Dale and Bessie Gracey
Memories and visions of Dale and Bessie Gracey linger in the aisles of Robinsons. This hard working couple is remembered for their business enterprises at 815 North Main Street. In the 40's and 50's, this was the north edge of Osceola.
In the 1930’s, Dale Gracey dug ditches by hand for the Great Lakes Pipeline Co. where his father, Herman Gracey, worked. Dale was a truck driver before he bought his service station in 1936. The station telephone number was 279K. To reach this number all you had to do was pick up- your phone and an operator would connect you.
Dale Gracey married Bessie Hart of Osceola, daughter of Ren and Ethel Hart. Bessie worked in Dale’s business ventures, which included the Case tractor dealership. Gracey’s advertised 12 models of Case tractors, New Holland balers and forage harvesters, Woods stock cutters, and Texaco products. Another business venture, and his longest lasting endeavor, was agriculture conservation work, such as constructing dams, ponds, terraces, and dirt moving. A large garage was built behind the gas station which serviced dirt moving equipment, farm machinery, trucks, and autos. Dale’s assistants included Elbert Phipps, Walt Rayburn, Lloyd Loomis, Earl Folger, and Roger Turk.
For a period of years the Graceys owned and operated the Dairy Queen which was located across the street from the Gracey Service Station. The Dairy Queen advertised “curly top” chocolate-covered cones, chocolate or butterscotch “dillies”, old fashioned sandwiches, dogs, root beer, and sodas. Bessie Gracey was the proprietor. She was assisted by her daughter, Stephanie Gracey; Marianne Keller, Dorothy Phipps, Linda Beadel, Diane Swan, and Jerry Ryan.
Herman Gracey remembers that his busy father, Dale Gracey, somehow found time to serve many years on the Osceola Water Board. As a teenager, Herman pumped gas at the Gracey Service Station, helped in the garage, and drove earth moving equipment. Herman Gracey is our water plant supervisor. He has a brother Curtis Gracey of Norwalk, two sisters; Stephanie Butts of Murray, and Sherry Ryan of Osceola.
A savage fire in 1958 destroyed the Gracey garage, which was behind the station. The late Darrell Morris, long time Osceola Fireman, told how he sought refuge outside the garage as exploding torches and oxygen bottles threatened fire the fighters.
Bessie Gracey died in 1986, and her husband, Dale Gracey, died in 1992. The Gracey station building is now owned by Jerry and Sherry Ryan. Sherry is a daughter of Dale and Bessie Gracey. The Ryans have converted the former service station into a business known as the Bait Station, which attracts many outdoor sports enthusiasts.