Today's project is to transcribe the newspaper obituary for Louise Gurina Johnson (1894-1970). Louise was my Great-aunt as she was my paternal grandfather's (Alfred Marem Johnson, 1893-1931) sister, who was also his next younger sibling. I have only vague recollections of her and that is sad as I learned from this obituary that we lived in the same area for a long time. Of course, that was many years ago and before I was active in family history, but nevertheless, she was family and I wish now I had done better to stay in contact.
I found this article at the Kent (Washington) Public Library. I occasionally travel to this area of Washington, so I keep a list of articles I need to look up while I am near the library. I use the organization software OneNote to keep a list of things I need to do by location. I like visiting the Kent library as they have a collection of the Kent area newspapers and a nice microfilm reader-printer to use. I have never had to wait my turn for the equipment. The helpful staff at this library is very friendly and always make me feel welcome even though they have other patrons and tasks that keep them busy.
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| IMAGE: Obituary for Louise G. Johnson, published in the Kent (Washington) News Journal on 15 Feb 1970.[1] |
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Johnson Rites Held Saturday
Funeral Services were held yesterday for Louise George [sic] Johnson, a resident of Kent for 39 years., widow of Carl G. Johnson, lived at 2503 116th Ave SE. She died Feb. 12 in a Seattle hospital.
Born Dec. 28, 1894, in Lake Preston, S. D., Mrs. Johnson came to Kent from South Dakota. Her husband died in 1951. She was a member of the Nakomis Grandmother Club.
She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Wallace Clarendon, Kent, foster children, Richard Reda [sic] and Patricia Ramsey, both of Kent, and Donna Atkins, California, a sister, Mrs. Marie Tveten, Wisconsin, brothers Henry and Hans Johnson of Kent; three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and eight foster grandchildren.
Source:
1.) "Johnson Rites Held Saturday," obituary Kent (Washington) News Journal, 15 February 1970, p.23, col. 1.
I noticed that the article incorrectly gave her middle name as George instead of Gurina. It is curious to me how this may have happened, but I doubt we will ever know.
Both Louise's maiden name and married name were both Johnson. Carl Gunnar Johnson (1893-1951), who was born in Sweden, was Louise's second husband. Today, I read an article that told of the most popular names in the U.S.; this included a map. As I thought, the name Johnson showed up as first or second most popular in many states. Here is a link to that article if you would like to read it... click here
I also was curious about the Nakomis Grandmother Club. I didn't find a lot of information. I found that Nokomis should have been how it was spelled. Nokomis was the grandmother to Hiawatha in Longfellow's poem "The Song of Hiawatha." The Nokomis Grandmothers Club was at one time a chapter of the National Grandmothers Club, that was founded in 1960. I found a website for the National Federation of Women's Club that includes Grandmother Club Chapters from many places in the U.S., but today, there are none in Washington. At one time there was a chapter of the Nokomis Grandmother's Club in Redmond, Washington and they were active for a number of years. The goal of the Federation is to help raise funds for research relating to children's diseases and well-being through charitable means. It was nice to learn that Aunt Louise was a member of such a group of caring individuals.
I also found that the name of one of the foster children mentioned in the obituary should have been Richard Breda. I don't know of any relationship there or how Louise and Carl became foster parents to the Breda children. Richard had sisters, Patricia and Donna, who also lived with the Johnsons. It was good-hearted of them to care for these youngsters.
Amanuensis Monday is a weekly blog theme that was started by John Newmark, the author of TransylvanianDutch blog. John defines Amanuensis as "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I also appreciate the good work and format examples of San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver of the blog Genea-musings. Thanks, guys.
Transcribing helps me to learn what a document contains. I have learned over time that I have a tendency to "skim" over an item; a bad trait for a researcher who needs to learn even the smallest details documented records contain. Transcribing helps me to slow down and "smell the roses," and to capture all aspects of the paper in hand. It also gives me a better opportunity to share the document with you.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a good day and a great week.
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