Diplomas and Certificates

It's graduation time and it seemed an appropriate time to share some of my grandparents' educational accomplishments, and more interestingly, just what they got to testify to their achievements.  One is for Albert Stevens, graduate of Fremont High School in Michigan, Class of 1920, and the other for Angelyn Bouwsma, graduate of Calvin's preparatory school in 1919.  Impressively illustrated, to get the full impact of these diplomas you have to visualize them filling half a wall-- each one is 17x22, too big for me to scan so I've done my best to photograph them. (Click to Enlarge).

By the time Albert had graduated from Calvin College proper, the diplomas were still huge but not at all so impressively embellished.

As a bonus, I am throwing in here, the magnificent 1892 20x16 marriage certificate of Angelyn's parents, Jochem Bouwsma and "Hilda" Kolk.  I'm guessing they were never keen on displaying this glorious document due to the clerical error of mistaking Hilda for Hillegien.  Perhaps Aunt Mary can identify the pictures which would have been in the insets.

Click on the picture to examine the signatures:

Chris visits Aalten, Ancestral Home of TerMaats

Back in 1995, Chris made a little side trip from some business junket to visit Aalten, the ancestral home of the TerMaats in the Netherlands.  As far as we know, TerMaat is not a common name in the Netherlands and pretty much if your name is TerMaat, this is where your ancestors came from.  He found a Reformed Church and cemetery with some TerMaat gravestones.  Perhaps he can add more about the trip in comments, but here is a little slideshow of his adventure.  (You may need to view or browse these photos on Flickr if you are reading this post on Facebook.)

DeGeus Family Photo Album

Here's my little contribution to remembering Uncle Con-- a little DeGeus family photo album spanning brat fries and Thanksgiving in Sheboygan to fishing at Deer Lake. The quality of some of the photos is not terrific but the memories are!

If you are viewing this post on Facebook you will need to click here or here for the full show. You can also browse the pictures on Flickr here.

TerMaat Family Portrait Early 1900s

Here is a family portrait of the TerMaat family, taken around 1908-9. I hope I have these correct (left to right): Lizzie, Chris, Henry (my grandfather), Papa John Henry, Mary, Anna, Mama Hattie, George, and Jennie. Click to enlarge.

Tintype: Jan Hinderick Stevens

This tintype is very similar to an image appearing in A Stevens Line which AK estimated was taken in 1870. Jan Hinderick Stevens was born in 1841, immigrated to the US in 1865 and died in 1874, survived by one son, Willem, AK's father. Note the faint pink tinting on the cheeks. (Don't forget to click to enlarge.)

Badlands-Yellowstone-Tetons 1970

So this post is for Pete. He's about to go on a vacation to Yellowstone, and apparently he's been going around telling everyone he's never been there. So here's the proof that he was there, at age four, same age as Max will be on this visit. Due in part to a camera accident in the Badlands, these are not great pictures, but you can view them all in their unedited glory in this slideshow:




Watch the slideshow on Flickr.

We eagerly await Pete's version of the Old Faithful shot.

Brad Stevens

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Brad. I've collected some pictures of young Bradley in a slideshow you can view here.The picture above is a contemplative moment (planning future adventures?) from a 1965 pool party I blogged about previously. More pictures here.

These two pictures are ultimate "Dad" shots. I'm sorry I don't have anything comparable for Brian and Lisa. Maybe Will has one in his collection. The picture of Becca and Jess is from 1962. The other is date unknown.

These two pictures were taken in Muskegon. The top one, date unknown, the bottom is from 1965 (I just like the cool jacket).


And finally, some Brad and Gracie pictures. The last one was taken at Lost Valley.

Prayer

This poem was written by Connie TerMaat and published in the Fall 1950 Calvin College Literary Review. It was one of the six poems that won him the top prize in the Eerdmans Literary Awards competition.

Prayer

God, we who travel in the night upon the lake
Have loved the vastness of our world.
We have seen Thy hand
And even in the stars, Thy face.
We thank Thee in the times of storm
For harbor lights, the red and white
That guide us from the violent dark;
We of little faith who dare not tread
The waves which bare the heavy moon,
The golden footsteps of the sun,
We who have entered harbors during a storm
To find the tumult of great emptiness,
We who must so soon depart the lake,
We ask for lights to leads us home,
To guide us to that port where seagulls cry
And circling, sing not loneliness, but love.

Connie TerMaat 1929-2009

Cornelius John “Connie” TerMaat, age 80, of River Falls died Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Connie was born in Arpin, WI to Henry and Bertha TerMaat but grew up in Sheboygan, WI with sisters, Hattie, Margaret and Marion. There he developed an abiding love of Lake Michigan lighthouses and tugboats and an interest in the history of the Dutch American community in Wisconsin. Connie taught English at University of Wisconsin-River Falls from 1965 to 1989 including a stint as department chair. A voracious reader, he especially loved Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, John Updike, Peter DeVries, Patrick O’Brian, detective fiction and Winnie-the-Pooh. Friends and family looked forward each year to his witty Christmas letters. An avid vegetable gardener (at one time maintaining seven compost piles), he enjoyed puttering around with tools and scrapwood and converting his crops into wine. He was unfailingly loyal to the daily crossword, cookies, ice cream and the Chicago Cubs. He spent as much time as possible at the family cabin on Deer Lake in Burnett County fishing for crappies and watching for herons and loons. As a young man he won prizes for his poetry and continued to write both comic verse and meditations on nature. From his 1950 poem, “Prayer”: “We who must so soon depart the lake,/We ask for lights to lead us home./To guide us to that port where seagulls cry/And circling, sing not loneliness, but love.” Connie is survived by his wife of 57 years, Grace TerMaat of River Falls, children Chris (Nancy) of Naperville, IL, Martha of River Falls and Peter (Joan) of North Oaks, MN, and sister Margaret Eggebeen of Sheboygan. The accompanying photo was a favorite of his grandchildren Sara, John, Eric, Jason, Morgan, Mary and Max. Reading was Connie’s passion. Contributions in his honor may be made to the River Falls Public Library. Send your thoughts to memories@uptocode.com or post them to http://termaats.blogspot.com

The Man Who Came to Dinner

We recently discovered that Jason was appearing in a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner, the same play Dad had a role in as a high school senior in 1947. Above and below are the yearbook pages for the production (click to enlarge). His role was small--the boyfriend of the daughter, smaller than Jason's, who I understand played the father. I'm just a little disappointed Dad didn't have a role that required him to wear one of those Groucho Marx mustaches.

Apparently Dad also appeared in the chorus of the Mikado and presumably is in this picture, though its impossible to pick him up. What I wouldn't give for a close up of him in costume!

Happy May Day!

As is the tradition on this blog, May Day means pictures of birthday girl Martha dressed to impress! In these pictures from 1963 I share the spotlight with cousin Jessica Stevens, who also turns 50 this year (I'm sure someone can fill in her birthday for me in comments). I like our intensity with the bubble-blowing. It looks like these were taken in our backyard in Tiffin, Ohio.

Roasting Marshmallows...

... in our best party dresses! Here I am in 1962 with cousins Rebecca and Jessica Stevens having a backyard roast while dressed to impress.

Foster Cemetery

Here's a little slideshow of a hike I took out to Foster Cemetery. The Fosters were the founding family of River Falls. The oldest grave is for Eli Foster who was born in 1796 and died in 1856. A little more about the cemetery here. Mom says she remembers a cemetery clean-up day held yearly by Trinity Episcopal (which no longer exists). The cemetery, otherwise abandoned, is now an historical site. It sits on top of a hill overlooking Lake Louise and the lower dam with great views of the Kinnickinnic valley. A beautiful resting place.

For those familiar with the territory, here is a map:


View Larger Map




The prime view reminded me of this photo of Chris and I sitting on the Sioux burial mounds overlooking the St. Croix in Hudson in 1966. (There is now a sign asking that one respect the dead and not climb/sit on the mounds). I wonder if the Fosters aren't the only ones buried overlooking the Kinnick.

Weeding

Reading about the plans for a White House vegetable garden this morning I was especially amused by this bit,

Almost the entire Obama family, including the president, will pull weeds, “whether they like it or not,” Mrs. Obama said laughing. “Now Grandma, my mom, I don’t know.” Her mother, she said, would probably sit back and say: “Isn’t that lovely. You missed a spot.”

Go First Grandma! Anyway, the thought of the long-legged Obamas all out weeding reminded me of this iconic Angelyn Stevens photo, once blown up to poster size:


And this like-mother-like-daughter Grace Stevens homage:

Absquatulate

Assignment: Define absquatulate and use it in a sentence.
This word was a clue in a recent crossword Dad completed.
This picture which dates from the late 70s or early 80s, (maybe
Pete remembers) shows Dad and Pete working on a gargantuan
crossword puzzle which was a gift to Dad for Christmas or birthday.

Mrs. Chris TerMaat

This picture of Nancy with Great Aunt Sara TerMaat (the two Mrs. Chris TerMaats)
was taken shortly after Chris and Nancy were married. Aunt Sara was born in 1885 so
she was approaching 100 at the time.

Here is a wedding or engagement photo for Aunt Sara and Uncle Chris.
They were married on Valentine's Day in 1912.

Pete and Steve play chess

These two pictures of Steve Hathaway and Pete playing chess
are from a June visit to Ann Arbor in 1975. (Taken by Mary I think.)

I took this one, probably in 1976. High time for a rematch?

Pete TerMaat: Most Improved Award

Mom included this picture in a round robin and wrote on the back:
"Peter's artistry. He took 3 shots, all with the same problem."
Actually, the Monet-effect is quite impressive! But I still
think Pete deserves some kind of 'Most Improved Photographer' award.
This is Mom and Dad by the flower garden in River Falls, that much
I can tell. Date and occasion unknown but I assume Pete was
going through some kind of clumsy teenage phase.

Naperville Thanksgiving 1997

Last Thanksgiving we were trying to recall our last big family Thanksgiving in Naperville. Here's a slideshow to bring it all back:

Fish

TerMaats have so many fish pictures that look similar to this one that it
gets boring. (Although, why is Dad holding up 2 fingers?)

So I was happy to stumble on these pictures.
The pail of crappies is really a more typical catch than the humongous pike.

And this is great. For some weird reason I always loved to
watch Dad gut and fillet fish. I'm glad this part of the ritual was documented.