The Wedding of Ross Colberg and Jospehine Reese~1941

Ross Colberg and Josephine Reese

September 28 1941

St. Paul, Minnesota

Just this past week I found this in an old envelope as I have been going through some things from the past.  I literally had my breathe taken away when in saw this.  This is a rose from the wedding bouquet of my mother.  The rose is over 72 years old.

I have not retouched this or altered the photo in any way.  I was astonished at the color and the green fern.  I just removed it from the envelop and placed it carefully on the back of my iPad for a dark background and snapped the shot.  I put it right back into the envelope and am now trying to decided how to preserve it and display it.  What a treasure, I am thrilled to have discovered it!

The following is an excerpt from biographical sketch I wrote and complied for our family after my father died in 1979. I wrote the introduction and my piece and then I asked my Mom, two brothers, my husband,  and a close friend of Dad's to add something.  The compilation was a very exciting project portraying a unique perspective of my multi-faceted father from the people closest to him.
The following is a portion of what my mother wrote about their meeting and marriage:

"To My Darling Children,

I was born in Pierre, South Dakota on May 17, 1919.  There was another big event that day as I have a twin brother named Joseph.  At that point in my life I had four sisters and three brothers; Letha, Lena, Harold, Margaret, William and Wilma who were also twins.  We lived on a farm about twenty miles from Ft. Pierre, South Dakota.

When I was five years old we lost our mother from an infection after giving birth to another baby girl, Ruby.  I am so sorry I never got a chance to know my mother as I know I would have loved her very much.

After I  graduated from high school in Pierre I moved to Bismarck, North Dakota in January of 1940.  I went to Bismarck to attend Beauty School.  During that six months I lived with a couple I met and who became dear friends, Rose and Fred Gerberding.

That move to Bismarck really changed my life. It was the best move I ever made because this is where I met Ross.  Yes, he definitely was the best thing that ever happened to me.  Through friends we met on a blind date.  He looked so handsome that night.  He had on dark pants, a white sports coat and tie.  We double dated with our friends and had such a wonderful time.  After that we saw each other all the time.  He was such a gentleman and always so nice.  Yes, it definitely was love at first sight!  We met on May 4, 1940 and we always had such a good time when we were together.

About Dec 1st of that year Ross was transferred to Fargo, North Dakota.  He worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.  It was a sad day for us both because we knew it would mean many months of separation.  Not having a car he didn't get home very often--I really missed him.  In the spring of 1941 I moved to Ellsworth, Wisconsin to stay with my friends, Rose and Fred, that had been transferred there earlier in the year.  Ross came there to see me a few times.

I August of 1941 I decided to go to work in St Paul, Minnesota.  At about that same time I learned that Ross had been transferred there too.  We were both so happy to know we would both be there.

On September 28, 1941 we were married  in a Lutheran Church in St. Paul at 8:30 in the morning. yes it was a very strange time to be married but Rose and Fred were our attendants and being a Greyhound bus driver, Fred had a run to make in the afternoon.  The main thing was that we were married!

It was a very small and simple wedding.  Ross' mother was the only relative there, but we were just thankful to have her there with us.  We were just new in St. Paul so didn't know anyone to invite.  We were both working fortunately but worked opposite hours unfortunately.  So I'd get up in the morning and fix his breakfast and get him off to work and at night he'd wait up for me until midnight and then come down to the Ice Cream Parlor and walk me home.  We always stopped at a little hamburger place and had a nickel hamburger and a ten cent piece of cherry pie.  We were so happy and loved being married.   I really enjoyed being a housewife and always have.

Oh yes, I almost forgot our honeymoon.  It was a trip---from Minneapolis to St. Paul. After the wedding we went to get our pictures taken.  Then we went to breakfast with Ross' mom, Rose and Fred, and a couple of Fred's aunts that must have come along just to increase our numbers. Neither Ross nor I knew them.

Afterwards we jumped into the car, Rose and Fred in the front seat and Ross and me in the backseat. Sandwiched right in between us was none other than "Mama!"  This was so embarrassing to us at the time because we happened to run into some friends of ours on the street corner as we stopped at a light and it was obvious we had just been married.  Why?  Because I wore my wedding dress all day long and there she sat in the middle of us.

The next event of the day was a tour of the Capitol Building.  Over the years we laughed so many times about that, especially going there in my wedding dress.  Of course everywhere we went people stared.

Finally in the afternoon we put his mother on a train to send her home.  After that we stopped in a little place to have a drink and celebrated our wedding day.  After paying for the drinks we discovered we barely had enough money left to catch the streetcar home to St Paul which was just across the river. We had also been able to see Horace Heights put on big band show so we were pretty exhausted so we were happy to come home to our little apartment that we had just rented the week prior to our wedding.  I stayed there and got things ready and Ross lived at the YMCA until the day we were married.  The night before the wedding Rose and Ross' mom stayed with me in our apartment.  Everyone was a little frazzled and cramming three women in the bed was a bit much.  Just as we were about to go to sleep I said, "This is the first time I have ever slept with a Colberg!"  This sent my future mother-in-law into fits of laughter!"  She told that story repeatedly over the next many years.

Our apartment was tiny and our first home was so much fun.  In our home our living room was also our bedroom.  We had a Murphy bed that pulled out and down from the wall   So every day and every night we had to rearrange our furniture.  When the bed was up it had a nice mirror on the back of it so it looked just like a real living room.  Those were wonderful times.

I can remember how proud I was to be his wife, and how through our marriage I'd look at him and find it hard to comprehend that he was mine, all mine!  We didn't have much in the way of material things then, we went into our marriage with a few dish towels without hems and a few cents in our pockets but we were very much in love and we had each other, so what else really mattered?"

The End of Part I

An Apostolic Promise

Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve taught about the guiding influence of our ancestors;

“There are thousands of them, hundreds of thousands and millions of them in the spirit world who long to receive this gospel and have been waiting hundreds of years for their deliverance. They are waiting on you; they are praying that the Lord will awaken your hearts in their interest. They know where their records are and I testify to you that the spirit and influence of your dead will guide those who are interested in finding those records. If there is anywhere on earth anything concerning them, you will find it. That is my promise to you.

 But you must begin to work. You must begin to inquire after your dead. And the spirit of your heart turning towards them will come upon you, and the way will be opened in a marvelous manner, and if there is a scrap of evidence concerning them upon the earth, you will find it. When we have done all that we can do ourselves, the Lord will come to our rescue…If we have done our best and have searched and have discovered all that is available, then the day will come when God will open and part the veil and the records…will be revealed.” 

(Bryant S Hinckley, Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard pg, 230)

Temple Sealing Day~June 23, 1979

Sadly this is the only picture of this day.  What were we thinking.  The resolution is terrible but at least it captures the moment and the Afro!  Love you, Honey, just kidding (now that its gone!)  33 years ago.   Those kids have grown up!  Beautiful family memories of a long life together so far and eternity to go.

Lillie Minerva Briggs and Martin Allen Godfrey

John and Josephine Colberg

Grampa Ross' Grandparents from Sweden

Alma Nelson 1873-1918

Alma Nelson

The Reese Twins in the Roaring 20s

William and Wilma Reese age 9 or 10

Joseph and Josephine Reese age 4 or 5

This morning (insomniac early) I had awakened and was looking on my smart phone at some old email files.  There in a file I found a bunch of old photos, this one among them.  The little sweetheart holding the doll is my mother and this is the only photo that I have of her as a child that shows me what she looked like.  There are a few others in various degrees of deterioration but this one is nearly perfect for being almost 100 years old.  Oddly I do not remember ever seeing this photo before.  I think I must have put it in PAF years ago and Lowell, our son-in-law must have taken all  those off PAF and sent them to me in a big photo file.   Anyway I feel as though God send me a lovely and cherished gift this morning.

There are so many things I love about this photo.  The first is that each person in this photo is someone that is now deceased that I have known and loved very much when they were alive.  It is wonderful to see what they looked like as children. 

This picture is was taken at a critical time in their lives, it is either just shortly before or after their mother died in 1924.  Their mother Ella Evans Reese had nine children include these two sets of twins.  The fact that the mother and twins all survived is a miracle in itself when nearly all twin births include at least one breech baby.  All but the last child were born at home.  When little Ruby was born our grandmother went into the hospital, contracted a serious infection and died ten days later at 39.

This left all nice children, motherless and their father was a busy rancher.  Consequently they were passed from pillar to post and separated for several years in different households.  I do know that my mother and Uncle Joseph were kept together and I have no idea what happened to the other kids during those years.  I do know that it was very rough on my mom and her brother and not ideal in any way for them.

Eventually the kids had an old field hand named Ollie that came and stayed at their home and he was the best caregiver they ever had.  Their dad eventually remarried an old spinster that taught at the kids' school.  This also was not a happy time for the children either.  They were to address her as "Miss Moore."  Not a warm fuzzy for the children for sure.  This fact was apparently kept a secret from their father who thought he had found a solution to his problem.

My mom says she only remembers her own dear mother as she watched her casket being lowered into the ground as people threw dirt on it.  That simply breaks my heart and to now be able to have a little girl's face to go with that story makes it all the more poignant for me. 

Another thing I love about this picture is the fact that my mom is holding a pretty little doll in her arms.  Mom told me she did not ever remember having a toy in her entire life.  I am not sure that this is her doll but it is nonetheless wonderful to see her holding it.

The other thing I like about this picture is a chance to see a little part of where they lived.  It looks like the most God-forsaken place on earth.  Flat, ugly, dry and brown.  Even in a black and white photo you can see it is brown. And look at their little feet.  Only Aunt Wilma is wearing shoes.  We are planning a trip to South Dakota hopefully in the late spring of the year 2014.  We want to find their property and go there and visit some of the graves of people in the family who never made it out of Pierre, South Dakota alive.

I am so thankful for discovering this photo!  It is wonderful to be able to share it with our cousins and posterity.

The Eternal Influence of Good Fathers

I absolutely love this quote.  Think about how you are the result of the love of thousands.  As a lover of genealogy and family history I just adore this thought because it is so indicative of just how special every person is.  Not only are we each a child of our Heavenly Father who loves us completely, but our human family through out the ages has conceived each of us in love.

Today I have been thinking about all the fathers in my life.  There are many.  Of course my own father and Jim's father came immediately to mind, we miss them always and wish we could turn to them for guidance often.  And most especially, my husband who has been the most amazing father our children could have ever had.  From the moment we became acquainted with the fact that we were expecting our first child, he has been a supportive father.  Always there, always ready to reach out and give of himself.  He has been a spiritual leader in our family, always a teacher, a servant and always a good example.  He loves in a total way.  What child or wife could want for more than that?

We love and miss our grandfathers.  Jim's grandfather in many ways became my best-known, best-loved grandfather too.  We stood overlooking the graves of our family today.  Grampa Andrew, our fathers, and Jim's brother, Gary.  Wow! What dynamite men.  Each and every one of them good, really good fathers.  We feel that good part of them inside of us in a real way.

When I look at our pedigree charts and try to imagine each of our grandfathers going way back, I sense they were very good people.  I wish I could know them and feel we will one day.   Of course there is always the exception and none of them were perfect, even as we are not.  But still they were mostly good at heart.

As I have worked hard to learn about them I am blessed to instinctively know that.  Each of God's children has that spark of the divine, even when our human eyes may not readily see it.  We are all a composite of those who came before us.  Today I am feeling that like never before.  A family is a sacred heritage that goes on and on in each direction. We belong to each other.

I think of our brothers, Steve and Gary and Jim's brother...they are all good fathers.  Jim's brother died at 26 with only one child, but I see the effects of his goodness in his grandson, Thomas.  Who we are affects our posterity for generations.  I think of our uncles, all good men and fathers.  Our cousins, tremendous men that have contributed much to this world.  Our friends, each one a good father and raising or has raised remarkable young people.

I have witnessed how the ones who left us early in life are missed so terribly much by their families, like Bill, Larry, John, Sione, and most recently, Alan.  The mark a father leaves behind is tangible, precious and to be remembered.  Our sweet friends that are still here are all active, happy grandfathers and even some great-grandfathers.  They are 100% in for the durations with their families.  They live their children and grandchildren's joys and sorrows right along with them.  We love you.

This is such a joy to witness over generations.  Who says getting older is not so good, does not look around with eyes to see.  As we look at the exemplary families of our children's spouses, Melissa, Lowell and Robert we see their great parents whose goodness has visited itself upon our shared grandchildren.  That influence is huge, meaningful and a great blessing to us.

We are privileged to watch our sons, Chris and the two wonderful sons our daughters married.  They amaze me to the point that a hush falls over the room sometimes as I see them at work.  They have given all for their children and their families.  We truly are the result of the love of thousands.  How can that not bring unspeakable joy to us today?

We watched a wonderful young father say good-bye to his four day old son, as the baby returned back to heaven, just weeks ago. Through the strength of their little family and the baby's very supportive grandparents, many have been lifted up in faith and hope and love~forever changed.  We will love you forever, Chapmans.  We have been taught by your deep love and faith in our Father in Heaven.

Just a little while ago I spoke with my sister-in-law, Emily, to wish her a happy birthday today.  She told me of our nephew, Nicholas, and his wife, Mara and their first new baby, Quinn, just a few months old.  She told me of their complete devotion to their little one, barely having time for anything else in their lives, in the newness of it all.  And I realized another new Dad has been born, completely and totally devoted to his little girl.   And I see, my brother, my dad, our grandfathers, uncles and cousins.  They are all a part of that eternal influence that insures Quinn she belongs to something big and powerful and where she will always be loved and cherished....her family.

May we all have had a wonderful day of reflection upon all the fathers in our lives that have been the best they knew how to be and may we feel a special joy in knowing that they have touched us for the better through their love and inherent goodness.  Thank you to all our wonderful Dads related or otherwise!   And Thanks be to Our Heavenly Father for blessing us with all of you.

James with Jennifer 3 days old!

"If in John 14:2 the word "mansion" is replaced with the Hebrew word "bayit" - meaning "family" - we get a very different interpretation of what the Savior was saying to His disciples when He talked about "mansions" within His Father's house.  "In my Father's house are many families. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (plural, meaning you and your family) ... that where I am, there ye many be also."  
 By Ryanna Ollivier~ Meridian Magazine 6/17/13

William Henry Reese and Mary Ellen Evans

 Some of the members of the William Henry Reese Family

Taken in South Dakota around 1921-23

My maternal grandparents were Mary Ellen Evans (1884-1924) and William Henry Reese (1882-1938.)  Most of my life I have known very little about them.  Both died long before I was born and my mom's mother died when Mom was only five years old.  My mother's only memory of her mother is seeing her wooden casket lowered into the ground.  The image of that in my mind is just heartbreaking for a little five year old to remember.  The nine children they had did not have a very happy childhood from all I can gather and from what the older siblings recounted there was much discord in their home.  Thankfully my mother did not remember any of that.

Their children were Letha (1906), Mary Lena (1909), Harold (1910), Margaret (1912), William and Wilma (twins) (1915), Joseph and Josephine my mother (1919) (also twins) and then Ruby (1924).  My grandmother died before age 40 from complication of Ruby's birth.  The baby was just a few weeks old when their mother passed away.  She was the only one of their children to be born in a hospital.  This is the only photo I have of my mother when she was little. I only have two photographs of my grandmother and grandfather.

I don't know who wrote on this photo, and as much as I wish they hadn't, it is good that they did.  I am sure someone might be able to restore it.  I heard an archivist speak about photo restoration the other day and she was saying that the people who restore old photos are called conservationists.  I don't even know how this photo fell into my hands but I am so thankful that it did.

There is one other photo that I have of my grandparents but it is very odd in that they are standing in front of a barn and they look, seriously, 70 years old!  Knowing that my grandmother died around 40 always made me feel so badly for her.  Her life had to be terrifically hard and aged her so.  But seeing this profile photo, even though is it dark assures me that she was more youthful than I had imagined from that other photo and this photo is just a few years before she died.

The two children in the foreground on opposite sides of the page are my Aunt Wilma and on the right her brother, Uncle Bill.  That set of twins is five years older than my mom and Uncle Joe so I'd imagine Wilma and Bill are about 7 or 8 here.  My mom is the sweet little one sitting just to the right of her mother along side her twin, my Uncle Joe, on her left.  My Uncle Joe was the last to leave us and he passed away just a few months ago.  November 16, 2012 in Kennewick, Washington.  On the far left side is my grandfather's spinster sisters,  Maria, pronounced "Mariah" with a long I.  She was pretty dreadful to the children as one of their many "caregivers" after my grandmother died.  I am surprised at the tears running down my cheeks as I write this.

My grandfather was a rancher is South Dakota.  They lived some miles south of Pierre.  He was not the kindest of husbands or fathers is all I really know.  He is the one marked Papa in the hat.  I was blessed to know each and every one of their children in this life.  My aunts and uncles were all very wonderful human beings.  I am overcome with missing them right now.  They deserved a wonderful life as children, but that was not to be. Some of the people in the photo must have been friends and the one with the scratched out face may have been another of the dreaded sisters of my grandfather but I cannot know for sure.  My grandfather was the only male in his family so the "Uncle Bill" is not his brother.  My Grandmother who went by Ella did have an older brother named William Daniel Evans.  It might be him.

There is so much more to the story but this is all I can muster right now.  Part 2 coming later.

 This is my beautiful grandmother's headstone.  They made a mistake on it.  She was born in 1884 and died in 1924 not 1824.  I can just picture those little kids standing nearby 89 years ago.  Sometimes a vivid imagination is not so hot.

i

Fort Pierre, Stanley, South Dakota, USA

It just looks like a prairie cemetery, doesn't it?

 I hope we can visit here one day and leave some flowers.

Cattarina Maria Lagomarsino

 

This is Jim's maternal great-grandmother.  She married Peitro Franchini and had two children, Margherita and Pietro.  

Margherita Emma Franchini

About 14 years old

This is Jim's grandmother.  We knew her as Marge or Marguerite Ferrera. More coming soon here.