Who We Were, Are & Will Be Our Family: Wistrom

Showing posts with label Wistrom. Show all posts

17 July 2021

Visit to Family in Nebraska (1964)

In 1964 my Dad, Paul Walker (1929-2019), took his budding family back to Nebraska to visit all the family. Our Mom Brenda Walker Cox (nee. Gibson, 1938-1989) is holding my brother. That is me wearing my new Dix (Nebraska) High School sweatshirt (when it was obviously summertime warm outside), and trying to show off my missing tooth. We are at Lee and Linnie Wistrom's (1906-1986) home in Kimball, Nebraska. Lee (nee. McNeil Walker, 1907-1980) was my Dad's oldest sister.

14 July 2021

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Kids Football (1940)

I date this circa 1940 in Dix, Nebraska. Left to right -- Bobby Wistrom (1930-1999), Wayne Walker (1931-2018), and Paul Walker (1929-2019).

Bobby was my first cousin, Wayne was my uncle, and Paul was my father.

11 June 2021

Why Do I Love Nebraska? Because Nebraska Loved Me First!

Sixty-years ago, from The Western Nebraska Observer (Kimball, Nebraska) --

Mr. and Mrs. Dick Wistrom received the announcement of the birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Walker of California on Jan. 22. He has been named Kevin Wayne. Paul Is the uncle of Dick Wistrom. He graduated from the Dix High School.

I was born in California, but they were talking about me in Nebraska! I do genealogy because of family. My family roots are in Nebraska. In many ways I consider it my home state, but I have never lived there.

22 May 2021

The Consequences of Large Families

Dix School, 1938 -- Dix, Kimball County, Nebraska.

The little boy sitting dead center in the front row is my father Paul E. Walker (1929-2019). The little boy sitting to his immediate left is Robert Arthur "Bob" Wistrom (1930-1999). Bob was my father's best friend. Bob was my father's nephew!

My father was the second youngest of nine children. Bob is the son of the oldest of the nine children, Beulah Lee Wistrom (nee. McNeill Walker, 1907-1980).

My father always called Bob his "cousin." Growing up, I called Bob my "uncle," when in fact he was my cousin.

The girl in the back row, second from the left is Bob's older sister Virginia Lee "Jinks" Stormberg (nee. Wistrom, 1928-1994). Jinks was my father's niece, and a year older.

I don't know. It all seems to me to be a small price to pay for the joy of a large family.

28 June 2020

A Reflective Essay about Family and Why Genealogy

I am one of those people who believes we are all genetically born with certain behavioral predispositions and predilections. I still believe in free will! I don't believe these born-with desires determine our choice and behaviors, they just influence them.

I was born with a profound appreciation and affection for family. It is in my blood. It is in my soul. I have always loved visiting relatives, and this was noticeable even when I was very young, I couldn't wait to visit family, and didn't want to leave after visiting. I was happy. Everyone one else seemed happy. The adults seemed happy. The kids seemed happy. I felt loved.

When I was little we were blessed to have my mom's parents and two sisters and their families living within driving distance of our home in northern California. But since my Dad was a Nebraska transplant the bulk of his relatives were back in Nebraska. He grew up in a family of nine kids and seven close cousins, and each of them having families of their own. So in the summer of 1968 we packed up the old blue Ford station wagon and drove the short 1677 miles from Fremont, California to Dix, Nebraska for a Walker family reunion. I was in heaven, pure heaven. There must have been forty of us, everyone was smiling, and laughing, and having a great time!

Late that evening, as my eyelids grew heavy, my Dad's cousin Bob Wistrom scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the car. I started to cry. Bob said "What's the matter?" I said "I don't want to leave!" Bob's eyes welled with tears and he dried the tears on my cheek with the back of his hand. And we drove the long, long 2000 miles home.

This experience had a huge effect on me. The value of family grew even more in my heart and never wavered. But as time passed, things happened, things change, as they always do. My Dad started with two brothers in California, but one passed, and the other moved to Arizona. My Mom's family started out close, but they too began to spread out, chasing their own dreams, and their own predilections. Even my parents and brother moved, and then, after growing up and marrying, so did I. This was my curse -- no family close, anywhere.

But it did not stop. Soon my grandparents' generation passed on. Then my parents. I had two kids, and then as is normal, they got married and had kids and moved. And now I am the grandparent, and my curse continues. I only see my immediate family once or twice a year. And my extended family? Well, we talk on Facebook. That is about the extent of it.

"Kevin, why do you do genealogy?" This is why -- to defeat my curse. To fill my familial love tank. I feel love for, and dare I say, even love from every ancestor I find. I knew none of our ancestors' names, none of my family did. My contemporary relatives were all getting the love they needed from each other, there was no pragmatic rationale to look back at their roots, beyond curiosity.

But I am different. I am uncovering our ghosts, waking them up and giving them new life. Finding their images, cleaning them off. Telling their histories, both good and bad. I can feel their familial love filling up my tank, as their names and stories, that were covered in decades and centuries of darkness, get to see the light of day.

My predisposition and predilection for family drives me to fight off a curse of familial loneliness. I am selfish that way. But I can sense the smiles of my long dead relatives, as they are remembered for whatever reason.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

26 April 2016

Unintended Consequences of Large Families

Wistrom kids, circa 1942.

My Dad came from a family of eleven brothers and sisters. The eldest sibling was Beulah "Lee" (Walker) Wistrom, who was twenty-two years older than my father. So here are some unintended consequences.

Pictured above are aunt Lee's three children, my cousins, (l-r) Virginia Lee Wistrom (1928-1994), Robert Arthur Wistrom (1930-1999), and Richard Linnie Wistrom (1926-1986). My dad was born in 1929, get the picture? My dad had nieces and nephews older than he was! And I had cousins the same age as my dad.

It was no big deal, really. My dad and Bob Wistrom were best friends. More like brothers. But it was a fun fact for them to startle friends with when they explained it.

Copyright © 2016 by Kevin W. Walker

24 April 2016

Sunday's Obituary: Keith Glenn Walker, 1894-1980

KEITH WALKER DIES AT 85 THURSDAY

Keith G. Walker, 85, of 1901 Central Avenue died Thursday at Mountain View Towers.
Born in Arnold, Neb., on Sept. 30, 1894, Walker had been a Cheyenne resident for 35 years. His prior residence was in Dix, Neb.
He worked in maintenance of way for the Union Pacific Railroad for 38 years until his retirement in 1959.
A member of the First United Methodist Church, Walker is survived by his children, Mrs. Leroy (Betty) Strasheim, Cheyenne; Mrs. W.L. (Lee) Wistrom, Kimball, Neb.; Jennifer Cosgriff, New York City, N.Y.; Violet Walker, Omaha, Neb.; Arthur D. Walker, Cheyenne; Paul Walker, San Lorenzo, Calif.; Wayne Walker, La Crescenta, Calif.; nine grandchildren; nine great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mattie, in 1938, a daughter, Dorothy, in 1948, and a son, Ralph, in 1969. He was also preceded in death by two infant sons.
Friends who prefer may contribute to the charity of their choice.

This newspaper clipping was found unsourced in the possessions from my aunt Jenifer's estate. But it is clearly from the Cheyenne, Wyoming paper.

(And yes my aunt Jenifer did spell her name with only one "n" although it appears the only people who know this are the people who knew her.)

Copyright © 2016 by Kevin W. Walker

13 July 2014

Sunday's Obituary: Teresa "Terri" Stormberg (1948-2007)

From the Scottsbluff Star-Herald (Scottsbluff, NE), 7/31/2007 --

Teresa 'Terri' Stormberg

KIMBALL - Teresa "Terri" Stormberg, 58, of Kimball, died at the Kimball County Manor Tuesday, July 31, 2007.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 2, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Kimball with Fr. Robert Karnish officiating. Burial will follow in the Kimball Cemetery.

Christian wake service will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday at the Cantrell Funeral Home in Kimball.

Friends may call at the funeral home Wednesday from 1 to 8 p.m. Condolences for the family may be left online at afscc@earthlink.net and they will be forwarded to the family.

Memorials have been established to St. Joseph's Catholic Church or the Cancer Center in Scottsbluff. Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Teresa Lee Stormberg was born in Kimball Aug. 20, 1948, the daughter of Wilbur and Virginia (Wistrom) Stormberg. She attended the Kimball schools and graduated in 1967. She continued her education in Nurses Aid Training and worked at Kimball Health Services for two years. She was married to Bill Haverty in Kimball March 15, 1969. They moved to El Paso, Texas and then to Germany where they lived for three years and then they lived in Loton, Okla. for a year. Terri moved back to Kimball and attended nurses school in Scottsbluff and obtained her LPN degree. She was married to Manuel Gallegos in Scottsbluff Nov. 22, 1973. They lived in Virginia Beach, Va. for two years before moving back to Kimball.

Terri loved reading, movies and traveling. She was a volunteer at the library and was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church and she enjoyed spending time with her family and friends.

Survivors include her sister Cindy Rasmussen of Kimball; nephew Scott and wife Carrie Rasmussen and their children KayLee Jo and Shealynn Mae of Chappell, Neb.; niece, Lisa and husband Darin Buescher and their daughter, Mallorie Ann of Grand Island, Neb.

Her parents preceded her in death.

Terri Stormberg was my first cousin once-removed, on my father's side.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

13 June 2014

Family at the Funeral

Here is a picture of the Walker family relatives in attendance at the funeral for my uncle Ralph Keith Walker (1918-1969), in early March of 1969.

In front is Ralph's daughter, my living cousin. Behind her, left to right, Arthur D. "Bud" Walker (1916-1985), my living father, the patriarch Keith G. Walker (1894-1980), Ralph's widow Florence "Betty" Walker (nee. Spurrier, 1920-2009), Beulah "Lee" Wistrom (nee. Walker, 1907-1980), Judith "Judy" Walker (nee. Hawes, 1939-2012), Betty Strasheim (nee. Walker, 1924-2002), and lastly Ralph's youngest brother, my living uncle.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

11 June 2014

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I put this picture at exactly fifty years ago, taken near Dix, NE. That is my Dad holding me in his lap. Behind the wheel is my "Uncle Dick" (Richard L. Wistrom, 1926-1987). I called him "uncle" but in fact Dick was my father's nephew, and he was three year older than my dad. My "Uncle Dick" was my cousin.

09 February 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Keith G. Walker Family (Circa 1971)

Pictured (left to right) Arthur "Bud" Walker (1916-1985), Sister Violet Walker (1920-present), Beulah "Lee" Walker Wistrom (1907-1980), Keith G. Walker (1894-1980), Paul Walker (1929-present), Betty Jo Walker Strasheim (1924-2002) [not pictured: Dorothy Grace Walker Nitzsche 1912-1948; Frances "Jennifer" Walker 1909-1993; Ralph Walker 1918-1969, Wayne Walker 1931-present].

08 June 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Arthur H. and Camilla E. Needham

Following yesterday's post on the biography of Frank Needham, I thought today I might go with his parents. This is the joint gravesite of Arthur Herrick Needham --

"Father"
Arthur H.
Sept 7, 1831 - March 24, 1921
Member 2nd Iowa Cavalry

-- and Camilla Elizabeth Needham (nee. Porter) --

"Mother"
Camilla E.
Apr 11, 1844 - Feb 2, 1910
She hath done what she could. Mark 14-8

Here are Camilla and Arthur pictured holding my late aunts Frances Irene "Jennifer" McNeill Walker Ball (1909-1993) and Beulah Lee McNeill Walker Wistrom (1907-1980).