LIVING HISTORY
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while they were attending Warfield School in Indiantown.
“When we were in the sixth grade, we put on a play called
Aunt Drucella’s Garden,” she recalls. “I was Aunt Drucella and
Homer was the gardener. I’ve loved the gardener all my life.”
They became high school sweethearts while attending
Stuart High School. In their senior year, Homer was offered a
football scholarship to the University of Florida, but turned it
down, so he could marry Iris on Sept. 12, 1948.
GIGGING FOR GATORS
The young couple started out with nothing but an eagerness
to work, so they made their living cutting fence posts
and fencing other ranches, while living in the wilds of the
Everglades. They made $150 a month, barely enough to eat,
so they gator hunted to survive those tough times.
“Good Lord, for a little gator, 4 to 5 feet long, you could >>
IRIS WALL COLLECTION
Warfield School, where the Walls met, has been a center of learning for the
children of Indiantown since 1927.
IRIS WALL COLLECTION
Like many Crackers, the young Walls hunted alligator to supplement their
income during tough times. A 4- or 5-foot gator would bring in between
$35 or $45.
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