JoAnn Marie Weibling Klacsan |
|
| I was born May
29, 1933 and raised in Seattle, Washington. I am "Young at Heart"- (slightly
older in other places!) This December 2002, I will have been married to Jerome, a retired logger, for 49 years. I have an older sister, Dolores June Weibling Pugmire. My brother Arthur Lee Weibling passed away in July 2001, at the age of 71. My parents, Harry Leonard Weibling (1907-1949) and Marie Stureman, met in California. My mom was born in Michigan (1894-1984, parents from Holland) and grew up in Pella, Iowa. My dad was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.( My father's parents were Marion Francis Weibing and Ada Arvilla Cowger Weibling.) My mom left Pella and moved to Pasadena, California where her married brother lived. She got a job in a restaurant that was owned by Ada Cowger Weibling's neice. This is where she and my motorcycle-riding dad met.(He rode an "Indian" motorcycle.) Harry and Marie married in 1927. Mom was pretty, dark-eyed and petite. Dad was 5'11", handsome with black wavy hair-and had the top of three fingers missing from an accident with his "Indian". Their first child, Dolores June Weibling was born in 1927. Mom had saved money and was able to buy a new Model T Ford, a "Tin Lizzy" for $260, I believe. Dad brought his family to Washington State in 1928 as his friends "the Scotts" were living there. He got a job at Simmons Sawmill in the tiny rural town of Kerriston, Washington. Sidewalks were wooden planks. My brother Arthur Lee was born that year. In 1933, after I was born, Dee and Art had to go to school so we moved to Seattle. Dad worked for Panqratz Mill as a Boom Man on the Duwamish River. In the mill pond, wearing caulked boots and using a pike-pole, he would sort and feed logs to the mill.(My husband's first job in the logging industry was also as a Boom Man in Sekiu, Washington.) Though Dad had a strong work ethic, the Great Depression Era hit hard. The economy didn't seem to recover until World War II. Mom was frugal by instinct and necessity, but we still ended up "On Relief"-which is an experience one never forgets. Dad took various jobs but money was always in short supply. Dad finally got work as a Shipscaler, a job cleaning ship's steam boilers. Always a Union Man ("In Unions there is Strength",was his motto), he became president of the Shipscaler's Union. Mom and Dad were both politically active liberals with a deep social conscious, so we kids grew up with the same ideals. In each house we rented, an 8x10 of Franklin Roosevelt was prominently displayed. Religion did not play a part in our up-bringing (I tell Denise that we are the heathen part of the family) but I attended church regularly and enjoyed the social aspects and especially the music. Mom was raised by a loving mother and a very strict Seventh Day Adventist father. That could have left scars, I believe. Her father also did not feel education was important for females (a common notion at that time) and she had to quit school after the 8th grade to take care of her younger siblings (there were 6 children all together and she was the oldest) and her anemic mother, Rena. It was great when my Dad was finally able to get a good paying job as a longshoreman on Seattle's waterfront. He was very active in the Longshoreman and Warehouseman's Union. That job made it possible for us to buy our first home. It had been a grocery store--cost $800! That was about 1943 and my Dad earned $3,405 that year and paid taxes of $250.00. We three kids had a great childhood and life was good till September 25, 1949. Mom was on a trip to her hometown Pella, Iowa. I was 16 and at Franklin High School when I was notified that my brother was coming for me as our father was seriously injured in an accident on the ship U.S. Arizona. We got to Seattle General Hospital and my father's head was swathed in bandages. He never regained consciousness and died the next day. He was 42 years old. What a shock for all of us, especially my mom. She flew home immediately. My sister Dee was living in Midvale, Utah with her husband Bill and daughter Linda. They moved back to Seattle to be close to the family. What a help that was to Mother. They filled a very big hole in Mom's life and were there for her constantly till Mom passed away in 1984 at the age of 90. I continued high school and became engaged my Senior year. "Dan" was in the Navy and while he was gone my girlfriend Joyce and I went to Yakima which is in hot eastern Washington. We were told we could make some money picking corn. Well, we didn't make much money but we did enjoy the friendship of Charlie, who's father owned the farm, and Jerome who was Charlie's cousin. Because of asthma, Jerome had moved from Omaha, Nebraska to the dry Yakima climate. Jerome eventually got a job in Seattle and after some time our platonic relationship changed. We were married December 31, 1953 by a Justice of the Peace at a cost of $25! Jerome worked as a Deckhand on a Rigging Scow in Alaska, and then in 1954 we moved to Horsefly BC where he worked at Fetters Saw Mill. A great adventure, but I was glad to move back to civilization as I was about to have my first son, Paul Arthur in 1955. Jerome got a cutting job so we moved to North Bend, 30 miles east of Seattle. I had Dane Hunter in 1959 and Quinn Archer in 1961. (I have always said, "When I count my earthly joys, I always start my list with boys.") Jerome worked for Ketchikan Pulp and Paper in Alaska as a Bushler (one who falls trees and is paid accordingly) for a few years, eventually going into the business in Washington for himself as a Contract Cutter and hiring other Bushlers to work with him. In 1959 we bought 5 acres out of town and in 1962 we bought our first home for $8,500 in the rural city of North Bend. In 1972 we began building a cedar home on the 5 acres we had purchased. In 1975 tragedy struck our family. A wind storm destroyed our home, took the life of my fourteen year old son Quinn, seriously injured Jerome and hurt Dane. Afterwards family and friends were there for us, as was the organization Compassionate Friends, but no one gets over the death of their children. We bought additional acreage in 1979 and Jerome built the house we are living in now. It is a Post and Beam home and I'm very proud of it. Always interested in local and regional politics, I became an active participant in North Bend city government. With the able and willing assistance of my family, I think we helped make North Bend a good place to live, work and play. In 2001 I received the Citizen Of The Year Award-yep, I'm proud of that. In 2001 my life changed when my brother Arthur Lee's daughter, Diane Lee, looked up the name WEIBLING on her computer. That led us to Denise Weibling Phillips and more Weiblings than we ever dreamed of. April 4th, 2002 Diane and I arrived in Kansas City, Kansas for the reunion of a lifetime. I AM SO PROUD TO BE PART OF THE WEIBLING FAMILY! Here's my Weibling line: Grandmother: Ada Arvilla Cowger Weibling b. in Robinson, KS-1882-1959 G-Grandfather: Joshua Leonard Weibling b. in Savannah, MO-1853-1924, buried in Robinson. G-Grandmother: Mary L. Glenn Weibling b.1848-1880, buried in Robinson, KS. {Mary Glenn was a sister to David Glenn. David married Joshua's sister Amanda.} GG-Grandfather: Charles Weibling b. in PA.-1823-1897, buried in Robinson, KS. GG-Grandmother: Louisa Blankenship Weibling b. in KY-1827-1895, buried in Robinson. (See Kansas Weibling Ancestor Photo) (More photos to come soon...) |
Story submitted by: JoAnn Marie Weibling Klacsan |
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