52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 16 – Air

I am not sure why I have had so much trouble getting to this blog with all the Corona-virus time that I have on my hands. SO many things I can do…makes for paralysis ..I guess.

Today, I am going to write about Uncle Chuck. Uncle Chuck is the great uncle of my two sons. In other words, he was my first husband’s uncle.  My first husband and I were married for nearly 20 years so this family is still apart of me. They are still my family though I am not a blood sharing member of the family. The Kaake family members made me feel so much a part of their family and they still do today.

Charles A. Kaake Jr. was born on March 15, 1935 in Attica Township, Lapeer County, Michigan to Charles A. (Sr,.)and Rose (O’Malley) Kaake.  In the 1940 Federal Census, the Charles Kaake family lived in Almont. Eventually the family moved to Imlay City where Charles Jr. went to school through out his school years. Charles was pretty active through his high school years.  He was involved with the Journalism Club and Basketball Team. He graduated in 1953 and attended college in Michigan before entering into the Air Force where he graduated from the first class at the new Air Force Academy in 1959. During this time Charles met and married Lynetta Perry in Denver. He served his country being stationed in Georgia, Massachusetts and Hawaii. His civilian career began at LTV Corp before he became employed at Dana Corporation where he stayed until his retirement, eventually becoming Vice President and General Manager.

My introduction to Uncle Chuck came when his nephew, Gary, and I started dating while we were in high school. Uncle Chuck was the sweetest man… All of the Kaake men were and they made me feel like one of their own.

Uncle Chuck became interested in flying while in the Air Force though he was not a pilot.  At some point, Uncle Chuck took flying lessons and became a licensed pilot. By early 1970, Chuck and several friends decided purchase an airplane…A small Cessna. I can not remember whether they were living in Indiana or Tennessee then but he would sometimes fly from his home to an air strip in Lapeer for a quick visit to his Mother, Rose O’Malley Kaake, who lived alone in Imlay City. On more than one occasion I went to the air strip and picked him up and returned him later for his flight home.

On Mother’s Day in 1974 or 1975, Uncle Chuck came to visit his mother. I do not remember if I picked him up in Lapeer or if someone else did but I was visiting Grandma Kaake too, while he was there. Uncle Chuck and I were talking about his plane and flying. He told me that if I took him to the air strip in Lapeer when he was ready to go home, he would take me up in his plane. I was nineteen or twenty years old and had never flown before. I was over the moon with excitement.

When we arrived at the air strip, there sat the cutest little airplane I had ever seen. You see them flying in the air above you but they look totally different when you are standing on the ground next to it. It was a four “seater”. Chuck helped me up into the passenger seat, showed me how to put my seat belt on and began to go thru his check list. In front of me was a panoramic view of lots of dials, switches and a steering wheel type control device. Uncle Chuck seem to have many of the same controls in front of him. He explained that the plane could be controlled from either of the front seats. We put on some head phones.

“Are you ready?”, Chuck asked me and about that time the reality began to sink in….I am going to fly! We taxied around and got lined up on the runway. He gave it some gas and we were off, gaining speed as we traveled down the runway. It was exciting but it did not feel like the time we (a bunch of kids from school with Kevin Homer at the wheel)went 100 miles an hour on Attic Road. We were traveling fast but I was not afraid. (or was it my young adult lack of fear… we will never know) As we neared about the halfway mark on the runway he began to gently pulled back on the controls. In that moment as we lifted off the ground, I felt that first moment of floating, almost weightless. I was uncertain about what I was feeling and giggled nervously. Higher and higher into the air we went and my excitement grew to near exhilaration. I had never felt so excited in my life. To this day even in a large plane that brief moment still exists. That moment the tires are no longer on the ground and the wings begin to soar and lift you in the air, at that very moment, I think of Uncle Chuck!

We steadily rose over the trees and made a wide sweeping circle following Bowers Road as we headed east. Now I am full questions and amazement. I am seeing the very familiar terrain of my home town and its surrounding area from a much different vantage point. A vantage point that I had never witnessed before. I see Lake Pleasant from the air and the rural highway of M21 as it snakes to the east curving and swaying toward my home town. For the next hour or so, Uncle Chuck flew me around my home town pointing out my home, Dad’s store, Grandma Kaake’s house, the High School, Tietz’s Restaurant, the intersections of M21 and M53, the muck farms. It was totally amazing to see all these very familiar places from this very different vantage point!

We talked about the controls on the plane, the dials, the switches and what each one of them did. We talked about about how he navigated from his home in Indiana to Michigan by himself. I had to chuckle to myself when he told me he still followed the same road from there to here much as he would have in his car….but when the traffic backs up he get to keep right on going. Before long we had to head towards Lapeer to take me back to my car and he would have to head toward home. As we headed west, he asked me if I want to fly the plane….”ME? No, I don’t think so…I don’t know what to do…” “I’ll show you.” he told me.

SO for the next 15 or twenty minutes I flew the plane….Ok, I steered it, he told me how to keep it level. How to raise the nose and lower the nose and I forgot all about the scenery around me as I concentrated on the controls and the sky ahead of me. First we headed north for a little ways and made a wide fairly level bank as we headed west again toward Lapeer and the air strip. As we neared it, Uncle Chuck took control of the plane and we safely landed at the air strip. I got out of the plane with a huge smile on my face. Uncle Chuck got back in the plane and before long he took off again and headed home.

I stood on the airstrip watching him as the plane lifted off . My soul was soaring into the sky with him even though my feet were firmly planted on the grounds. It was a day that I will forever cherish.

Uncle Chuck died in 2006 while I was living in Illinois. It has been fun for me to relive this one-on-one experience that I had with him. He was a wonderful man! Do not ever under estimate the impact that you can have on another person by simply spending some time with them. This Kaake family did that for me…I have many stories of time spent with many members of this family which are precious memories.

Happy Hunting,

Jan

#52Ancestors

 

 

 

 

This week I am not writing about my family. So instead, I want to talk about a friend of mine who uncovered a heartbreaking story about the Colvin Family who lived near Columbus, Indiana.  My friend’s name is Mark Davis. We met many years ago in Crown Point, Indiana at one of his cemetery restoration projects. He runs seminars on the proper methods of cleaning and restoring tombstones. He has a company called Stone Saver Cemetery Restoration. He works and lives in Indiana. Mark gets hired usually by local townships or counties to go into an old neglected or damaged cemeteries and fix them.  He does amazing work.  He cleans tombstones and monuments. He fixes tombstones that are broken. He places tombstones back in there base and secures them. He adds the proper base to stones that need to be leveled and straightened.  Mark is an amazing guy!  He is a man of many talents and he loves a beautiful cemetery and so do I! 

While working on a job in early May of 2017, Mark found a family plot that was truly heartbreaking and he shared a little bit about it on Facebook.  I have shared this story on my Tombstone Tuesday Blog but I am going to share it here again today.

Colvin Family Plot

Knowing Mark, I am sure that it was this interesting family monument which first caught Marks attention.  And then, the story of this family touched his heart.

The Republic Newspaper – Columbus, Indiana – October 3, 1962

“The Time for Tears was Past” The headline read as the newspaper story reported on the tragic lost of all six children in one family on September 29, 1962.

“The time for tears was past on Tuesday as nearly 100 mourners gather with the Walter Colvin family under an overcast sky at the Bethel cemetery at the burial rites for the couples six children”

“The youngsters were suffocated in a fire Saturday at their home near West Harrison on the Indiana- Ohio State line where they had lived about six months since moving from East Twenty-third Street. “ the article read. “The Colvin couple held hands as the Rev. Ivan Miller of the United Lutheran church spoke the final rites, but neither wept. Their faces showed the anguish now past tears”

“ A procession of 50 cars followed the five hearses from the Barkes and Inlow funeral home and continues the trip to the cemetery where pallbearers carried the light colored caskets with embroidered flowers from the hearses one by one.”

It is hard to imagine the heart ache that this couple endured. According to Julia Terry, a Facebook friend of Mark’s, Barry, the oldest child found the fire and woke his mother, Mina Jo, who ran to the neighbors to get help. Barry remained in the house to tried to get the rest of the children out. By the time Mina Jo returned to the burning house it was too late and all the children were caught in the fire. Walter Albert, the father, was a truck driver who was on the road at the time of the fire.  Such a horrific family tragedy

Mina Jo Rice Colvin was born in Danville, Illinos on July 4, 1926.  She married Walter Albert Colvin on November 7, 1953.  She died on June 25, 1998 at her home.

Walter married Linda Grimes who also preceded him in death. She died in 1999. Walter was born on August 5, 1927. He was the son of Clifford and June Hansen Colvin. He was born in Paris, Illinois on August 5, 1927. Walter was a veteran for the Air Force in WWII. He was a member of the American Legion and the Veteran of Foreign Wars. He was a truck driver for Stone Container. He died on February, 17, 2009 in Columbus, Indiana.

Sometimes in our research we find tragic stories  and they just need to be remembered.  God Bless this whole family on this strange Easter Morning while we are all “sheltering in place ” due to Covid 19.

Have a blessed Easter.  He has risen!  He has Risen indeed!

Love, Jan

 

Hans Andersen – 1880

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks word for Week 14 is Water.   What that brings to mind for me is my Norwegian Family and the long line of sailors that we have. My Grandfather came to America in 1904. He was a sailor and the son of a sailor, Hans Andersen,  who was the son of a sailor, who was the son of a sailor, who was the son of a sailor…..and so it goes.

I have been fortunate enough to locate and become friends with my Step-Great Grandmother Mathilde’s Great Niece, Inger Zeiner. (Yes I know that is a mouth full, think about that for a minute or two.)  Inger has helped me with a lot of my Norwegian research. She is active in the Tjome Historical Society now that she has retired and returned to Tjome to live. She has provided me with a sailing history for Hans complied by a friend and local historian, Lars Endresen. It is not known what year Hans retired for sure so this may not be a complete listing but this is what Lars found through his years of local research.

Hans Andersen sailed all over the world and including at least seven trips to America. His early sailing days started in March of 1880 with a trip to America.

Date Embarked    Ship Name    From          To            Date Returned         Where

03.31.1880             Rebekka        Svelvig     Amerika      09.23.1880        Drammen

10.13.1880          Vashington    Tønsberg   Hamburg     11.23.1880        Tønsberg

04.16.1881             Solo              Tønsberg    Amerika     12.14.1881        Tønsberg

03.30.1882             Salo              Tønsberg    Amerika     11.24.1882      Shipwrecked

02.06.1883       Thorsbjerg        Tønsberg    England      01.14.1884       Tønsberg

03.31.1884     Harbels Anker    Tønsberg   Horjefjord   08.21.1884      Tønsberg

03.25.1885            Nina              Tønsberg    Amerika     04.??.1887       Liverpool

06.28.1887        Gorilla        Fredrikshald     England     12.06.1887       Tønsberg

04.13.1888        Norway           Sandefjord     Amerika

03.04.1889        Norway          Sandefjord      Amerika

06.08.1889       Lillesand         C.J.Værn          Orlogs         07.09.1889     C.J.Værn (Navy harbour in Horten)

07.22.1889       Winnipeg         Tønsberg          London

01.28.1891       Entreforce       Tønsberg          Cardiff

06.23.1893       Berthe Rød      Tønsberg          abroad           02.12.1894       Tønsberg

05.04.1894       Lawrense        Tønsberg          abroad           02.06.1895        Greonck

03.21.1895       Lawrense        Tønsberg          England         08.20.1895        Tjømø

03.28.1896      Lawrence        Tønsberg         America          02.18.1897      Tjømø

04.06.1898      Familien          Chri(sti)ania     abroad           11.03.1898 Chi(sti)ania (Oslo)

04.13.1899      Høvding           Moss                 abroad            12.02.1899         Moss

The Lawrence is the Sir John Lawrence registered out of London but sailed out of Tonsberg.

My great grandmother, Ingeborg, died of TB on Sept 18, 1894. My grandfather, Andres, was eight years old. He had two brothers, Jacob Hagbart and Haakon who were six years old and three years old at the time.  Notice that on the listing above. Hans had left on the ship the Sir John Lawrence out of Tonsberg on May 04, 1894 and did not return until February 06, 1895. Hans did not know of his wife’s death until he returned in February. Hans’ mother, Olava Jorgensen, the boy’s grandmother, cared for the boys until he returned.  Within a year he had married, Mathilde Zeiner. My mother told me that her father spoke fondly of his step-mother but did not call her Mother.  She said that he told her, “ She took good care of us but she was just not my mother. “ For young Haakon, the three year old, he never knew his birth Mother, he had no memory of her.

It is said that old sailors become fisherman when they retire and according to Inger, Hans did that but he took it one step further.  He bought a sailboat and started a small charter company which would give tourists from Olso sailboat tour in the Olso Fjord or a fishing trip. When Hans did not have a scheduled chartered  tour, then he fished and sold his catch to local markets.

So for my Norwegian family, they were truly focused on water!

Happy Hunting,

Jan

#52Ancestorsin52Weeks