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| Baby Marian |
Today would have been my grandmother’s 95th
birthday. I can’t really complain about
losing her too young though, she died when she was 91 and at the 21st
anniversary of her own father’s death. Helen
Marian Gage was born on 10 Jun 1920 to Ora Silas Gage and Florence Christine
Shawver. She died on 30 Dec 2011 as a
beloved mother of five, grandmother of 18, and great grandmother of 33 and
great great grandmother of 11 children.
As a little girl, I don’t think that I knew my grandmother
terribly well. She lived six hours away
and a few days every years wasn’t a great opportunity to spend a lot of time
with her. I remember her visiting us one
time and telling my best friend that she had blue hair. My friend didn’t believe me and had to come
to my house to see for herself. For
those of you young enough to not understand…there were a lot of women who put a
bluing solution on their hair to make their hair look better…and if went too
far, it turned blue. As I got older, I got
to spend more one on one time with my grandmother and truly learned to
appreciate the quality of person that she was.
I would come down during college and spend my spring break with her and
my great grandparents. I did simple
things with her like sit at her table and visit or take her out to dinner. I would go over and spend part of the day
with my great grandparents as well. I
really didn’t think it was all that unusual.
This was my normal. As I got
older – I found out how lucky I truly was.
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| Top Left: Don, Duane, Byron, Pauline, Marian, Orland, Bernard Bottom Left: Norma, Florence, Ora, & Elaine |
Grandma Marian was born the oldest daughter of ten children –
she only had one sibling, her brother, Orland Gage, who was older. She told me once that her childhood was an
incredibly happy time for her in Mapleton, IA.
While Orland spent most of his time working with their father, Grandma
Marian and her younger brother John Bernard Gage spent a lot of time playing. In her eyes, she was much luckier than her
younger siblings, she had store bought clothes and her life was carefree in her
mind. Things changed with the depression…just
as they did for every family. When her
father couldn’t pay the taxes, he signed the farm over to his friend and
partner, Lou Brenner. Granddad Gage
refused to put his friend’s financial livelihood at risk, so Granddad packed
his family up and took them north to Philip, SD (There were seven children in
the family now.) That new opportunity
didn’t pan out and in another year, they were once again searching for a new
home. The Gage family first went north
to Montana to Grandma Florence’s brother’s ranch in Jordan, MT where they had a
chance to get to know their cousins. My
grandmother told me often how much fun they had running around and playing with
each other…I know they spent at least a week there over Thanksgiving. Then they began their trek across Montana in
Model T with seven children. They
stopped every once in a while and they would build a fire and cook some eggs
for a meal…sometimes they were scrambled or a hard-boiled egg made into an egg
salad sandwich, or some fried eggs. I
can remember my Uncle Bernard remembering the trip fondly…guess he liked eggs! When they arrived at Dover, ID and spent the
winter – Granddad Gage went searching and found land to buy and by the next
summer, they had moved to Hatter Creek, ID.
My grandmother never really talked about the hardship that their
family must have faced after that move to Hatter Creek, ID. I think the worst thing she felt that she
suffered was the lack of butter to put on her bread – especially since she
loved butter. She didn’t talk about
helping out with making clothes, or helping her mother bake 10 loaves of bread
ever few days, canning food from the garden or taking care of that garden. Nor did she talk about leaving her family and
working out with other families doing housework or taking care of children so
she could bring the money she earned back to her own family. None of these were hardships for her – it was
simply her life. Now I would never
described Grandma as the perfect teenager.
She would have admitted to being hardheaded. Grandma Marian boarded at the Ursuline
Academy in Moscow, ID (a Catholic School) and she had an argument with one of
the nuns, and her mother allowed her to come back home….as long as she finished
school at the local high school which was nine miles away. Grandma Marian graduated from high school in
1939, when she was 19 years old as did her older brother, Orland (who was 21)
and her younger brother Bernard who was 17.
I wonder if Potlatch High School has ever had three siblings who
graduated the same year from high school again.
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| Marian at Graduation |
Within a few months after graduating, Grandma Marian met a
friend of Lawrence Chandler who was visiting from North Dakota after serving in
the CCC’s (Civilian Conservation Corps).
By July of 1939, Grandma Marian and Grandpa (Frank Stewart Johnson) were
engaged and married in October. Then
they traveled back across Montana to North Dakota to Grandpa Frank’s home in
Dunn Center. In the next three years, my
grandparents had three children (including my father who was the oldest.) Grandma did admit to some hardship during
that period. They lived in a tiny two
room house with three babies, her father-in-law and sister-in-law. My grandfather worked up to four jobs at a
time to try and support his family. Many
times the only money they had coming in was her father-in-law’s $17 Social Security. Grandma found it was cheaper to buy syrup
than it was to buy sugar…and so she learned to adapt. I think the hardest thing for Grandma was
being so far away from her family and feeling as if there was no way to break
out of this cycle they were in. Finally,
in late 1943, she decided to go back to Idaho to visit her family. I am not sure she really intended on going
back to North Dakota. I can’t imagine
how hard it must have been to travel two days on a train with two toddlers and
fussy baby that was only few weeks old. Not
too long after, my grandfather left his father and sister in North Dakota and
came west. I am sure that was the
hardest thing that he had ever done – his father refused to leave and there
were no opportunities for a young family in Dunn Center…so he put his father
and sister in the poor house and came west to get a job and take care of his
young family.
During the next 50 years, Grandma Marian took care of her
family: from caring for her husband
until he died and left her a young widow to providing a home for grandchildren
when they needed a place to stay. After
Grandpa Frank died, her parents moved to Canby, OR to live close by and help
Grandma Marian. They did so for many
years, but then the situation changed in to Grandma lovingly caring for her
parents during their last years.
(Although I must say, it was hard at times dealing with her father – two
stubborn people don’t always rub each other the right way.)
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| 2010 - Gage Sibs - Bottom Left: Orland, Marian, Don, & Duane Top Left: Pauline, Byron & Elaine |
Grandma Marian moved to Lewiston, ID in 2001 and was
prepared to enjoy the family in Idaho that she hadn’t spent as much time with
since moving to Oregon in 1965. It
seemed that every week, she had visits from her brothers, Shawver cousins who
lived nearby, and her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who lived
in Idaho or nearby. For me, this was the
opportunity to get to know my grandmother much better. We spent a lot of hours on the phone and in
her living room – her telling me stories of her life and me telling her the
newest genealogy research. After my
mother died in 2005, Grandma became even more important for me. She was the woman I talked to when I needed a
sounding board or advice. Sometimes it
was about cooking…and sometimes it was about the way I was feeling. We became close friends at that point. We had a wonderful birthday party for her on
her 90th birthday. All of her
children were there as well as most of her other descendants. Grandma took special pride in the number of
grandchildren that she had – and while she sat there on the beautiful June day
five years ago…we marveled at how many people who showed up. All of her living siblings were there, her
aunt and many of her nieces and nephews of all generations. There were cousins from Montana, Washington,
and Oregon and friends from far and wide.
We estimated that there were about 150 people who showed up to celebrate
her birthday. It was a wonderful day
that I know my grandmother relished.
I had just started writing these blogs a few months before
her death. Grandma Marian gave me the
encouragement to start this process. She
wanted me to tell the stories of our family.
It was important to her that these stories were accessible to later
generations. There are many other
stories and life experiences that she shared with me that I could and have
told. We lost her in 2011 at the age of
91, but I am so grateful for that 10 years that we had together here in
Idaho. I still wish I could pick of the
phone and talk to her. Grandma Marian had
a wonderful long life with a loving family and friends who enriched her life…and
in return she enriched our lives so she would never be forgotten by those she
touched. Happy 95th birthday,
Grandma Marian! We love you and miss
you!
Here are a few blogs that I have written about my Grandma
Marian!
- Goodbye Grandma
- Rest in Peace
- Stubborn isn’t such a bad thing…
- The Greatest Generation – The Depression
- The Most Important Women of My Life!
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