springfield while Morrison’s health was declining. She moved to the Ozarks to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law. Since moving here, Middleton has enjoyed attending lectures at Drury, being a member of the Sterling Club and displaying her projects with her daughter at the Ozarks Empire Fair.

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Read all of Middleton's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

Follow Friends of the gardens on social media! We post park events, promos, and announcements of new ELSTOT releases on our Facebook and Instagram.

Find out more about Friends of the Garden by visiting our website, friendsofthegarden.org.

Interested in supporting the 501(c)3 nonprofit that maintains and enhances the gardens and trails at the Springfield Botanical Gardens? Find out more by clicking here.

Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.