One of these days I’m going to stop choosing recipes before looking into whether there’s an uncover-able story. This is another new post with scant facts.
Still, I enjoyed looking into the life of Gertrude Comer, who contributed her “crazy” chowder to a cookbook put out by the Gatch Memorial United Methodist Church in the 1960s.
I do know that Gertrude lived most of her life in Northeast Baltimore, near where the Gatch Memorial United Methodist Church stands on Bel Air Road. In 1996, she told the Baltimore Sun about her desire to remain in the neighborhood. She looked forward to affordable senior housing being built nearby. “I would like to stay in my neighborhood and not have to repair an old house,” she said.
The old house in question was 5722 Belair Road, where Gertrude had lived with the Rubshaw family for many decades, just down the street from Gatch UMC.
I found Gertrude in many other peoples’ obituaries, including that of her mother, who died in 1961. Gertrude is mentioned, along with her sisters Helen Zepp, Mildred Kelly, and Betty Lou Rubshaw.
When and how Gertrude became a part of this family is a bit of a mystery. Her biological parents, according to her 2006 death certificate, were James C. Myers and Mary Jane Yager. Gertrude was born in West Virginia in 1916. The Rubshaw family, meanwhile, lived in Indiana at the time. By 1940, they had made their way to Martinsburg, WV, and Betty Lou worked with Gertrude at the Carlile Paper Box Company factory. They must have enjoyed working together – the sisters would later open a beauty parlor in Baltimore called the Shamrock Beauty Shop.
I am not sure exactly when the Rubshaws adopted Gertrude. Somewhere along the way, she’d married Glenn W. Comer, whom she divorced in 1941.
I can only guess at Gertrude’s relationship to Betty Lou, and to the Rubshaws, who certainly counted her as a sister and daughter. In the 1996 Baltimore Sun interview where Gertrude was interviewed, she mentioned her concern for Betty Lou, who was then 88 and living in a nearby apartment while Gertrude had inherited the house on Belair.
The Gatch Memorial United Methodist Church, a few doors down from that house, existed in various forms dating back to 1800, when it was built upon land donated by Benjamin Gatch. The current building, which now houses a different church, has been there since 1922. In its various forms, the church has stood as the area changed from being practically countryside to a sleepy village, a streetcar suburb, and a bustling Baltimore neighborhood.
Gertrude died in 2006, leaving no children, but many nieces and nephews. Perhaps they know the story of how Mary Gertrude Myers came into the fold of the Rubshaw family, which led to her life in Baltimore and at Gatch Memorial Methodist, and which brought her “crazy chowder” onto my dining room table.
Recipe:
- 3 Cups thinly sliced potato
- 1 Cup thinly sliced raw carrot
- .25 Cup chopped onion
- 1 Cup water
- .5 Teaspoon salt
- .25 Cup butter
- .25 Cup flour
- 1.5 Teaspoon salt
- .125 Teaspoons black pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Lee & Perins Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Quart milk
- .5 Lb pork sausage, fried brown
- finely chopped parsley
In covered pan, cook potatoes, carrots & onions in water with 1/2 tsp. salt until tender. In small skillet melt butter. Add flour, 1-1/2 tsp. salt, pepper & worchestershire sauce to form a smooth paste. Add 1 c milk & cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Add to cooked, undrained vegetables in sauce-pan. Pour in remaining milk; heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches simmering point. Drain cooked sausage links; cut in slices. Add to chowder. Top each serving with a sprinkling of parsley.
Recipe from “A Cook Book of Our Favorite Recipes,” Gatch Memorial United Methodist Church, c 1960s
