Some cool connections are being made by emailing back and forth with our new-found cousin Stephan Janson! He said his uncle Carl remembered a nun from Minnesota coming by train to visit during the summers when he was a kid. Carl is 79 now, so if he was, say, 10, it would have been 1942.
I assume the nun was Johannes' daughter Anna, or Sr Mamerta. (I emailed St Bens to get more info about her, but in the end it was faster to go over to the nuns cemetery 6 blocks from here and find her grave ☺ )
So, she professed her vows in 1915, when she was 25...and died 65 years later, in 1980.
Wow, she died at 90 years old.
(Thanks for the pic, Carrie!)
This next photo is Johannes Janson's kids in 1956, on the occasion of Mike's 50th wedding anniversary. (Mike is sitting, second from right). I know so little about these people, but I'm posting them so Carl can see them, and maybe ID the nun from Minnesota. She would have been 60 here.
Another pic from that same day, of 'just the girls'.....
....and another of 'just the boys'.
Carrie, if you see this, would you tell me who's who?
I imagine we'll goof if we try to guess ☺
Ah Sister Mamerta. :) My mom went to Catholic school in Pierz (that's all they had at the time) and has memories of her. She said Sister Mamerta used to tell the dirtiest jokes!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty good at picking out the boys, the girls are a little harder but based on a pic from John & Mary's 50th I'd say the one with all the siblings is l to r, back: Elizabeth?, Dan, Sister Mamerta, Catherine?, Peter, front: Theresa, John, Joe, Mike, Regina?
I'm not good at figuring out the girls besides Sra. Mamerta (duh) & Theresa. I think I may have a copy of a picture of Sister Mamerta from when she first professed. (Yep, just found it, I'll send it to you)
Oops, sorry re-read that, switch Sr. Mamerta & Catherine.
ReplyDeleteOh I give up! I was missing Sophie. I think that's her between Sr. Mamerta & Pete. I can ask my mom next time but she only really remembers Dan, Sr. Mamerta, Sophie, Pete & Regina. She always says how pretty the girls were, especially Sophie.
ReplyDeleteSr. Mamerta was posted to Sauk Rapids when she was very old, and we knew she was a relative, but no idea how she was related. In third grade, (1962)she was our long-term sub when our num went crazy and mean. Sr. Mamerta was sooooo sweet compared to our regular nun, and she gave me an orange Duncan yo-yo when they were really hot items. Later it occurred to me she must have impounded it from some other little kid, but hey, I loved it anyhow. Her face was one big smile--you could tell she had done a lot of laughing in her day.
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