Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sentimental Sunday: Cousin Rho's Wedding, June 26, 1971

Today is the 40th anniversary for my cousin Rosemary Streff and her husband Steve Grandusky. Their wedding in Rochester in 1971 was the first one among my cousins, and my family drove up from Texas to attend. I shared these pictures on Facebook earlier today so I thought - why not a blog post too?

Rho & Steve

Parents of the bride, Aunt Betty & Uncle Bud Streff

Nana (Elizabeth Massmann Pape)

Uncle Bob Pape

Dad (Frederick Pape) with daughter
Mary Pape and nephew Dan Streff

Aunt Moe (Rosemary Pape Dietz)
& Uncle Das (Ronald Dietz)

Aunt Beety
(Marilyn Pape Hedger)



Papes:  Moe, Beety, Bob, Nana, Fred, Betty

Aunt Beety and cousin Beth Streff



Nana and cousin Mare (Marianne) Streff


Steve & Rho leave the reception






Happy anniversary, Rho and Steve!


© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Those Places Thursday: Sharpstown Neighbors - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

The prompt for Week 25 of 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is Neighbors.

Who were your childhood neighbors? Have you kept in touch with any of them? Do you feel the concept of “neighbors” has changed since then?

Betsy Brown, John D., me, Bill H., Karen - 1974
Lisa and Diane McKimbell, 1966
From the summer of 1964 through the summer of 1985, my family lived in the Sharpstown area in Houston, one of the first master-planned communities in the country.  Our next door neighbors on one side were the Browns. They had a daughter named Debbie around my age, but we weren't close. Another daughter, Betsy, was my sister Karen's age, and they were friends a long time - they might still be in touch. The Browns had a swimming pool, but I don't remember swimming in it much. I'd usually go to the nearby Lansdale Park Pool to swim.

Our first next door neighbors on the other side were the McKimbells, who had two daughters, Lisa and Diane, about the ages of Karen and me. They later moved away and another family with two girls about the same age moved in, but I wasn't close to them and can't even remember their names.

I think the reason I wasn't close to these neighbor girls was that none of them went to St. Francis de Sales, as my siblings and I did. My friends at Catholic school lived further (outside of biking distance) away.
Karen Geutche and Mary, 1969

Down the street lived a family named Geutche. They had young daughters I used to babysit. One was named Karen and was around the age of my youngest sister Mary. They also had a great tree in their front yard that I loved to climb.
Bismarck and Alex, 1973
Also down the street was a family with a female basset hound named Alex. We fantasized about a romance with our male basset, Bismarck, but that didn't happen, I think because Alex was too young and her family soon moved away.

A few streets away was a family called the Jordans. Mrs. Jordan was my Girl Scout Leader a few years. Daughter Vicki was Karen's age and also in the troop. There were two younger girls, Beth and Carole Marie. Sadly, the entire family died in a crash of their small plane around Thanksgiving 1970. My eighth grade class sang at the funeral and I'll never forget it.
Carole Marie and Beth Jordan, 1968
Ardis Bartle, 1974

My high school, St. Agnes Academy, was one mile away, and it wasn't until I started there in 1971 that I found a friend in my neighborhood (albeit half a mile from me). Ardis Bartle is still a friend today, and she's the only "neighbor" I've kept in touch with. She sends the greatest Christmas cards!

My two brothers had classmates just down the street and around the block that they are still friends with today.

I think the concept of neighbors has changed since I was a kid. It seems people spend more time indoors on their computers or watching TV, and it makes it harder to meet people and really get to know them.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sentimental Sunday: Happy Father's Day, Dad!


Me and my father, Frederick Henry Pape. The photo on the left was taken sometime between April and September, 1957, probably in Houston based on the palm tree in the background. The photo on the right was taken in Chicago or Evanston in the winter of 1957-1958.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Uniforms! - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Clothes

The prompt for Week 24 of 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is Clothes:

What types of clothes did you wear as a child? What was “in fashion” and did your style compare?

First grade, St. Jerome School, Houston, 1963-4
Navy blue tie and plaid; blouse was white.
Boys wore the plaid in shirts, and khaki pants.
Brownies, 1965.  Top row: Marianne Reat,
me, Sharon Mulvehill. Seated: Beth
Calhoun, Debbie Christ, Theresa Ellis.
Didn't matter what was in fashion, because as a child, I wore uniforms (1st-8th grade) or followed a pretty strict dress code (high school).

Honestly, I preferred the uniforms.  It made dressing so simple.  We wore shorts under our jumpers, and took off the latter for PE.

Fourth grade, St. Francis de Sales School, Houston, 1966-7,
with Tracy Lynch. One of the few times I was in the front row.
Junior Girl Scout, 1968. I'd just received
the Catholic Salve Regina Award.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday: Papes and Massmanns, All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois

The photo above was taken at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois, by one of my Streff cousins before the graveside service for my Nana, my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape, on January 19, 2000. Nana was born on December 23, 1902, and passed away on January 13, 2000.  She was buried next to my Grandpa, Paul Robert Pape, who was born on July 1, 1896, and died on April 24, 1970.  The photos at left and below were taken by my parents, Frederick Henry Pape and Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape, at various times over the last 11+ years.
The imposing monument is a result of my great-grandfather, Frederick Henry Massmann (born December 1, 1875; died November 3, 1948), who at one point in his life was president of the National Tea Company and was rather wealthy. He is buried here along with my great-grandmother Elizabeth Camilla Dienes Massmann (born September 10, 1877, died December 3, 1946), his son and daughter-in-law Alfred and Agatha Burke Massmann, Nana and Grandpa, grandson Paul Robert "Bob" Pape Jr. and his wife Delores "Lorrie" Olker Pape, and granddaughter Rose Mary Pape Dietz and her husband Ronald Dietz.

©copyright Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Books! - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Sentimental Sunday

The prompt for Week 23 of 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is Books:

What was your favorite book, or who was your favorite author from your childhood? What do you like to read now? Books or other formats?

I'm not sure I can name just one favorite book or author from my childhood - there were so many!  I loved the Little Women series and other books by Louisa May Alcott like Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Under the Lilacs, Jack and Jill, and An Old-Fashioned GirlFrances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess were other favorites.  I think I read almost every Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew mystery!
Me reading in sophomore year, 1972-73, probably A Pillar of Iron
The most memorable book from my middle school years was To Kill a Mockingbird.  I remember doing a presentation in eighth grade over St. Francis de Sales School's newly-acquired closed-circuit TV system - I was Scout.   In high school (St. Agnes Academy in Houston), I remember reading Taylor Caldwell's A Pillar of Iron as a sophomore, and senior year was the beginning of my lifelong obsession with Shakespeare (particularly in outdoor theaters).

What do I like to read now?  Historical fiction is my favorite, but I also like literary fiction, biographies, and other nonfiction.  With an hour-and-a-half round-trip commute in my car each work day, I am an audiobook aficionado.  I am also a librarian and I don't buy a lot of books; if my local or university library doesn't have what I want, I can get just about everything through interlibrary loan.  Since May 2007, I have tried to write a review of every book I read. I don't have an e-book reader and don't plan to get one anytime soon - why waste batteries?

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Graduation 1959

Since it's the season...

Fifty-two years ago today, on June 3, 1959, Mark graduated from George Washington High School in Agana, Guam.

Mark's family (his parents and two younger sisters) lived in Guam from mid-1954 to mid-1960, when his father worked as a printer for the Department of Defense there.

After some courses at a junior college in Guam, Mark went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Texas Tech University in 1964.  He remembers his family being on vacation in Corpus Christi in the summer of 1960, when his father received a call from the Department of Defense to go to Bremerton, Washington, rather than back to Guam.  His parents bought a car and dropped Mark off in Lubbock on their way to their new home.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Eric!

My son Eric is 25 today!  When this photo was taken, he was about four days old, and suffering from newborn jaundice (he was born four weeks premature). We had to go back to the hospital for phototherapy - 40 hours under the bili lights.  THAT was fun.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.