Dear Jack: #54 - Oregon then, and then, and now.

I mentioned in this previous post that my Dad, Mom, sister and I used to go to Oregon in the summers when I was a kid. We would stay with family on their dairy farm in the Tualatin Valley near Gaston, and enjoy life out in the country for a week or two.

ArcGis maps showing farm location

We tried to milk the cows, collected eggs from the hay bales, swam in a pond, played with distant cousins - you know... vacation farm life. And I loved it (except when I was 3 and stepped in the poop gutter behind the cows with my new shoes on. Or when our parents drove away from a gas station while my sister and I were buying comic books - ah ... family vacations). Since catching up with some of those cousins through Facebook and these posts, I found out that it was apparently very exciting for them when the "Canadians" were coming, too. They looked forward to it apparently as much as we did.

We normally stayed with Uncle George and Aunty Gladys - cousins of my grandmother. They were brother and sister, neither of whom ever married and were part of my great grandmother's brother, Alec's family. Alec had moved to Oregon from Scotland in 1908, and married his wife, Nellie (Helen) when she immigrated in 1909. They went on to have 7 children - 5 girls and 2 boys. After having 5 girls, having their first boy (Alexander) must have been a surprise.

Helen Hacket's (Alec's mother-in-law) bible showing the births of all the Steele children - 5 girls and then 2 boys.

Alexander Steele's birth announcement in the Newberg Graphic, March 30, 1922, p.4

Alec and Nellie Steele with their children - 5 girls and 2 boys. Alec is in the middle, Nellie on the left, Uncle George is to the right of Alec and Aunty Gladys beside him. The tall one on the end is Alexander. Ca. 1940.

Aunty Gladys is in the middle of this photo, I think George is behind her to the right. Ca. 1945.

Uncle Alec was an elderly man when I met him. I know for certain we went to Oregon in 1971, when I was almost 3, and in 1972. He died in 1973 when I was 4. We might have gone in 1970, too. I remember him having one of those little tins that made a "moo" sound when you turned it upside down. And I remember being scared of him (as I was of most elderly people when I was that young). All that he had done in his life was unknown to me as a child. He was just "uncle Alec".

Uncle Alec (Alexander Steele), ca. 1972

In the summer of 2019, my husband and I decided we should take a summer vacation with our 15-year-old son. We probably wouldn't have too many more opportunities to travel as a family because he was growing up so fast - not knowing what would be hitting us about 6 months later with Covid. Being in the museum field as well as a fan of cheese, my husband suggested that on our trip through the Pacific Northwest, we should visit the Tillamook cheese factory and maybe stay over in McMinnville where Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose now resides.

These two destinations appealed to me as Tillamook isn't far from the Oregon coast - a place I absolutely fell in love with as a kid - a spiritual restoration spot for me.

Me (left) and my sister at Beverly Beach, OR, in 1978.

My Dad, me, Nancy, Beth, David and Lana - kin from Oregon who we hung out with at the beach.

Me (left) at Cannon Beach, OR, in 2019 - 41 years later with better technology.

And, of course, when he said McMinnville, I saw the opportunity to connect with my past as well as look into this side of the family. I was very excited.

First thing one morning in McMinnville, I went to the Yamhill-Carlton Cemetery, to pay my respects. It took a few minutes to find them, but there were many names I recognized - Thies, Wilson, Collins ... and Steele. Uncle George who had shared his farm with us so many times. And Aunty Gladys who kept us fed while we were there. Two siblings who just never found a life partner other than each other. Who took their father in after their mother died. Who lived on that land for pretty much all of their life.

George Steele's headstone (d. 2012)

Gladys Steele's headstone (d. 1997)

Hubby and son went to see the Spruce Goose, I went to the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center in McMinnville. They sent me to the Historic Lafeyette Site in Lafayette, OR, where the Research Library was held (they are currently moving the Research Library to the Valley Heritage Center in McMinnville which will be more centralized).

The folks at the research centre were great. They shared their obituary files with me.

Sad to find out that Nancy had died 2 years ago.

Already knew that George and Gladys had passed away, but I hadn't seen this face in 40 years. I would not have recognized him.

I was shocked to find out that Nancy had passed. I still remembered her as the young mother in the photo above, of course, but she was 72 when she passed away. I am well beyond the age she was when I knew her.

A lovely volunteer at the family research centre also showed me a 1942 map as I was interested to see if I could find the farm that we spent so many summers visiting.