Christie's Diary

7-3-64 went to Benton Harbor to have them start Social Security Aug 1 -64. Bill retired July 2nd-64 2 days before his 65th birthday - 64 it's muggy & cloudy 7-3-64

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Grandpa Thomas worked for the Van Buren County Road Commission for 33 years. In the winter he ran a snowplow, and in the summer drove the tar truck. 

Here is what my brother Rick recently wrote:

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This picture of Grandpa and Grandma reminds me of a story I only halfway remember... 

Seems that after Grandpa retired, some of the family suggested that they should start spending winters in Florida. So they decided they would try it. If memory serves me, they went to Florida (where I believe this picture was taken), and after a couple of weeks they came back to Michigan, said they hated Florida. And that was the end of that. 

Christie's Diary

Welp, I spent all day yesterday trying to get the entries in Christie's Diary organized. Keep in mind that it's a huge ledger book, not a diary. There are only a few places, though, where they (either Grandma or Grandpa) recorded some business transactions. 

Most of the pages were blank. But then, sporadically, Grandma decided to use it as a diary. She made some entries in 1959, and then no more until 1964. Then again, briefly, in 1968. And then 1970, 1977, and 1978. 

As if that's not random enough, once I got all the dates verified, their distribution through the book is kind of nuts. The 1959 entries are on page 196 and 195 (in that order). The 1964 entries are on pages 190, 189, 188, 193, 187, and 184. On these, she helpfully (?) wrote the numbers 1,2,3,4,5, at the tops of the pages. Then in the middle of one page she wrote "over to page 4 - then back to this page / should have been here". 

At the top of that page there is an entry that seems to start in mid-sentence, and I couldn't find a previous entry leading up to it.

There is one page with entries from 1964 and 1977 on the same page.

The 1968 diary entries are on page 13. 

The 1970 entries are on page 15, 

1977 on page 22, also page 184

1978 on page 14

Now you see why it took me all day.

Christie's Diary

March 30 '59 

Ray & Richard & family were home for Easter & Bernarde & family were here for after noon & evening & Evely & Charles & Beverly were here in the afternoon

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PHOTO: Ray Treat, Christie's brother

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PHOTO: Bernarde and Eileen, with their sons Mick and Greg. Kim had not been born yet -- this would have been about 1953. 

Bernarde was Christie's oldest son (my dad's brother). (He wasn't really that dark skinned, he must have been working out in the sun a lot when this picture was taken.)

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PHOTO: My brother Ricky, Charles and Evalee Jones and their daughter Beverly.

You know how I've said sometimes I run across a photo that I don't remember ever seeing before? Well, this is one of those. This picture was actually taken on the day (Easter Sunday 1959) mentioned in Christie's diary. 

Here is another picture that was taken on that Easter Sunday -

PHOTO: Ricky and me in the front yard of Grandma and Grandpa Thomas' house

Christie's Diary

 March 25 '59 Tim Carney died March 25th services at 3 oclock good Friday after noon at McKane's. Buried in Hartford

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The name Tim Carney does not ring a bell with me, so this was apparently a friend or acquaintance of my grandparents. McCane funeral home was in Bangor, where the funeral was held. Burial was in Hartford, the next town over (10 miles away). My Thomas and Treat relatives lived in both Hartford and Bangor through the years. Those were the towns where I grew up -- first Bangor, and then Hartford. They were both very small towns, population about 2500 at the time. They are still about that same population. I really miss living in small towns where everything was within walking distance.

McKane Funeral Home

This is a picture of the building that was McKane funeral home. It is now the Bangor library.

This is a picture of Maple Hill Cemetery in Hartford where Mr. Carney is buried.

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Supplement - from Bangor Historical Society Facebook page

In 1919 Paul Decker built a car dealership but failed to make his dealership a success and moved out in 1922. Over the next eight years three more dealerships failed to make their business successful. In 1928 the building was converted into a funeral home which was later operated by Burt McKane. The building now is the public library in the front and the police station in the back.

Christie's Diary

 March 20 '59 Tempature got up to 60 dgs on March 20 '59. Marie Hazelett & I went to Benton Harbor had a good time

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Grandma Thomas belonged to several women's groups. Some were associated with local churches, and some were just for socializing and playing cards or bunco (a dice game). I used to go with her to some of these get-togethers. And sometimes she would host them at her house. I recognize some of the faces in these pictures, and there are several names that I remember from my childhood -- but what I cannot do is match the names with the faces. Marie Hazelett is one of the names I remember, and she is probably in one of these group pictures, but I have no idea which one.

Christie's Diary

 

27 Feb 

Mell & Alta & Effie were here for supper 27 February talked with her her once in 2 wks time

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Effie was my grandfather's sister.

PHOTO: Bill Thomas and Effie Thomas Wieland

Aunt Effie lived in Bangor when I was a young child. (We lived in Bangor at that time, also.) Her house was on my way to school, and sometimes she would invite me to stop at her house after school or come to visit her on the weekend. We played Parcheesi and I remember having fresh peaches with cream at least once at her house. She had a box full of wooden blocks that I liked to play with. Aunt Effie and Uncle Harry never had children of their own, but they raised a nephew -- Allan Miller -- whose mother died shortly after his birth. (Allan was already grown and gone by the time I came along.) I don't remember Uncle Harry. I think he died before I was born.

PHOTO: Aunt Effie holding me. 1955

Christie's Diary

1959

Jan 25 Mells got home from California Sunday Jan 25th went to Mells for supper & see pictures of their trip Sat nite Jan 31th our check was delayed because of no money till Sat Jan 31th county. Beautiful Sunday day Sunday Feb 1th

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I can't make heads or tails out of this entry. 

"Mells" refers to my grandfather's brother, Mel, and his wife Alta.

PHOTO: Nancy Thomas, Vickie Hills, Jerry Hills, Mel and Alta Thomas

Jerry is Mel & Alta's daughter, married to Bert Hills. Vickie is Jerry's daughter.

Nancy is Mel & Alta's granddaughter (Roger's daughter). 

Better late than never...

 I just realized that I didn't provide a picture of Christie when I started posting her diary entries. Here are a few pictures of her at different stages of her life...

PHOTO: Christie and her sister Madge in a school class picture. This was somewhere around 1910.

PHOTO: Bill and Christie

PHOTO: Taken around 1944

PHOTO: Bernarde and Richard (my dad), Bill and Christie

This is how I remember her from my childhood.

Taken in the kitchen doorway of their house in Bangor. I'm pretty sure this would have been in the early 1970s. She died in 1978, age 74.

Christie's Diary

 

1959

Jan 21 snowed about 4 inches snow & sleeted it was awful bad weather. we took bedding over to Laure to have washed & dryed & it snowed 2 inches in half hour we could hardly see coming home

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Laure (pronounced 'La-REE') Hafer ran a laundry service -- or at least she had heavy duty washer(s) and dryer(s) in her home. I don't remember exactly. She was the daughter of Ethel Kime and lived next door to her in Hartford. Mrs. Kime was a friend of my dad's family when he was a child. Her son Russell was a friend of dad's brother Bernarde. When I was in 2nd grade we lived next door to the Hafers for half of the school year. The Hafers (Chuck and Laure) had two sons, Chuckie and Larry. Larry was near the same age as me, and Chuckie was a few years older. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Laure Hafer. I have pictures of her mother, Ethel Kime.

PHOTO: Ethel Kime

in front of Grandma & Grandpa Thomas' house

PHOTO: Ethel Kime, Christie Thomas, Edith Davis (maybe -- I'm not sure if this is Mrs. Davis or someone else). This picture was taken in the living room of Grandma (Christie) Thomas' house in Bangor, Michigan.

PHOTO: Marion and Bud Davis, Bernarde Thomas, Wilma Davis, John Robertson, Russell Kime 1944

(Bud was Edith Davis' son, Marion was his wife. Wilma Davis was Bud's sister, John Robertson and Russell Kime were friends of Bud and Bernarde -- Russell was Ethel Kime's son.)

This photo appeared in Bud Davis' newspaper column. He wrote a touching tribute to Uncle Bernarde shortly after Bernarde's death in 1999.

Christie's Diary

Jan 1959 (page 196)

first paragraph too faded to read

Jan 17 Bill had to work because of snow storm the 18th & snowed about 8 inches Sunday nite again. Plowed snow again the 19th on Monday.

Jan 18 Richard had to go to Guards on Sunday. Wathada & children came out stayed with me. Dianne stayed all nite.

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Grandpa (Bill) worked for the Van Buren County Road Commission. I don't know what his job was in the summer time, but he drove a snow plow in the winter. I remember staying at their house and Grandma would get up about 3:00 in the morning and cook him a big breakfast -- eggs and bacon, toast, oatmeal, orange juice, and coffee (enough to drink and then fill his thermos). She would see him off to work, and then she would go back to bed for a couple hours.

My dad (Richard) was in the National Guard. He had to go to training once a week (I think) and to camp two weeks every summer. At the time Grandma wrote this entry I was 4 years old and Rick was two.

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I don't know why Grandma started this diary on page 196 of the ledger book. Most of the entries are closer to the front of the book. It was very sporadic.

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PHOTO: Bill Thomas receiving some kind of recognition from Van Buren County Road Commission.

I don't know how many years he worked for them. I'm guessing this picture was taken some time in the 1950s -- this is exactly how Grandpa looked as I remember him from my early childhood. He was 55 years old when I was born.

Christie's Diary

One of the keepsakes that came to me along with all the family photos and other memorabilia was a ledger book that was only occasionally used for that purpose. It was also occasionally used for a diary by my grandmother, Christie Thomas. It was too big to fit on the scanner, so I took pictures of the pages as best I could. Sometimes I couldn't figure out the date or the year in which each entry was written, but I think I have them in some semblance of order. I believe this was the first entry she wrote, in 1959. (At the top of the page it looks like she wrote 1954, but their 35th anniversary, as well as LaVern's crane sinking in the lake, happened in 1959.) 

The children gave Bill & I for our 35th anniversary a pull down light fixture & they gave us a nice turkey dinner at Bernarde's house at Decatur. Then after dinner to see LaVern's crane that had sunk in Rush Lake. The Mell & Alta came out in the evening & brought us a card & a box of candy.

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"The children" would be my dad, Richard, and his older brother Bernarde.

PHOTO: Our family in 1959

PHOTO: Bernarde & Eileen's family in 1959

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This is a newspaper article about LaVern's crane sinking in Rush Lake. LaVern was Aunt Eileen's brother. Bernarde worked with him doing excavation before he started his own excavation company. 

"SLOW CRANE TO CHINA: China is just where this 49,000 pound mechanical monster seemed to be heading after it slipped off a timber "pad" Saturday noon and oozed 10 to 12 feet into a bog on Rush lake north of Hartford. Crane operator, Russ Hinckley, of Hartford, jumped clear as the $35,000 crane slipped into the muck. Only cables are keeping it from sinking out of sight. Two winch trucks, another dragline crane and several pieces of earth-moving equipment were unable to budge the behemoth. By this morning owner LaVern Rice (soaked nearly to the waist in the frigid water) still hadn't pulled his crane free. The crane was dredging a boat channel on the George Williams property when the accident happened. (News-Palladium photo)"

Taken Sunday the 19th of April - 59

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Mel and Alta were Grandpa's brother and his wife.

PHOTO L-R: Alta, Grandpa, Mel

I'm not sure who the other people are.