Saturday, July 18, 2015
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Friday, July 03, 2015
Last Will and Testament - Jake Felin December 8, 1934
Sabrina (Abbott Smith) continues to find interesting artifacts as she sorts through her late parents' belongings. She found the hand-written will of Jake Felin (my paternal grandfather, her great grandfather), scanned it, and sent the scan to Joe and to me. I haven't yet found a way to get the scanned document posted here.
Interesting that another Jake (Langston), grandson of Bernie and Maudie Fellin, great great grandson of Jake Felin, was married last weekend in Spokane, WA. We have one other Jake (Schmidt) whose great great grandfather was Jake Felin. Jake Felin immigrated from Austria and changed his name from Giacoma to Jake after arriving in the U.S. [Brother Joe and others, please weigh in here if I have any facts wrong.]
Interesting that another Jake (Langston), grandson of Bernie and Maudie Fellin, great great grandson of Jake Felin, was married last weekend in Spokane, WA. We have one other Jake (Schmidt) whose great great grandfather was Jake Felin. Jake Felin immigrated from Austria and changed his name from Giacoma to Jake after arriving in the U.S. [Brother Joe and others, please weigh in here if I have any facts wrong.]
Monday, June 29, 2015
Family History
Sabrina (Abbott Smith) has been sorting through some boxes in her parents' home (the late Margaret and Norman Abbott). She found this (below) can label and sent a photo to Brother Joe (Felin) and to me. Brother Joe responded with: "Tomato label is interesting and must go back to the 1920's era. Sean Madden recalls pedaling on his bike to see remaining bldg burn! Concrete foundation still remains." [Sean Madden is son of Curtis and Virginia Madden. Curtis was a younger brother of my mother (Margaret Marie Madden Felin)].
I remember Mother pointing out the concrete foundation decades ago (in the 1960's) and telling me this bit of history:
James Louis Felin (my father) owned three canning factories, one located in Fair Grove, MO, where Mother worked as bookkeeper and her mother (Margaret Stone Madden) worked peeling tomatoes. (Dad also grew the tomatoes.) That was how mother and dad met. He was very successful, tall, and handsome, "a real catch," she explained. A whole lot of history has flowed out of that tomato canning business.
Sabrina has found other equally interesting papers which Joe is also commenting on. Please, anyone else who knows tidbits about all this, weigh in here with corrections and/or more information. I'll post more from Sabrina's treasure hunt later.
Sabrina, Joe, and I are planning a Fall "Turnbo Tour." We hope to make a video to capture some of the history that Joe is so familiar with.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
RYAN'S RAMBLE - June 20, 2015
Ryan Holyk died June 5, 2014, after suffering severe injuries when his bicycle was hit by a speeding police car in Spokane, WA. For details about the tragedy, click on this link: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/jun/05/teen-bicyclist-hit-deputy-dies/
Ryan lived several days after the event. His parents donated his organs, the ultimate and extremely courageous gift of life.
Ryan was the great-grandson of Bernie (my brother) and Maudie Fellin, grandson of their daughter, Shirley (aka Peggy). Ryan's mother (Shirley's daughter), Carrie Thompson and other family members sponsored a memorial race in Ryan's memory, "Ryan's Ramble," which was held in Spokane today. Ryan was my great grand nephew. Carrie told me that I had actually met Ryan when some of us travelled to Spokane for Bernie's funeral some years ago.
When I heard about the Ramble on Facebook some months ago, I immediately registered for it to stand in solidarity with Ryan's family. This morning here in St. Louis, I participated by going to the nearby school track and walking the 5K distance.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
News about Stephanie
Stephanie (Abbott Schmitt) had her last chemo treatment on Wednesday. She is very happy to be done with them as they have made her extremely ill. And we are quite happy for her! Congratulations, Stephanie!
THIS BLOG
Sue (Felin Spreitler Boaz) took great interest in the goings-on of our far flung family and was dedicated to capturing as much as possible here, on "The Family Gazette." Her belief, which I share, was that some future family historian would find the Gazette a treasure trove of facts and hints about our family history. My intention is to keep the blog intact and to add information to it from time to time. Some of you have access to posting on the Gazette directly if you wish. I invite others to send me e-mails with information you want added here. If anyone wants to be added as a contributor, please let me know.
Monday, June 08, 2015
SOME EXCITEMENT
Shirley, Brayden, and I flew home from New Orleans last night. Rather than land as we approached the runway, our Southwest pilot bypassed landing and began wide circling over St. Louis. After about 15 minutes, he announced that the plane's flaps were not working. He was flying around, trying to get them to function. He was reassuring, telling us we could land anyway, but he preferred to do so with working flaps. After another 15 minutes he told us we were going to land, using "of course, the longest runway," and that there would be fire trucks along the runway but only in an abundance of caution. [In all my years of flying, this was only the second time fire trucks lined the runway in anticipation of a problem.]
Shirley was perfectly calm. Brayden and I began measuring our heartbeat rates with my Apple Watch. (Our heart rates picked up considerably.) The pilot landed the plane with a very, very long bumpy ground ride, brakes screeching. When the plane stopped, everyone cheered, especially Brayden and I. Shirley said she only became alarmed when it took so long to stop the plane. Then the pilot announced that we would sit for a bit while the firemen checked out the plane's brakes. After another short wait, we turned toward to the gate. We could see there was about 100 feet more of runway as the plane turned.
We were very happy to disembark, about 45 minutes late.
Saturday, June 06, 2015
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
Bray's Bag of Snacks
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Family gathers for Luncheon Following Service for Sue - May 27, 2015
Right to Left - Lisa, Pete (in red hat), Beth, Donald, Vita,
Scott. [Can someone identify the others?]
Thanks, Nancy Hafla!
Left to Right - Nancy, Beth S., Scot, Vita, Donald, Beth B.,
Pete, Joe, and Lisa.
Thanks, Nancy Hafla!
Left to Right - Nancy, Beth S., Scot, Vita, Donald, Beth B.,
Pete, Joe, and Lisa.
More Family - Photos from Nancy Hafla
Joe, Erica, Amanda, Pete
Erica and Amanda are daughters of Randy and
Lynn Abbott, granddaughters of Margaret and
Norman Abbott.
Joe, Pete, and Margaret - Felin Siblings
Tammy and Joe
Tammy is the daughter of Maudie Ree and Bernie. She lives
in Olympia, Washington. Brother Joe lives in Springfield.
Tammy sent a number of photos from her days with us just
recently. I will post more as time permits.
Friday, May 29, 2015
MARTHA SUE BOAZ - Slide Show
Chris and Shelly, Scott and Beth, and Shirley and I put together a slide show for Sue's visitation on Tuesday evening, May 26, 2015.
Here is a link that will allow anyone who wishes to to view it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpm7jqmj6qbexxw/MARTHA%20SUE%20BOAZ.m4v?dl=0
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Mark Goldman's Eulogy for Sue
We are all grateful for the wonderful eulogy Mark Goldman delivered at the service for Sue yesterday. The entire service was moving and profound, so fitting for the person we were all honoring and bidding farewell to. I will post the program of the service here soon. Meanwhile, here is Mark's eulogy:
The dictionary defines the word
unforgettable as remarkable in a way that cannot be forgotten. Martha Sue Felin Spreitler Boaz
was truly unforgettable. She never
understood how unforgettable she was.
She was always so surprised that people at the hospital, BJEC, the
casinos or any of the restaurants we frequented always remembered her.
I first met
mom when she broke up a fight Scott and I were having on the way home from
school when we were in kindergarten. I
obviously did not know then what kind of impact she would have on my life for
the next 43 years.
I am not
sure when Scott and Ding’s friends started calling her mom, but it just became
a natural thing for us. That is
who she was. This was always
confusing for her neighbors at the lake because they never knew who her real
children were. One of the
neighbors even asked “just how many kids does that lady have?” My own mother, who knew her as Sue for
a long time, refers to her as mom.
I could
spend all day talking about how unfair it was for her to have had to live the
last twelve years of her life in the manner that she did. But, you know, I would rather talk
today about the incredible strength she showed throughout her life.
Her strength
began building early when as the 7th of 8 children; she lost her
father while she was just a toddler.
She mentioned many times how she marveled at her mother’s strength in
raising a big family by herself.
When Mom was 15 she moved in with Uncle Pete in Idaho for a year because
15 year olds could get a driver’s license in Idaho at the time. After high school she would again show
her independence and burgeoning strength by moving across the country to
Spokane, where her oldest brother Bernie lived, to begin a long career with
GMAC. A couple of years later she got
the opportunity to transfer back to St. Louis with GMAC where she was
interviewed by Brick Speitler.
Mom and
Brick would soon fall in love and start their family in South St Louis. In the early 70s they moved to Maryland
Heights to the Glenlea house as mom always referred to it. My mother called on her for Welcome
Wagon.
A few years
later Mom showed herculean strength when she lost Brick and became a widow with
two small children at the age of 31.
Can you imagine that?
Not only did
she have to fulfill the role of mother and father while working full time, she
also had to become a full time labor mediator between Scott and Ding. She had to solve such disputes as what
constituted mowing half the lawn or whose turn it was to con me into doing some
of their chores. That role alone
took unbelievable strength.
In the early
80s she purchased the Lake house. She
always claimed that it was blind luck that she choose such a perfect house in
even a more perfect location but I think that was another example of her
selling herself short. When we
were all teenagers or in our early twenties we were rarely invited to the Lake
but we certainly enjoyed her visits there. Although one time she said she was going to the Lake and
instead she went to dinner and came back to the Glenlea house that was packed
with Ding’s friends. Luckily Scott
and I were away at college then so we were spared her wrath.
Eventually
she started inviting us down for one week each summer in the early 90s. She called it Kids week and she
completely and totally pampered us for a week. She cooked all the meals, packed our coolers with food and
drinks so we could spend all day on the boat and she even washed and folded any
clothes we left lying around.
After some
big work sessions our invitation became an open one and she still pampered us every
time we came to the lake.
She was
always happiest at the Lake She
loved watching her Cardinals and singing along with the classic country
channel, she knew all the words to every song. She loved to have a full house especially when there were little ones
there. “The more the merrier” she
would always say. She loved to sit
out on the deck and laugh at our stories or to shock us with some of the funny
stories she would tell. She
would always catch us off guard with her quick wit. She really wanted to know what was going on with all of
us. One of the truest things I ever heard about the Lake house
came from Dug and Suz’s son Lukas when he was 4 or 5 years old. Suz pointed to the Lake as they drove
over the dam and Luke said that is not the lake, Granny’s house is the Lake.
It was not
until after she got sick and it took several of us to keep the house going
during a big weekend that we realized all things she did for us.
As much
strength as she showed in her earlier life, it pales in comparison to the
strength she showed dealing with mysterious illness she struggled through the
last dozen years. Quite simply,
she just kept going. Through all
of the tests, the spinal taps, the experimental meds and treatments she just kept
burrowing through to try to get better. There were steps forward and big steps back but she
kept battling. She did
not like being dependant on us but she knew she had to be. She learned to adapt to her situation,
she grudgingly accepted our help and she tried to live as normally as she could
In the
coming days weeks months and years we will tell stories about mom aka Granny,
Aunt Sue, Sis, Sue and laugh about the great times and to a much lesser extent lament
the not so great. I started off by
talking about how unforgettable of a person mom was. She had a profound effect on everyone she came into contact
with and while she never really could comprehend that we all know how her wit,
wisdom compassion and most of strength affected us all.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Martha Sue (Spreitler) Boaz Obituary
Here is the obituary published in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Martha Sue Boaz
Obituary | Condolences
Boaz, Martha Sue nee Felin, 71, of University City and Lake Ozark, MO passed away on May 21, 2015. Martha Sue was born the 7th of 8 children to James and Marie Felin in Marshfield, MO on April 23, 1944. Martha Sue (Sis, Mom, Granny, Aunt Sue, Pepé La Pew) is survived by grandchildren Kate, Drew, Jalen, and Brayden; siblings Joe Felin, John Felin, Rose Holt, and Donald Felin, children Scott (Beth) Spreitler and Chris (Shelly) Spreitler, Shirley Fontenot and other friends and family. Martha Sue is preceded in death by husband Loyola Spreitler, husband Dennis Boaz, and siblings Bernie Fellin, Robert Felin, and Margaret Abbott. Services: The funeral service will be held at 10 AM Wednesday May 27, 2015. Sandy Cooper and Leah Friedman will be officiating. Visitation will be held at 4PM until 8PM Tuesday May 26, 2015. Both the services and visitation will be held at Ortmann Stipanovich Funeral Home. She loved nothing more than being at the Lake of the Ozarks. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the ALS Association.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUE [MARTHA SUE (SPREITLER) BOAZ 1944-2015]
Chris and Shelly have made these arrangements for Sue:
Ortmann Stipanovich Funeral Home
12444 Olive Blvd.
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Visitation for Family: 3:00 - 4:00 pm, Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Visitation for All: 4:00 - 8:00 pm
Service: Wednesday 10:00 am, Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at Ortmann Stipanovich
Thursday, May 21, 2015
It is Finished
Chris just called to say Sue died at 9:05 pm, May 21, 2015. He and Scott were with her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)