Admired Grandfather ~ Baptist Lay Pastor

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 13 (WORSHIP)

"worship verb   wor·​ship ˈwər-shəp   also  worshipped also worshiped; worshipping also worshiping

transitive verb

1: to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power

2: to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion" 1

Thinking about who/what to write about for this week's prompt I considered the 2nd part of the definition of Worship.

When Chris and I first met in 1992 it was pretty clear how much he admired his grandfather, Clifton Alexander Lee. 

Chris on the left, Grandpa Clifton in the center

This grandfather, he so admired, offered a safe place for him during his  chaotic growing up years.

Chris was 12 when his grandfather died, and as a young adult he spoke about him with such love and admiration.

Remembering     
                                        Clifton Alexander Lee

BIRTH 20 MAY 1902 • Northfield Centre, Brant Co., Ontario, Canada

DEATH 9 SEP 1979 • Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Grandpa Clifton was also a Baptist Lay Pastor.

For this reason he fits the full definition of worship.

Taking a moment to remember the relatives who created safety & security!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1  Definition of Worship. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved March 22nd 2024 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

From Birth (1926) To Death (2023) ~ How The Times Have Changed

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 12 (TECHNOLOGY)

Recently I was looking at 1931 census record for my grandmother (who was 4) & her family when I noticed they were recorded as not having a radio. In fact none of the families on that page had a radio. 

This got me to thinking about what changes my grandmother, who died last December, would have seen over her lifespan of 1926 to 2023.

This video from YouTube gives an intro to the 1920s in the United States - I'm sure Canada was not too different.

She lived in a world where a simple scratch could turn deadly. 

Grandma was almost 2 years old when penicillin was first discovered, but she was a teenager before it was successfully used in the general population.  

She was a child & teen through the Great Depression & World War II. 

She was 19 when the first atomic bomb was detonated.

Flight was in it's infancy when grandma was a child, but available as a form of commuting by the time she died.

As a child I remember grandma wearing her knee high stockings. She never left the house without them. She was a teenager before they were affordable for everyday usage.

"Nylon and nylon stockings were shown to the American public at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Women loved them!" 1 

Grandma lived in rural Manitoba, and I heard tales of how the comforts of her childhood and adult life were so different.

"In the 1940s, many Canadians lived in rural areas where most homes had no electricity, and even fewer had indoor plumbing." 2

A retired telephone operator Grandma had moved plugs on the switchboard to connect callers. At her bedside when she died every family member had a pocket sized computer that made calls. 

Photography wasn't common place, and yet Grandma and her family left behind photos for us to get a glimpse into her childhood.

And this last photo of the family (not too long before her brother died - grandma and her brother sitting graveside with their parents

Everything changes over time!!! 

 

 

This is why I search - 

 

Cause ... 

 

 

 

 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

 

 

 

 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

 

 

Footnotes:

1  The History of Ordinary Things: Ladies’ Stockings over Time. Written by Doris Montag. 50 Plus Life. Retrieved March 16th 2024 from
https://50pluslifepa.com/lifestyle/history/2483-the-history-of-ordinary-things-ladies-stockings-over-time

2  Canadian War Brides. History. Veterans Affairs. Government of Canada. 
Retrieved March 16th 2024 from
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canadian-war-brides

 

Sources:

The 20th and 21st centuries. Technology from 1900 to 1945. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved March 16th 2024 from 
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology/The-20th-and-21st-centuries

How do penicillins work? Medical News Today. Medically reviewed by Zara Risoldi Cochrane, Pharm.D., M.S., FASCP — By Tim Newman on July 30, 2018. Retrieved March 16th 2024 from 
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216798

Photos:

Personal

 

Videos:

Virtual History: Life 100 Years Ago. Stark Art & History. Retrieved March 16th 2024 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAUpK_3rnEg

 

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

X2 Great Uncle Mikita Pellack ~ An Achiever

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 11 (ACHIEVEMENT)

In considering who to write about for this week's prompt I decided to look for names that mean ACHIEVEMENT.

I discovered the name Mykyta means 

"A man who has the capability of winning in every field; A winner" 1

My X2 great Uncle Mikita Pellack came to Canada in 1907 with his wife, 2 daughters, and his mother (Mary). My great grandparents followed them in 1909 with their 3 oldest children. My grandfather was the first child born on the homestead in Canada.

I am Canadian because X2 great Uncle Mikita created a successful life in Canada for himself that encouraged my great grandfather to follow. 

Their achievements (and all of mine) are because of Mikita's willingness to leave all he knew behind in Ukraine for a better life in Canada. 

The local history book Our Courageous Pioneers provides a look at his life.

I am proud to claim this X2 great Uncle who was an achiever in all things he touched. 

It took me 20 years to prove that my grandfather Clyde Robertson really was Max Pellack. 

It was this mystery that began my search for where I fit into my own family story. 

That proof came when my father and I DNA matched to the great grandson of my X2 great Uncle Mikita.

This confirmation has been my greatest achievement in genealogy researching to date.

In looking at the life X2 great Uncle Mikita created in Canada there is no doubt he fit the meaning of his name perfectly. 

When the name fits!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1  Mykyta Name Meaning. Baby Names. Mom Junction. Retrieved March 15th 2023 from https://www.momjunction.com/baby-names/mykyta/

Sources:

Mykyta Name Meaning. Baby Names. Mom Junction. Retrieved March 15th 2023 from https://www.momjunction.com/baby-names/mykyta/

Our Courageous Pioneers : History of Gronlid and Surrounding Districts of Argus, Athol, Edenbridge, Freedom, Maryville, Murphy Creek, Sandhill Creek, Taelman, Taras, Teddington,." (Melfort Saskatchewan: Phillips Publishers , 1991)

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

When English Was Not Your 1st Language ~ Becoming A Reader

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 10 (LANGUAGE)

I was a late reader.

I remember sitting on the the couch side-by-side with my mom turning the pages of the Dick & Jane readers.

She pointed to a word saying SPOT, and I repeated it. She turned the page, pointed to a word, and asked me what it was. I had no idea what the word was. She turned the page back, I said SPOT immediately - I knew that word on that page. She turned the page, pointed to the word, and I had no idea. After shouting SPOT she threw the book across the room, and we both cried.  

I don't know if this was a one time event or if it happened more than once. I can remember it like it was yesterday.  I can feel the texture of the couch, I can hear the clock ticking on the wall, I can feel the shame of not knowing how to read.  I had many a nightmares about these old readers. Dick, Jane, and Spot were jerks!

When I was in grade 3 I can remember my mom crying on the phone while talking to my teacher saying "what do you mean you can't teach her to read - that's your job".

That feeling of being an absolute failure is deep seated in my memory. 

The shame of not being able to do what others did effortlessly was painful.

My younger brother was an early reader. He was reading to me for years. 

I grew up knowing he was the smart one, and yet we were close.

I was born in Quebec. I spoke French before English having learned it from tv & my friends. My Mom didn't speak French, and would delight in telling the story of having to take me to the landlord for translations when I would have a temper tantrum trying to tell her something. 

By the age of 3 I was fully bilingual. My mom would place me on the floor in front of the tv so I could translate her television shows for her while dad was at work. 

When I was 4 1/2 we moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

By the time I started kindergarten I no longer spoke French. 

No one in my home or social circle spoke French, and my entire world was English.

It was only a few years ago that I had an epiphany about my late reading. 

Sesame Street in French was my early literacy learning. 

My pathways were set for French, and I went to English school with no supports in place.

By grade 4 I could read, but my understanding of what I was reading was non-existent. 

I received no joy from reading. 

The summer I was going into grade 5 I was slogging through an Archie comic when I laughed. 

With shock I realized it was funny, and I went back to re-read all my Archies. 

Next I read The Diary of Anne Frank.  

That summer I became a reader. I read every book we had in my home, and then discovered the school library. 

By the following summer I discovered the public library, and my mom was shouting at me to get my nose out of my book & do my chores. 

In grade 7 I became a volunteer in our school library. 

As I continued to be an avid reader throughout my teens and early adulthood the school shame stayed with me.

It was in college that I began to get high grades, and little-by-little my shame of being a later reader began to heal.

Today I work in a public library, and have turned that shame into pride. 

I share my story of being a late reader with many of my customers who are worried about their youngster's reading. The story always begins with 'I was a later reader' and ends with - 'And now I work in the public library'. For many children learning to read develops on their own timeline. 

If I could tell that little girl one thing - it would be to relax & know your new pathways are building. You will be a reader!

A few years ago my husband and I were on vacation in Mexico. We went to the market and I was searching through a large counter of tshirts. On the other side of the table 2 ladies were also searching. One asked her friend if she could see a particular colour and style of shirt, and before her friend could answer I held one up that matched her request. They both looked at me surprised, and commented I understood French. 

It seems my French pathways are still there since I understood them perfectly and didn't even realize they were speaking French.

The moment quickly passed - I was not able to actually follow them once I turned my attention to trying. 

It was this experience that helped me understand what the cause of my late reading might have been. 

       

Remembering your roots is what forms your foundations!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________