Saturday Night Entertainment: Big Noses in Encanto

Dad Currey and his nephew and niece* were having some fun in our backyard in Encanto, probably in 1950. The tree in the background is a huge avocado.

[From my personal collection]

These images make me smile so I'm posting them even though the color is terrible.



*Nancy Lee Peterson (1937-1974) and Charles Frederick Peterson (1940-2008) were the children of Dad's youngest sister Marguerite and her first husband.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Memento Mori: James Robert Strait 1949 - 2017

Cousin Jimmy* is the little guy being held up by his half-sister Nancy Lee Peterson (1937-1974), while I'm standing next to Jimmy's half-brother Charles Frederick "Freddie" Peterson, Jr. (1940-2008) in this photo taken sometime in 1950.

[Photo taken on the front lawn of the Currey grandparents' house on 69th Street from my personal collection.]

Jimmy lived across the street and was my most constant playmate until his family moved to Arkansas in 1961 and we lost touch completely. Last year I traced his residence to Virginia and passed the information on to a cousin who had hoped to make contact. This morning I decided to see if there was anything more to learn about him and found this:

James “Jim” Robert Strait, 67, USN, Ret., died suddenly at Lake of the Woods, April 16, 2017. Survivors include a son, two daughters and five grandchildren. 

I shared this sad news with Dad's nephew and his son today.

May you rest in peace Jimmy.



*He was the youngest child of Dad's sister Marguerite and her second husband Roy Strait.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Trip to Oregon 1954 - June 7th

Here's Mother's entry for the first day of our trip to Oregon. (Note: Mother's spelling was never her strongest point, not was it Dad's either.)

And Kodachrome slides we can connect to the events of the day.

[Dad's caption: Margurite, Dad, Freddy, Mother Poncheti Min

Pat Jimmy

Start on Trip 1954]

Back row, left to right: Dad's youngest sister Marguerite Helen Currey (1913-1999), his father Delbert Artimus Currey (1869-1954), Marguerite's son by her first husband, Freddy (Charles Frederick Peterson, Jr. 1940-2008), Dad's mother Ethel Viola Plank (1882-1961), neighbor Bernard Ponchetti (1907-1994), and Mother Bernice Evangeline Grenfell (1902-1979). I'm standing next to Marguerite younger son Jimmy** who lived across the street and was my constant playfellow.

Our first night was spent at Doheny State Beach (98 miles away). It's likely the photo below was taken while Mother was napping as Dad always most of the pictures.

[Dad's caption: Pat Dohney State Park 1954]

*Mother hated being called Min though Dad never let that stop him. And all those people were close neighbors--notice how far away she placed herself from her in-laws with a empty space and Mr. Ponchetti as insulation.
**As far as I can tell Jimmy is the only other person in this photo who's still alive so I'm not sharing any personal information about him.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday:

The happy couple pictured here on their wedding day in 1933 are Dad's youngest sister Marguerite Helen Currey (1913-1999) and her first husband Charles Frederick "Carl" Peterson (1895-1979).

[From my personal collection]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Currey/Conner

This group posing in the garden on a sunny day in the summer of 1954 includes (left to right) Eben Conner (1901-1960), his step-mother Florence Hilda Peterson (1879-1968), his wife Ada Winifred Couzens (1904-1971) and the sanding man on the right is his father Calvin Marion Conner (1875-1958). Seven-year-old me at the center of the photo in front of Bernice Evangeline Grenfell (1902-1980) and on my left is Harold Delbert Currey (1902-1981)--the parents who raised me.

Every summer that we went to Oregon we always visited the Conners who were supposed to have some family connection to the Curreys but it was never explained to me and I haven't been able to verify the story but Dad's photo album from the 1910s has photos of various Conners.

[From my personal collection]

Looking at this picture now, I can see that we Southern Californians were dressed in brighter colors than the Oregon residents. Mother, whose hair is obviously recovering from a home perm, is wearing a mustard-colored dress that she had sewn using a narrow-wale corduroy and adding Navajo silver buttons bought on our trip to South Dakota the year before. I'm pretty sure she's pinned this Mexican silver broach to her collar; it was a favorite of hers.

[From my personal collection]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.