In The Army Now - Grandpa Rex in WW2

In 1943, Nelva was four, Margie wasn't yet nine months old and Zada found she was pregnant again. This could be a challenge under any circumstances, but World War 2 was going on and there was worry that Rex would be drafted. And he was.

From Rex's written history ...

Within a very short time Uncle Sam said, “I want you.” So into the Army I went. I could have my choice of the Navy (active duty in one week) or the Marines (duty in two weeks) or the Army (duty in three weeks). Because I would have to move Zada and the girls to Mt. Pleasant and get them settled down, I had to go with the Army. I reported to Fort Douglas induction center on Feb. 2, 1944. It would usually take about five days to clear the induction center, but I spent 36 days there. I then asked how much longer I would need to remain there and they informed me that I was waiting for special orders. People with my experience on IBM equipment were in demand. When I shipped out, I couldn’t even inform my family as to where I was going.

I was told to climb on top of a truckload of barracks bags and was driven to the railroad station. All alone, I was placed aboard a troop train passing through Salt Lake City. On arriving in Denver, Colorado, I was taken to the First Air Force Base called Buckley Field. There I was to receive my basic training. I was just finishing my training and baby was about due, so I applied to the Red Cross for an emergency furlough to be home when it came. But they didn’t make any attempt to secure one. As a result, I have no use for them, as do a great many of the other GIs. When I received my shipping orders, my assignment was to a Data Processing Unit as a keypunch operator at the First Air Force Headquarters located at Mitchell Field, New York. They gave me a 15-day delay in route. I was then able to go home and be there when the baby came. Two days before I was to return to duty, our baby boy finally made his appearance. We named him Merrill Rex and he was born May 3, 1944. I then had to leave with Zada still in the hospital and to go to Mitchell Field, NY, still traveling alone. For the next 20 months, I was assigned there.

I received the rank of Corporal and was eligible for Sergeant, but they froze the rankings. I was also on shipping orders twice for overseas, but they stopped because of my M.O.S classification, which was 300. I was also on orders to transfer to the Infantry for the Battle of the Bulge. I was also given a chance to go to Arial Gunnery School for the bombers, which I turned down. While there, I went from the keypunch to the tabulating equipment. There I was in charge of consolidating all the reports from over 30 airbases in the First Air Force and sending a daily report to the Continental Air Force Headquarters in Washington D.C.

The war was not yet over. I was looking forward to getting home, but they were holding me in because of the two-year clause. I had 65 points toward discharge and the Air Force was down to 35 points for the release. Finally in Dec. 1945, changes were made and I was eligible for release. I would watch every list that they posted, which was about every two hours. Finally on Dec. 14, 1945, on the last list for the day, my name appeared. I could go to Fort Douglas, Utah for release or get it at Mitchell Field and get travel expenses home. I wanted to be sure and get home as fast as possible and sure I would be home for Christmas. So I took my discharge there. I told the C.O. goodbye and ran to the barracks; there I threw everything into my barracks bags and went to the separation center. It was only two barracks away and I started to process at once. By noon the next day, with my discharge in my hand, I was on my way to New York and home. What a happy day. I arrived home just before Christmas.

Search local papers for your own stories ...Utah Digital Newspapers

In Grandma Zada's history, she also mentions how they were worried about the draft. That Merrill was 10 days late and they were afraid Grandpa Rex would have to go back before the birth. She lived in Mt. Pleasant, renting a couple of different houses while he was gone. She said "Rex sent us gifts and was able to get home a couple of times. I will never forget the day President Roosevelt died, or the rationing that went on during the war. I kept so busy I didn't have time to get too lonely. Soon the war was over and Rex would be home. What a happy day that was!"

School Days in Days Past

(Dad) Lamar's School Memories

Madison Elementary School 

I attended Madison Elementary on State Street about 2400 South.

Kindergarten through 6th grade, 1942-1948. 

It was an old three-story school.

I remember walking the five or six blocks to and from school each day, cutting across rail road tracks and open fields and alleys, and across Truman Avenue and Burton Avenue. That was before I-80 was built, just north of the school. After I-80 was built, my old school was torn down. I only remember one of my teacher’s names: the dreaded Mrs. Gedge. She wasn’t nearly as bad as the rumors I had heard from my classmates.

(Read some of Jen's memories of the Westra elementary school ... Woodstock)

The school was right on State Street, but the school grounds extended back a long ways, with lots of grass and a playground, and lots of dirt, for marbles. Another boy’s activity in the wintertime would be massive snowball fights, usually between the 5th grade and 6th grade boys, with each team having snow forts about 30-40 yards apart. There was an initiation into the 6th grade that all the lower grades would dread. It involved harassment by the outgoing 6th graders, and eating grasshoppers. (See more memories from the Madison Elementary years ... featuring friends and dance cards).  We would have school dances, with dance cards we would fill out ahead of time. I would try to get my first girlfriend, Lola McLaren to sign the last dance so I could walk her home. I still have some of those dance cards, with all the dance slots filled out by different girls. I remember getting threats by one of the other boys to stay away from Lola, but I ignored the threats.

I attended Roosevelt Junior High, which is now Rowland Hall, a private school. It was located west and down the hill from East High School. We were bussed to Roosevelt. I remember some of the teachers at Roosevelt: Mr. Kartchner for PE, Justin Tolman for math, Buttermilk Bertha Rappoport for type. I wrestled for Mr. Kartchner. Mr. Tolman would tell us how he taught the young man who invented television, Philo Farnsworth. He said he had long discussions up in schools in Idaho with Philo, who would explain his theories, and fill the blackboard with complex equations. Buttermilk Bertha Rappoport gave me the only D I ever got on a report card. Then the next semester she gave me an A. My mom told me she had Bertha Rappoport for type when she was in Junior High. Buttermilk Bertha got her knick name for sitting outside her classroom on a garbage can and drinking buttermilk.  

My memories of South High school include lots of new friends, including Jim Peterson, Dick Van Wagenen, Steve Carr and Don Phippen, and some great teachers: Charlotte (Rocky) Schroeder for math, Armont Willardsen for A Cappella Choir (practices at noon, and performing in musicals: The Vagabond King and Oklahoma, and singing almost every Sunday in LDS Wards around the valley), and William Gerrish for chemistry, who talked me into majoring in chemistry at the U of U. I attended early morning seminary, and our carpool, with Don Phippen at the wheel, was memorable.

Check out a peek at Dad/Lamar's South High Yearbook pages!

After my graduation from high school in 1955, I attended the University of Utah for two years, majoring in Chemistry. I spent much of my free time at the LDS Institute of Religion. A big group of South High graduates met there. We played a lot of ping pong, and took institute classes, and ate our lunch, and joined Delta Chapter, one of the four men’s chapters of Lambda Delta Sigma, the LDS fraternity/sorority at the U of U.

I attended the University of Utah for two years, and then served a mission in the Netherlands: 1957-1960. I returned to the U, where I continued my major: chemistry. I got into summer school when I got back home, to avoid being drafted. I took 20 hours during summer quarter, 4 five hour classes. I graduated in 1962, and spent an additional year of post graduate study, changing my emphasis from Chemistry to Math and Computers. At the U, I was again actively involved in Lambda Delta Sigma. It was there I met Margie Norman. We were married in June of 1962...

Quite the Fish Story

The Westra kids grew up with a bit of fishing going on. Most of the fishing trips were with Mom/Margie's parents ... but Grandpa Joe had been a fisherman too. Or perhaps it was Dad/LaMar who got his dad into it! Here's an exerpt from Dad/Lamar's history ...

I remember having a thriving nightcrawler business. My dad and I would go out at night and gather nightcrawlers from golf courses around the valley: Nibley, Forest Dale, and Bonneville, and Fairmount and Liberty Parks. I would store the nightcrawlers in my basement in large flat wooden boxes, spread with damp gunny sacks, and feed them Cream of Wheat until we sold them. I would take orders in advance, so often we would have to make special night excursions to fill orders of 10-12 dozen nightcrawlers. I charged 15 cents a dozen, or two dozen for 25 cents. My sister Sharon would be my helper and help customers if I wasn’t home. We even put electrical rods in our back lawn to bring the night crawlers out. It worked pretty well, but the worms became a little woozy. 

I got my dad to take me fishing. We would go down to Spring Run on 9th East about 50th South. It was the final point of one of our bike trips. One time, when I was about 10 years old, my dad and I were fishing in Mill Creek, near Granite High. The water was very deep there, and I caught a whopper. I pulled it out and it came flying out of the water up on the bank, and the hook came out. It was about to flop back into the water when my dad grabbed it and tossed it up on higher ground. It was a 21 ½ inch rainbow trout. We took it home, and somehow the newspaper got word of it, and my picture appeared in the newspaper, with this big trout hanging over my shoulder, and hanging almost down to my waist. It would be about 16 years later, after I had married, and we had moved to Richland, Washington, when Margie’s dad called us and told us that my name was on the big yellow Dees cup for being the record holder in Utah for the largest rainbow trout. It was listed on the cup as a 21 ½ pound rainbow trout, caught in Millcreek Reservoir. That record actually stood up for many years. It was the listed record until they built the Flaming Gorge reservoir, and grew rainbow trout bigger than 21 ½ pounds.

While working on the Westra History project, Chris inquired "Dad, on reading your Dad's histories, it was intriguing to find out that he didn't fish until he happened to take you fishing that first time, and you had success with a willow stick. One history said you were 10 years old, and another said you were 8 years old. Do you have memories of that first fishing trip with your Dad, and do you know how old you were?

From Joe's history written by Grandma Lucille ... He really didn't take up fishing until his son LaMar was 10 years old and was selling nightcrawlers. They didn't even own a fishing rod, but decided to go to Mill Creek Stream and try their luck. Joe fixed two willows with line, hook and bait. LaMar pulled in a 21 inch German Brown. He had his picture taken with the fish, as one of the largest caught on opening day. That did it. They went out and bought fishing tackle and have enjoyed the sport ever since.

Dad/Lamar responded to Chris's question ...

I checked back into my History in Dropbox. My dad was very much into golf, every weekend, including Sundays, until I finally got him into fishing. In my history, I talk about the nightcrawler business that my sister and I had. Then I thought I might like to actually try using the nightcrawlers, and go fishing myself. I think I was about 8 when my dad started taking me fishing. I caught the big rainbow trout when I was 10. The stories that my mom has written about a willow, I’m not sure if I can believe. I’m pretty sure we would have had fishing poles, right from the start, with a reel to let out the line. I can’t even imagine how I could have used a willow to catch anything. How would I have strung it up, and reeled it in, with just a willow, perhaps just a bit of line tied to the end of the willow, with no reel. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. I checked the year 1947 in Dropbox, and there are 3 photos of me in that year, with the big fish. In one of the photos, I appear to be holding a willow, but it could also be a real fishing pole.

Look at the second listing - 1947 21.5 lb Rainbow from Mill Creek Reservoir

Caught by LaMar Westra (when he was just 10 years old)

Mom/Margie added to the memory ... When we lived in Washington, some of our friends came back from a visit to Utah. They gave us one or more Dee's restaurant cups that had Dad's name as having caught the biggest fish. The Dee's cup had different records set in Utah. That was the first we knew about the mistake. The length of the fish had been recorded as the pounds! The false record has now been broken by a true fish.

One thing I love about these old photos of Dad/Lamar ... 

his 10-year old self looks just like his adult self!

... anyone want to go fishing?

Fishing has been mentioned in a few posts so far ... and there will be more!

Father's Friends, Dance Cards ~ More Memories from the Early Years

There's been a Family Photos and History push going on for a while now. Getting negatives and slides converted to digital files. Organizing and labeling photos. A book. A blog. Updating histories.  Dad/Lamar has a written history already, but he's been fleshing it out and adding a bit more. Here's a new addition, written by Lamar in March 2020.

Our elementary school (Madison Elementary) had school dances, and they would have dance cards with 10 places on them. Before the dance, the boys would visit the girls and fill out their dance card. I would try to get my girlfriend, Lola, signed up for the first dance. I still have some of those dance cards, with all the dance slots filled out with names of 10 different girls. I remember getting threats by one of the other boys to stay away from Lola, but I ignored the threats. I remember going to some pretty wild birthday parties, playing spin the bottle and other inappropriate kissing games, turn off the lights, wander around in the dark, find a girl, kiss her.   It’s good we moved away when I was 12.  I might have been improperly influenced by some of the friends I had. 

A list of some of my friends during the time I lived at 246 East 21^st South ~ Elementary Years (through age 12) Also see the post about Lamar's School Day memories. The list below includes friends from school (Madison Elementary) or from the neighborhood, or from the local ward.

• Austin, Billie Mae (Dance Cards)
• Brown, Diane (Dance Cards)
• Callahan, Eddie (Lived near Lola McLaren)
• Dalton, Fred (Lived on 3^rd East, East Side, We met later at a ward function)
• Fereday, Gary (Scouting, he later lived in our Stake, 8^th Ward, 10 children, plumber, died 2012 )
• Hammer, Rose Ann (Dance Cards)
• Harris, Arlene (Dance Cards)
• Hedbergh, Carolyn (Dance Cards)
• Johnson, Lorraine (Dance Cards)
• Kase, Myrna (Dance Cards)
• McLaran, Lola (Dance Cards, My First Girl Friend, Lived on Burton Avenue, just East of State)
• Middleton, Norman (Lived on 3^rd East, East Side, My main bicycle buddy, Catholic)
• Olsen, Janice (Dance Cards)
• Parry, Boyd (Lived just two houses west of our house)
• Porchadis, Marlene (Dance Cards)
• Rich, Dee Ann (Dance Cards)
• Royce, Gary (Lived on 3^rd East, West Side, bicycle buddy, marble player)
• Serial, Ardith (Dance Cards)
• Simpson, Dorothy (Dance Cards)
• Stam, Margie (Dance Cards)
• Tassey, Mariam (Dance Cards)
• Wells, Ruth (Dance Cards)

Can you guess who is who? Can you find Lamar?

Some of my best friends during my elementary school days were Boyd Parry, Fred Dalton, Gary Royce and Norman Middleton.  Gary and Norman were my bicycle buddies.  I had saddlebags on my bike, and we would ride out south to the end of 3^rd East, and to the end of 5^th East.  We would gather soda pop and beer bottles and put them into our saddlebags.  Then we would stop at grocery stores to redeem our bottles, getting 2 or 3 cents per bottle.  We also collected popsicle bags from streets and garbage cans around the grocery stores.  We would package them up and send them in for gifts.  I always got along with all my friends, but Gary and Norman always had fights.  They lived across from each other on 3^rd East.  All my friends were LDS except Norman.  He was catholic, and attended the St. Ann’s school on 21^st South.  He hated it.  He had lots of conflicts with the Nuns. 

I might make MARBLES its own blog post ... so if you see it again, that's why ;) 

One of the favorite activities for the boys at our school was marbles.  I would take about 15 marbles to school every day, and every day come home with 50-70.  I would win them playing marbles.  We would get a stick and draw rings in the dirt, and each player would ante up a set number of marbles and put them into the center of the ring.  Then we would shoot them out, from the perimeter of the ring.  I was a pretty good shot, having learned the art of marbles from my father, who had a number of medals.  Gary Royce was my main marbles competition.

If your taw (your shooting marble) hit a marble that was in the ring, and knocked it out, and your taw stayed in the ring, you would continue shooting from that position until you missed knocking out a marble.  You might be able to clear all the marbles in the ring on this turn.  The taw was usually a marble a little larger and heavier than the marbles you were shooting at.  They were often called aggies, a certain type of taw.  We would also play pots.  We would dig five shallow holes in the dirt, four at the four corners of a square, about six feet on each side.  The last hole was in the middle of the square.  The players would each ante up a set number of marbles to put into the center hole.  Then we would take turns and start at one corner, and shoot to get our marbles in each successive hole, and finally into the center hole.  The first to get their taw into the center hole won all the marbles that were in it.  We would lag our marbles to a line about 8-10 feet away, and the one lagging closest to the line would be first to start the game.

In rings, if your taw didn’t knock any marbles out of the ring, and stayed in the ring, it would stay there for the next shot.  However, if one of the next players to shoot knocked your taw out of the ring, he would keep your taw, and you would be out of the game.  The same rule went for pots.  If you made a shot towards a hole, and missed the hole, your taw would stay there.  If any other player hit your taw with their taw, you would lose your taw and be out of that game.  So if you eliminated all of the other players, you would automatically get all the marbles.    

Another boy’s activity in the wintertime would be massive snowball fights, usually between the 5^th grade and 6^th grade boys, with each team having snow forts about 30-40 yards apart. 

   

                               

Easter with Little Lamar

Easter 1941 

Little Lamar and small Sharon ... and they don't look happy (but they sure look cute!)

The first photo is little Lamar with his friend Jammy. The year was 1942. While the next two pictures of Dad/LaMar in a spiffy Sunday suit look similar, there was probably a year or two between them (the first one would be 1946, based on the group shot below). And while not necessarily an Easter picture, the photo with Dad/Lamar and a bunny seemed to fit here as well.

Here's a peek at family photos ...

It was interesting uncovering old photos, and finding so many Easter's included. Easter is often a day to dress up in Sunday best, so it is a good photo op, with or without eggs and a basket. Jen commented: As I make the annual slideshow, it's interesting to see that some of the families always take Easter pictures. Certain holidays carry more importance (and photo ops) than others. I think Easter must have been an important one to Grandma Lucille based on the number of photos taken over the years. I remember she always made Easter sugar cookies ... little eggs and chicks. She'd keep them in an ice cream bucket on top of the refrigerator and bring them out when we came over.

This one was in the album and labeled - Joe, Easter 1944

Ate Obes Westra - A Biography

Ate Obes Westra was born 5 Dec 1868 in Achlum, Franekeradeel, Friesland, Netherlands to Obe Jans Westra and Aaltje Klazes Posthumus. Ate was the 8th of their 9 children. Two of the previous sons had been named Ate Obes, born in 1863 and 1864, but both had died early, the first at five months, and the second at 16 days. It was the custom of those days, if a child died early, to name a subsequent child of the same gender the same name. Of the 9 children, only four (all boys) lived past the age of seven months. They were Jan, Doekele, Ate and Gerlof.

Ate Obes Westra was just five years old when his mother died, in 1874.  His father married again, in 1875, to Bintje Arjens Dykstra.  They had four children, 1876-1879.  After the last child was born, Ate’s father died, in 1879, leaving Ate an orphan at the age of 10.   Ate moved frequently from one relative to another.  When he was 12 years old, he moved to Harlingen to live with his uncle Gerlof Alberda, who was a half brother of his mother.  Ate lived there until he was 16, when he moved to Kollum for two years.  Then, in 1886, he stayed with his newly married brother Jan in Augustinusga for two years.  He then moved to Dokkum for another two years, after which he returned to Augustinusga. 

During the next few years, Ate lived and worked with his older brothers Jan and Doekele in their bakery, first in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, and then in the city of Groningen.  Because of the very meager earnings of the bakery, his brothers could not pay him a salary.  He worked there several years, from 1890 to 1902 for his room and board. 

After Ate reached the age of 33, and still unmarried, he began searching and praying about religion. He attended the Dutch Reformed Church and also visited other churches during these restless years.  

In a letter Ate wrote to his sister-in-law Henderika in Holland in 1941, Ate wrote of his conversion. He said, “Rika, can you remember that Sunday, now about 40 years ago, we were received as new confessed members of the Reformed Church under Minister Langhort, and you asked me when we returned home how I felt. I answered that I was disappointed, that I had expected to receive a sure testimony, so that I could know for sure that I was accepted in the Church of Christ. But I did not receive this testimony and Jan tried to set me at ease by saying I was too hasty and premature, that possibly the following Sunday when we sit for the sacrament I would be reassured. With all my heart I wanted that reassurance, but when we came home you asked me a second time how I felt. Then was my answer the same; disappointed – I miss something.” 

“God knows how I appealed to Him that I might receive this assurance. Many times during the night I have been on my knees in earnest prayer. Then sometime later, Doekele (Ate’s older brother) came to me and invited me to meet some young missionaries from America who were coming to their house every Tuesday evening to talk to them about the restored gospel. He himself was not interested, so he said, but Hendrikje, his wife, was interested in talking with them. The first word they spoke made a great impression upon me and I soon gained a burning testimony of its truthfulness.” 

Ate’s brothers did not share the gospel with him, although he felt they knew it was true. When the Elders explained the Word of Wisdom to him, he immediately threw his tobacco away and never touched it again. He was baptized 12 April 1902 by Bernard Denkers. None of his family ever joined the church. 

Ate Obes Westra met Geeske Egberts de Haan about May of 1902 at the LDS church branch in Groningen. Ate was almost 10 years older than Geeske. Because of the depression, Geeske and her sisters had gone to work in the big city of Groningen to work as housemaids. Geeske worked in the home of Brother Van der Werf, who was a member of the church. She had joined the church on 19 October 1901 when she was 23 years of age.  

Ate and Geeske met as newly baptized members of the Groningen branch, and after a six month romance, they were married on 16 October 1902 in Groningen. They were blessed with three lovely children. Wilhelmina was born 18 June 1903; Obe was born 7 February 1905, and Egbert was born 31 July 1906. 

Ate and Geeske had a prosperous laundry established during this time and in 4 ½ years saved sufficient funds for them to immigrate to America. 

They immigrated to the United States in April 1907. 

We had tried to find information on the immigration via Ellis Island, but could not locate them there. In the journal of Joseph LaMar Westra, dated 8 May 2006, LaMar finally located the following on one of his Monday shifts at the Family History Library: ‘I did a check of Ancestry for my grandfather: Ate Westra. I discovered some new Ancestry reports: one showing their house number and neighbors in 1934, and another showing the ship where they came to the US from Holland in 1907. The ship was the SS Canada, arriving in Portland, Maine. No wonder I had not been able to find them in Ellis Island’. 

Geeske became pregnant shortly before their departure, and together with sea and morning sickness, did not enjoy a moment of her ocean voyage. Worse yet, they were robbed of all their money on the ship, but were given money by an unknown benefactor so that they could continue on to Salt Lake City. Fortunately, they had purchased their train tickets in Holland. 

Upon their arrival in Utah, they were invited to make their first home with their Dutch friends, brother and sister Hulshof, and lived at 445 North 12th West in Salt Lake City, until they were able to find and finance a home of their own. 

They had misfortune and trials soon after they arrived among the saints. Just four months after their arrival, their two boys died of “summer complaint” which was caused from hot weather and resulted in high fevers and extreme diarrhea. Egbert died on 18 Aug 1907, and Obe passed away just five days later. 

Another son, John, was born 31 Dec 1907. He lived to adulthood. 

Ate was ordained an Elder on 6 Nov 1907, and on Wednesday, 12 Feb 1908, Geeske and Ate went to the Salt Lake Temple and received their endowments, were sealed in marriage together for eternity, and then had their children sealed to them: their two living children: Wilhelmina and John, and their two deceased sons: Obe and Egbert. 

Just a few months later, 21 Jun 1908, Wilhelmina passed away after being sick with scarlet fever. She was just four years old. 

In the following years, a small two-room home was purchased at the end of 8th East, just south of Parkway Avenue, in Forest Dale Ward. There were several other Dutch families that lived in the neighborhood with names: Harenberg, DeBry, Neerings, Grundman, Stuurman, Meibos, Springer, Teerlink, Aardema and several others. (See more about the locations they lived here). 

Another son, George was born 13 Oct 1909. George lived just five months and died 17 March 1910. Another son, Joseph was born 23 Oct 1911. He lived to adulthood (this is Lamar's father, see his history here). Two more sons were born: Allen born 9 March 1913, lived 15 months and died 25 June 1914; and Alma born 30 April 1915, lived 9months and died 15 January 1916. 

The last two children lived to adulthood: a daughter Alice, born 28 January 1917, and Edward, a son, born 23 July 1923. When their last child was born, Geeske was 45, and Ate was 54.  Ate was called on a mission to the Netherlands while in his 50s, from 1919-1922. When he returned home, he built a little brick house where he lived until he passed away on Dec 11, 1946, just shy of turning 78.

• (Left Photo) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their three children: Wilhelmina, Obe and Egbert, taken in Netherlands in 1907, before they immigrated to the United States. All of these children died within 18 months after the photo was taken.
• (Center Photo) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their two boys: John and Joseph. Taken in Salt Lake City about 1912.
• (Photo Right) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their three youngest living children: Joseph, Alice and Edward, taken in Salt Lake City about 1930. John was probably serving his mission in the Netherlands.

From The Life of Joseph Ate Westra ...

Joe's father was called on a mission to Holland and his mother took a job at the Forest Annex to help support her family. Later his father was Custodian at L.D.S. Business College. He and his brother John worked as Deseret Newspaper boys while growing up, and helped support the family. 

What's in a Name?

The given name Ate was likely chosen from one of his ancestors. One great grandfather was named Ate Jacobs Hofstra, born in 1757 in Wijnaldum Friesland, Netherlands. The middle name followed the patronymic custom of the Netherlands, giving each child, male or female, the middle name of the father, with a following z or s, for zoon (son of), similar to the patronymic practices of Scandinavia, where a sen or son or sson was added, as in Jensen, Larson, or Mattsson. 

The table below shows the ancestry of the Westra line. You can see the patronymic naming system. Birthplaces for all individuals are all in the county of Friesland, in Netherlands.

Ancestor	Birth	Birthplace	Name of Wife
Ate Obes Westra	1868	Achlum	Geeske Egberts de Haan
Obe Jans Westra	1831	Achlum	Aaltje Klazes Posthumus
Jan Douwes Westra	1793	Achlum	Dieuwke Ates Hofstra
Douwe Klazes Westra	1751	Kimswerd	Grietje Sikkes Bangma
Klaas Tjallings Westra	1714	Schettens	Lijsbeth Douwes
Tjalling Jarigs Westra	1686	Kornwerd	Lieuke Clases
Jarig Sjoukes	1654	Kornwerd	Reinou Tjallings
Sjouke Sjoerds	1622	Kornwerd	Mrs. Sjouke Sjoerds
Sjoerd Doekes	1594	Kornwerd	Mirk Sjoukes
Doeke Sjoerds	1553	Kornwerd	Hets Jarigs
Sjoerd Doekes	1512	Kornwerd	Mrs. Sjoerd Doekes

The Westra surname must have been adopted by Tjalling Jarigs, sometime around the 1740s, since three of his offspring, by two different wives, were later known by Westra.  I think the name means ‘from the west’ which probably means from the west side of whatever village they were in – probably Schettens.  The suffix ‘stra’ must have meant ‘from the’ in the Frisian language, like ‘van der’ means ‘from the’ in the Dutch language.  Compare Noordstra (North), Zuidstra (South), Oostra (East), Dijkstra (dike), Hofstra (garden), etc. 

The suffix ‘ma’ or ‘sma’ or ‘ema’ must have a similar convention, as in surnames like Bangma, Wijma, Hamersma, Boerema, Boersma, Bonnema, Berema, Gerkema, Tassema, Schaafsma, Steensma, etc.  These are all surnames in our Dutch ancestry.  The Westra surname originated in quite a number of places in a similar manner, so all Westras are not necessarily related. 

Surnames were adopted first by the more educated people, and later surnames were forced on all the Dutch people by Napolean sometime around 1811, when the civil records were started.  Prior to 1811, all records of births, marriages and deaths were in church (parish) registers. 

The Life of Edmund Sylvanus Howell

 

While the Westra siblings knew Great-Grandma-Bohne, her first husband, and our ancestor (Grandma Zada's father), passed away shortly after Grandma Zada and Grandpa Rex got married. So Mom/Margie never met her grandfather (Nelva had been born, and was two months old when Sylvanus died).

He went by his middle name, Sylvanus. Of course there is quite a bit about him mentioned in Great-Grandma Bohne's life history (The Life Of Hannah Lucinda Hurst Howell Bohne) but ... some of it isn't exactly complimentary, and she doesn't delve into his childhood history at all. On Family Search, there were two write-ups of Sylvanus's life, one by his daughter Bertha Howell Brady, and one by a granddaughter, Cheri Lynn Howell Maude (one of Berthell's daughters) who did some additional research. So taking from all three sources and Family Search details, I wrote up a little life history to showcase here on the blog. There were some slight discrepancies here and there, and not all of the info is included, so check out the original write-ups for a more complete picture. 

The Life of Edmund Sylvanus Howell

Sylvanus was born August 19, 1878 to Elias Willis Howell and Mary Jane Sanderson. He was the fourth of thirteen children born to this union. Elias had been married previously, to Martha Jane Rigby and had four daughters, a son (died in infancy) and a step-daughter. Brigham Young had instructed Willis (he also went by his middle name) to divorce Martha Jane after she had been unfaithful. Willis still supported his daughters and Martha Jane was still present in their lives. 

Sylvanus grew up in a little red brick house on the corner of second east and second south in Fairview.  The second floor of this house was later used as a carpenter shop, where Sylvanus learned that trade. He was a skilled craftsman with woodworking and carving. He made furniture for the home, doll furniture for his girls, fancy shelves and ornaments for the town Christmas tree. He grew up loving the outdoors and enjoyed hunting, fishing and hiking. Sylvanus liked to sing and play the harmonica. The family had a little pump organ. He liked art and would sometimes paint into the night.

After Sylvanus finished high school, he attended Snow College. He then went on to serve a 27-month mission in Colorado from (June 1901 to Jan 1904). After his return, he lived in Salt Lake City, where he worked on the trolly system for several years. He saved his money and was able to purchase his own farm "up the creek" East of Fairview. There was a two-room house with acres of land where he planted and cultivated all kinds of fruit trees, livestock and bees. 

In 1912, he was asked to serve as a "corpse-sitter." In those days, after the deceased was prepared for the funeral, friends or family would sit with the body so it was never left unattended. Younger single people were often asked to be corpse-sitters, so that others could take care of related family responsibilities. This was how Sylvanus and Hannah met, both corpse-sitting for her father's half brother. Despite the 13+ year age difference, the two continued to be thrown together in various church activities and were soon going together steadily. They married in the Manti temple June 4, 1913.

Before they knew it, the couple had four little girls with hardly any place to put them. One slept in a trunk, one in a drawer, and one at the foot of the bed.  Sylvanus purchased another house and moved it with a team of horses to attach to the original house with a stairway in between.  This more than doubled the space they had, and after that, the children slept upstairs in the addition. Three boys were added to the four girls and the family was complete.

The Great Depression began in 1929. In 1930, there was a severe drought. Times were tough and cash was almost non-existent. Sylvanus went to work in the mines over the mountains for a time. He peddled popcorn, vegetables, apples and sold what honey he could. The town lacked a butcher, so he stepped up and filled that role. A little later, he took a job working on the roads under Roosevelt's WPA (The Works Progress Administration was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers  to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.)  When the girls were old enough, they would help shoulder the responsibilities at the farm, and also worked outside the home to bring in a little extra.

During this time, Sylvanus had been struggling with his health. In 1935 he was very sick and in a lot of pain. They scraped together a little money and went to Salt Lake. The doctor agreed to operate and told them they could pay the rest when they could. Sylvanus was diagnosed with urinary tract cancer. The summer of 1938 was spent going to Salt Lake for various treatments, but Hannah was told they had been unsuccessful and that they should just return home to care for him the best they could. He was given less than a year to live.

The three older girls were married by this time. Bertha was attending Snow college, Berthell was 17, Demont not yet 12, and Kenneth was 10. Sylvanus's condition continued to deteriorate and it was a very difficult time. The doctor processed paperwork which allowed the family to receive $33 a month on welfare for which they were very thankful for. 

Sylvanus passed away on May 20, 1939, just shy of 61 years of age.