Although Shirley and Ralph Kimball live in a quiet spot near Jordan Pond in Shrewsbury, their lives have been touched by some of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century.

During the Depression, many folks lost their homes and moved in with family members.

Shirley and Ralph Kimball as newlyweds, 1948

"We always had a houseful of people," Ralph said. His parents were Lithuanian immigrants who ran a market and frequently had a pot of cabbage soup on the stove for visitors.

"In those days you used everything," Shirley said, remembering her Irish mother making do with what she had.

In the 1930s, South Quinsigamond Avenue was a dirt road and Ralph remembers hearing the Tin Lizzies (Model T Fords) coming from a mile away. While Ralph said he could run as fast as the old cars, Shirley remembers riding in one and stopping frequently to repair the tires.

During summer vacations, Ralph worked at the White City Amusement Park running the dodgem cars. And when the park closed down in 1960, he used some of its lumber to build an addition to their house.

Shirley attended the Artemas Ward School, which is now Spag's Schoolhouse. And through a project organized by her English teacher, Shirley began writing to a pen pal named Willa Schramm from Amsterdam. The two schoolgirls corresponded for a number of years. In the last letter Shirley received, Willa wrote her family was being forced out of their home. The Nazis had invaded Holland and Shirley said she was too young to realize the importance of the events happening to her friend.

In 1942, Ralph joined the Navy, where he served as a radar operator on the USS Cushing, a destroyer in the South Pacific. His job became extremely dangerous in 1944 when the Japanese began sending Kamikazes, suicide bombers, to crash into American ships.

"Then we didn't sleep nights after that," Ralph said.

Shirley did her part for the war effort by writing to several young soldiers, including Ralph.

"I wrote to 14 people during the war," Shirley said.

She would write often about life here at home. And Ralph said he looked forward to the mail deliveries.

"You waited for the mail, and read it over and over again," he said.

Shirley said they used V-mail (Victory Mail), which was a combination letter and envelope. V-mail was then reduced to thumbnail size and put on microfilm to save space. Once they reached their destination, the letters were reproduced and delivered to the soldiers.

The Kimballs in 2001

In 1944, Shirley graduated from Beal High School, and with her parent's encouragement, went on to college. She studied journalism at Becker Junior College, and landed a job as a reporter for the Worcester Telegram. She earned $35 a week, and being a woman, was limited to writing about social events.

"Women couldn't work in the City Room," Shirley said, remembering how a partition separated male and female reporters.

Shirley and Ralph married in 1948 and raised 4 sons. Ralph became a wood-pattern maker and Shirley taught business administration.

Today, they are both active in Shrewsbury's Historical Society, and are working to preserve the history of their town.

And while the Depression and WWII may hold an important place in their history, so too does a lost pen pal, a letter from home, and a pot of soup simmering on the stove.