The Westra siblings knew her as "Grandma Burgener". Our dad's mother, she had remarried after Dad's father passed away before all but Scott had been born. She continued to live in the house Dad /Lamar had grown up in, on Grandview Circle. I remember there was always an ice cream bucket full of cookies on top of the fridge at her house. Sugar cookies, frosted eggs and chicks for Easter, trees for Christmas, chocolate chip other times during the year. Grandma Lucille not only wrote a complete history for herself, but also for her husband (Biography of Joseph Westra). Grandma Lucille's typewritten history is scanned in on Family Search, but parts are faded and a little difficult to read. Here's a link to a re-typed document in its entirety and original format.
I'll try to spotlight portions of Lucille's written words in smaller segments pertaining to upcoming topics/themes here on the blog. I've included a small life summary below which is based on her autobiography ...
Claude Arthur Erskine and Olive Laura Cushing were married June 18, 1907. They bought a home located at 831 Harrison Avenue. This was where they would live out their lives, and where their children would grow up. They had six children, five girls and one boy. Lucille was third. Mildred born Nov 9, 1908 died shortly after birth. Ruth was born January 2, 1910. Lucille arrived October 25, 1911. Maxine was born September 18, 1913, then Harold Claude, born February 28, 1915, and Shirley Laura, born July 11, 1934.
Lucille wrote about many memories from her childhood ... a fire in the fireplace, Mother playing piano, Father fishing. Taking dinner to Grandma Cushing who lived on the next block. An old coal stove in the kitchen and heated flat irons to warm the beds in winter. One closet for the family to share. No car. No washing machine. Going to Liberty Park ... swimming in the summer, skating and sledding in the winter.
School days included Emerson Elementary, Roosevelt Jr. High and graduation from East High school in 1929. Lucille then started working at her Uncle Hurd's law firm as a stenographer. She met Joe Westra on the streetcar on the way to work and they started dating in the Spring of 1930. They were engaged the following Christmas Eve (1931). Joe went on his mission to the Southern States from June 1932-June 1934. Lucille waited, and wrote, and continued to work and save for their marriage, which happened September 5th, 1935.
Lucille and Joe had four children, two boys and two girls. Joseph Lamar (5/28/1937), Sharon (9/16/1938), Diane (3/10/1943) and Steven (6/22/1946). Lucille's niece Janice came and lived with them for the 1942-1943 school year. Lucille had a miscarriage in 1945. They moved into the Grandview Circle home in 1949.
In 1953, Lucille and Joe finally got a belated honeymoon. Partially for Joe's work (a convention in Cleveland) they saw Niagra Falls and many of the church historical sites. Lucille started working again in 1958, a secretary for Granite School District. She worked there through 1973.
Lucille had pleurisy and bronchitis as a child, and struggled with bleeding ulcers later in life. The family was in a rollover accident in 1962 that resulted in some serious injuries. A broken foot in 1969, arthritis starting in 1973, knee replacement in 1982, bronchitis again in 1985 and a broken nose in 1986. Joe had health issues as well; a ruptured appendix in 1945, and a blood clot after the operation. Hypertension in 1957, bleeding ulcers in 1959. He had his first heart attack in 1961. He had another in 1964 and his last one in 1965. He passed away on May 24. Lucille hadn't ever learned how to drive, but she took a class and got her license in 1965 when Joe got so sick.
Lamar went on his mission to the Netherlands (9/1957 - 3/1960). Married in 1962. Sharon got married on June 27, 1957. Diane married in 1962. Steve was drafted into the army and left December 1965, he served in the finance department in Frankfurt Germany. He married Jan in 1972. Lucille remarried in 1968. She and Victor Burgener had many happy years together. She passed away on August 29, 1990.
