By JoAnn Biren
Murray County News Staffwriter
In a farmhouse in Iona Township, Murray County, two women sat Sunday afternoon talking and laughing with each other. The words flew, the laughter fell and anyone listening in on the conversation would need to be fluent in Spanish.
Eliana hails from Chile and has dual citizenship, both here in the United States and in her homeland; she might be able to understand the English language but is not comfortable conversing in it. Her daughter Marcela, who is deeply entrenched in her life on the farm and has been happily married to farmer Larry Vogel for more than 35 years, can go from English to Spanish without a pause. Hearing the two speak to each other is heartwarming, even if one doesn’t know what is being said.
This story goes back to the year 1970. Marcela’s sister was a foreign exchange student from Chile. She made friends quickly at Chandler High School and would marry a classmate, Brian Bondhus. The marriage would not last, but her introduction to the life of a United States citizen would and her younger sister Marcela would come and visit.
Marcela met Larry Vogel during one of her visits and the decision to stay and marry became a reality. Two children would join the Vogel family, a son and a daughter, Ian, and Christine.
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