Aunt Louise Laid To Rest

Tuesday morning was Aunt Louise’s funeral.  It was a very nice service with a luncheon afterwards….Minnesota funeral food; lettuce salad, scalloped potatoes, ham, dill pickles,  crusty bread and all kind of bars.

Aunt Louise was a heck of a bread baker we always enjoyed when she shared a loaf of bread with us.  I recall one day years ago when Far Guy’s Mom was alive Willard and Louise were visiting her in the Nursing Home and someone mentioned fresh bread…a little old lady came over and said “That is one thing I miss…fresh baked bread.”  Well you can guess that planted a seed in a bread bakers mind and a few days later fresh bread was delivered to that little old lady. Years later when Far Guy was at his Mom’s bedside for days…loaves of bread were delivered for him to bring home… comfort food from a special aunt.

After lunch we left town and drove the 15 miles to the cemetery…a number of cars pulled to the side of the road and waited for the procession to pass by.

Funeral procession

She was laid to rest next to her husband.  We have a plot in the same row as does Alaska Guy.  Family has to stick together.

Last Aunt

It rained most of the day yesterday…and it wasn’t very warm either.

It kinda matched our mood.  Into every life a little rain must fall.  We stopped and picked out funeral flowers…yellow and light orange roses.  We attended the Funeral Home Visitation for Far Guy’s last Aunt….our flowers were there along with many others.  She loved flowers all of her life…and has many beautiful bouquets to mark her passing on. In her younger years her gardens were a sight to behold. 

I have heard that saying “If you love me bring me flowers when I am alive instead of when I am dead.”  I think she would have replied…I will take flowers when ever I get them!

Far Guy still has one uncle that is living on his Dad’s side of the family. He is now the “older generation” on his Mom’s side of the family.

Aunt Louise has struggled with health issues all summer…she has been in the Nursing Home since spring….now it is fall and she has died. She was 88 years old. We had a good visit with her in mid summer…her laugh was distinctive…we talked about her much loved husband who died in 2012 and her children.  She and her husband had seven children…one is Alaska Guy who is the same age as Far Guy.  He has been here most of the summer caring for his Mom. Sharon was here earlier in the summer…I missed seeing her…she and I were just a year apart in age and spent many childhood days together.

Rest In Peace Aunt Louise.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

 

Wistful Wednesday: Glenn L. Martin Plant

I found these old photos a while ago.  They are from the 1940’s during World War II. They were in an envelope marked “The Martin Plant”  and they belonged to Far Guy’s Dad.

Area SW Of Plant At  NW End Looking East Showing Location of South Dock.  The photo is dated 6-23-44

These photos we taken at the Fort Crook Military Reservation at the Glenn L. Martin Plant.

Far Guys Dad (Marvin) and his Uncle Willard ( His Mother’s brother) did “mods” there during the war.

This is what Uncle Willard shared with me a few years before his death.

He moved to Omaha.  He moved in with his sister and her husband ( Far Guy’s parents) They lived near Spring Lake Park Golf Course. He and Far Guy’s Dad worked at Fort Crook Military Reservation for the duration of the war.

He worked on the B-26 Marauder in the Martin Plant. The “A” model B 26 all went to Russia.  Hitler was pounding the hell out of Russia.  The “B” model all went to the Army Air Corps.  The modification center moved more planes through than the factory. The first big modification job was a B 25 they were missile bombers made in Burbank California.  The planes were stacked up outside sometimes there would be 40 acres of planes just setting there ready to run through modifications.  We put more guns on them..50 caliber and a 75 mm cannon out the nose of the airplane.  These were used in the Pacific and Western Europe..they would wreck a railroad..they blew up Hitler’s trains.  They would fly right down a track and hit a locomotive.  They would take the 50 caliber and shoot right into the railroad cars..they blew up!

Nagelle Storage Modification North End Building “A” Photo is dated 2-12-45

Removing Dorsal Fin To Accomplish Modification Change No.A 21  Photo dated 5-1-44

Barnes Multiple Spindle Drills For Engine Mount Production  Looking South in Welding Dept.  Photo dated 9 -30-44

These awards were found with the photographs.

Far Guy’s Dad (Marvin) was a Machinist and Uncle Willard was an Electrician for the Glenn L. Martin Company in Nebraska.

One story about Uncle Willard…one day he was too busy to go to lunch.  An Airplane in the air sounded “funny”  he  looked over and the plane a B 25 whose left engine failed landed on the roof of the cafeteria…that happened September 22 1943.  Three out of four air crew were killed…no one inside the cafeteria died.

April 6 1942 to September 5 1945 was the time Marvin spent in War Production. Possibly longer…I can only document what the certificate says.  

Far Guy said “Dad got a draft notice and he contacted someone at the Martin Plant.  The Plant then contacted someone in the Armed Forces. In 1942 or 1943 he received a Presidential Waiver because he was a very skilled machinist and could best serve the war effort while working at the Glenn L. Martin Plant.  FDR was President back then.  The Presidential Letter was not saved. He worked on a special bomb release mechanism for a B 29.   He was never told exactly what the release mechanism was for.”

 

Amazing Grace

It was a full day on Monday with the funeral in the morning..Amazing Grace was one of the congregational hymns.

We had a Minnesota Funeral lunch minus the Jell-O. Lunch included fresh fruit, homemade pickles, coleslaw in individual cups, baked beans, scalloped potatoes with ham and every kind of cookie or bar you could ever want.

After lunch we felt fortified enough to head to the cemetery.

After a short committal service the piper played Amazing Grace.  As he played he walked further and further away from us..so the notes seemed to disappear into the surrounding fields. In my opinion there is nothing as beautiful as the sound of the bagpipes.

After Uncle Willard was properly planted everyone came to our house.  Far Guy and I readied our yard with every possible table and chair in the garage and house.  There were forty-five guests that sat out in the shade and reminisced.  I baked  cookies on Sunday, we added some chips, cold sodas and water for the refreshments.  It seemed to be what the mourners needed..just a little extra time surrounded by family.

Everyone left just in time for Far Guy and I to head to the museum to get ready for “Music on the Courthouse Lawn.” It was a great turn out with 54 people attending.

 

This was part of the crowd.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  One of the last songs played was Amazing Grace.

The third time is a charm…or it must be:)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Four Score and Fifteen

Five more years and he would have been 100.  Born in April of 1917 he was a middle child, the only boy and very spoiled..by his older sister and his Grandmother.

This photo was taken about 1920.  That is Far Guy’s Mom with her baby brother.   The baby brother that told us “ When it was time to come in for supper, Ma would send Evelyn after me, I would run away from her until she finally caught me and sat on top of me until Ma got there.”

His Grandma Martha Abbott was afraid of thunderstorms, they had a stone well house, she would take the kids there during a thunderstorm because she knew it would not blow down.  His Grandma Abbott lived with them.  He told me" “My Grandma was a fierce protector, I could do no wrong in her eyes.  She saved me from lots of whippings.”  He also told me the day and the year that she died…I didn’t write it down but I believe he was 16 years old when she died.  His Grandpa William Abbott died before he was born. 

He was the son of a farmer.  They had Jersey cows and 18 to 20 ewes.  Bill Blourt had a sheep shearing crew.  They had a gasoline engine that turned the clippers.  They would pack the wool in a box and took it to the wool buyer in Park Rapids.  There is a special way to butcher a lamb not touching the wool.  Ed Klarer knew how, he used clean cloths like dish towels to hold the wool away and then you cut down through the skin.  You always cut the tallow out of sheep meat..if you don’t when you cook it that tallow will stick to the inside of your mouth.

They had 24 milk cows in the barn and room for young stock and calf pens in the barn.  Then the war started.  Before he left for Omaha he got a milking machine for his Dad and a well in the barn, he also saw to it that Alvin Wicks was hired to help at the farm.

He moved to Omaha.  He moved in with his sister and her husband ( Far Guy’s parents) They lived near Spring Lake Park Golf Course. He and Far Guy’s Dad worked at Fort Cook Military Reservation for the duration of the war.

He worked on the B-26 Marauder in the Martin Plant. The “A” model B 26 all went to Russia.  Hitler was pounding the hell out of Russia.  The “B” model all went to the Army Air Corps.  The modification center moved more planes through than the factory. The first big modification job was a B 25 they were missile bombers made in Burbank California.  The planes were stacked up outside sometimes there would be 40 acres of planes just setting there ready to run through modifications.  We put more guns on them..50 caliber and a 75 mm cannon out the nose of the airplane.  These were used in the Pacific and Western Europe..they would wreck a railroad..they blew up Hitler’s trains.  They would fly right down a track and hit a locomotive.  They would take the 50 caliber and shoot right into the railroad cars..they blew up!

Willard was a story teller. He used to call me up and talk for hours about the old days.

He drew the plans for his parents new house on the farm.  The window that jutted out to the east was a place for his mother to grow her flowers and a cold storage room for canned goods in the basement. 

He married Louise and they had seven children.  A few months ago he said “Do I know you?”  She replied “Well you better we had seven children together!”

The past few months his health and memory were failing.  The last few days he has been out cutting wood.  On Thursday morning he said “I am too tired to cut wood today.”

Willard, Marie and Evelyn photo taken around 1921

He joins his sisters in heaven.

Uncle Willard and his oldest son “Alaska Guy”..one day last winter when his old tractor was driven around and around the parking lot.  He had a really good time that day!

It is the end of an era, but the celebration of a life well lived.  Four score and fifteen…:)

Restored

Last Sunday we celebrated my Aunt Lila’s 80th Birthday with a whole bunch of wonderful cakes and ice cream at the Nursing Home.  There were so many people there..like I have said before I have lots of cousins..and they all like cake and Aunt Lila!  Even though Aunt Lila has crippling  Rheumatoid Arthritis..she is still sharp as a tack and loved by many!

When we left we heard a tractor.  Far Guys relatives were in the parking lot. We had heard that there would be a reunion of sorts..but we were not sure what time it would unfold.

Alaska Guy and his Dad (Uncle Willard) with the newly restored John Deere tractor.

They had worked on this tractor project together several years ago. The tractor had a few problems that they could not resolve.

Uncle Willard is now in the “Memory Unit”  I am not quite sure why they call it that..he has few memories.  He was having a pretty good day Sunday and remembered his son, the tractor and his wife.

The day before Uncle Willard was going to town with his parents…and working in the fields.  He will be 95 in April. Before his memories left him he would call me up and talk about the olden days,  I took old photographs into town so he could tell me about the people in them.  We had some wonderful visits.  He had quite a sense of humor..that seems to have left him also.

Alaska Guy saw to it that the tractor was completely restored and running, his Dad got to see it go round and round in the parking lot.  He is a little too old to drive it..but you could tell that he wanted to.

Some things can be restored..it works fine for tractors..not so much for people.  My Aunt Lila struggles with arthritis..but she has all her marbles.  Far Guys’ Uncle Willard can’t remember much, but his body is in pretty good shape.  Then there is my Cousin Rosemarie whose funeral is today because her body failed her at age 41.

Two weeks ago my best friend from High School buried her husband.  He had barely turned 60 when Cancer claimed him. I did not know him, but I know her well.  Ever thirty years she is widowed..she has been down the widow road before. I cannot even begin to imagine her heartache.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the how and why of things. I cannot make sense of it all. I must remember that God is in charge.

The Plan of the Master Weaver

My life is but a weaving between the Lord and me,
I may not choose the colors,
He knows what they should be
for He can view the pattern upon the upper side,
while I can see it only on this, the under side…

Sometimes He weaveth sorrow, which seemeth strange to me,
but I will trust His judgement, and work on faithfully,
‘tis He who fills the shuttle, and He knows what is best,
so I shall weave in earnest, leaving to Him the rest…

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why –
the dark threads are as needed in the Weaver’s skillful hand
as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

Author Unknown

When I am feeling a bit down and doing much wondering about “the stuff of life”  I find that the poem above helps me get through the rough spots:)

Wistful Wednesday: Relatives

This is an old photo from years ago.  I found it among the hunting and fishing photos in my Father In Laws album.   I finished that scanning project and made a CD of the photos and packed it all away in the trunk.  One more project completed! All the photos were marked with who, when and where with a photo safe marking pencil.

Uncle Willard, Lola, Evelyn, Don and Aunt Louise

This was taken sometime in the early 1950’s.  That is Far Guys Mom at the end of the table.   The photo is taken from Far Guys Dads spot at the table.  So I can safely say he took the photo.  It was taken in the formal dining room at their home in Park Rapids Minnesota.

I think this photo has a spring feel to it, the ladies are in short sleeves, the linen tablecloth is the one with the green leaf pattern.   They have just finished a platter  of sweets of some sort and the silver creamer and sugar set is on the table. I bet it was taken on a Sunday afternoon.  Years ago Sunday afternoon was a time for relatives and visiting.

Uncle Willard is not in the best health.   Most of his children were here for Thanksgiving.  On Sunday afternoon they converged at our house along with other cousins from Detroit Lakes Minnesota..there was no linen table cloth..and no one showed up in a suit…but there was much laughter and lots of reminiscing and coffee and a plate of goodies. Alaska Guy and his brother from Washington DC were very impressed with this photo..it was one that they had never seen before.  I made them both copies. ( Lola and their Mother Louise are sisters.) It was a fun afternoon..almost like old times visiting with the relatives on a Sunday afternoon:)

Storytellers: Janie and Willard

Far Guy's Uncle Willard is the story teller, I am only the translator. This entry concerns Far Guys Maternal Grandparents/Great Grandparents A. home place, and since they lived kitty corner from my parents old farm.. it holds special interest for me also.

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Aunt Janie (On my Mothers side of the family) was a storyteller too (from Ohio) she and my Uncle Zach L. (from Wisconsin) came up here in October of 1880 (from Iowa.) Janie was 24 and Zach was 32 years old. They were one of the first three white settlers in this area. They lived just west of Jim M. place. There was a Government Trail that ran from someplace on the corner of the A. property all the way to Verndale. Verndale was the closest settlement, and the end of the railroad. If they went in the winter to get flour, they snowshoed all the way to Verndale, and put their purchases in a toboggan and pulled it all the way back home. ( Cross country this trip is 43 miles as the crow flies. )

Martha and Janie, Photo taken before 1943.

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My Dad's ( Curt A.) family came from Canada in 1889, they were upset with the crown. They were farmers, and there was no working in Canada on Sunday. They didn't like all the crown taxes, if you painted your barn..you got taxed. My Dad was one year old when they came here, he had two sisters Elizabeth and Mae.

The place was nothing but big timber back then, big timber so tall and thick that there was no underbrush. There weren't any deer either. Odd sections of land were Railroad land, even sections were land to homestead. They had to saw down the big timber, and used the saw logs to build the house. (I asked him if what we know as the prairie was heavily wooded too..he said no, the prairie was always the prairie) But that the entire area south of the prairie was big timber mainly pines, and his Dad said it was easy walking.

When Walt G. was about ten years old, he was hunting ducks by Elbow Lake and shot a Lynx. They had to go into the Smoky Hills to hunt for deer. There were Timber Wolves, Lynx and Bobcats.

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Uncle Willards phone calls are very enjoyable, I take notes and he talks..and talks..I think he got a new hearing aid and is putting it to good use. We met him at the cemetery recently, quite by accident, he had brought flowers for all the old graves. We didn't know if he would be feeling up to his annual trip out there..so we were prepared with extra flowers. We had a nice visit, standing within earshot of all the headstones that mark many early pioneers to this area.

I was particularly impressed with the descriptions of the big timber. Here is a photo I took recently, from the edge of the old A. property.. perhaps where the old government trail went through..the water tower in the distance is on the Reservation.:)