The Life Of Lucille Erskine Westra Burgener

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. 

The Life Of Lucille Erskine Westra Burgener ~ An Autobiography

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.

Six Siblings at Age Eight

 

Going through paperwork set aside to be scanned and filed, there were many programs from the grandkid's baptisms. In Dropbox, there is a folder specifically for the grandkid baptisms - although not all have programs or pictures. In current (2020s) culture, there is often a plethora of pictures, especially for little girls, in their pretty white dresses (Taylee, Jenna, Aniston and more). 

In the Westra archives ... back in the days of film cameras, there are not so many photos. In fact, scanning Dropbox, the only picture to be located of the actual baptismal attire, was Shane, in 1984. In Derek's "box", there was a prepared plaque saved, and Jen had kept her wonderful wood memento varnished with shellac. None of the baptismal programs were found (yet) ... were programs printed up in the olden days? 

So, grabbing what pictures were available (school photos, snapshots) ...

Here's a side-by-side look at the six siblings at age 8.

In the small history recap for each year, it was noted that Scott's baptism was held on January 1, 1972. New Years Day (having it on the holiday surprised me! What a way to start off the new year). Chris's baptism was on September 28, 1974. While we don't have a picture of Wendy's baptism, her certificate of baptism was scanned and saved. Her baptism was June 5, 1976 with the confirmation the next day on June 6 in Sacrament meeting (as was done in the "olden" days ... at some point it was changed to where the confirmation was done directly after the baptism). Wendy's confirmation and Shane's baby blessing were done in the same meeting. Before her baptism day, Jen recalls thinking "if I'm going to do anything bad, I should do it NOW since it will be a fresh start!" (not that Jen ever did anything wrong, right?) Chris stepped in for Dad (mission prep?) for Shane, and for Derek. 

See a couple other comparison collages for the Westra six ...

New Year's Babies - Six Siblings

Graduations at a Glance - Six Siblings

Christmas Letter ~ 1989

Retyped for easier reading ... photos from the 1989 Dropbox folder

Hello to our family and friends! Here's short synopsis of our 1989 family happenings. 

Lamar is still working at Unisys as a computer systems analyst. He was released a couple of weeks ago after seven years as a counselor in the Bishopric. It's still been too busy to notice much difference time-wise, but I have a loooong list of things for him to do one of these days, so I hope things lighten up after Christmas. We have to get things done in the house during the winter, because the yard is his top priority from March until October! He loves working in it!

Margie is teaching the Social Relations/Compassionate Service lesson in Relief Society and trying to keep things running smoothly at home. 

Scott just turned 26 and has been graduated from BYU for two years now. He has spent these two years working as an accountant for the Arthur Young Company (now Ernst and Young). He took the CPA exam in November, but won't hear until February if he passed all or part of it. He is serving as Elder's Quorum President in the Young Adult Ward of our Stake.

Chris returned home from his mission to Columbus, Ohio, on October 6. He had a wonderful, successful mission and loved it. He is how 23 and started at BYU on the Fall block schedule. He is just starting his senior year in Psychology. He still loves physical fitness and running and mountains and nature. He loves life and people and it very active in his student ward and in dating (making up for the past two years!) He is working as a psychiatric technician at the Utah Valley Medical Center and enjoys that also.

Wendy is 21 and is currently serving a mission in Atlanta, Georgia, teaching the deaf (American Sign Language). She has been serving 5 1/2 months now. Her address is: 3863 Memorial Dr. #305; Decatur, Georgia.

Jeni, 19, is a Freshman at Snow College, where she received academic and Honors Dept. scholarships to cover tuition, books and room and board (which saves her and us a bundle!) She is enjoying singing with the L.D. Singers and will be in the musical The Sound of Music in a couple of months. 

Shane is 13 1/2 and is in the 8th grade. He is doing well also. He has a pet hamster named Bartholomew.

Derek is a cute, toothless 7 year old and is in the 2nd grade. He is fun -- and noisy-- to have around.

We hope you are all healthy and happy and have a wonderful Christmas and a terrific New Year in 1990!

The Westras 

(this will be backdated to December 1989)

"Used To You Already" ... Mission Return

Chris left on his mission in October of 1987. Derek would have five years old. So two years later, comparison pictures of Chris and  Derek. Mom remembers as they picked Chris up from the airport and were traveling home in the car, Derek commented  "You've only been home a few minutes and I'm used to you already!"

Related Posts ...

• If you ever find a picture or event and wonder when it happened (a birth, leaving for a mission, new house, etc), remember there is a great Westra Timeline that lists all these events in order! It's also in the family dropbox. Good information!
• For more funny sayings, check out the Cute Quotes page (Derek's cute quote above as been added there!)
• Check out the labels (Missionary, Chris, Derek) for similar topics!

 

Jen - School Snapshot

 

Ah, school picture day. Sometimes they turned out, sometimes they didn't. Class pictures now feature just the faces of the other kids, their school pictures (you can check out the collages and elementary classes of  Callahan and Keaton) but it includes their names too, which is good for remembering in future years. In the olden days, it was actually a group photo, and sometimes they'd take it more than once to try and catch people who might have been absent. So the group photo wasn't always the same day as "picture day" ... here, the 2nd and 5th and 6th grades the individual photo and class photo happened on the same day, but the other years based on the different clothes/hair, the group shot was a different day. 

Preschool with Pauline Hogsen

Elementary Years at Woodstock

Jen had the same teacher as she entered and exited elementary ... Mrs. Diamond taught Kindergarten in 1976 and for several years after, but was moved to 6th grade in 1983. Jen has fond memories of all her elementary teachers, although she had been nervous about Mrs. Bullock (3rd grade). She would make you write "I have never ________" (whatever you did wrong) 100 times! So Jen just didn't do anything wrong *Ü*  Chris and Wendy had her as well ... I believe it was her class that introduced the family to the book "Sonny Elephant" which was a favorite, and which Mom/Margie picked up at a school sale many years later. 4th grade was a "split" class, and the teacher (Mrs. Bjarnson would end up being in Jen's ward years later after Jen was married). 5th grade was in the "Pod" ... a big open area with two classes in it. We saw the obituary for Principal DeGraw in July 2020, age 87. 

How many class pictures can we round up from the other Westra siblings?

There are a few in the school folder on Dropbox.

See the School Daze post for all the Westra siblings school pictures, glimpses of the schools; Woodstock, Bonneville Jr and Cottonwood High School and Remembering Woodstock ... as the elementary school was torn down and rebuilt in 2011.  Check out Dad/Lamar's elementary memories!

Graduation 1989 - Jen

You'd think in the 50+ years since my grandmother graduated from high school, and the 28 years since Mom/Margie did, that there would be more than ONE PHOTO to showcase for a high school graduation.  There is actually one additional one in Dropbox, but my eyes are closed. Ah, back in the days of film cameras, when pictures were limited and you didn't know what they looked like until you had them developed. 

I can actually envision another set of photos ... me and lots of different friends. I think it was graduation (it was afterward, no cap and gown), or possibly seminary graduation, but I haven't been able to locate the pictures. They are just a blurry memory in my mind.  Maybe they'll turn up at some point and I can update this post.

I don't know that we did the official graduation announcements. I recall not really even wanting to go to graduation. I dislike ceremony. But of course I went. I was in the program, singing with the Acapella and Madrigal choirs.

Because Cottonwood has one of the largest auditoriums in the state, our commencement was held at the high school, on the same stage I'd performed on many times. I didn't keep a copy of the program myself, but it was shared in a Facebook group in future years. 30+ years later, all the names are still familiar, and I remember both songs the choirs sang.

I had my high school diploma in storage ...

It is interesting to compare it to Grandma Zada's high school diploma. 50+ years, and the same font is used. Different schools, but the look is so similar! Here they are side-by-side ...

 

Zada's Graduation ~ 1936

Graduations 2021

... a couple years later, there would be a graduation with an associates degree from Snow College. No program saved, even though I was on it (said the opening prayer at the baccalaureate service). I remember Wendy came down. Couldn't find any pictures (1991 is VERY sparse in Dropbox). After Snow was BYU. I did graduate (off-season, after Summer semester) ... I didn't participate in any ceremony (no cap and gown) and I'm not sure if I ever picked up my actual physical diploma. 

I managed to graduate from college without any debt. 

Thanks scholarships!

Wonders of the World - Reflection Art

In a recent post, the annual PTA Reflections contest was addressed. There was a recap of ALL the themes from the past years, and a showcase of some of the music entries (several from Jen back in the day, and more recently with Jenna and Janika).  See that post HERE. Jen's final entry her junior year was for the theme "Wonders of the World" ... 

Just uncovered, were entries for this same year (1987-88) from Shane and Derek. Both were at Woodstock elementary. Shane was in 6th grade, Derek in Kindergarten. Shane's art entry is shown above ... rainbows, mountains, sunrises, roses, butterflies (check out the Blackham Monarch Memories).  Shane would continue to hone his artistic talent, as well as his academic scholarship, and become Sterling Scholar for Visual Arts during his senior year. 

Derek's entry was also a collage of a variety of "wonders"  ... like Shane, a rainbow made his list, along with rockets, racecars and ... my family. Ahhhh sweet! 

... included here are snapshots of the backs, with the entry form info Interesting to see the handwriting, changes in signatures (for the kids ... the folks signatures stay the same), etc. Mom/Margie was the parent signing for Shane, while Dad/Lamar put his John Hancock down on Derek's. 

Check out Jen's song "Music - The Greatest Wonder in the World"