Dear Relatives, Our great-grandfather, Gerhard Willems, was born in Holland (or Prussia) on Oct. 3, 1820. He was married to Katharina Rempel in 1841. They spent some years farming in Russia. Great-grandmother died in Russia in 1875 at the age of 52. [1] Gerhard Willems (1820-1900) and Katharina Rempel Willems (1823-1875) are my paternal great-great-grandparents. … Continue reading Ukraine, pt 3: Gerhard & Katharina Rempel Willems
Willems Family History
Ukraine
Ukraine is not just a place on the map to me; it is a land that carries deep, personal meaning. My Grandmother Willems was born in southern Ukraine, in a small Mennonite village on the east bank of the Dnieper River about 200 miles from where that river’s waters empty into the Black Sea. Her … Continue reading Ukraine
Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
The house in the photo above is where I lived a major part of my childhood. My family moved there the fall of 1942; we moved away in June 1949. I was four when we moved in, eleven when we moved out. I had finished 6th grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary and would have entered … Continue reading Epilogue: The House on Coronado Avenue
Old Photos: 1930s
Child Bride, my second book, begins each chapter with an old photo, or in one case a painting. I wanted it to be an album of memories, stories and photos that together tell the story of my parents' marriage that focuses on the early years, the 1930s and 1940s. I grew up hearing stories of … Continue reading Old Photos: 1930s
9. Post-War
No, California would never be the same: not after the federal government had spent more than $35 billion in California between 1940 and 1946 …, multiplying the manufacturing economy of the state be a factor of 2.5, tripling the average personal income between 1939 and 1945; not after some 1.6 million Americans had moved to … Continue reading 9. Post-War
8. The Bomb
“For three years, Camp Stoneman remained one of the best-kept secrets of the war. All in all, a million soldiers were processed en route to the Pacific through Camp Stoneman between 25 May 1942 and 11 August 1945. Covering one thousand acres, Camp Stoneman…billeted an average of thirty thousand troops each day of the war” … Continue reading 8. The Bomb
6. Stockton: WWII
“When Lowell and I quit Junior College we went to Lodi and lived with your parents until the war. We enlisted shortly after. Your parents made several moves before they lived on 21 West Third Street in Stockton. While on Third Street your dad and I got jobs driving dump trucks at the Stockton Airport.” … Continue reading 6. Stockton: WWII
“Toddlers remember better than you think”
“Up until the 1980s, it was thought that babies and young toddlers lived in a perpetual present. … The paradigm of the perpetual present has now itself been forgotten. Even infants are aware of the past, as many remarkable experiments have shown. Babies can’t speak but they can imitate, and if shown a series of … Continue reading “Toddlers remember better than you think”
Early Marriage
Sixty-one years ago this week I stepped on a Pan American plane at Los Angeles Internation Airport headed for Tokyo, Japan. There I would marry the boy who would become the father of my two daughters. I was seventeen years old. My groom was nineteen. We had not seen each other in over a year, … Continue reading Early Marriage
Old Photos: Golden Anniversary
Lena & Jacob Willems, 50th Anniversary February 1959 The marriage of my grandparents, Jacob and Lena Willems, lasted until Grandma’s death on August 1, 1963. They lived long enough to see their 50th anniversary celebrated by their children, grandchildren and even a few great-grandchildren. It was a big crowd in the Dinuba Mennonite Brethren church … Continue reading Old Photos: Golden Anniversary
Heritage 