Published: March 29, 2008 10:55 pm         

House’s history stirs the memories

What’s in a name?

There may be something to say for miracles at the aptly named Angel Delight Can-dies, Bakery, Catering & Tea Room LLC at 417 S. Wash-ington.

Owner Retha Wegmiller said when she found out she had to leave her other place of business she was drawn to her new location.

“It was right at Christmas-time, and I had a week to get out of the old place,” Weg-miller said. “It was real hard on me, those couple of months.”

She looked at one home but ended up with the one on South Washington.

It turns out the home she picked is thought to be more than 100 years old and holds a lot of history.

“It’s believed to be one of the oldest houses in Enid,” she said.



Making history modern



Although changes had to be made to update the century-old home to meet modern building codes, Wegmiller said the remodeling went well.

“When we did the remodel, everything just fit.”

It was while remodeling Wegmiller met Sally Beth Landes, the granddaughter of the woman who once owned the home that is now Wegmiller’s.

“It all fell into place, and there was a better home for me,” she said.

Wegmiller spent about six weeks remodeling the home, which is upstairs, and bringing her downstairs business up to code.

“I had a lot of help from friends and family,” she said.

Wegmiller said Sally’s daughter was visiting a nearby school board when noticed the house being remodeled and thought it might be the one her family owned.

Wegmiller said she saw a women in front of her business, looking around and snapping photos.

“I invited them in and got a surprise,” Wegmiller said. “I’m very proud of this place and what it holds.”

“This makes it a pretty neat little place.”



Witnessing a miracle



As a young girl, Sally stayed with her grandmother, Ethal Amanda Landes, while she was battling Bright’s disease, or acute or chronic nephritis, as it’s known today.

“I stayed here three months when I was 8,” Sally said. She lived with her grandmother during those months as she suffered from the kidney disease. However, one day she and her grandmother shared a miracle.

Sally said she and Ethal spoke of the miracle years later.

Sally said her grandmother told her she’d been her sewing room when she went to check on her ill granddaughter.

“There was a white cloud hanging over the bed,” Sally said. “She said it was so white.”

Sally said she thought the light shining through the window hung on the bed where she lay.

“It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen in my life,” Sally said. “I believed I was cured that day.”

She said she’d gone to see the doctor after the light incident, and X-rays showed no signs of the disease.

“No one ever lived if they had it over a year, and I had it for 14 months,” Sally said.



Celebrating milestones



Saturday, Sally and members of her family celebrated the 94th birthday of Vaughndean Landes, ???????? (Sally’s mother) and ?????? Ethal’s daughter.

As she arrived at the party, Vaughndean expressed her delight in seeing her former home.

“I see arrangements are about the same,” Vaughndean said. “I see improvements in the decorating. It sure is beautiful.”

Looking to Wegmiller, Vaughndean said, “You sure made it nice.”

Vaughndean said she was about 10-or-11-years-old when she and her family moved into the house. She said her mother used to rent out the upstairs rooms.

“She had five bedrooms she rented,” Vaughndean said. “She kept them rented out most of the time.”

Vaughndean said her mother had purchased the 417 S. Washington address when they lived next door and eventually purchased another nearby house.

“She would rent to band students traveling to Enid, businessmen and railroad workers,” Sally said.

Ethal sewed as part of the war effort during World War II at the airfield and sewed slipcovers for couches for Loomis Furniture, which was downtown at the time, her daughter said.

Vaughndean moved to Anadarko after she graduated from high school in the 1930s.

“My aunt wanted me to go to Anadarko business college because it was quite known, and there was a lot of jobs coming out of it,” Vaughndean said.

In Anadarko, Vaughndean worked as a typist for the courthouse, sold insurance and also ran an abstract office.

Up until last year, she volunteered at the Anadarko hospital, has volunteered more than 10,000 hours to the First Methodist Church soup kitchen and made generous donations to the church’s Family Life Center.

“I just felt like God brought this house to me,” Wegmiller said. “ I have been so blessed with my business.”