my maternal grandmother grew up in Montevideo MN

My maternal great grandparents were immigrants, proud farmers. My great grandfather, a taciturn man, must have inspired my grandmother to marry my grandfather, also a taciturn man. That great grandfather was Scottish, the only chink in our 'pure' Irish genes. And they were Methodists, also from his Scottish heritage.

My maternal grandmother converted to Catholicism when she married my grandfather.

In the winter, as a child and teen, my grandmother and her siblings old enough for school, lived in a rented apartment in town so they could continue their education.

My great grandfather may have been a stern man but he placed intense emphasis on education.  In an era when few women went to college, he sent my grandmother, Joy,  to university and several of her sisters. My grandmother's baby sister, Effie Carlotta, to undergrad and grad school.  My great aunt Effie got a masters in psychology in the early years of the 20th Century. Unusual for fathers to support women like that.

So taciturn great grandpa wasn't all bad.

My sister and I once drove to Montevideo, after my grandmother had died, and saw the building where she and her siblings would live, mostly without adults, during the harsh winter months when they would not have been able to get to school.  I love it that my great grandparents rented an apartment in town to ensure the continuity of their many children's education. I think there were 9 kids altogether.