First off I must say, I had a dickens of a time with these pictures for some reason, so my disclaimer is to enjoy them as they are, and I will attempt to keep fixing them. They just wouldn't cooperate. Enjoy the Ancestor Flashback today......
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| George Leroy, Ida, and my Dad David |
George (My Grandad)
was born on the 18th
of October 1911 in Deshler, Thayer County, Nebraska, to William Henry
Houseman and Louisa Catherine Suiter.
George,
whom I will hereafter refer to as Grandad, was the second youngest of
13 children, and the last living of them all. He lived a long life
of 94 years and 3 months. I can’t imagine the changes he must have
seen in his life span. From horses and buggies, one room schools, to
the age of computers and travel that we live in today.
At
a Houseman reunion held in Brooks, in July of 1995, this
brief history of Grandad was related as a tribute by his grandson
Mark Senecal.
George
was born on the 18th
of October 1911 in Deshler, Thayer County, Nebraska, and lived there
until he moved to Canada in 1929. He was milking cows and doing many
chores before he even started school, and he started school at the
age of four. He didn’t quite finish high school because his
father, William Henry, died and he and his brother Hank had to
operate the farm for two years before he moved to Canada. When he
was a child he remembers that to get money to buy groceries they
milked the cows, then separated the cream, and sold the cream. This
was their grocery money.
George
first came to Canada in 1929 with a brother, Raymond, and some of
their neighbors. They rode in a box car with all the animals and
farm equipment, and household furnishings. They had a set of
bedsprings tied to the roof of the boxcar that he slept in with a
friend. One night the wires broke and they fell down onto the
tractor below.
When
asked why they chose Brooks, Alberta, to homestead, it was because
they were interested in buying irrigated farmland from the rail road
company. They bought this land for $60 per acre.
Raymond
moved his family to Brooks, in the fall of 1929.
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| Hank, Grace and George, sorry for the sizing of this pic. It was being pretty stubborn |
Hank
and George with their mom and Grace (a sister) came to Brooks to stay
in the spring of 1930. They brought with them a couple of cows and
calves, some farm machinery and some household furnishings.
George
took his mother home in 1936 to be buried, and returned with Henry
and Rose Albers, a sister and her husband, and their animals and
property.
He
met Ida Bender when she was working for Raymond and Myrtle, doing
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| Grandad, Grandma and their three kids. |
housework for them. They were married on the 9th
of October 1936 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Ida was born in Schuler,
Alberta, Canada on the 3rd
of January 1919. They bought the farm from Raymond in 1943. And
after farming the land for 47 years, they retired to Duchess,
Alberta. George will be turning 84 in October of 1995.
Some
of my own memories I
have of Grandad and Grandma, first start of course when we all lived
out at the farm in One Tree District. They lived in a three bedroom
house, which still stands today, and we lived in a home on the same
farm, which has since been moved off. As kids, I remember spending
quite a bit of time at their house, since it was just next door. We
loved to be with Grandma and she would always feed us. Even today
she always wants to be the perfect host and is always offering to
find food or drink for us. She was always especially good at giving
us vitamins, which most of us still faithfully take to this day.
I
remember Grandad being a really hard worker. And of course on the
farm, there were always many things that needed to be done. I think
the work was never ending. We would ride along to take Dad and
Grandad dinner out in the field, because they only could stop the
tractor long enough to stick some food in their mouths, and let us
kids play up in the tractor for a few minutes, and then they would be
back at it, until late at night.
Grandad
had always been a small man, physically, but a giant of a man inside.
He has an attitude of work until it is done, and even then work
some more. He has been a wonderful Grandad and has always gotten
pleasure from his grandchildren and even great grandchildren.
Due
to his hard work and Grandma’s healthy eating and fabulous home
cooking, Grandad has always been one of the most physically fit
people I have known, the next being my own Dad who is just like his
own Dad. Even up until his passing, I marvelled at his overall
health and physical fitness of his body.
Grandad
and Grandma spent some time at my home in B.C. in the summer of 1994,
and then in the summer of 1995. Their objective was to pick
blackberries and make jam. It was great fun to spend time with them
and still see Grandad’s excitement with picking blackberries. I
think this is another hereditary trait in our family. Now for any of
you who know what blackberries are like, you’ll understand the
thorns and vines and what a nasty, tangled, mess it is to pick these
berries. Well, Grandad had his coveralls, gloves, hat, and boots on,
with belt around waist, bucket attached to belt, and a step ladder
trailing behind for hard to reach places, and bush clippers to cut
his way back into the thick of the bush, where the best berries
usually are. He meant serious business.
From his funeral:
George Leroy Houseman
Born October 18,
1911 in Deshler, Thayer County, Nebraska, and passed away on January
16, 2006. Grandad was 94 years old.
Grandad
was the second youngest child, but youngest son of thirteen children,
born to William Henry Houseman and Louisa Catherine Suiter. He was
the last to pass away. He started school when he was four years old,
but that wasn’t the first of his education. He was trained well in
the art of milking cows, and doing chores on the farm and around the
house. He wasn’t able to finish school because his father passed
away and he and his older brother Henry or Uncle Hank as most of us
know him, had to run the farm for two years before they made their
move to Canada.
Grandad and Raymond
made their first trip to Canada in 1929 to check out the
possibilities of farming here. Land was selling for $60 per acre.
Raymond moved here to Brooks in the fall of 1929 with his family, and
Grandad, Hank and their mother moved here in the spring of 1930,
bringing with them a few cows, some machinery, and household things.
In 1936 when
Grandad’s mother died he returned to Hebron to have her buried
there with his father, and returned with another sister, Rose and her
husband.
He
met Grandma in 1936 when she was working for Raymond doing housework
for them. They were married on the 9th
of October in 1936 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. They bought the farm
out at One Tree, from Raymond in 1943 and farmed there for 47 years.
They retired to Duchess where they spent the next 12 years, until
Grandad’s health needed them to be closer to help, and they moved
into Brooks where Grandma still resides today.
Grandma
and Grandad have three children, David, Lila, and Dory, with 17
grandchildren, and __lots of __ great grandchildren, and 4 (at the time) great great
grandchildren.
Here
is a story related by Bea Behnke about a time when they came to visit
the relatives up in Canada.
I
was probably about 9 when Mom and Dad (along with me) decided to go
to Canada to visit George and Hank's families. We didn't write or
call - we just drove up from
Nebraska! Guess Mom and Dad figured they'd be home since they were
farming. We arrived in Brooks on Saturday evening after dark - I
think around 9:00 - 9:30. Since we had no idea where either George or
Hank lived, Dad stopped in town and asked the first person he met if
they could tell him where Hank or Shorty
Houseman
lived. This guy said that he had just seen Hank in town a few minutes
ago, so they took off to find him. He and Dorothy were both in town,
so they were the
first ones surprised. We followed Hank and Dorothy out to George and
Ida's with a plan for when we arrived. Dad went to the door by
himself (of course it was dark out) and when George came to the door,
Dad said he was looking for work and was told in town that George was
probably needing some help on the farm.
Well
- George had been napping on the "Chesterfield" (a new word
for me...) when Ida saw two cars drive in and pull up in the dark -
(Uncle Hank didn't want them to see
his car and recognize
it right away.) So she of course, woke up Uncle George. There had
been a murder in a town not too terribly far from Brooks and the
murderer had not been found and just before he had fallen asleep, the
radio had announced that there was a chance that the suspect was in
the area of Brooks and the surrounding towns.
So - the two cars, in the dark shadows - spooked him - when he went
to the door, he quickly put the hook across and latched the screen
door at the same time Dad
reached to open it and ask for work. Dad was quickly told that "No"
- Uncle George didn't need any help.....but Uncle George also
noticed two figures in the shadows
- Uncle Hank and my Mom - who wanted to hear the conversation. Dad
used to call Uncle George "Governor" when he was younger
and so he repeated his request,
this time calling him Governor, instead of George. He still didn't
catch on. Then my Mom stepped up and tried to get involved in the
conversation about a job and he didn't recognize her or her voice
either - still being in the dark and shadows, and still that one
figure that he could see, (Uncle Hank) was standing back farther.
Finally, after getting a little concerned, Uncle Hank stepped up and
said "Come on, Shorty, let 'em in." Course he recognized
that voice. What a great reunion that was. Aunt Ida probably knows
how long it had been since they had seen each other, but I think the
last time may have been when Grandma Houseman died in 1936.
I
was just 6 weeks old then. I don't know if George and Hank had been
back to Nebraska since then or not.....but if not, it would have been
almost 10 years since they had
seen each other.
The
first Houseman Reunion - at Yellowstone - what an experience that had
to be for the Houseman siblings. All the cooking was basically done
outside on the open fire. I always picture Uncle George getting the
fire ready. Everybody brought lots of food from home - my Mom and Dad
brought bacon, ham and eggs, along with a HUGE griddle to cook
on....and the California relatives brought so much fruit!!!! Uncle
George brought lots of meat, too, I remember. I'm sure that all of
us cousins are grateful that the Reunions got started - otherwise, we
would have not known each other very well, as the miles had taken
many of the first generation in lots of different directions and
visits
were few and far between.
Since
we spend the winters in Sun City, Arizona, we get to see more of
George and Lila since they come to Sun City Grand, Arizona. The last
time Uncle George and Aunt
Ida were in Arizona, they helped me celebrate my birthday in
February. We've got some good photos of that evening and I'll
remember his smiling face from that time.....good times!!!! Our
oldest son, Michael, shares the same October 17 birthday as Uncle
George.
The
other thing I remember hearing my Mom talk about many times,
according to the letters she would get from Grandma Houseman after
they went to Canada and particularly
the year before she passed away, she wrote that she was being well
taken care of......and George did without things that he needed, to
make sure that she had what she needed. Mom said it was hard to see
them go to Canada, but she was proud of her younger brothers (George
and Hank, both) and grateful that their Mother was being well cared
for.
Thoughts shared
by Hollis Grone:
I
don't have any particular story to tell about Uncle George except
that when I was a little shaver he had come back to Nebraska to husk
corn for my Dad. It was a cold season and he had come down stairs
where we had no heat. Mom used a cook stove
in which she burned corn cobs and wood.
Uncle George opened the oven door and sat down on it and the door
broke. It took a little time for him to live that one down. I
remember when my Mother, Bertha was in the nursing home that Uncle
George and Aunt Ida came all the way down here to visit her. They
came in their camper and parked by the nursing home so they could
spend time with Mom. I thought that was really considerate of them.
Thoughts from Sheldon Houseman
Almost
every time I try to think of something about him it has to do with
berries. Him and his garden in Duchess, the raspberries in
particular. I realize now how little I knew him, and really never did
get to know him like I would have liked to. His smile and his laugh
are the only other things that I can say were unique to him, and that
I will miss.
