| Kenneth Popp’s
mother did something very unusual 73 years ago.
Although it was unusual then, it would have been
considered quite normal today. What
did she do? She gave birth to Kenneth at a hospital…at
Southeast Missouri Hospital to be specific.
You see, back in 1928, most births took place
at home. When Kenneth was born in 1928 –
the year Southeast Missouri Hospital opened –
he was a member of a pretty exclusive club…
only 48 babies were born at Southeast that year.
Although he was the first member of his family
to be born at Southeast, he certainly wasn’t
the last.
His wife, Arlyss, gave birth to four sons
(Vernon, William, Bruce and Terry Schoen) at Southeast
between 1952 and 1960. |
Members of the Popp-Schoen-Dixon family of
Oak Ridge include (back row, from left) Bruce
Schoen, Jared Schoen, William Schoen, Vernon Schoen
and Linda Schoen; (middle row, from left) Terry
Schoen, Arlyss and Kenneth Popp and Renee Dixon;
and (front row, from left) Andrea Schoen, Caleb
Schoen, Kaylee Dixon and Terry Vernon Schoen.
All were either born or gave birth at Southeast
Missouri Hospital. |
| All but one member of the family’s
next generation of children were born at Southeast
between 1978 and 1992 (one daughter was born in
Perryville) and in 1999 the latest generation of
the family was welcomed at Southeast with the birth
of Kaylee Dixon, Kenneth and Arlyss’ first
great-grandchild. Kaylee’s parents, Renee
and Jeff Dixon, will deliver their second child
at Southeast early next year. |
Kenneth Popp…one of the first
babies born at Southeast Missouri Hospital. |
For
Renee, giving birth at Southeast is far
different than what it was like for her
grandmother nearly 50 years ago. “I
remember when Vernon was born in 1952 they
didn’t have epidurals for the labor
pain,” explained Arlyss Popp. “Husbands
couldn’t be with you for the delivery
back then and I remember being wheeled from
the labor room to the delivery room and
then from the delivery room to the recovery
room before spending a week in a standard
hospital room.”
When Renee delivered her second child at
Southeast, she’ll do it in one of
the Hospital’s 15 new LDRP (labor,
delivery, recovery, postpartum) birthing
suites, each designed to provide the utmost
in comfort, privacy and security.
Today, most members of
the Popp-Schoen-Dixon family live in the
Oak Ridge area and although it will probably
be at least 20 years before the family’s
5th generation is born at Southeast, Kenneth
Popp is already looking forward to the arrival
of his first great-great-grandchild. “Heck”
he said, “I won’t even be 100
by then!” |
|
