Photo Gallery
Anna Boyle sitting on the bank of the Wolf River in Shawano in 1909.
Anna Boyle sitting on the bank of the Wolf River in Shawano in 1909 (colorized photo).
Baptism photo of Anna Boyle and daughter Dorothy in 1913.
Anna Boyle is the first woman in Shawano to own a car.
Advertisement for Anna Boyle’s business.
Newspaper photo of Anna Boyle at Parkside Apartments in Shawano.
Anna Boyle in 1976.
1967 obituary for Charles Boyle.
Anna Boyle’s obituary.
Notes
21 Year Old Anna Boyle In 1909
Sitting on the bank of the Wolf River
Shawano, WI
21 year old Anna Boyle in 1909, sitting on the bank of the Wolf River.
This is a photo of Anna Boyle sitting on the bank of the Wolf River on the exact spot where Green Bay Street (old highway 29) would cross the Wolf River. Anna Boyle’s home was located on the south side of Green Bay Street, right where the bridge would be built in 1928. Her home was later moved to the corner of Bartlett and Fifth Streets. Anna Boyle was active in politics all her life.
We are captivated by Anna Boyle’s confident pose in this photo and did some research. She is quite well dressed, which makes sense, considering she went to school to study millinery decorating and owned a dress shop in Shawano, “The Lindy-Ann Style Shop.”
Below is an article about Anna Boyle from 1976, later in her life.
Anna was born in Pella, in Shawano County on October 19, 1888. She died in 1981 at the age of 92. Her grave is located in Riverside Cemetery in Nekoosa, WI.
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March 19, 1976
Anna Enjoys Sharing Time – By ALICE PAUSLEN
Press-Gazette Staff Writer
“I’ve had a great life, I’m very proud of it and happy,” says 87-year-old Anna Boyle. “It’s wonderful to be able to say that.”
The resident of Villa West has only one wish, that people will continue to pray for peace. “I have great faith in prayer,” she says. “I have always asked for help and I have always gotten it. God won’t let you down.”
Although she says she has had many “ups and downs,” Mrs. Boyle looks back with justified pride and satisfaction on many years of involvement in church activities, civic affairs and politics. Two heart attacks and several strokes have forced her to give up community involvement, but she keeps up-to-date, particularly on national politics.
Mrs. Boyle’s carefully compiled scrapbooks contain many photos and newspaper articles of her diversified interests, reminders of her own deeds and those of friends and relatives.
“I love people, especially old people and children,” comments the grandmother of four and the great-grandmother of nine. “I missed having a real family, my uncle-father dying when I was 6. I have always felt so sorry for people in need.”
The former Anna Bartlein was born on Oct. 19, 1888, in Pella and was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. William Smith, who operated a sawmill. She went to a country school until she was 12, then attended boarding schools in Shawano, Green Bay and Milwaukee.
Returning to Shawano when she was 18, she studied millinery decorating. In April 1910, she married Charles Boyle, a Soo Line Railroad conductor until 1947.
In 1928 Mrs. Boyle, who holds the distinction of being the first woman driver in Shawano County, opened a dress shop, “The Lindy-Ann Style Shop.” However, “the Depression came and the money went,” says the former owner, who operated the shop for about four years.
A staunch Democrat, Mrs. Boyle retains an active interest in politics. She was chairman of the women’s division of the Shawano County Democratic Party and vice chairman of the party. She was especially active in the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, which was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won in Shawano County.
“It was we women who went out to all the precincts to organize chairmanships and asked organizations if speakers could be allowed to make presentations,” recalls Mrs. Boyle. “We worked very hard and put Shawano County over.”
Her political interest intensified when her daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Rivers, and her husband, Frank, began working for the government in Washington, D.C. Her daughter died in 1951 at the age of 39.
Through the years, Mrs. Boyle has campaigned for many candidates and has definite ideas on the present administration.
“I like President Ford, he was a good congressman, but I’m disappointed in him now,” comments Mrs. Boyle. “He will have to prove to us what he said in his first speech, that he wasn’t for the party, he was for the people.”
Mrs. Boyle’s advice to young people is to know the basic issues and work for the candidates of their choice. “If I thought the Republicans had a better candidate for president, I’d vote for him,” admits Mrs. Boyle. “It’s not the name, it’s the man.”
Mrs. Boyle still receives letters from politicians across the nation who notice her name and suggestions on various records. “Most of them are Republicans,” she says, smiling.
According to Mrs. Boyle, service activities are “my way of doing.” She was Shawano County chairman for the Nationwide Emergency Food Collection in cooperation with the President’s Famine Emergency Committee in 1938 and was chairman of the United Council of Civilian Relief for China.
She was the Shawano County chairman for the U.N. Clothing collections in 1945 and 1946, aided by the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. In 1955 she also organized groups of women from county churches to collect money and sew clothes for 60 orphan girls living at a mission on Corsica Island.
Underprivileged children in Milwaukee also benefited from Mrs. Boyle’s generosity. For five years, she was chairman of a program to allow the youngsters to stay with Shawano County families for two weeks during the summer.
In 1947 Mrs. Boyle’s husband retired because of poor health, and in 1948 the couple moved to Waubeno to be near their son, Charles (Bud), and his family. Mrs. Boyle didn’t waste any time getting involved.
She started as a volunteer at the Rock Nursing Home at Blackwell where her sister was a patient. She made a birthday cake and held a party for 80 patients and soon after was asked to supervise recreational activities and provide entertainment while continuing the monthly birthday party. She was chairman for a ladies’ group, representing area churches, which visited the nursing home each week.
A “People Who Care” club also was formed with the help of businessmen, and a Christmas party was held for residents of the Blackwell home and a nursing home in Townsend.
During annual visits to Florida from 1950 to 1957 with her husband, Mrs. Boyle worked at a convalescent home for the three to five months the couple remained there.
The Boyles returned to Shawano in 1956, and Mr. Boyle died the following year. In 1967 Mrs. Boyle suffered a light stroke and was forced to cut back on most of her activities, living in a Shawano nursing home. In April 1975, after recovering from a stroke which left her temporarily blind, she moved to Green Bay where her son and his family reside.
Before leaving Shawano, Mrs. Boyle donated many old pictures and literature on the county and surrounding area to the Heritage House, a historical home.
She is optimistic on the future of this country. “I’m very fond of young people, and I’m very unhappy when people blast them. When you see what some of them are doing, you have to realize they have to be good. We always have had bad among them, but that happens in any group.”