Chester Demaree, M.D.

Chester Demaree, M.D. is Sweetie's father.  He is the son of John Samuel Demaree (1847-1936) and Clarissa Evelyn Elkins (1855-1926).  Chester had five siblings: Nellie, Henry, Merrill, Oren, Serrill, and Sarah.  Through the letters, it appears he was closest with his brother Serrill, who is two years younger than him.

 

Chester graduated from Indiana University as an M.D. in 1913.  During the Great Depression, Chester worked as a doctor in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and he moved his family frequently, including different towns in Indiana, South Dakota, and Iowa.  In a document written later by his daughter, Jeanne, we learn that during the Depression, Chester only charged $1 for doctor visits, so that he could help as many people as possible with their medical issues.  He eventually settles with his wife, Laura, in Lacona, Iowa by 1940.  When the Podcast begins in 1941, Chester has become the town Doctor, and has a major passion for photography.

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Through the letters in the mid-1940's, we learn that Chester's hobbies extend beyond photography, though.  He is a naturalist and studies the world around him.  He becomes so fascinated with his immediate area and agriculture, that when he purchases his home in Lacona in the mid-1940's (the only home he would ever own in his life), he also purchases a farm nearby in early 1945.  The farm was located a few miles south of Lacona, and it takes Chester and Laura much work for the farm to be in working order for his family.

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Chester is extremely academic and skilled in multiple areas.  It should be noted that Chester was a Mason, and encouraged his son Frank to become a Mason as well.  If he can handle a matter by himself, he sets out to do so.​  

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In 1945, when Sweetie gives birth to her son, Lewis, Chester assists with the delivery of his grandson at the hospital in Des Moines.

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In the latter half of the 1940's, Chester is extremely busy with both his professional work as a doctor and running his farm.  However, things start to take a toll on him, especially after he suffers the loss of his eldest son, Bob, in April 1946.  In the fall of 1948, Chester had a heart attack, concerning his children.  Regardless, he seems to continue with his tasks at the same pace he had previously.  In the fall of 1949, Sweetie reveals in a letter to Jeanne that she is aware that Chester is self-medicating with morphine, and has not informed the Narcotics Board of Iowa about this.  At the end of December 1949, Chester reveals that he set fire to a small brush fire on his farm while trying to take some color photographs of the flames, and as a result, he accidentally burned two acres of his property.