Mary Charleson’s story of Nancy
Nancy Daley was born in Magnetawan, Ontario on July 30, 1924. Although the population of Magnetawan briefly ballooned above 300 with the birth of her five siblings, it has remained solidly a “village”, relegated to a humble, yet proud small town status in rural Ontario about an hour south of North Bay. Her father, Tom Daley met his future wife one summer while delivering vegetables by canoe on Ahmic Lake. Nancy’s mother Lydia had ventured to Canada’s lake country from Pittsburg to take a summer job as help. At 16, she fell in love with both Tom and Canada. Together they built a family, a sawmill and hydroelectric business, and nurtured family connections that have remained strong to this day. Read the rest of this entry »
Kimiko Suzuki’s story of Miyoko
My mom Miyoko was born in Kishiwada city in Osaka, Japan on April 28th of 1934. Her mother’s name was Mitsuko, 28 years old and her father’s name was Jitaro, 44 years old. They had a 7 year old daughter, Emiko and a 3 year old son, Akira. Her father was an internist at Momoyama Hospital in Osaka and her mother was staying home to take care of their three children. Read the rest of this entry »
Beate Sigriddaughter’s story of Sigrid
My mother, Sigrid Herta Rausch, maiden name Pietrzyk, was born on July 1, 1914, the fifth of nine children born to a chain of three consecutive married couples. Her mother had remarried when her first husband died. My mother was the first child of her mother’s second marriage. They were landowners, raised horses, poultry, pigs, and owned a brick factory. Read the rest of this entry »
Jean Norry’s story of Dorothy ⓜ §
Dorothy Merritt was born on the 16th of May, 1904 in a suburb of Southampton, in Hampshire, England. Her birth record in the English web site, Free BMD, and RBS Worldpay provides the information that her birth was at South Stonegate, Hampshire. This may have been a little village in 1904 that is now a part of Southampton. She was named after one of her father’s old girlfriends in Market Lavington, Wiltshire. Read the rest of this entry »
Lois O’Hara’s story of Dorothy §
Mother was born in Hampshire, England May 16, 1904. Her name was Dorothy May Merritt, the only daughter of Bob and Ada Merritt. Bob and Ada brought Percy, Dorothy’s brother and Dorothy, a baby just a few months old, across the Atlantic by ship in the fall of 1904. Percy sat on the trunk and Dorothy was held in her parents’ arms. Read the rest of this entry »
Dodie’s story of Wanda
Wanda Woodham, a charming, gifted and gregarious, Brazilian woman, died on Mother’s Day, May 13, 2007, just one month less a day before her 93rd birthday.
Posted in 1900's, Featured, South America
Sharon Heath’s story of Laurel
My Mom, Laurel Allard, was the firstborn of two daughters to Ida and Silas Pugh. Born in 1936, the middle of the dirty thirties in Port Hardy, Vancouver Island. Port Hardy is well named. It’s a remote town on the northern tip of a large, forested rock out on the edge of the continent. Read the rest of this entry »
Trish Allen’s story of Gladys
Gladys Ina Marie, my mother, was born April 26, 1916 in Sarnia, Ontario to Emile and Emma Burge, their 4th child and 3rd girl. At 18, Emile had emigrated alone from Sweden, courted and won Emma, a 2nd generation Swede from a large family in Bay City, Michigan, who initially shunned him because of his accent. Together they moved to Canada. ‘Papa’ was a traveling lumber salesman for years; then operated a Shell gas station beside their house. Read the rest of this entry »
Marilyn Norry’s story of Jean ⓜ
My mother is the Queen of non sequiturs, talks through my plays, takes photos of everything, sets a good table, rages against spilt milk, is stubbornly eccentric and a good person to have with you in an emergency. I feel like I’m her when I’m sitting up straight, pulling on a fingernail, watching the crowd with a half smile, unsure whether to join in or flee.