Biography of Everett & Shirley Rhinebeck
The biography this time is for Everett and Shirley
Rhinebeck. Everyone in Kelsey already knows that they seem to have been around
forever, but that is only because Everett was born right here in Kelsey in 1935.
The youngest of six children of Charles and Genavieve Rhinebeck. Everett was
three years old when his parents moved to the farm that he and his wife Shirley
have resided on since 1966.
Everett attended Hancock Central School and graduated in June of 1955. Three days later he enlisted in the Army for a three-year term. The younger generation may like to know that at this time in history when a male turned 18 years of age he was obligated to serve his country. If he enlisted it was for a term of three years and if he waited to be drafted it was a term of two years. Everett served sixteen months in Korea and was released from active duty in 1958. After his release Everett worked in Binghamton as a truck driver delivering food and furniture.
During the time he was working in Binghamton he met a girl that was baby
sitting for his sister Clara. Her name was Shirley Jackson and after a brief
courtship they were married at the home of his sister Helen. Shirley attended
Charlotte Valley School in Davenport, NY and was born in the Town of Masonville.
With one weeks paycheck saved and making one dollar and ten cents an hour they
started their life together. The marriage is still going strong, even after
forty-one years.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis he was again called upon to serve his
country for a period of ten months. When he was released he found himself
working underneath the Cannonsville Bridge removing forms until the job ended.
During this time their two daughters Mildred and Lorri were born. This
kept Shirley busy while Everett kept working as a handyman for the next three
years. Looking to better things for his family he enlisted in the Air Force and
was given the opportunity to go to Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota or
to Alaska. Everett being the family man that he is chose to go to North Dakota.
The Air Force sent him to a remote radar site in Alaska one year later. While
Everett was in Alaska, Shirley returned to Kelsey and lived in the house with
his parents. This is when Shirley gave birth to their son Everett Jr. Jenny
Peckham and Pearl Rhinebeck took her to the hospital.
While in Alaska his job was to clear roads to the radar site. While
performing this task he broke his wrist and after an extended period of time it
failed to heal. He was then transferred to Vandenburg Air Force Base in
California where surgery had to be performed. He then spent time placing
missiles in silos. Everett was released early from the Air Force to come home
and be near his aging parents who needed help.
In July 1966 Everett, Shirley and three children returned to Kelsey and
he was fortunate to obtain employment at the Allied Chemical Plant in Deposit,
which was later sold to the Celotex Corp. The job ended when the plant closed in
1980. It was during this time that they added two more children to the family.
Daughters Tammy and Carolyn were born. From 1980 to 1985 Everett again worked at
whatever jobs were available to keep his growing family in the necessities of
life. The plant in Deposit reopened and Everett went back to his job as a
mechanic. He held this job until 1990 when the pain from the broken wrist flared
up and x-rays revealed the wrist had never healed from years before. Surgery at
the Veterans Hospital ended his hard working days.
The family being raised and pretty much on there own Shirley went to work
at Dedico in Long Eddy for awhile. A back injury forced her to stop work and she
now spends a lot of time working on quilts that she sews by hand. Since Shirley
likes to watch wrestling and movies and Everett likes the news and the soaps
it’s necessary that the have separate TV’s set up in the house.
Everett has been the leader of a Color Guard Group, Town Councilman,
Scrap Collector, and currently sits on the Town Planning Board. His latest
challenge and probably the most frustrating thing in his whole life is learning
to operate his home computer. He has even taken some classes at Boces to try and
bring himself into the twenty-first century. Keep it up Everett, you can do
this, think of it as just another piece of equipment to operate.
As President of Kelsey Community I’d like to commend both Shirley and Everett for the high value they place on family life and community pride. Whenever something needs doing they are always there without any hesitation. I appreciate your efforts and I’m sure the community does also.