2024 Week 4 - Witness to History

         So much in my life span – 1962 Columbus Day Storm, Nisqually Earthquake, 9/11, and the Berlin Wall coming down just to name a few.  That does not include the wars – Vietnam, Gulf War, War on Terrorism, etc.  Of course, these also occurred during my parents lifetime  and my grandparents may have still been living during some of them.

The most recent event is the COVID-19 Pandemic.  I wrote about that in my blog.  That really changed the work environment.  I retired the end of April 2021.  We were still working remote, so my party was virtual.  Most workplaces required  you to be vaccinated and if you didn’t have an enclosed office, you had to wear a mask.  When you have sinus issues, masks made it difficult to breathe.  Now 4 years later, most businesses are back to normal – that is, those that actually survived financially.  Traveling has changed some too.

   Another major event was the 9/11 attacks in 2001.  We were driving to work when we heard it on the radio.  At that time, it was when the second plane hit.  After dropping my husband off, I headed to my class being held at a local church (actually, it was my church).  We had to decide if we were going to continue with the class or not.  We decided to continue but take more breaks to keep an eye out on what was happening.  We spent the lunch hour in the church sanctuary praying.  When my husband & I went on our vacation in 2016, we visited the
Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  Wow, it was an eye opener and a tearjerker.  It was a misty day, but you could still see the field where the plane went down.  If you are ever in that area, I highly recommend visiting.  Allow at least 3 hours.   Then, this past summer, we visited the One World Observatory on September 11^th as part of our New England/Canada cruise.   We spent three days in New York City visiting some of the tourist sites.  The observatory was also very
interesting – it was over 200 floors high (our ears popped!). 

The memorial itself was closed due to the ceremonies.  We had caught the end of those ceremonies because we had spent the morning doing Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  My feet were hurting and really didn’t want to do that much walking.  There wasn’t many areas where a person could sit.

The Nisqually Earthquake was a local event (Olympia, Washington) that occurred February 28, 2001.  I was working at the time just off the State Capitol grounds in a two-story building with an underground parking garage.  I remember that this was a Wednesday as I had driven separately from my husband.  My car was parked along the street.  I normally get off work at noon to volunteer at the school.  My husband also worked for the State in a 4-story building on the Capitol grounds.  The quake occurred at about 11 am.  Boy did things fall around.  I was hiding under my desk and all my binders fell around me and blocked my chair.  Was able to crawl out for us to evacuate the building.  My husband actually worked on the 3^rd floor of his building, but he was visiting the 2^nd floor and was on his way back to his desk when the quake hit.  He helped people evacuate then he went to find his boss.  He was so concerned about me that he kept telling him, “I have to find Marcy”.  So, he walked from his building to my building.  He found me and he was just shaking and he said “how are we going to get home?  I can’t get the car out of the garage.”  My response:  “Go get in the car”.  He forgot I had the car!  I was able to go back into the building to collect my purse then we went to our son’s elementary school to pick him up then we went home.  Our home sustained some chimney damage.  David couldn’t report back to work until after the weekend.  I was able to report that Friday.  We were able to get a FEMA small business loan to pay to have the chimney repaired as I operated a home-based business.  My parents lived through an earlier earthquake (1949) when they were in school.   I’ll have to ask them stories about that time.

I wish I could tell more stories but I don’t have memories of details of the other events. 

2024 Week 3 - Favorite Photo

 

    Do I have a favorite photo?  Most photos I take are scenic or sometimes of family.  I have lots of family photos that I got from various family members.  So, it is hard to choose a favorite. 

         When I was growing up, my Mom’s family got together for Thanksgiving.  We always had a photo taken.  Location varied every year – was usually at a Grange or Community Hall as we were a very large group.  This one was taken in 1964 when I was almost 5 years old.  This is of my grandparents EB & Fern Keesee with their grandchildren.  There would have been 18 of us at the time.  From oldest to  youngest:  Theresa Gassin, Ed Gassin, Rhonda Keesee, Dennis Gassin, Keith Keesee, Alan Gassin, Michael Keesee, Patrick Keesee, Julie Sandell, Sandra Gassin, Dana Keesee, Marcy Kludt (me), Mark Sandell, Cindy Keesee, Rick & Rand Sandell (twins), Junior Gassin, Greg Sandell, and Eddie Kludt (the baby).

         Later on, we would get together in July for a family reunion campout.  The Gassins would always show up late – in the middle of the night.  I don’t have any photos from these times.  However, the family still gets together.  This photo is of the siblings that were still living in 2011. JoAnne Sandell, Pete Keesee, Pam Pariseau, Bob Keesee, Pat Spaeth, Joyce Kludt, and Dot Gassin (seated).  And here’s a photo of everyone attending the 2009 Family Reunion at a KOA Kampground along the Oregon coast outside of Astoria. No way am I able to name everyone!

         Besides family gatherings, I love taking photos of our various vacations, Christmas, Memorial Day celebrations, and Veterans Day.

         I think my most favorite photo is of my Dad’s parents at Christmas 1964.  This was the last Christmas Grandma was alive.  I was only five years old when she passed away.  Papa lived until 1975.

2024 Week 2 - Origins

          Where is the family from?  Wow!  What a question!  I knew my Dad’s family was from Germany & Wales and Mom considered herself a “Heinz 57” (German, English, Scotch-Irish, and French).

         Research did prove the German on my Dad’s side and I have found the English, Scottish, & Irish as well as the French on my Mom’s.  DNA ethnicity has proven some of this and indicated new.  I took the test through Ancestry.  Have downloaded the raw data and uploaded it to other sites.  Here are the results from the various sites.

         FTDNA shows the following:

·       71% England, Wales, & Scotland

·       20% Ireland

·       6% Greece & Balkans

LivingDNA:

·       100% Great Britain & Ireland

o   29% East Anglia

o   26% Southeast England

o   10% South Central England

o   6% Northern Ireland & Southwest Scotland

o   5% Northumbria

o   5% Aberdeenshire

o   5% Northwest England

o   4% Cumbria

o   3% Ireland

o   3% South England

o   2% Central England

o   2% North Wales

·       Viking index is 40% (Eastern Europe)

MyHeritage:

·       59% Irish, Scottish & Welsh

·       26% English

·       9% Balkan

·       4% Scandinavian

·       2% Greek & South Italian

AncestryDNA:

·       51% Germanic Europe

·       23% Scotland

·       20% England & Northwestern Europe

·       3% Sweden & Denmark

·       2% Ireland

·       1% Baltics (Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania)

Maternal –

·       18% Germanic Europe

·       23% Scotland

·       7% England & Northwestern Europe

·       2% Ireland

Paternal –

·       33% Germanic Europe

·       13% England & Northwestern Europe

·       3% Sweden & Denmark

·       1% Baltics

So, it will be interesting to see where the highlighted ethnicities come into play in my family tree.

         We always thought Dad to be 75% German and 25% Welsh, so these results are interesting.  I have traced some of his ancestry to Mecklenburg-Schwerin (KLUDT & AHRENDT) and Bavaria (REISSNER & HAUEISEN) with the families immigrating to the United States around 1850.  This makes up 50% of his German Ancestry (all on his dad’s side of the family).  His mother’s side has surnames like Swinehart, Davis, Secor & Morgan.  The Swinehart’s did come from Hannover between 1776 and 1811.  The rest of the surnames have not been researched and appear to be early settlers in the USA.

         Mom’s family is a different story.  They all appear to be early settlers with many of the ancestors living in Virginia.  I know that some originated from England (STOVALL, PORTER, WALKER, ALLEINE, HATCHER, BELCHER), Ireland (DENNIS, BEVINS, NOBLET), Scotland (FRAZIER/FRAZER, FOSTER, SIMPSON, WALKER, MCNIGHT, RUTHERFORD), Germany (SHOCKEY/SCHACKE/JAGGI) and France (NOBLET, FUGATE).  These are just some of the surnames.  Some of the families went from England to Scotland to Ireland before coming to the United States (or The Colonies).

         I’m slowly re-working my family tree, reviewing research  notes and seeing if I have the documents to prove the information.  I’m currently working on my paternal grandfather’s side of the family (KLUDT, REISSNER, AHRENDT, & HAUEISEN).

2024 Week 1: Family Lore

              I never heard stories from my grandparents about their families.  The only stories I heard were from my dad about when he was growing up.  The same for my mom.

         Dad was the youngest of two children.  His dad worked for Weyerhaeuser in road construction.  So, the family moved around a lot before settling down in Galvin, Washington in the 1940’s.  The stories Dad told were of his times at the various logging camps in the McDonald-Vail (Skookumchuck) area as well as in St Marie’s, Idaho.  He also told stories about his go-cart and about the home-made tractor.  His sister, Lois, had mentioned at one-time that their paternal grandparents were of high and low German birth.  I have determined that Great-Grandpa William’s family came from Mecklenburg-Schwerin area of Germany.  Whereas Great Grandma Susan’s family came from Bavaria.  Susan always said she was high German.   Though, they didn’t talk about Germany after WWII started.

         Mom was the fourth child out of nine.  The family seemed to have moved around before settling down.  I’m not sure exactly what work her dad was involved in until he started working for the City in Albany, Oregon in the 1960’s.  I know that they lived on a farm in the Randle (1940 Census), Centralia (1950 Census) and Rochester areas.  Mom had graduated from Rochester High School in 1956. One story that I haven’t proven is that a relative took Grandpa & Grandma off to get married (her parents didn’t like my grandfather).  Where they got married is unknown.  Haven’t found a marriage certificate from 1932 (the year they supposedly got married).  However, we did find amongst their paperwork a certificate from 1972 from Idaho.  Which raised questions for me as Grandma couldn’t talk due to a stroke she had in 1959.  So, how did she say her “I do’s”?  We have reason to believe that they didn’t have proof of their 1932 marriage for Social Security purposes.  We will never have the answer as we don’t know who helped them “elope” and they passed away in 1985 & 1990.

Coronavirus Pandemic 2020

An interesting time in our life.  Never has it been so bad with other viruses.  This one is ravaging the world.  Shortages of essentials - toilet paper, canned goods, meats (although that is getting better), and selected medical supplies like masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers.

Staff at work started teleworking if they felt that they were in danger of getting sick.  Then it was determined that if you can work from home, to do so.   I don't have a laptop at work so I continued going in and working my full shift.  Then it was determined that I should be set up.  So . . . IT shop helped get me set up with a laptop, docking station, full-size keyboard (when  you do financial work, you need the 10-key portion), a mouse, and a VGA cord so I can connect a second monitor (I already had one at home not being used).

I had my son set things up and I attempted to work one afternoon.  Didn't like the set up.  So I continued working full shift in the office.  There are only 2 of us doing that (mainly because we both have an important role - taking in money (depositing checks) and paying out money (bills have to be paid).  Then the Governor put out a "Stay Home, Save Lives" proclamation.  So, we still come in to the office but as soon as the afternoon mail is delivered, we go home and finish our work there.  

Okay, that meant I had to clean off the desk in the master bedroom and have my "office" set up.  Oh boy . .  . not ergonomic as far as furniture goes.  My back was starting to kill me after a couple of hours.  Need a different chair.  Luckily, we had an office type chair (not a dining room table chair) in the garage.  Got that out and cleaned off.  Now I'm up and running.  Privacy from the distractions of a husband.

Now we are thinking of only going in the office twice a week to take care of the financial deposits.  Brainstormed ways we can change our process in paying bills for the agency and will be kicking that off this coming week.

New staff coming on board on the 1st and they will have to be trained via online.  Have to keep our social distance.

Personal lives are changing too.  Limited trips out of the home - grocery store, medical appointments, and getting propane to keep the home heated.  No social gatherings or going out for dinner.  That makes for more meals at home and more meal planning and preparation.  Calling family to check up on them to make sure that they are doing fine (especially those that are not on Facebook).  Oh darn . . . the washing machine quit working.  Wonder if mechanics are still doing business.  Are laundromats open?  Whew, they are but you have to wait out in your car while the clothes are being washed.  More reading time.

We have a vacation (cruise) trip planned for end of April.  At the moment, the cruise line hasn't formally cancelled it (they've cancelled all cruises up to the day before ours).  Except I'm thinking it will be cancelled - Canada has closed its ports until July 1st and that was our first port of call.  Hawaii has shuttered tourist sights (that was where we were going) and has put a 14-day quarantine in place.  

I still have another week planned off for State Grange Convention the end of June.  Thinking that will still go as planned.  Need to book hotel room and send off payment for meals.

The proclamation is supposed to end on April 8th but I'm thinking they will need to extend it out for at least another week.  Schools are closed  until the end of April.

I am getting more done on the weekends - working on Grange financial reports, some genealogy and back to writing on my blog.  Listening to music.  cleaning selected places around the house.

Guess it's time to move on.  Stay safe and healthy.

Genealogy Go-Over

10/2/2019

I just downloaded the latest version of Thomas MacEntee's book, The Genealogy Do-Over Workbook, and have started reading it.  As I work through the process, I plan on documenting it here in the blog.

My goal is to validate my information by obtaining the necessary documents and siting sources.  I will work on each generation in both my family and my husband's family.

12/31/19

I finished reading the book and started on the process.  Didn't do a good job documenting here.  Did make notes on what to do.

Basically, I'm making sure that I have attached the media as a source for names, births, marriages, and death.  I'm also making sure I have newspaper clippings, census records, and land records.  Not sure if I'm going to do it a generation at a time or just take one surname and work it back.

New Year's Celebrations

me

Here it is - New Year's Eve.  Time to think back on the past and plan goals for the new year.  So, to look back . . . 

I can remember a time when we were with cousins that lived in Tumwater where we grabbed some pots and pans and went outside in the street and banged them to bring in the new year.  Was that something you did?

Usually we were home watching TV and the bringing in the new year (and going to bed early).  That's because we lived on a farm and mornings came early - no late nights.

Kerry & Dale Smith

David

Nathan

David dancing with his sister

It wasn't until I married that we went out on New Year's Eve.  Several times it was spent with my sister-in-law and her husband at the Eagles in Olympia for Dancing, Partying, and eating breakfast before going home.   We also bought tickets and celebrated with the Backfire Band in the Centralia area (Eagles then O'Blarneys).

We also spent New Year's Eve at home - one time my mother-in-law was with us.  Other times it was with our son.  I usually did not make it to midnight.

This  year we were going to the Lucky Eagle Casino for a free night with the Backfire Band then maybe go to the Smiths (in-laws).  But, hubby came down with a bad cold.  So, we are staying home.

New Years Days when I was growing up was watching football games on TV or going fabric shopping with my mom and I think her sister.  We also had a family gathering to celebrate my Dad's sister's birthday.  She passed away in 2012.  I'll probably spend tomorrow working on finances (again).

Did I accomplish much this past year?  I think so -  I lost some weight (almost 20 lbs); had the best year in sales for my home-based business that I do part-time; and had a good time with family.

My plans for the upcoming year include losing more weight, working on genealogy by doing a "do-over" review to make sure I have documented the lineage, and planning for retirement in 2021.  And enjoying our 2020 cruise to Hawaii!