The Originals

I promised you readers a story on the original owners of this house and here I am delivering. We are the second owners of this house which seems pretty cool. It's had a cool history and is full of character.

This was the house when it was built. I don't know the exact date but there's a postcard with this picture of the house and March 18th, 1977 marked on the back.  That was 10 years before I was born. A lot of the lakes in Missouri are man-made. It was just rolling hills back then. So this house was also built before any lakes were created around it. It had no trees around it, a clean slate.  I love the brick of the house. 

Now to the owner's names. The husband was Richard "Dick" Greiner. He has quite an impressive history. Whoever cleaned the house after him and his wife's passing didn't do a great job. They left a lot of personal information behind which we uncovered, but that made my job easier in sharing his great history.

Richard Greiner, survivor of 35 WWII bombing missions over Europe and "Missing in Action" behind Russian lines for three weeks died December 27th, 2015, at the age of 90. Richard, loved for his endearing smiles, mischievous remarks and kind heart, was born in Beloit, Kansas, though he grew up in Ottawa. The only child of Elbert Greiner and Olive Lynch, Richard enjoyed loving and doting parents. After graduating from Ottawa High School and with great aspirations of becoming a pilot, Richard enlisted in the Army Air Corps, December 27th, 1943 at the age of 18. Though pilot positions were full by the time Richard completed basic training, he still encountered combat from air as a ball-turret gunner on the infamous B-17s. Stationed in Foggia, Italy, Richard flew with the 15th Air Force into Germany, Czechoslovakia and in Austria. In March of 1945 he completed his tour of required missions 38 days before Germany surrendered. With the war over, Richard returned to finish a college degree in 1953 in Ottawa University, he took about six years to graduate and eventually found his career in banking and worked his way up from cashier, loan officer to assistant Vice-President until taking a position as a bank examiner at the KC Federal Reserve bank which he held for 17 years until he retired. Retirement allowed Richard to do many "honey-do" projects, tinker, travel, listen to Stan Kenton jazz and enjoy his two (twin) grandsons. He enjoyed retelling his heroic adventures which eventually got his stories told by area newspapers.

His was a small family, it was Richard Greiner (born 10/02/1925), his wife Lou Ellen Greiner (born 12/13/1932), Pamela Ellen Greiner Loveland (his daughter and only child, born 10/15/1957), David (his son-in-law) and Simeon and Seth (his two twin grandsons). He loved fishing, listening to jazz, & roasting marshmallows with his family.

Apparently there was an estate sale when Lou Ellen passed away in 2017. They just auctioned off everything in the house and then it stood abandoned for two years before the bank put it up for auction in 2019. The Greiner's owned the property for 43 years more or less. It had working plumbing, electricity, everything is great, it just needs maintenance and a fresh up-do. I love how this home has so much character and history!