Saturday, July 25, 2015

Grandma Hoenshell

Yesterday, while glancing through some old photos that Julee had sent, I found this brief excerpt from a family history written by Julee's father (Jean's brother-in-law), Lee Blair. It's about Jean and June's maternal grandmother, Grandma Hoenshell.

"1940.  One of the great things about dating June was picking her up for a date, and being entertained by her Grandma Hoenshell while I was waiting for her. She always wanted to entertain me. At this time she was in her 70's, a slender gray-haired lady of true delight. She was raised on a farm, and had this story of coming back from town in a wagon with a load of pigs and going in a ditch and falling off. The pigs scattered everywhere. I heard this story almost every time I arrived at 1805 Commonwealth in Alhambra, and later when they moved to 1812 Pepper Street, just a couple of blocks away. She was such a great sport, and after we were married and we ate at a restaurant somewhere, she would always say at the end of the meal, "Well, that was worth a quarter!", and then "Lee, you forgot some money", referring to the tip."

"She was so proud of her beautiful daughter in Holton, Kansas. Mother Charles - Jessie - WAS a looker, and very popular in High School. However, Grandma Hoenshell spoiled her a lot, especially since she became a truly accomplished pianist."

"Grandma had mild stomach problems (always taking some slight medicine), but lived to be 90 and died in 1951. I remember her nose always had a patch of adhesive on the bridge of it - she had had cancer and it left a hole there which she always covered. June inherited this tendency and had cancer there in her midlife."


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