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The Pence Family

Beginnings

On December 5th 1975 at the old Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cain Marshall Pence came into the world. I have a very interesting personal story. Like any good tale, there is both tragedy and comedy. There are also interesting actors. Let me introduce the first two: my parents.

My Mother, Mary Pence

Mary Katherine Pence (1950-1999) was born to a farm family in Northern Minnesota. She was one of nine kids born to Karl and Eleanor Julig. When she said she grew up poor, she meant poor. They shared clothes and beds, grew their own food or hunted for it. They didn't have much, but they worked hard, went to Church on Sunday and did their homework. My Grandpa Julig continued to work until he was in his eighties. Damn, no early retirement for him! The Juligs were hard workers and even though they had a very tough financial situation, all nine kids eventually did better for themselves than their parents did. That is the American Dream: making sure each generation of Americans has more than the previous one. The Julig family accomplished that worthy goal. When my mother was only seventeen she moved down to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota. My mother was a very intelligent lady. She loved to read, enjoyed poetry and art and had a great aesthetic appreciation. However, not everything in the big city was always nice for this fine lady. She ran into some bad situations and some very tough things happened to her. In 1974 she was working as a waitress at the old Tokyo restaurant in Dinkytown (a great neighborhood by the University of Minnesota) when she met a hippie working as a dishwasher. That bum's name was David Marshall Pence.

My Father, David Marshall Pence

David Marshall Pence (1946--Present) is almost as unique as his son. Pa grew up outside of Minneapolis and attended Benilde-Saint Margaret's High School. When he finished high school he entered the Seminary because he wanted to become a Roman Catholic Priest. After a year in the seminary he left it to go work in a ghetto in Wilmington, Delaware as part of the VISTA program. There he became involved in the civil rights and anti-war movement and returned to Minnesota to become a full-time activist against the Vietnam War. He also smoked his fair share of pot and like many Pence men sowed a few wild oats. Eventually, my old man was sentenced to federal prison for refusing to abide by the draft. After he was released, he bummed around for awhile before getting a job as a dishwasher at the Tokyo restaurant in Dinkytown. There he met my mother.

My Mother and Father

They lived in a run down duplex on 13th Avenue Southeast. It is hard to believe sometimes, but Mom paid the rent with a welfare check. My brother Michael and I were fed with WIC food coupons. We took the bus because we didn't own a car. We weren't just poor, we were very poor. One day, my Mom (God Bless her good heart) sat my father down and told him to grow up. He had a family now and it was time he made something of himself. The revolution wasn't going to happen she told him, so get a real job. My father decided to become a doctor. Not many thirty year old guys washing dishes with two kids and a felony sentence become successful doctors. With the hard work and love of my mother, my father did. It is a great story I think, but also a sad one.

The Early Years

We eventually moved from 13th Avenue to 14th Avenue Southeast, the block I always think of as home. My father was coming back into the Catholic Church and that was how we were raised. I always remember being a Catholic, it is just part of who I am I guess. Even though I am a mighty sinner, I do try and make it to Mass every Sunday. I might mess up the other six days, but no reason to ruin the seventh I suppose! I attended Tuttle Marcy Elementary School in Southeast, was an altar boy at St. Lawrence Catholic Parish by the University and played at Van Cleve Park. My father went to college and then medical school and then did his residency at the University of Minnesota all after I was born so I really grew up the son of a college student. Dad didn't spend much time playing games with us or taking us fishing, but he did teach us many things and he did encourage us, along with Mom, to study very hard. Activity wise, I played piano and saxophone. I played chess and basketball at Van Cleve Park. I use to run around the train tracks of Southeast hoping trains and climbing grain elevators and exploring abandoned buildings with some other local hoodlums. Looking back on it, I am surprised sometimes, that I am even still alive!

Make It Mankato, Minnesota

After my father finished his residency, he started to look for his first good paying job. Until I was fourteen years old, my father never made any money. Mom never worked, and we had a lot of kids in the family. My mom was pregnant with my youngest sister Josephine, so with four kids and a fifth on the way, it was time Dad made some money. We ended up moving to Mankato, Minnesota where my father started a cancer center at the local hospital. It was a big move, none of us wanted.