Our grandfather, HMR's, parents on their wedding day.
There's something terribly important and wonderful about knowing where you came from. Whom you came from. It gives you roots. A sense of continuity and connection to your ancestors, your forbears.
As the next generation grows up, it would be wonderful for them to have the same continuity, the same sense of roots that my grandmother, now their great-grandmother, gave to me with her knowledge of the family tree and family tales.
We were lucky. So many families don't talk, don't pass down that sense of continuity. Our family did!
Maybe you already know the same family stories I know. Maybe you know some I don't; maybe I know some you've never heard. Stories like the supernatural signs that protect our family and herald an impending death.
This webpage is my gift to the next generation who I hope will grow up free of the family curse of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
I've collected true-life tales my grandmother shared with me. I'll write them out over time, flow of consciousness-style (not chronologically) as inspiration and memories "hit me" so you know who you are, where you came from. Gifts that will help you know where you belong and where you're going. So please check back from time-to-time for updates.
~ Mrs. Lenora Thompson
Northern Minnesota
July 2018
As the next generation grows up, it would be wonderful for them to have the same continuity, the same sense of roots that my grandmother, now their great-grandmother, gave to me with her knowledge of the family tree and family tales.
We were lucky. So many families don't talk, don't pass down that sense of continuity. Our family did!
Maybe you already know the same family stories I know. Maybe you know some I don't; maybe I know some you've never heard. Stories like the supernatural signs that protect our family and herald an impending death.
This webpage is my gift to the next generation who I hope will grow up free of the family curse of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
I've collected true-life tales my grandmother shared with me. I'll write them out over time, flow of consciousness-style (not chronologically) as inspiration and memories "hit me" so you know who you are, where you came from. Gifts that will help you know where you belong and where you're going. So please check back from time-to-time for updates.
~ Mrs. Lenora Thompson
Northern Minnesota
July 2018
Dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, H.M.R. (11/20/1920 - 12/6/2000)
You were a patriot and a class act, Grandpa. You always made your four granddaughters feel so loved.
You hung onto life by sheer will power for us, your family. I wish you could have met my husband. You are two peas in a pod. What inventions you could have created together! I love you, Grandpa, and miss you always.
~ Family Tales ~
Grandpa: Semper Fi
I'll try to find a better picture of Grandpa!
Twenty years after he passed away, we still miss Grandpa. I still cry when I think of him. Grandpa was a class act!
My mother once told me that Grandpa never lied and loathed gossip. But he could sure be cranky. We may as well get it out on the table right now. I suppose Grandpa's cantankerousness is what's given me a lifelong affection for cranky men.
There were two things you always knew when you were around Grandpa:
1. He loved you.
2. He was proud of you.
There was never any doubt or insecurity on those scores. None at all.
Born in 1920 smack-dab in the center of eleven children, Grandpa wasn't close to either of his parents. Not his father whom his sons called The Foreman nor his overworked, unhappily constantly pregnant mother. If Grandpa needed anything, he went to his sister, Evelyn. She was, for all intents and purposes, the closest thing he had to a mother.
Airplanes always fascinated Grandpa. When he was just seven years old, he must've heard that native Minnesotan (and my husband's blood relative) Charles Lindbergh had made his historic non-stop flight from New York to Paris in just 33 1⁄2-hours. So whenever a plane appeared in the skies over their farm, Grandpa stopped everything and watched it from horizon to horizon.
Then the war came. As he watched young men and his brothers join up or be called up all around him, Grandpa knew his time would soon come. "I'm thinking about joining up," he told his father. "You won't like it," his father responded.
Grandpa volunteered for the Marine Corps anyways. At that time, military aviation was included in the Marine Corps.
As I understand it, and if memory serves, Grandpa undertook his training on a base in California. He remembered being in line to receive his pay when, in full view of the entire base, a plane crashed. Instantly, the base commanders scrambled every man and every plane into the air. They didn't give the men time to think over what they'd just witnessed. Didn't give their fears time to grow. Every man went aloft and Grandpa always insisted flying was statistically the safest mode of travel.
Of course, being away from home for the first time, he got up to some things. Even though it was against regulations, Grandpa and his friends would often fly over the nudist beaches in California, he recalled with a chuckle.
Another time, Grandpa's ability to type, yes, type on a typewriter got him out of hot water. His crime? Wearing his bomber jacket in the mess. Apparently, that was also against regulations, but Grandpa didn't know it! So he got assigned to KP duty as punishment. Probably some drudgery like peeling hundreds of potatoes.
When one of the higher-ups learned Grandpa could type, well! He was rescued from the scullery and put to work in the office.
Although a problem with his ears kept Grandpa from his dream of being a Marine pilot, he still island hopped across the Pacific during World War II. He was probably in the second wave of Marines who went ashore to establish a makeshift airbase on each island, after the first wave of Marines had conquered the island.
Was it safe? Absolutely not!
Grandpa told the story of a Japanese spear being thrust through the side of one of their tents, straight into a bunk that (thank God!) was not occupied that evening. So yes, there was danger. Grandpa would say, "War is Hell."
He also told a very confusing story...something about a Frenchman who would host dinners and Grandpa catching a horse to ride to those dinners. I didn't understand the story then and I still don't, but we all know how Grandpa loved to eat. He had the loudest swallow in six counties, bless him!
I'll close this brief snapshot of Grandpa with my favorite story he told of his days in World War II. On one mission, the machine guns on one of the planes he serviced malfunctioned. The guns were timed perfectly to shoot between the blades of the propeller on the nose of the plane. Well, something went wrong and the gun shot straight through the propeller blade instead.
Being farmboys accustomed to using their own ingenuity to keep farm equipment running, Grandpa and the other mechanics put their heads together and came up with a solution. Did they replace the propeller blade? Not on your tintype!
No, they simply sanded the hole in the propeller blade down to a glassy, mirror finish. Problem solved! But, as Grandpa always said with a smile and a chuckle, "that plane always did have a whistle." LOL
To his dying day, whenever he heard the Marine's Hymn, Grandpa would struggle out of his recliner, stand to attention and solemnly salute. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He modeled patriotism for us four granddaughters. We knew how proud he was to be a United States Marine and how proud we were, and still are, of him.
That's just a tiny snapshot of Grandpa. He was always Semper Fi.
10/13/2018
My mother once told me that Grandpa never lied and loathed gossip. But he could sure be cranky. We may as well get it out on the table right now. I suppose Grandpa's cantankerousness is what's given me a lifelong affection for cranky men.
There were two things you always knew when you were around Grandpa:
1. He loved you.
2. He was proud of you.
There was never any doubt or insecurity on those scores. None at all.
Born in 1920 smack-dab in the center of eleven children, Grandpa wasn't close to either of his parents. Not his father whom his sons called The Foreman nor his overworked, unhappily constantly pregnant mother. If Grandpa needed anything, he went to his sister, Evelyn. She was, for all intents and purposes, the closest thing he had to a mother.
Airplanes always fascinated Grandpa. When he was just seven years old, he must've heard that native Minnesotan (and my husband's blood relative) Charles Lindbergh had made his historic non-stop flight from New York to Paris in just 33 1⁄2-hours. So whenever a plane appeared in the skies over their farm, Grandpa stopped everything and watched it from horizon to horizon.
Then the war came. As he watched young men and his brothers join up or be called up all around him, Grandpa knew his time would soon come. "I'm thinking about joining up," he told his father. "You won't like it," his father responded.
Grandpa volunteered for the Marine Corps anyways. At that time, military aviation was included in the Marine Corps.
As I understand it, and if memory serves, Grandpa undertook his training on a base in California. He remembered being in line to receive his pay when, in full view of the entire base, a plane crashed. Instantly, the base commanders scrambled every man and every plane into the air. They didn't give the men time to think over what they'd just witnessed. Didn't give their fears time to grow. Every man went aloft and Grandpa always insisted flying was statistically the safest mode of travel.
Of course, being away from home for the first time, he got up to some things. Even though it was against regulations, Grandpa and his friends would often fly over the nudist beaches in California, he recalled with a chuckle.
Another time, Grandpa's ability to type, yes, type on a typewriter got him out of hot water. His crime? Wearing his bomber jacket in the mess. Apparently, that was also against regulations, but Grandpa didn't know it! So he got assigned to KP duty as punishment. Probably some drudgery like peeling hundreds of potatoes.
When one of the higher-ups learned Grandpa could type, well! He was rescued from the scullery and put to work in the office.
Although a problem with his ears kept Grandpa from his dream of being a Marine pilot, he still island hopped across the Pacific during World War II. He was probably in the second wave of Marines who went ashore to establish a makeshift airbase on each island, after the first wave of Marines had conquered the island.
Was it safe? Absolutely not!
Grandpa told the story of a Japanese spear being thrust through the side of one of their tents, straight into a bunk that (thank God!) was not occupied that evening. So yes, there was danger. Grandpa would say, "War is Hell."
He also told a very confusing story...something about a Frenchman who would host dinners and Grandpa catching a horse to ride to those dinners. I didn't understand the story then and I still don't, but we all know how Grandpa loved to eat. He had the loudest swallow in six counties, bless him!
I'll close this brief snapshot of Grandpa with my favorite story he told of his days in World War II. On one mission, the machine guns on one of the planes he serviced malfunctioned. The guns were timed perfectly to shoot between the blades of the propeller on the nose of the plane. Well, something went wrong and the gun shot straight through the propeller blade instead.
Being farmboys accustomed to using their own ingenuity to keep farm equipment running, Grandpa and the other mechanics put their heads together and came up with a solution. Did they replace the propeller blade? Not on your tintype!
No, they simply sanded the hole in the propeller blade down to a glassy, mirror finish. Problem solved! But, as Grandpa always said with a smile and a chuckle, "that plane always did have a whistle." LOL
To his dying day, whenever he heard the Marine's Hymn, Grandpa would struggle out of his recliner, stand to attention and solemnly salute. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He modeled patriotism for us four granddaughters. We knew how proud he was to be a United States Marine and how proud we were, and still are, of him.
That's just a tiny snapshot of Grandpa. He was always Semper Fi.
10/13/2018
The Signs
Stock photo
Perhaps it has something to do with Great-Great-Grandpa, Amatius, being a Freemason. Perhaps it's simply the protection of God. I've long wondered why our family has The Signs. But we do and, I believe, they're a blessing from God.
The oldest story of The Signs I know dates from when Great-Grandpa (BJR's father) was a little boy. All the parents had specifically forbade their sons from swimming in the waterlogged abandoned quarry. Why? Because as Mr. Chipping would phrase it, "Danger lies inherent."
On this particular hot Summer day, Great-Grandpa Harold and some of his little friends disobeyed their mothers. A group of three or four of them decided to go swimming in the old quarry...anyways. So they set off walking.
Then they saw it. A horsedrawn carriage sat motionless on the road. Only there was no horse between the shafts. Just the carriage.
In the carriage sat an old man. His white beard was so long, it reached the ground.
No one spoke a word.
The old man said nothing.
The boys said nothing. But they were terrified.
Wordlessly, they turned on their heels and ran home as fast as they could. The old man with the floor-length beard in the horseless carriage may have saved their lives that day. Who knows if they would have drowned that day in the quarry. We might not even be here today if it weren't for the Good Lord looking down and sending A Sign to protect Great-Grandpa's life.
Personally, I believe he was an Angel...a Guardian Angel rather like Clarence in It's A Wonderful Life. A hirsute Angel sent by God to save the lives of those naughty little boys.
7/14/2018
The oldest story of The Signs I know dates from when Great-Grandpa (BJR's father) was a little boy. All the parents had specifically forbade their sons from swimming in the waterlogged abandoned quarry. Why? Because as Mr. Chipping would phrase it, "Danger lies inherent."
On this particular hot Summer day, Great-Grandpa Harold and some of his little friends disobeyed their mothers. A group of three or four of them decided to go swimming in the old quarry...anyways. So they set off walking.
Then they saw it. A horsedrawn carriage sat motionless on the road. Only there was no horse between the shafts. Just the carriage.
In the carriage sat an old man. His white beard was so long, it reached the ground.
No one spoke a word.
The old man said nothing.
The boys said nothing. But they were terrified.
Wordlessly, they turned on their heels and ran home as fast as they could. The old man with the floor-length beard in the horseless carriage may have saved their lives that day. Who knows if they would have drowned that day in the quarry. We might not even be here today if it weren't for the Good Lord looking down and sending A Sign to protect Great-Grandpa's life.
Personally, I believe he was an Angel...a Guardian Angel rather like Clarence in It's A Wonderful Life. A hirsute Angel sent by God to save the lives of those naughty little boys.
7/14/2018
The Chimes
In most families, it's the men who pass down family Christian names. You know, like James Sr., James, Jr., James III...you catch my drift. Our family is funny in that way. It's the women who pass down the family Christian names, in this case, the name I'll abbreviate to Rannie.
While we all grieve the recent passing of Rannie III in July 2017, I'm thinking back to her mother who passed away in the early 1960s. No, we must go even further back.
It was the mid-1950s. Our Grandma and Grandpa were visiting Great-Grandma, Rannie I, and Great-Grandpa, Harold. It was a dark, rainy, stormy evening when Great-Grandpa (from The Signs story above) remembered he'd forgotten to turn off the electric fence.
Dashing out in the storm, just as he reached for the controller on the metal fence, a bolt of lighting struck the fence. Electricity streaked through the fence, up Great-Grandpa's arm and fire shot out of his mouth. He managed to drag himself back to the house and slumped in a chair. The family believes that's when the cancer started: when he was electrocuted by lightning.
When he passed away a few years later, Grandma and her sister Rannie II took it in turns to watch each other's children so they could take both attend the visitation and funeral. While watching the children at her own home, Rannie II fetched something from her closet. In her closet she heard beautiful, tickling chimes.
Later at her mother, Great-Grandma (Rannie I) home she again heard the sweet, tinkling chimes. "I'll be next," she told Grandma. The chimes sent her a very clear message. She was indeed the next to go, leaving behind a heartbroken son and young daughter on April 27th, 1962.
Another amazing thing about our family is how inclusive they have always been. Rannie II's husband married again on July 11th, 1964, to a wonderful woman who made a great mother for his two children. She became a part of our family as surely as if she was blood, always a very pleasant part of our family reunions. It never even occurred to me that Geri wasn't technically a relative. She seemed like a jolly great-aunt to me and I loved seeing her! What a very tough, resilient and loving woman she must have been to hang out with her husband's first wife's family! As a second wife myself, I can't imagine doing that.
When Rannie II's possessions were parcelled out after her death, our grandmother received her Fostoria wine glasses. My mother received her two candlesticks and handed them down to me.
Suddenly in 2016, it struck me: I should not have those candlesticks. By any natural law, they should go to Rannie III and her daughters. So I packaged them in bubble wrap along with a letter telling Rannie III everything I knew about her mother (who she didn't remember, I'm told) and sent them off. Over and over I thank God I made that decision when I did. Rannie III was so grateful and sent me a lovely Thank You note.
She died just a few months later.
If you ever hear sweet, tinking chimes, especially in your closet, take note.
A funeral may be imminent. It may be yours.
7/14/2018
While we all grieve the recent passing of Rannie III in July 2017, I'm thinking back to her mother who passed away in the early 1960s. No, we must go even further back.
It was the mid-1950s. Our Grandma and Grandpa were visiting Great-Grandma, Rannie I, and Great-Grandpa, Harold. It was a dark, rainy, stormy evening when Great-Grandpa (from The Signs story above) remembered he'd forgotten to turn off the electric fence.
Dashing out in the storm, just as he reached for the controller on the metal fence, a bolt of lighting struck the fence. Electricity streaked through the fence, up Great-Grandpa's arm and fire shot out of his mouth. He managed to drag himself back to the house and slumped in a chair. The family believes that's when the cancer started: when he was electrocuted by lightning.
When he passed away a few years later, Grandma and her sister Rannie II took it in turns to watch each other's children so they could take both attend the visitation and funeral. While watching the children at her own home, Rannie II fetched something from her closet. In her closet she heard beautiful, tickling chimes.
Later at her mother, Great-Grandma (Rannie I) home she again heard the sweet, tinkling chimes. "I'll be next," she told Grandma. The chimes sent her a very clear message. She was indeed the next to go, leaving behind a heartbroken son and young daughter on April 27th, 1962.
Another amazing thing about our family is how inclusive they have always been. Rannie II's husband married again on July 11th, 1964, to a wonderful woman who made a great mother for his two children. She became a part of our family as surely as if she was blood, always a very pleasant part of our family reunions. It never even occurred to me that Geri wasn't technically a relative. She seemed like a jolly great-aunt to me and I loved seeing her! What a very tough, resilient and loving woman she must have been to hang out with her husband's first wife's family! As a second wife myself, I can't imagine doing that.
When Rannie II's possessions were parcelled out after her death, our grandmother received her Fostoria wine glasses. My mother received her two candlesticks and handed them down to me.
Suddenly in 2016, it struck me: I should not have those candlesticks. By any natural law, they should go to Rannie III and her daughters. So I packaged them in bubble wrap along with a letter telling Rannie III everything I knew about her mother (who she didn't remember, I'm told) and sent them off. Over and over I thank God I made that decision when I did. Rannie III was so grateful and sent me a lovely Thank You note.
She died just a few months later.
If you ever hear sweet, tinking chimes, especially in your closet, take note.
A funeral may be imminent. It may be yours.
7/14/2018
The Sparrow
Our Great-Grandmother had an amazing sense of humor and an infectious giggle. She was also very careful with money. Even in death, she had the good sense to pass away one day after receiving her final Society Security check. It arrived on 3/3. She died on 3/4...so she didn't have to return it! That was Great-Grandma to a "T."
If you remember Great-Grandma, you know that, apart from having her gallbladder removed, she enjoyed excellent health. Right up to her death, ironically in the middle of breakfast, she was hale, hearty...and worried about getting fat (again)! LOL
The coroner listed the cause of death as malnutrition and old age. Bullshit! She'd been old for years and it never killed her before! The truth is she didn't die of anything. She just...died. Typical of her sense of humor.
But maybe we should have known it was coming. You see, a few days or weeks before her death, her daughter (our Grandma) found a sparrow in her house.
Now if you know Grandma at all, you know there is no chance a sparrow could get into her house. Even the odd spider was swiftly and severely dispatched to the Great Spider Web in the Sky. A sparrow!?! No way!
Quickly closing all the bedroom doors, Grandma and Grandpa opened the screendoor and gently shooed the sparrow toward the sunshine. It took wing, and without any drama, flew towards The Light, winging out the door. Grandma searched high and low, but the sparrow hadn't left a "calling card" anywhere. She left as mysteriously and cleanly as she came.
A few days (or weeks) later, Great-Grandma passed away. That's when Grandma realized, the sparrow had been one of The Signs. A gentle message that Great-Grandma, a salt-of-the-Earth sparrow woman, would soon be leaving us.
Mankind has come to believe that birds are God's messengers. It's not just an old wives' tale. It's true. Before my friend's brother, Vernon, passed away, many birds heralded his death. He saw them and knew his time was up.
That little, clean sparrow was another Sign sent from God to warn us and soften the blow of losing our beloved Great-Grandmother.
If you remember Great-Grandma, you know that, apart from having her gallbladder removed, she enjoyed excellent health. Right up to her death, ironically in the middle of breakfast, she was hale, hearty...and worried about getting fat (again)! LOL
The coroner listed the cause of death as malnutrition and old age. Bullshit! She'd been old for years and it never killed her before! The truth is she didn't die of anything. She just...died. Typical of her sense of humor.
But maybe we should have known it was coming. You see, a few days or weeks before her death, her daughter (our Grandma) found a sparrow in her house.
Now if you know Grandma at all, you know there is no chance a sparrow could get into her house. Even the odd spider was swiftly and severely dispatched to the Great Spider Web in the Sky. A sparrow!?! No way!
Quickly closing all the bedroom doors, Grandma and Grandpa opened the screendoor and gently shooed the sparrow toward the sunshine. It took wing, and without any drama, flew towards The Light, winging out the door. Grandma searched high and low, but the sparrow hadn't left a "calling card" anywhere. She left as mysteriously and cleanly as she came.
A few days (or weeks) later, Great-Grandma passed away. That's when Grandma realized, the sparrow had been one of The Signs. A gentle message that Great-Grandma, a salt-of-the-Earth sparrow woman, would soon be leaving us.
Mankind has come to believe that birds are God's messengers. It's not just an old wives' tale. It's true. Before my friend's brother, Vernon, passed away, many birds heralded his death. He saw them and knew his time was up.
That little, clean sparrow was another Sign sent from God to warn us and soften the blow of losing our beloved Great-Grandmother.
In Loving Memory of Great-Grandma, Rannie I
8/4/1900 - 3/4/1998
8/4/1900 - 3/4/1998
The Immigrants
1930s Census, list Amatius, Anna and their children. Available from FamilySearch.org
In the 1970s-ish, Herman (Grandma's Uncle) compiled a family tree, both from information the American family had and from contacting our relatives in Sweden. The resulting book was thick. It was complete. It was comb-bound. It had pictures. It went back generations. It was amazing!!! For example, did you know that one of our ancestors knew the use and medicinal quality of every herb in the forest!? Oh, if only that wisdom had been passed down to us!
How I wish I had a copy of Herman's book today. In lieu of that, here's what I can remember from reading it during my teens.
Grandma's paternal grandparents,, Amatius (b. 1860 or 1861 in Gothenburg, Västra Götaland, Sweden; his father may have been English???) and Anna (b. 1862) immigrated from Sweden. But they didn't come over together on the same boat. The story of how we came to be born in "the land of the Free and the home of the Brave" is much more romantic than that.
If memory serves, Amatius was "kicked out" by his widowed mother to fend for himself as an older child or very young teenager. She simply couldn't afford to feed him anymore. And this is where my memory gets a little blurry.
Was it Amatius who sleep-walked? Well, I'll say it was.
A very young Amatius found lodging with other young men. Every morning, these young men would wake to find their daytime clothes missing. It was weird! So they set a watch.
It turns out Amatius (?) was a sleep-walker. Each night he could collect their clothes, climb out a window, deposit them high up on a gutter and then return to bed without ever falling off the roof nor waking up!
In time, Amatius met the love of his life, Anna. She lived on one of the islands off the coast of Sweden. In winter, when the fjord (?) froze, he would don ice skates and swish-swish-swish across the frozen sea to visit his love.
In 1883, Amatius decided to come to America telling Anna, "I'll send for you." Imagine the heart-break of their parting!?!
Landing in America (I wonder if it was Ellis Island?), the immigration officials asked Amatius his profession. He didn't really have one! Spur of the moment, he said "painter." Painter!!! Where did he come up with that!? LOL
But the joke was on them for painting is exactly what he did, landing a job painting railroad cars. Ever after he retired from the railroad, Grandma always remembers his house smelling of fresh varnish or paint.
What about Anna? What about our Great-Great-Grandmother?
That plucky woman didn't wait for Amatius to send for her. She left everyone she knew, booked passage and sailed to the New World in 1887 to be with her man. That's the kind of plucky, brave, independent immigrant stock we are descended from! They married, settled down, started a city and raised a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. Their son, Harold, was our Great-Grandfather.
But tragedy struck. In 1898, their beloved daughter Edith fell sick with diphtheria and passed away. Anna washed and dressed her daughter's body, styled her hair and laid her in her tiny coffin. How do you survive a grief like that?
A few years later in 1923, their son "Sam" also passed away. If memory serves, it was a brain tumor and he left behind a fiancée. I wonder who she was.
When Anna passed away in 1937, our Great-Grandfather wrote the most beautiful letter to his children. I found it, quite by chance, the other day amongst my papers. What a legacy of love and faith we have. I will share his beautiful letter with all of you in the next post.
7/15/2018
Source: www.familysearch.org
Source: www.findagrave.com
How I wish I had a copy of Herman's book today. In lieu of that, here's what I can remember from reading it during my teens.
Grandma's paternal grandparents,, Amatius (b. 1860 or 1861 in Gothenburg, Västra Götaland, Sweden; his father may have been English???) and Anna (b. 1862) immigrated from Sweden. But they didn't come over together on the same boat. The story of how we came to be born in "the land of the Free and the home of the Brave" is much more romantic than that.
If memory serves, Amatius was "kicked out" by his widowed mother to fend for himself as an older child or very young teenager. She simply couldn't afford to feed him anymore. And this is where my memory gets a little blurry.
Was it Amatius who sleep-walked? Well, I'll say it was.
A very young Amatius found lodging with other young men. Every morning, these young men would wake to find their daytime clothes missing. It was weird! So they set a watch.
It turns out Amatius (?) was a sleep-walker. Each night he could collect their clothes, climb out a window, deposit them high up on a gutter and then return to bed without ever falling off the roof nor waking up!
In time, Amatius met the love of his life, Anna. She lived on one of the islands off the coast of Sweden. In winter, when the fjord (?) froze, he would don ice skates and swish-swish-swish across the frozen sea to visit his love.
In 1883, Amatius decided to come to America telling Anna, "I'll send for you." Imagine the heart-break of their parting!?!
Landing in America (I wonder if it was Ellis Island?), the immigration officials asked Amatius his profession. He didn't really have one! Spur of the moment, he said "painter." Painter!!! Where did he come up with that!? LOL
But the joke was on them for painting is exactly what he did, landing a job painting railroad cars. Ever after he retired from the railroad, Grandma always remembers his house smelling of fresh varnish or paint.
What about Anna? What about our Great-Great-Grandmother?
That plucky woman didn't wait for Amatius to send for her. She left everyone she knew, booked passage and sailed to the New World in 1887 to be with her man. That's the kind of plucky, brave, independent immigrant stock we are descended from! They married, settled down, started a city and raised a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. Their son, Harold, was our Great-Grandfather.
But tragedy struck. In 1898, their beloved daughter Edith fell sick with diphtheria and passed away. Anna washed and dressed her daughter's body, styled her hair and laid her in her tiny coffin. How do you survive a grief like that?
A few years later in 1923, their son "Sam" also passed away. If memory serves, it was a brain tumor and he left behind a fiancée. I wonder who she was.
When Anna passed away in 1937, our Great-Grandfather wrote the most beautiful letter to his children. I found it, quite by chance, the other day amongst my papers. What a legacy of love and faith we have. I will share his beautiful letter with all of you in the next post.
7/15/2018
Source: www.familysearch.org
Source: www.findagrave.com
The Letter
October 1995
Dear Lenora,
This is a letter & a prayer that my Grandfather...wrote to all of us (each one is listed) after my Grandmother...died in 1938.
I thought both were much too sweet to let lay in a drawer & not be shared. And I think we all can learn about love, life & death & apply it to our own lives.
I am very proud of my Grandpa...& so happy that he shared his feelings with his entire family. I am very happy to know I have this kind of heritage, it is something money cannot buy. Praise the Lord.
Dear Lenora,
This is a letter & a prayer that my Grandfather...wrote to all of us (each one is listed) after my Grandmother...died in 1938.
I thought both were much too sweet to let lay in a drawer & not be shared. And I think we all can learn about love, life & death & apply it to our own lives.
I am very proud of my Grandpa...& so happy that he shared his feelings with his entire family. I am very happy to know I have this kind of heritage, it is something money cannot buy. Praise the Lord.
In Memory of Mother
Anna's Grave
To all my dear and beloved children: {here Amatius lists the names of he and his wife's children, their spouses and their children} The Lord Bless you all.
Mother is not dead. The Lord said "I live, ye shall live also." We stand before a fact that is at present inexplicable to us. A spirit has left its body, and has been received into the arms of the everlasting Father. Seen from an earthly point of view, our hearts still smart by her death. We know the cause which brought the body that housed the noble soul of mother to an end. I am unable to give you any individual reasons for the sore wound which the departure has left in our spirit, but I can give you several general principles by which we may be able to turn our eyes away from the prostrate form of this body which is empty now of the bountiful spirit that animated it.
My dear children, the first principle is that our beloved mother is not dead. She is alive in a manner unknown to many, namely in a spiritual form, to live in a spiritual way: Mother has shaken off the clouds of earth that enabled her to breath in the thick atmosphere that covers the earth, she has shaken off the muscles and bones that enabled her to move, sometimes wearily over the surface of our globe. The tissues and nerves are dead and the sensory instruments are no longer receiving and giving messages. Yet she is fully able to hear and see, to feel and taste, to speak and walk. She discovered she has a body practically identical to the one she had in her earthly life, also delights and enjoyments.
If we could see mother now with smiling face, and in happy mood, surrounded by congenial friends, we would be greatly comforted. If we could hear mother speak, would she not say, "I am relieved of this body of death and temptations which you still own. I am relieved of the fear of disease and disfigurement. I am relieved of the cares and worries of the world. The Lord redeemed me of the anxieties of tomorrow. Must I not rejoice in His Mercy and you with me? No longer do I have to worry about what I eat, drink or wear. All these things are given to me by the Lord without me asking, for the Heavenly Father knows what I need."
It is wonderful, my children. We receive gratuitously what we need from the Lord. The life of Heaven is the love of beauty; the love for and of friends, the love of God who wills the soul with peace and power to do the will of the Father who is in Heaven.
Though mother has left us in a body, in our thoughts and affections, she can still be with us. Whenever she rises in our memories by a deed she has done, or by a word she has spoken, she will be near us stirring our hearts; leading us to do what she has always done and what was left undone.
"Continue you in my ways" is the heritage of our Lord. Be kind to each other - Love one another - help to build the Lord's Kingdom of His Will on earth. I believe no better will or last testament could be left by anyone. Continue ye in the same spirit as I did and rejoice, and you will have Eternal Life.
Mother I were married June 20, 1889 and that means we are still married - Everlasting.
Mother is not dead. The Lord said "I live, ye shall live also." We stand before a fact that is at present inexplicable to us. A spirit has left its body, and has been received into the arms of the everlasting Father. Seen from an earthly point of view, our hearts still smart by her death. We know the cause which brought the body that housed the noble soul of mother to an end. I am unable to give you any individual reasons for the sore wound which the departure has left in our spirit, but I can give you several general principles by which we may be able to turn our eyes away from the prostrate form of this body which is empty now of the bountiful spirit that animated it.
My dear children, the first principle is that our beloved mother is not dead. She is alive in a manner unknown to many, namely in a spiritual form, to live in a spiritual way: Mother has shaken off the clouds of earth that enabled her to breath in the thick atmosphere that covers the earth, she has shaken off the muscles and bones that enabled her to move, sometimes wearily over the surface of our globe. The tissues and nerves are dead and the sensory instruments are no longer receiving and giving messages. Yet she is fully able to hear and see, to feel and taste, to speak and walk. She discovered she has a body practically identical to the one she had in her earthly life, also delights and enjoyments.
If we could see mother now with smiling face, and in happy mood, surrounded by congenial friends, we would be greatly comforted. If we could hear mother speak, would she not say, "I am relieved of this body of death and temptations which you still own. I am relieved of the fear of disease and disfigurement. I am relieved of the cares and worries of the world. The Lord redeemed me of the anxieties of tomorrow. Must I not rejoice in His Mercy and you with me? No longer do I have to worry about what I eat, drink or wear. All these things are given to me by the Lord without me asking, for the Heavenly Father knows what I need."
It is wonderful, my children. We receive gratuitously what we need from the Lord. The life of Heaven is the love of beauty; the love for and of friends, the love of God who wills the soul with peace and power to do the will of the Father who is in Heaven.
Though mother has left us in a body, in our thoughts and affections, she can still be with us. Whenever she rises in our memories by a deed she has done, or by a word she has spoken, she will be near us stirring our hearts; leading us to do what she has always done and what was left undone.
"Continue you in my ways" is the heritage of our Lord. Be kind to each other - Love one another - help to build the Lord's Kingdom of His Will on earth. I believe no better will or last testament could be left by anyone. Continue ye in the same spirit as I did and rejoice, and you will have Eternal Life.
Mother I were married June 20, 1889 and that means we are still married - Everlasting.
Lord, I thank Thee for Mother.
Lord, I feel Thy Presence with me every passing hour.
Thou alone dost give me courage by Thy Mighty Power.
Thou wilt bless me. Thou wilt cheer me.
Thou wilt be my guide for Thou are forever near me,
Walking by my side. Amen.
Your Father,
Amatius
Lord, I feel Thy Presence with me every passing hour.
Thou alone dost give me courage by Thy Mighty Power.
Thou wilt bless me. Thou wilt cheer me.
Thou wilt be my guide for Thou are forever near me,
Walking by my side. Amen.
Your Father,
Amatius
MY PRAYER
I thank you, dear Father, God and Lord of all. You let the Sweet Flower bloom with me for forty-eight years in the garden of my heart. Life has been sweeter by her companionship and coming to me to be my darling wife. Since it is thy will to take my darling wife away and transplant her in the garden of thy heavenly home, I thank you for the mercy that comes to my heart and the joy that comes amid my sorrow for the sweet gift of a loving and faithful wife.
The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord for the gift of this beautiful life, and the memory of her is leading me along the pathway to my heavenly home to join my darling wife that is waiting for me. Heaven will be more solemn and there will be deeper longing in my soul for righteousness and power to serve you, O God, because of the homecoming of my darling, my precious wife.
All things work together for good to those that love you, O Lord. We should not look with anger at what you do in taking our loved one, remembering that you have created and given the soul and it belongs to you, that you have prepared a heavenly home for those that love and serve you. Praises be to your Holy Name. Amen.
1938
The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord for the gift of this beautiful life, and the memory of her is leading me along the pathway to my heavenly home to join my darling wife that is waiting for me. Heaven will be more solemn and there will be deeper longing in my soul for righteousness and power to serve you, O God, because of the homecoming of my darling, my precious wife.
All things work together for good to those that love you, O Lord. We should not look with anger at what you do in taking our loved one, remembering that you have created and given the soul and it belongs to you, that you have prepared a heavenly home for those that love and serve you. Praises be to your Holy Name. Amen.
1938
The Hero
Technical Sergeant: Gerhard (1/24/1919-9/9/1944)
He gave the last full measure of devotion. Perished in World War II. Alaska.
During World War II, Grandpa and each of his adult brothers all served in different branches of the military. After the loss of the Sullivan brothers, the military thought it wisest to place each brother in a separate branch, to minimize the casualties in any one family.
When Grandpa and his brothers enlisted, their mothers hair was dark brown. When they returned after the war, it was snow white. Each week, she handwrote a letter to each of her sons. I wonder what ever became of those letters.
Grandpa enlisted and served proudly in the Marines. Leroy enlisted in the Navy. Gordon was in the Air Force while his twin brother, Gerhard, served in the 54th Troop Carrier Squadron based in Alaska until his untimely and mysterious death in 1944. (Roland and Carlton served in Korea.)
For the past twenty years, I have been particularly curious and mystified by what exactly occurrred on that day in 1944. Finally, we have answers!
According to the research of Russ Pickett posted on FindAGrave.com:
"Gerhard served as a Technical Sergeant and Engineer on C-47A #42-23870, 54th Troop Carrier Squadron, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II....
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 15, 1941, prior to the war, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Driver and also as Single, without dependents.
C-47A #42-23870 took off, with a crew of 4 & 5 passengers, from Cape Field, Fort Glen, Alaska on a transport mission to Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska."
Shemya Island is far out in the Bering Sea, 1,500 miles from Anchorage and geographically closer to Russia than it is to Alaska. The airfield there today is called Eareckson Air Station. In Gerhard's day, it was called Shemya Air Force Base.
The Douglas C-47A was a cargo aircraft nicknamed the "Skytrain." Like Grandpa and all his brothers, Gerhard must have been enamored with airplanes. "When a plane flew over our farm," Grandpa remembered, "We watched it from horizon to horizon." I guess they all wanted to fly away from farm work and their von Trapp-like father who they called The Foreman behind his back. (More about that in future tales.)
The story from Russ Pickett goes on:
"They were last heard from by radio as being approximately 30 miles west of Fort Glenn."
Fort Glenn is located on Unmak Island in the Aleutians.
"After that radio contact they were not seen nor heard from again and believed to have crashed at sea due to severe weather turbulence in the area.
Gerhard was declared "Missing In Action" in this crash during the war.
Service # 17018430"
Gerhard's mother and father received what every parent of a soldier serving in World War II dreaded: a telegram edged in black confirming the death of their son.
In 1980, Grandpa and Grandma flew to Hawaii, I assumed, for a jolly vacation. But that was only half of the story. Actually, Grandpa wanted to visit the cenotaph on Honolulu for his brother, Gerhard. I never remember Grandpa talking about Gerhard, but to his dying day, Grandpa kept an old-fashioned pair of Gerhard's ice skates down in the basement. While Gerhard's twin, Gordon, lay dying in 2012, he said he was happy he was going to be with his twin brother again.
But there's one final mystery in this story: When Gerhard's belongings were collected to send to his next-of-kin, among them was found an engagement ring.
Who did Gerhard love? To whom was he hoping to propose?
We will never know.
7/15/2018
When Grandpa and his brothers enlisted, their mothers hair was dark brown. When they returned after the war, it was snow white. Each week, she handwrote a letter to each of her sons. I wonder what ever became of those letters.
Grandpa enlisted and served proudly in the Marines. Leroy enlisted in the Navy. Gordon was in the Air Force while his twin brother, Gerhard, served in the 54th Troop Carrier Squadron based in Alaska until his untimely and mysterious death in 1944. (Roland and Carlton served in Korea.)
For the past twenty years, I have been particularly curious and mystified by what exactly occurrred on that day in 1944. Finally, we have answers!
According to the research of Russ Pickett posted on FindAGrave.com:
"Gerhard served as a Technical Sergeant and Engineer on C-47A #42-23870, 54th Troop Carrier Squadron, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II....
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 15, 1941, prior to the war, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Driver and also as Single, without dependents.
C-47A #42-23870 took off, with a crew of 4 & 5 passengers, from Cape Field, Fort Glen, Alaska on a transport mission to Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska."
Shemya Island is far out in the Bering Sea, 1,500 miles from Anchorage and geographically closer to Russia than it is to Alaska. The airfield there today is called Eareckson Air Station. In Gerhard's day, it was called Shemya Air Force Base.
The Douglas C-47A was a cargo aircraft nicknamed the "Skytrain." Like Grandpa and all his brothers, Gerhard must have been enamored with airplanes. "When a plane flew over our farm," Grandpa remembered, "We watched it from horizon to horizon." I guess they all wanted to fly away from farm work and their von Trapp-like father who they called The Foreman behind his back. (More about that in future tales.)
The story from Russ Pickett goes on:
"They were last heard from by radio as being approximately 30 miles west of Fort Glenn."
Fort Glenn is located on Unmak Island in the Aleutians.
"After that radio contact they were not seen nor heard from again and believed to have crashed at sea due to severe weather turbulence in the area.
Gerhard was declared "Missing In Action" in this crash during the war.
Service # 17018430"
Gerhard's mother and father received what every parent of a soldier serving in World War II dreaded: a telegram edged in black confirming the death of their son.
In 1980, Grandpa and Grandma flew to Hawaii, I assumed, for a jolly vacation. But that was only half of the story. Actually, Grandpa wanted to visit the cenotaph on Honolulu for his brother, Gerhard. I never remember Grandpa talking about Gerhard, but to his dying day, Grandpa kept an old-fashioned pair of Gerhard's ice skates down in the basement. While Gerhard's twin, Gordon, lay dying in 2012, he said he was happy he was going to be with his twin brother again.
But there's one final mystery in this story: When Gerhard's belongings were collected to send to his next-of-kin, among them was found an engagement ring.
Who did Gerhard love? To whom was he hoping to propose?
We will never know.
7/15/2018
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Airmen who also perished with Gerhard on C-47A #42-23870:
Edwards, Frederick A ~ S/Sgt, Radio Op, NC Hand, Robert F ~ S/Sgt, Passenger, NC Hattenbach, Alfred D ~ Pfc, Passenger, PA Moeller, Clarence A ~ Pfc, Passenger, IL Norman, John C ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, IA Rhea, John E ~ Pfc, Passenger, VA Rogers, Charles H, Jr ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, ME Stephens, Delmar R ~ Pvt, Passenger, MI ( Bio & Crew Report by: Russ Pickett ) 
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C-47A "Skytrain"
Unknown Grave marker, Aleutian Islands, 1943.
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