My Mom - The "Snake Handler"

Mom and Dad at the Homeplace - circa 1980

My Mom was a beautiful, old-fashioned, Ozark born and bred lady. She became a follower of Jesus as a young woman, was introduced to the Old Time Pentecostal way, accepted it, and never looked back. But something about my mom, that a lot of people did not know is this - My mom was a "Snake Handler"!

Now, before you let your imagination run away with you; she wasn't one of those weirdos that use snakes in church as part of their worship ritual. But there was that one time...

Before I was born, when my brother Ralph was just a toddler; Mom and Dad lived in the Estil and Ruby Vonallmen house at the Howell/Oregon County line. It was an old house with no insulation and (evidently) some holes where critters could get inside.

One summer day, before mom put Ralph down for a nap, she wanted to wash his face. When she pulled out a kitchen drawer, curled up in between the dish rags was a huge Black Snake!

To be perfectly honest, if that would have been me, there would have been a kitchen to repair or replace!!

Not my mom...

She very carefully pushed the drawer back in without disturbing the slumbering snake. She then proceeded to rock Ralph to sleep and put him down for his nap.

Then mom did what any sensible person would do. She called her Pastor!

Their pastors at that time were Brother Harold and Sister Maurine Essary, and they lived down the road a piece at the Victoria Mission parsonage. When mom called, Brother Harold was not there. So Sister Maurine and an older daughter, Dianne, were drafted into service! When my mom told us this story, she said they showed up with shovels, rakes, pitchforks and sundry other "Snake Killing" implements!

When Sister Maurine and Dianne were ready with weapons in hand; mom carefully pulled the drawer out, carried it out of the house and unceremoniously dumped the dish rags and the old serpent out into the yard.

Then the proverbial "Fur" began to fly! There was thumping, whacking, hacking, stabbing and stomping, dirt and dish rags flying until finally old Mr. Snake gave up the ghost!

Yep! The pastor's wife, the pastor's daughter and my Mom - Snake Handlers Extraordinaire!

(Mom was also an "Armadillo Assassin" - but that's a story for another time!)