Family Connections

We have a radio station in SW Iowa which covers not only a wide swath of our area, but also SE Nebraska and NW Missouri. It's website is one I check every morning and again in the late afternoon or evening for local news but mainly for the obits. A week or so ago I saw the name of a Corning woman which sounded familiar but I couldn't place. Her age was the same as my sister would have been. There was no picture with the original posting but a couple days later, when the obituary was available, it included her photo.

I didn't even have to read her maiden name, the family resemblance said it all. The eyes, the mouth, the chin, her lovliness even at age 73.




This photo reminded me of my mother at that age. I went in search of a picture of Mom for comparison, but didn't find one without her glasses. This one may be close in looks and age.

Victoria has the square Means chin more than Mom did, but the eyes, nose, mouth are very similar. Vicky's grandmother Merle and my grandmother Delphia were first cousins. If I had a photo of Merle to place along side of one of Grandma Delphia you would really notice their similar looks.

Vicky's obituary mentioned her love of cooking and baking which sounded like our Mother. It also spoke of her love of reading, watching (and playing along with) Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, solving crossword puzzles and playing cribbage which sounds like me.

But the one thing I got a chuckle from was this: "Gram was a great cook, no matter what she made, she always served it and said: Well, it may not be fit to eat. If you don't like it, don't eat it." That really sounded like something my grandma would have said - although she might have said, "eat it, anyway".

You may remember this photo of Merle's sons and Dephia's daughters taken in the mid 1930's. Victoria's father, Carroll, is between Aunt Lois and my mom, Ruth.

Another bit of family connection - Vicky's brother is the step-father of our son Mark's best friend Jason. Too far down the line for you? Well then how about this:
In Tuesday's DM Register obits there was one that mentioned the deceased woman's maiden name - Schulte - and that she was originally from Carroll. Dollars to doughnuts she is a distant relative of my son and daughter whose father's maternal grandmother was a Schulte.
I haven't attempted following that line back, but I do love making these family connections.