24 – Last One Standing

My grandmother Marie Justen Kenyon, born a Gerhard in 1898, lived to be 93; by the time she died she had outlived her older sister, her two younger brothers, her husband, and all four of her children. 

Marie with her young family circa 1934: Harry Jr, Pat, and Lawrence

Harry Jr. was her first child, coming in February 1922, three and a half years after she married my grandfather. Dad came next, in May 1926, over four years later. After having two boys, a third son Justen died at birth in August 1927 when Marie was just 29; Marie's diary was simple and matter-of-fact:  

"At 4:50 our 'sonny' came out but lived only a few moments"

Justen's small grave marker lies next to Marie's parents in Rienzi cemetery, almost covered by Autumn leaves when we visited there in 2008. I don't remember Grandma mentioning Justen, maybe once or twice.

Baby Justen Kenyon Aug 19, 1927

Marie had one more child, a girl she named Patricia Lou Kenyon, born in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression. The family moved from Fond du Lac to Milwaukee for a while but returned to Fond du Lac, living out the 30's with Harry's parents, his sister-in-law and two nephews. 

In March 1945 Harry Jr., captain of a paratrooper company, died at the age of 23 in the waning days of World War II, in a jump over the Rhine River into a heavily defended Germany outside the town of Wesel. Harry and his ambitions had always been a large part of the family, and he was especially close to his mother; his death was a huge blow.

Marie with her son Harry Jr., West Point visit

Grandma's only daughter, Patricia, died of Hodgkin's lymphoma in March of 1960 at the age of 30, leaving two young children and a husband behind. She was the little sister in the family, with two older brothers (it would have been three if Justen had lived). We knew her as Aunt Pat, and the only time I remember my father praying was when she was close to death and he gathered us kids to pray alongside him.

Marie with her daughter Pat, dressed for Easter

Marie lost her husband Harry in May of 1969, when he was 73 and she was 71. I remember the trip to Fond du Lac from Chicago with Dad when his father was dying – the only trip I remember with just the two of us. I think Grandpa died within the first day we arrived. Dad did not seem emotional about this; like Harry Jr., I think he was much closer to his mother than his father.

Finally, my father, Marie's second born, died of lung cancer at the age of 65, just 6 months before her own death – she had just turned 93. Marie was also the last of her immediate family; second-born, she had already lost both younger brothers and her older sister. But I wondered if losing her last child diminished her will to live. As a strong believer in the Catholic religion she hoped to see her children again in heaven, and at times she must have wished for death to come. And for those who live that long there must be a loneliness to having no contemporaries who share your early memories. 

Marie with son Larry and husband Harry

Marie and husband Harry are buried next to their daughter Pat in Calvary Cemetery in Fond du Lac, where most of the Catholics in the family seem to have ended up. The Gerhards, Marie's paternal side, tended to go to Rienzi Cemetery just outside of town, where Marie's parents and her baby Justen are buried. Harry Jr. is at West Point, and Dad's ashes lie next to Mom's, in Burlington Cemetery in Longmont, Colorado where she was from.

But the next generation survives: nine grandchildren in all including the son Harry Jr. had adopted, the six in my family, and Aunt Pat's two children. By living so long, a life spanning most of the 20th century, Grandma did get to talk to us a bit about our ancestry, and helped to pass along our family's history.  

Marie J. Kenyon 1898-1991