The Spiraling Chains: Schroeder - Tumbush Family Trees
  • Home
  • Tumbush
    • Wimmers
  • Brunswick
    • Braun >
      • Antoni
      • Kahlig
      • Uleman
    • Oldendiek >
      • Meinerding
    • Rolfes >
      • Bernard
  • Schroeder
    • Bernhold >
      • Janning
    • Hut
    • Knob >
      • Watercutter >
        • Lohman
  • Grilliot
    • Aubry
    • Drees >
      • Wellerding
      • Wilkens
    • Magotaux/Magoto >
      • Bulcher >
        • Voisinet
  • The Spiraling Chains

Jesse Owens and...My Grandpa

3/2/2013

0 Comments

 
In 1933, my maternal grandfather, William Joseph Bellan, graduated from Cleveland's East Technical High School.  Below, you can see the cover of his yearbook, entitled Junebug, and his senior year photo.
Picture
Picture
All right, you say, pretty cool family heirloom.  Pretty awesome that my grandpa even graduated when a decent number of boys his age left school early to start working.  Then, if you flip to the back of the yearbook, there is an autograph page:
Picture
And there, second from the top, right under his sister's signature (which I find amusing), is 'Jesse Owens.'  Jesse Owens, who tied the 100-yard dash world record when he was still in high school.  Jesse Owens, who won eight individual NCAA championships in track and field, but who still had to live off campus because of his race, and who worked part-time because did NOT receive any sort of scholarships.  Jesse Owens, who, in 1936, went on to win four gold Olympic medals in Berlin, in front of Adolf Hitler.  

Now, East Tech was and still is a BIG school. My grandfather's commencement program says that, at the time of his graduation, there were 3,800 students and 110 instructors.  To my knowledge, Grandpa was not on the track and field team.  He may have had a few classes with Jesse, but they probably weren't good friends. (Interestingly, Jesse is not pictured in his senior year yearbook as is my grandfather.  Turns out that he was a few credits shy of graduating high school and had to pass some exams to enter Ohio State.)

What I love about this story is the confluence of two typical American family stories of the early 20th century.  Grandpa was the son of Croatian immigrants; Jesse (whose real name was James) was the son of poor sharecroppers who left the South as part of the Great Migration.  Both sets of parents left their respective homes in search of better lives for their children.  And I think it's safe to say that both succeeded. 

0 Comments

On Aging...and Stubbornness...and Acceptance

3/1/2013

1 Comment

 
Within the past year, year and a half, my parents-in-law came by for a visit, and told us about how they had to "scold" my husband's 87-year-old grandfather after learning that he had climbed up a ladder by himself to clean out the gutters of his house.  This particular conversation popped into my head after finding this old newspaper article from the front page of The Minster Post, dated 20 Aug 1937:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Joseph Schroeder was Grandpa's grandfather (my husband's gg-grandfather).  As the article mentions, at age 78, he died of injuries sustained when falling off of a ladder after repairing a roof. (Information on his death certificate confirms this cause of death.)  A "retired" farmer, he helped people maintain their homes and gardens, a profession he lists on the 1930 Census as "odd jobs."  I'm sure that after growing up on a farm and then maintaining his own farm for so many years, he was used to physical labor, and that he probably even enjoyed it.  He was also likely driven by his responsibility to continue to provide for his family; his daughter, Helen, was widowed when she was only about 28, and she and her three young daughters lived with him.

Coincidentally, a week or so after I found that newspaper article, I found another one about an injury sustained to the grandfather of my husband's maternal grandmother. He was 71 at the time, a widower, lived with two of his sons, yet still was compelled to repair his barn. (The Minster Post, 11 Sep 1942).
Picture
Picture
(As a side note, I'm not sure how many "city-folk" realize how dangerous a profession farming was and continues to be even in the modern day.  The rural newspapers I've been combing through are full of various farm-related accidents and deaths.  Another subject for another blog post, perhaps.)  

Regardless of the time period and/or location, EVERYONE knows or has known an elderly person who physically does more than he or she probably should.  My grandfather, who lived as a widower for nearly 20 years, was notoriously stubborn about nearly everything.  Fortunately, out of blind luck, he was never seriously injured from trying to shovel his (hilly) driveway or anything like that.  My maternal grandmother, however, had a terrible fall down her basement stairs when she was living alone and broke her hip.  I think that incident helped to convince her to come and live with us.  It's human nature to want to continue to be able to do the things you've always been able to do, and it's difficult to admit to yourself that your body isn't what it used to be, especially when your mind feels just as young as it ever did.

I believe that I am in a unique situation in which, as a relatively young person, I am able to understand how elderly people must feel when their reflexes get slower, muscles get weaker, joints get more painful, and/or their balance falters.  As many of you know, I was born with a chronic vascular disease in my leg that progressively gets worse with age.  Every few years, there is something physical that I find I cannot do (without pain) that I used to be able to do.  I always go through the same mental process:  I panic, I worry, I get angry, but then I ultimately accept it, because what choice do I have otherwise.? I try to direct my interests more towards those things that I still can accomplish.  Most healthy, elderly people have not had a lifetime to come to terms with a failing body; either they come to that realization by suffering an accident OR they have to listen to their children, grandchildren, and doctors tell them what they can't do anymore.  Hey, that would make me cranky, too.  So, cut the old people some slack, let them know you love them and THAT'S why you don't want them to get hurt, and try to empathize with the underlying feelings of frustration behind all the outward stubbornness.
1 Comment
Forward>>

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Archives

    April 2017
    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012


    Categories

    All
    Anniversaries
    Antoni
    Aubry
    Bellan
    Bernard
    Bernhold
    Birthdays
    Birth Records
    Blogging
    Bodziony
    Braun
    Brunswick
    Bulcher
    Catholic
    Cemeteries
    Census Schedules
    Census Schedules
    Civil War
    Conferences And Talks
    Cousins
    Death Certificates
    Decorating
    Dna
    Drees
    Editorials
    France
    Funeral Cards
    Galicia
    Germany
    Golonka
    Grilliot
    Heirlooms
    Holidays
    Homes
    Hut
    Immigration
    Italy
    Janning
    Kahlig
    Knob
    Kowalski
    Krupa
    Licciardi
    Magottaux/Magoto
    Mapping
    Marriage
    Military
    Obituaries
    Occupations
    Organization
    Parazzini
    Poland
    Research
    Rolfes
    Schools
    Schroeder
    Ship Manifests
    Sports
    Surnames
    Tips
    Travel
    Tumbusch
    Voisinet
    Watercutter
    Weather
    Weddings
    Wellerding
    Wilkens
    Wills
    Wimmers
    World War II
    World War II
    Yearbooks


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.