In addition to my grandmother’s wedding book, I also am the custodian of the register created at her funeral. I will also post all the pages, with comments when I feel may be relevant. The pages on the seventh and eighth scan are blank.

I do not know why these were not filled in. I do know that Mom always said that Dad was very close to his mother, perhaps it was just too hard.

In addition to my grandmother’s wedding book, I also am the custodian of the register created at her funeral. I will also post all the pages, with comments when I feel may be relevant. My sixth scan shows very little information.

My father’s family have been laid to rest in Maple Hill Cemetery, Cadillac, Wexford County, Michigan. Block 18, lot 7 was purchased on 29 July 1936 by my grandparents. I am not sure why they got it at that time, but I do have the original deed, which shows that date. This is a thumbnail, you may click it to enlarge the document.

I also can show that my grandmother paid for perpetual care on the lot in in 1952.

I do remember the day of the funeral, which was held at the First Congregational Church, Cadillac, Michigan, which our family attended. I remember asking my Dad why he wasn’t working, since my six year old mind knew a funeral was his job. He just sadly said that someone else was working for him today. I don’t remember another thing about that day, except sitting in the back alcove of the sanctuary. I couldn’t tell you who was there, I have no memories of seeing anyone.

The minister, Rev Wesley Purschbacker, was a good friend of my father’s. He was the pastor of the Episcopalian church in Cadillac, I have no idea why he served as the minister for Grandma’s funeral.

In the front, a poem, and the basic facts of my grandmother’s life and death.

In Memory
Winnie Alice Kaiser Yearnd
Place of birth Cadillac, Mich

Date of Birth July 19, 1885
Deceased
Date December 10, 1957
Place Cadillac, Michigan

I do not know who wrote this information in the book, the handwriting is not that of my Mother or Father.

I do remember being told about my Grandma’s death. The story is a simple one, of my parents glancing at each other over my shoulder, and seeming quite uncomfortable. They really didn’t need to worry, death was a comfortable companion of this undertaker’s child. Years later, my mother told me that I was the last person who saw my grandmother alive. Perhaps she met the last family member.

I was allowed to visit Sweetie only when Pauline was there. Pauline was a cleaning lady who worked for grandma, and later my family. I remember her better than I remember my grandma, since she was around through my teen years. I know that if I visited Sweetie, it was Pauline’s day. According to Winnie’s death certificate, she died at 5 p.m. on 10 December 1957, of coronary thrombosis, one hour after the event. She was 72 years, 4 months and 21 days old. Perhaps I was there visiting there that day, if Tuesday was Pauline’s day.

In addition to my grandmother’s wedding book, I also am the custodian of the register created at her funeral. I will also post all the pages, with comments when I feel may be relevant. Here are my first two scans, the cover and the first two pages.

This page brings memories for me, since this book came from my father’s funeral home. You can click on the thumbnails to see the full size scans.

Until about a year after Grandma’s death, our family lived over the funeral home my father ran at 115 Stimson Street, Cadillac, Michigan; with the Baptist church on one side, and C.L. Bendle Memorials, who sold and engraved of tombstones on the other. Currently, a addition to the First Baptist church occupies the property where father’s first funeral home stood. My brother and I took enforced naps during funerals. I now know this was to prevent distracting footsteps from disrupting the services. I remember sitting quietly on the floor at my bedroom window at the front of the house and watching people enter and leave by the front door. Many waved at me, and I waved back.

I am posting every page of my grandparents little wedding register, even though there is not genealogical information on every page. I am proud to own it, and am carefully considering who should have custody when I leave this world. These are the last 3 scans in the series.

I have enjoyed reading this little book and sharing it with you. I especially enjoyed the poems and the wonderful illustrations. I hope my readers have enjoyed it, too.

This page contains the last of the genealogical information in my grandmother’s little wedding book.

“Married at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, 1908. Set at 7:10 for Grand Rapids, Remained over night at “The Morton” and left next day for Detroit. Returned home Monday, April 13th and began keeping house at 449 E. Cass St.”

Here is a news clipping.

The train must have been the “seven-ten”. It sounds like there was a mess on the platform after the train departed. There is a discrepancy in the account, the writer for the newspaper must have assumed a trip of a week, when it was really a long weekend jaunt.

I find it interesting that the couple went to Detroit. My grandfather was a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received a law degree in 1905. His parents were residents of Howell, Michigan where he was born. I wonder if William and Winnie visited his parents while on their trip? I wonder if his parents were not able to come to Cadillac for the wedding, for reasons of health or finances? I don’t believe that William and Winnie were estranged from the family, since he was the executor of his father’s estate in July, 1911.

I am posting the pages from my paternal grandmother’s wedding book. The little book has given me a little window into one event that shaped the the lives of some members of my family. These pages do not contain any genealogical information, but are of interest as a part of the whole. So, without further comment, my scans 15-18. You may click the thumbnails if you wish to view the text and beautiful illustrations.