An Almost Famous Person (AFP) Barbara Bernert Keyser

Barbara Keyser was a special person.  Unfortunately I never got to meet her husband (that I recall) but know they led interesting lives.


HER HUSBAND JACK's EARLY YEARS.
I know little about Jack, but I see in his son  his father's love for tinkering and making reuse of many things.  Being a farmer, Jack no doubt found it advantageous to repair machines that had hiccuped.  He also was a builder, of their home and other structures that met their needs.

A member of the family had a Hillman Minx -- a rare car.   Hillmans were manufactured in Britain and imported to the US in a "foreign invasion" of our GM, Ford and Chrysler dominated market.

BARBARA'S EARLY YEARS:'
Barbara's father, Christian (or Crist) Bernert, came to America in 1906 from Hungary with his wife Julia Roff Bernert and their children Elizabeth and Peter.  Three years later in 1909 the family returned to Hungary.  While in Panscova, Austria-Hungary, their daughter was born...Barbara (Barbala) Rose Bernert (later Keyser) on July 26, 1909, a Leo astrologically.  When she was almost 4, Barbara emigrated with her family to New York, America, on the Ship Ivernia.  This must have been quite an experience for a young girl.

Barbara's father ultimately worked as a Tool and Die Maker for Ford Motor Company and joined the Teamsters.  He also worked for Hercules Tool and Die in Warren, MI when they made and sold generators to the U. S. Army.  At one point the Teamsters, who were communist leaning, had Christian signed up to go to Russia with the Teamsters group; they were to be paid in Rubles.  Crist decided he did not want to go; five of those who did "disappeared" in Russia.  Christian was friendly with Walter Reuther (President of the UAW from 1946-1970).  Many Teamsters attended the funeral of Barbara's father, Christian.

'''BARBARA'S ADULT YEARS:'''

Barbara loved orchids.  A hobby and fascination that has been passed down to her son and daughter-in-law who both have many lovely orchids hanging from the limbs of their trees.

Barbara Keyser died October 22, 2003 following a good day and following enjoying ice cream for dinner.  Her heart simply stopped even though she wore a pacemaker for several years.  She was cremated and buried alongside her husband Jack at Evergreen Cemetery in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Barbara died in Melbourne, FL, near the home of her son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  Barbara also received many visits from my dad until he passed away before her.  She missed his visits very much.  Barbara was SO much like my own grandmother Alice Southworth Healey that it was amusing to see the similarities.  If they were not of the same generation, I would have wondered if one was a reincarnation of the other!  Nice.

Barbara is an "AFP" (Almost Famous Person).   Barbara worked for a period of time for a corporate lawyer, who became a good friend of the family. In 1945 she had Roger and stayed home about one year. Grant and Johnny, her stepsons, were living with her and Jack. Their lawyer friend visited with Jack and Barbara regarding land in Vermont which was very inexpensive. Jack loved it and moved the family to Vermont in one week - a sizable feat! Their first Vermont home had a little gas station on the land in Colchester Vermont, Jack built the garage. This was a 4 bedroom house. They were able to have boarders and Barbara used to bake pies for restaurants (and for boarders). Then she got a job with an insurance company in Essex. Her boss was a State Senator. Barbara, having lived in Colchester for a mere 3 years was elected as the Town Clerk, a position she held for 17 years. She was the first woman in Vermont to be a Town Clerk - an Almost Famous Person!

At one point she and Jack bought a farm and traded all the farm machinery to buy a grocery store (Keyser's IGA) in Colchester.

Jack and four others started a volunteer fire department in Colchester and donated a piece of land for the fire station. This fire station is now fully staffed with paid firemen.

After Jack had a heart attack in Vermont, they moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Notes: After they had been married about 3 years, Jack built a home at 17 Collington Avenue, East Detroit, MI. He actually dug the basement by hand and then eventually sold the home.  And, did you know she was  the ENTIRE complaint department for FTD florists during the war?

A Brownie Recipe of Barbara Keyser's

1 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

MIX TILL CRUMBLY; then add

1 can of Hershey's syrup (about 10 oz?)

and add lastly: 2 c. self-rising flour

Bake at 350 degrees F. in an oblong pan.

Add chocolate icing!

I loved her so much.  Donna Fuller Cator

The Life and Tragedy of My Great Aunt Martha Evelyn Southworth

Martha Evelyn Southworth entered this world on March 16, 1901 in Belfast Maine, a welcomed and loved baby of her parents (my great grandparents), Alvra and Ralph Southworth.  Martha's sister Alice was my grandmother who also had the highest respect and love for her parents.

When my Great Aunt Martha was young, she is said to have looked a lot like me as a child.  I do not see this resemblance (she is the one sitting), but my Grandmother Alice Southworth (standing) swore to it.  Their brother Dana is standing behind his sisters.

Perhaps as I and she grew up, I began to resemble Martha more -- she is the one on the right; Alice on left in the photo below.

Regardless of outer appearances, Martha's life was filled with love and loneliness. 

On September 14 in 1921 Martha married when she was 20 years of age to Edward "Eddie" Thornton Sullivan.  She was so very in love with the blue-eyed Eddie (See photo) who was 10 years older than Martha.  Eddie was born on October 14, 1891 in Portland ME. He died on February 20, 1938 and is buried in the Southworth section of Grove Cemetery in Belfast ME.

 

Eddie was a stevedore and he served honorably in WWI for 6 months, but I do not know if he was injured while on duty.  Martha worked as a stenographer. By 1930 he was selling life insurance and she no longer worked outside their home at 27 Spring Street in Belfast.

Martha was devastated when Eddie died at the mere age of 46 from lobar pneumonia.  She suffered great melancholy. Martha returned to live with her parents at 55 High Street in Belfast. In 1940, for example, she lived with her parents Ralph and Alvra Southworth where her 20 year old sister Jane, her sister Alice and her then husband Stanley K Healy and Alice's son Robert Fuller (my dad) also lived.  She was surrounded by a family that loved her dearly. 

Martha came to believe that her grieving was adequately behind her so as to allow her to move forward with her life.  In July of 1941 she married Kenneth L. Young, a good man, whom she believed in her heart that she loved and that she would make Ken a good wife.  Love him, she did.  But her stricken spirit was not truly healed from her love and loss of Eddie.  She did not feel she was the good wife she had so wanted to be. 

Married to Ken for four years, Martha was still gripped with mourning which led her into a deep depression.  Eventually she shot herself in the head, instantly dying on July 2, 1945, just 26 days before I was born!  She was but 44 years old.  My family was stricken, as was Ken.

Mom and Riverside in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Mom, Marjorie Fuller, did the hand coloring of photographs for dad's photography copying and photographic enlargement business. She really liked to work on the pictures when sitting outside in Fort Lauderdale, FL, enjoying balmy breezes and sunny days. Mom grew a small garden along the porch canopy and railings and garden beds surrounding the porch. Chameleons visited her regularly and watched her color.

One day the Miami Herald stopped by to see if she would chat with them for an article about her neighborhood, Riverside...along the New River.  This photo was snapped for the front page of the Broward section of the Miami Herald dated Friday, July 12, 1974.

Below is the section of the article that resulted from her interview with the reporter.  In the article "Rehard" is the owner of Rehard's Grocery store in Riverside.  

Mom was a history buff and read much about Florida's history when we all first moved to Ft. Lauderdale from Connecticut.  It is interesting that she is quoted in the article about the roads in Riverside originally being Indian paths. I did not remember this.  
  

Eddie and Jane

Grammy, Alice Southworth Healey, our Aunt Jane Southworth, and Eddie Dionne lived just a house or two from the swing bridge that the article mentions.  Many enjoyable memories were created here in our teenage years.  After we married and moved away, Mom and Dad moved to the cottage and she took pleasure in time spent on the porch everyday.

Alice Healey (Grammy...Nanny)