Mae Driscoll – Iowa City’s Compassionate Landlady.

With the hope of finding medical treatment for her daughter who was suffering from leukemia, **Mae Driscoll** came to Iowa City with her three children in the mid-1940’s. To make ends meet, Mae worked in the SUI dietary department, finally retiring, at age 69, after the death of her husband, John, in 1970. At that point, Mae took up the work of becoming a compassionate landlady – a role she played over the next 22 years – offering refuge to three mentally-impaired individuals. One of those dear souls who called Mae’s house their home was **Bill Sackter** – Iowa City’s famed coffee-maker from 1975-1983.

Circa 1981 – here’s Bill Sackter, Zoe & Clay Morrow (children of Barry & Beverly Morrow)**, Mae Driscoll,** and one of Mae’s boarders – **Angela Pirkl.**

Mae Estella Hamaker Driscoll was born to James Owen and Estella Smith Hamaker in Melbourne (Marshall County), Iowa (see map above) on July 9, 1901. She was united in marriage to Harry Sederburg of Asbury, Missouri, having three children – Miles O. Sederburg (1923-2014), Marvin H. Sederburg (dates unknown), and Betty Mae Sederburg Wheaton (1937-1957). Family records are unclear, but it appears that Mae’s husband, Harry, ran a farm in Jasper County, Missouri, but passed away in the early 1940’s. Mae, who had family in Kahoka (Clark County), Missouri, remarried in 1947 to John H. Driscoll (1887-1970), in the nearby community of Keosauqua, Iowa.

Records indicate that Mae Sederburg and her three children moved from Missouri to Iowa City around 1945 in order to help secure medical treatment for Mae’s eight-year-old daughter, Betty Mae, who was suffering from leukemia. After marrying John Driscoll (1947), the family purchased a small home on the southeast side of town – 1310 Yewell Street (see map above). We are not aware of the type of job Mr. Driscoll had in Iowa City, but we do know that Mae took a position in the dietary department of the University of Iowa, working there through 1970 when her husband, John, passed away at age 83.

John H. Driscoll is buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Mae’s daughter – Betty Mae Sederburg Wheaton – who died, at age 20, in 1957, is buried there as well.

In 1970, Mae Driscoll, who was now age 69, retired, and a widow, once more, decided to open up her home to boarders. But, here’s the twist. Mae didn’t look for just any boarders, but in her deep desire to act according to her strong faith, Mae wanted to share her home with individuals who, otherwise, might be overlooked by society. Taking seriously, Jesus’ command to care for “the least of these,” Mae found three unique people who just happened to have various levels of mental impairment.

According to all reports, Mae Driscoll found three wonderful people to become her boarders. Kenneth (Kenny) R. Tillson (1923-1997), Angela B. Pirkl (1916-2001), and…

You can read the full story here, but when Barry and Beverly Morrow moved to Iowa City in the fall of 1974, they eventually brought with them, from Minneapolis, a 62-year-old man with mental impairments, named William Sackter. Arriving in the summer of 1975, Bill, at first, lived with the Morrow family on a small farm near Kalona.

While Bill loved being with the Morrows, Barry – who worked at the UI School of Social Work – knew that his friend needed to learn how to live on his own. So, as Morrow tells the story, one day, while Barry was drinking a cup of coffee in the student lounge of North Hall, he saw an Iowa City Press-Citizen laying on one of the tables. It was turned to the classified section, and apparently, one of the students had left their coffee cup resting on top of the open pages. Barry, to this day, calls it a “divine coffee ring,” because when he lifted the cup off the page, the coffee stain left a perfect ring around an ad placed by Mae Driscoll – looking for a third boarder!

Within days, Bill Sackter had a new home, and without a doubt, it turned out to be the perfect spot for him, for Mae, and yes, even for Kenny and Angela. Below (right) is a short excerpt on Mae’s home, taken from a December 1983 Press-Citizen article entitled, “Friends With Big Hearts.”

Over an eight year period (1975-1983), Mae Driscoll and her small “family” on Yewell Street became an integral part of the Bill Sackter story, with all of the members being included in the screenplays that Barry Morrow wrote – stories that became the hit TV movies: “Bill” (1981), and “Bill: On His Own” (1983), starring Hollywood superstar Mickey Rooney, and the young actors – Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. Read more here.

Since Bill Sackter couldn’t read or write, Bill’s buddies – Mae Driscoll and Rabbi Jeff Portman – made up note cards like the one pictured above that Bill could use for Iowa City bus drivers – explaining the route, times, and stops that Bill would need to take on certain days. These note cards are all small enough to fit into Bill’s pocket, and are well-worn after being carried and handled daily by Bill. Read more here.

Bill with Mae at a mealtime prayer – 1978. This pic was taken from Bill’s hometown newspaper – The Minneapolis Tribune – which published a big eight-page spread on Bill’s amazing story in October 1978. See that complete layout here.

Sadly, William ‘Wild Bill’ Sackter died in Iowa City on June 16, 1983 at the age of 70, just months before the airing of the second TV special. According to newspaper accounts, Mae found Bill that morning, dressed for work and sitting in his chair. The Iowa City community loved Bill Sackter so much that when he died, the U.S. flag on Old Capitol flew at half-mast.

Later that same year (1983), in November, the second “Bill” TV movie premiered, and below is an enjoyable article from the Iowa City Press-Citizen that describes the scene at Mae’s house as the real Mae, Angela, and Kenny watched the show…

Below – meet the actors: Teresa Wright (below left) as Mae Driscoll, Edie McClurg (top right) as Angela, and Tracey Walter (bottom right) as Kenny.

After Bill Sackter died in 1983, life went on for Mae Driscoll, Kenny and Angela. We don’t know when Kenny Tillson left Iowa City, but his information on Find-A-Grave states that he died in Jefferson County, Colorado on May 17, 1997 at age 73. As for Angela Pirkl, she lived on until October 5, 2001, passing at age 85, and is buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Her obituary states that she lived with Mrs. Driscoll right up until the time when Mae sold her home in 1992.

Yes, Mae Driscoll – known in the neighborhood as the African Violet lady – kept her home at 1310 Yewell Street going right up until her health made it impossible to do so. Records show that in April 1992, Mae moved to Mt. Sterling, Iowa, living with her son Miles Sederburg and his family for a short time before being transferred in September to the Clark County Nursing Home in Kahoka, Missouri.

Mae Estella Sederburg Driscoll died on November 10, 1992 at the ripe old age of 91 and is buried in Combs Cemetery in Clark County, Missouri. When Mae passed, she had ten grandchildren; twenty-two great grandchildren; and one great, great grandchild!

In the November 26, 1992 edition of The Press-Citizen, two of Bill Sackter’s Iowa City “buddies” – Rabbi Jeffery Portman, Director, UI School of Social Work, Thomas Walz – penned this beautiful farewell editorial to Mae Driscoll…

Thank you Mae, for your loving dedication to your children, and your “adopted” family on Yewell Street. You served your Lord, well. Godspeed, dear Mae, Godspeed!