HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM ~ she was born 100 years ago

 
Today would have been my Mom’s 100^th birthday
 

I’ve written several posts about my Mom and Dad.  Her mother, Florence Bowden Milne was the genealogist in the family before me.  She, my grandma, left me many wonderful pieces of family information and photographs.

 

Here is a very brief bio of my Mom:

 

Patricia Anne Milne, born 3 Oct 1924, in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. Her parents were Joseph Albert Milne and Florence Lenora Bowden.  Pat was the fourth and last child born to her parents.  Her siblings were Dorothy Irene Milne (1907-1920), Robert Andrew Milne (1909-1969) and Joan Esther Milne (1915-1985).  All born in Detroit.

 

Being much younger than her siblings and having never met her sister, Dorothy, who died before my Mom was born, Pat grew up spending quite a bit of time to herself.  She inherited a love of books from her mother and spent a lot of time reading.  I’m thankful that gene was passed down to me as well. She and I would pass books back & forth after reading them.  We both love mysteries and history.

 

Pat always loved animals and passed that love to us as well.  

 

My Mom was married twice.  First to Harry Norman Gould 9 Apr 1949 and second to Joseph Edward Cornelius 12 Feb 1971.

She had 3 children – her oldest, John Whitney Zimmerman, then me, then my brother Harry Norman Gould, II.

 
We lost Mom on 12 Mar 2016, at age 91.
 
HAPPY HEAVENLY
BIRTHDAY MOM!
 
 
Her are some pictures of our Mom through the years.

Patricia as a baby, as a 2 yr old in 1926 with her sister, Joan and their mother and on the bench as a 2 yr old 

Left is Pat with her Mom - the other picture has Pat being shy with the camera, standing are Florence Hunter Bowden (her maternal grandmother), Joan, her sister, Susan Gillespie Milne, (her paternal grandmother), and her brother Robert

With her paternal grandmother Susan Gillespie Milne and the smaller girl is her first cousin Betty - the pic on the right standing, her mother, Florence, her maternal grandmother also Florence, here sister Joan and Pat in the front

Pat as a teenager - 14-15 yrs old

School pic on the left about age 14, photo booth photo in the middle and on the right is a picture of Pat when she was about 20 yrs old

1956 celebration of the 50th anniversary of Pat's parents
Left to right - Joseph Milne, Robert Milne, Florence Milne and Pat

3 generation photo - my Mom on the left, me and my grandmother Florence - about 1976

Pat - circa late 1970s

Christmas 2005 in Ramona, CA
L-R - Pat, Myriah, Norm & Joshua Gould, me and Melinda Davies Gould

Here we are, her 3 children, John, me and Norm - this is in 2006 when our half brother John W. Zimmerman came to meet us for the first time.  He had searched for his biological parents for 40 yrs. and finally located me via an old genealogy website.  We had always known he was out there somewhere and were thrilled to meet him.  He had a 10 yr relationship with our Mom before she passed away.

Here's Pat on her 90th birthday - 2014

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2024   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY'S TREASURES ~ What have I turned up during packing and unpacking?

There’s been a LOT of boxes packed and unpacked during our move from California to Montana. 

We had lived in our home in CA for 28 years. There were boxes in the garage that had been moved from our previous home together, my previous home before our marriage and Ron’s previous home.

Items that hadn’t been seen in decades.

One of the very best things for me, is finding photos I either hadn’t seen or don’t remember.

Here’s a blast from the past – circa 1970s to early 1980s

Left - Florence Bowden Milne - my maternal grandmother
Right - from L-R - Patricia Milne-my mother, Florence Milne-my grandmother,  me, Joan Milne-my Aunt

Left - Patricia Milne in the purple blouse and her sister Joan Milne in the sunglasses
Right - Me and My Mom at Disneyland

Left - Me playing my new piano    Right - My grandmother, Florence Milne's desk

To my knowledge those are the only photos in existence with my mother, Patricia Milne Gould Cornelius and her sister Joan Milne Morrison, as adults. Sadly, they were never close and did not stay in touch after 1957.  However, on this occasion I believe that my Aunt Joan traveled to Houston to visit their mother, Florence Milne (also shown in the photos).

I’m particularly pleased to have that shot of all four of us standing together. I had moved to Houston to live with my mother and stepfather in Dec 1972 and stayed until June 1974, when I returned to San Diego, CA.

I had always wanted to play the piano as a young girl.  When I was about 10 years old my parents rented a piano for a short while and I began taking lessons.  This photo of me is about 1980 when I purchased a beautiful Emerson upright grand piano and began taking lessons again.

The desk you see in the photo belonged to my maternal grandmother Florence Milne (shown in these photos) and is seen here in my mother’s home. That same desk sits directly behind me as I type this blog post.  It is a treasured possession.

These are just a small sample of what’s turned up during this moving process.  At this point I’m wondering if I will ever get through it all.  Will I ever get everything scanned?  It’s a big job, but I will try to tackle it a little at a time.

I’d love to hear about your finds if you’ve moved or acquired items from a loved one who’s gone now. 

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2024   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

TUESDAY’S TIP ~ Have you documented everything? Take another look at those closest to you

A screen shot from my Legacy 8 database - I have redacted the month and day of my parent's births just because of identity theft and my Mom's death being fairly recent

It will be one year, next month, since my mother died.  Of course, I think about her all the time.  But, this morning I looked at her entry in my Legacy 8 database and realized it was incomplete.
Not only did I not have her death certificate attached or cited, I didn’t even have it scanned in my digital folders.

Take a look at your own parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins and even spouses. 

• Have you documented them the same way you would a great grandparent or granduncle etc? 
• Have you cited all your sources and attached any images that pertain? 
• Or, did you just enter the information because you knew it?

I believe it takes all of us a while to be able to go to someone close to us and document the cold, hard facts.  At least that was true for me.  I had entered her date & place of death and burial and even the cause of death.  But, not the source citation that is necessary to complete the information.

This morning I completed that task.  My Mom was 91 when she died.  She didn’t have a good quality of life and had many ongoing health issues and daily pain.  She had been in assisted living for the last 4 1/2 years of her life.  We had so many conversations over the years.  I interviewed her about her life. I asked a multitude of questions (she would say too many).  I had her help me identify photos and peoples names.  I shared my research with her, even though sometimes she wasn’t that interested.
 
Funny thing about the genealogy research.  My grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne (my Mom’s mother), was a genealogist for most of her life.  She left me copious quantities of information about our family.  Of course I still have a LOT of unanswered questions.  But, her information gave me a heck of a start.
 
I think the genealogy bug skipped a generation though, because my Mom had absolutely no interest.  Sure, she would listen to me and answer my questions, when she was able to remember, but it wasn’t her favorite thing.  Her statement to me a couple of times was “why in the world do you care about all these dead people?”

Genealogy research is either something you “get” or you don’t “get.”  For those of us who do “get” it, we love finding those stories and chasing down those leads.

I am confident that I have documented and cited all the various entries for my Mom, my Dad, my sisters and my grandparents.  Have you?

Let me know if you’ve discovered the same kind of thing in your tree.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

How To Save A Book from Archive.org to Evernote or Your Computer

A Database or a Website?  What's the Difference?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

PHOTO FRIDAY ~ Who is this cute little baby? My Mom?

I’ve had this picture for many years.  It’s always been with the group of pictures I got from my maternal grandmother.  There are no identifying names or dates or photo studio names on this photo.  On the reverse side of the picture is a hand written number, 6041.  That same number is on the upper right corner of the frame.
 
I don’t have any pictures of my mother when she was that young.  The earliest photos I have of her are from about age 2.  She had two older sisters and a brother.  The oldest sister, Dorothy Irene Milne, died before my mother was born and I know this is not her, as I have baby pictures of her and this is not that baby.  I don’t think it could be my Mom’s other sister, Joan Esther Milne, because of the facial features.  I know it’s not her brother, Robert Andrew Milne, because he looks totally different in his baby pictures.  So, is it my mother?
 
We can’t just say “this is a picture of whoever” without knowing for sure, or having some kind of evidence.  That’s my conundrum right now.

A little background info:  My mother was born in 1924, so this picture dates to that time if it is her.  Her siblings were born in 1907, 1909 and 1915.
   
I am going to share other pictures of my Mom at various ages, below, and allow you to chime in with your comments and conclusions.
 

1926-my Mom is in the middle, about age 2.  Her sister, Joan on the left and their mother on the right	My Mom - age 3-4
My Mom - age 2	My Mom as a teenager
My Mom about age 15	My Mom - about age 21

My Mom always had that cute little turned up nose. She had brown hair and brown eyes.  Of course, most caucasian babies are born with light eyes that change later on.

As always, thanks for your comments and opinions.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION