Vickie Metcalfe sent me the email she sent you about my mother, Jean Metcalfe. There were a couple of errors, so I thought I would change a few things and re-send it to you. If you need any further information, please let me know.
off the top of my head memory.
When her father, William passed away in the summer of 1935, Jean moved into Dunseith with her mom and attended grade school and began high school there. One of her best friends was Donna Aitchison whom she corresponded with for years.
During the war, Her brothers, Cliff ( US Navy) and Emil US army), purchased a house with/for my grandmother in Seattle. In the early 40′s, Grandma Rose and Jean moved from Dunseith to Seattle where they lived.
Jean graduated from high school in Seattle in 1947 and was married to Waino Maki, I believe in 1949.
Waino who was 100 % Finnish decent, was actually born in upper peninsula Michigan and named Willard Makinen ( another birth certificate error.) During the war, he was called Waino Maki and after never changed his name back because of all the paperwork hassle.
Aunt Jean was the mom of Dianne Wynn ( Maki) Reed b. Feb. 1956 and Eric Wayne Maki b. Sept. 1962.
Jean was a a doting aunt. A homemaker who decorated her home in warm country colors and the coffee pot and cookies always fresh. Her house always smelled wonderful. She smelled floral when she enveloped you in her warm arms. She was a big woman with style. One time, she amusingly said, her daughter’s opera voice teacher called her” a handsome woman” . Jean was a family connector. She also was fond of telling stories about her school days and friends in Dunseith.
Jean lived her entire married life about 6 houses down from her older sister, Leona (Metcalfe) Oswell in (Shoreline) ie. North Seattle. Uncle Waino passed away in June of 2003. Jean and Waino are buried together at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.
Her daughter Dianne lives in Monroe and became a teacher. Dianne continues to connect with the ND cousins. What specific information
would you like. I can delve into my genealogy box or contact her daughter, Dianne.
Thanks for asking about Jean. I loved her. Until Later. as ever. VICKIE
–
Vickie L. Metcalfe
I found some more lake pictures and remembered some crazy things that
happened up there. Dad and Cliff were always pulling tricks on each
other, especially when one or the other was on the skis and the other
was driving the boat. We had a “surf board”, we called it, it was a
piece of plywood with a rope attached to the boat and another rope for
the person to hold on to when riding. This was real good to teach
someone to ski before they actually tried the skis. One time it was
hooked to the boat and Cliff said, “Donald, jump on and we’ll go once
around the lake.” This was after Dad had become a good waterskier so it
wouldn’t seem to be much of a challenge. Now this board was meant to be
ridden SLOWLY, but as soon as we left the dock, Cliff said to me, “hang
on, we’re gonna give him a ride.” Cliff took off and Dad was doing his
best to stay with it, and was, until we got to the south shore and Cliff
turned real sharp. Dad was bouncing over the wake and flew off. The
surfboard went up in the air and then caught the water and went down
until it hit the muddy bottom and being it was attached to the rope,
which was attached to the boat, the boat stopped in just a few feet and
Cliff and I slammed into the dash at about 30 MPH. We sat there,
stunned, while Dad was having a laugh! I remember Cliff pulled the rope
and pulled us back until we were right above the board, and he really
had to pull hard to get the board out of the mud!
Those of you who were at our old cabin, will probably remember that my
mom, Bernice, never drove the boat. There is a reason! One morning Dad
talked her into learning to drive so he could ski. I was still to young
to drive. They went around the bay and I could hear them talking, over
the sound of the motor. As they were coming in toward the dock, Dad
said, “OK pull the lever back.” No change. “Pull it back”! No change! I
took off from the dock just as they hit the shore, WIDE OPEN!! The boat
flew through the air and landed up in front of the cabin with the engine
screaming . Dad shut the key off and said, “I said pull it back”! Mom
was bawling and said, ” I was pulling it back”! Dad said, “Not that
lever, the other one”! She was pulling on the gearshift, not the
throttle! He never asked her to drive again! I got a bit older and I
drove. The picture below was taken at Lake Metigoshe on my eighth
birthday in 1958, when they gave me a new pair of waterskis that were
made for kids. I learned to ski that day and learned to slalom {sp} on
my thirteenth birthday in1963. I also tried to barefoot a couple years
later and made it about 20 feet before I took a tumble. I could hear my
buddies in the boat ,laughing, as I was running on the water just before
the lights went out!! The other people in the picture are Dad, Shirley Warcup,
Myrtle Olson, Hans Johnson {sitting on dock}, and Henry Olson { on right
}. Thanks Gary!
Dick
