When my mom passed away in 1996, I had the responsibility of disposing of her stuff, so a lot of "memorabilia" got stored in my basement, where it still languishes. I would deny that I'm sentimental, but the evidence shows otherwise...Still, I'm amazed at what cool stuff I kept (let's face it--I kept it ALL). A copy of the Pierz Journal from Thursday, January 27th, 1955 had grandpa's obit on the front page.
There's a pretty neat story that goes with it: At the time, when a person died far from home, the authorities would not send a body home un-accompanied. It was the family's responsibility to go there and claim it, and take it home.
No one here in Minnesota could afford such a journey. Mom with young kids, and Uncle Reinhard on the farm--neither had extra funds...
But Helen Hesch lived in California and volunteered to pose as his married daughter (the reason her last name was different than his) and go claim the body AND accompany it home to Buckman.
After that, Helen became a saint in our household.
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