OMA AND OPA
For as long as I can remember Oma and Opa lived either with our family or very near our house. Oma - Jannegie Wilhelmina (Kuiters) Van Emmerik was born on December 10, 1896 in Dordrecht, Holland. This was one amazing lady and I will forever be in awe of her life and accomplishments. While living in Holland she won the lottery and with the money purchased a small store where she made a good living for her family. At her store she had a reputation of having the best pickles in town. Oma had five children; Johannes Hendrikus, Roelof, Pieternella Elizabeth (my mom), and twin boys Pieter and Paulus Arie. Oma was the best grandmother a child could have!! She was very loving, very giving of her time and money, had a wonderful fun sense of humor, and was a very independent woman. I remember my grandmother working as a house cleaner for some very wealthy families who absolutely loved her. After coming to America she wanted to be a citizen of this great country and on August 15, 1963 she took the oath of becoming a citizen of the United States. She live a very full life and enjoyed going to Wendover to play the slots. Oma died Sepember 26, 1983 at the age of 86 in Sandy, Utah. I feel sad to say that I don't really know to many personal things about Opa. Opa - Paulus Arie Van Emmerik was born April 13, 1894 in Dordrecht, Holland and after coming to America he too became a citizen of the United States November 18, 1954. He was a quiet man that keep to himself and loved watching boxing. I remember taking walks with Opa to places like getting my haircut. Once he was taking me and John to get our hair cut at the barber college on about 500 South and 400 East and we crossed the street as the traffic was coming. Opa held his arms out straight and yelled out for the cars to take it easy in dutch as they honked and swerved past us. I don't remember being scared but I knew we weren't suppose to be crossing the street at that time. We also looked for bottles along the way and then turned them in at a small grocery store and gave us 2 cents for each one. Those were the days!!! Opa died June 4, 1966 at the age of 72 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Pictured left to right
back row: Pieter, wife Nellie, Joan, husband Paul, Piet, wife Sunny
middle row: Casey, Barbara, Paulus (Opa), wife Jannejie (Oma), John, Mary
OMA AND OPA HOLLAND
Oma Holland - Barbara (Voster) Van Wijngaarden was born August 20, 1892 in Dordrecht, Holland. She was a very sweet woman that was able to come to America to see her family a few times. She came once and I remember she and my mother sewing clothes for me and my sister. We use to receive wonderful packages from Holland many times filled with chocolates, candies and of course salted black licorice which was our families favorite treat. She would also put small trinkets in the packages for all the children. Oma Holland had four children; Abraham Corenlis, Bastiaantje Jeanne, Pieter (my father) and Barbara. Oma Holland died July 1, 1983 in Dordrecht, Holland. Opa Holland - Cornelis Johannes Van Wijngaarden was born January 5, 1891 in Dordrecht, Holland. He was a stocky man that smoked a cigar. Opa Holland died on July 11, 1972 in Dordrecht Holland.I wish I knew more about them and I can see now how important it is to ask family members about their lives before it is to late.
left to right
TOP ROW: Bastiaantje Jeanne, Arie, Barbara, Lane, Nellie, Pieter, Mart and Abraham Corenlis, SECOND ROW: Jon, Case, Robert
THIRD ROW: Joanne, Oma Holland (Barbara) Opa Holland (Cornelis) and John
SITTING: Mary, Barbara, Barbara
Yes, that makes four Barbara in this picture!!
2 comments:
Post a Comment