Bea Henry About Her Family

George and I were married at Freeport, Minnesota on a beautiful day, April 28, 1942. George and I met on the 4th of July about four years before. We did not “hit it off” right away, but in time we grew to love each other.
George had a gas station, little hardware store and a garage in Freeport. He was a car mechanic. When World War II started we were forced to sell. He went to work in St. Paul, Minnesota for Northwest Airlines as a airplane mechanic and worked there during the war.
In the fall we moved to St. Paul. Our first apartment was very small, bedroom and kitchen and we shared a bath. Later we moved to a bigger place, living room, kitchen and a big bedroom. Rent was frozen during the war we paid about $35 a month, heated.
I worked at a department store “Golden Rule”. Georgette was born in St. Paul, April 23, 1944. After the war we bought land in Alexandria.
We built a little 14 x 16 building to live in while we built our garage, gas station and cafe. Building supplies were hard to find after the war. Somedays George would drive many miles to look for some and maybe come home with two bags of cement. We bought and tore down a old building to get lumber. We got the foundation in before the winter set in. Then we moved in to live with my parents at Freeport. George worked in a garage that winter; Ma was not feeling well, so I did the work.
In spring we returned to Alexandria to finish building and opened up the gas station and garage. We were with the Webb. Co. We called our place Northland Company. Later we had a cafe that we rented out. Our place was on highway 52 the main highway then. We had lots of traffic including trucks from the Pipe line. Later we added a bait store and a garage for a truck company.
We lived in the basement of the cafe when Lyle was born in 1948. George started to deliver gas to homes and stations. Clyde was born in 1950.
About 1952 we built on a home behind the cafe. It was nice to have enough room. The boys shared a big room and Georgette had her own room.
I worked in the station, before it was common place for women to work out side of the home. I also had the cafe for a while when Clyde was about 1 year old.
I liked the bait and tackle store. The boys worked in it too, they liked the worms, frogs and minnows.
In 1956 after 6 weeks in the hospital we had a premature baby boy, Gerard. He lived one day.
After a time we acquired more stations and was jobber for A.P.C.O. Oil Company. We started Viking Land Ice Company; a wholesale and retail ice business. There was a big demand for ice in the resort area.
George’s health began to fail and we sold our business and building in about 1971 and moved to Lake Latoka in a townhouse. George did a lot of fishing. In 1974 we managed the Hi - View Mobile Home Park for 13 years. In 1984 we bought a mobile home and moved it on a nice corner lot. George died in 1990. At the time of this writing I still live here.
Beata Henry, November 1992

George HENRY & Beata DIERKHISING

HENRY-DIERKHISING

Miss Beata Dierkhising became the bride of George Henry at the Sacred Heart church in Freeport, Minn. at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 28, 1942. Rev. Polycarp Hansen, OSB officiated. The bride is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Joseph Dierkhising of Freeport and the bridegroom is the son of Mr. And Mrs. Joseph Henry of Freeport.

Attending the couple was the bride’s sister, Patricia Dierkhising and Sgt. Earl J. Henry of Westover Field, Mass., brother of the bridegroom.

The bride chose a gown of white celenese made with a lowered waist-line, fitted lace bodice, puffed short sleeves and pleated front. Her fingertip veil had scalloped pearled tiara. Her single-strand pearls were a gift of the bridegroom. She wore a little gold key pin that her grandmother and mother had worn for their weddings, and Mrs. Henry’s wedding handkerchief. The bride was given in marriage by her father. Light pink carnations and white sweet-peas formed the bridal bouquet.

George and Bea had 4 children:

1 Gerogette Mary

2 Llyle Joseph
3 Clyde Earl
4 Gerard 1956-1956

Joseph Nicolas HENRY & Elise CUMBER

Joseph Nicolas HENRY was married to Elise CUMBER on New Years Day 1907 in Montpelier, ND. Joseph was a well know builder of grain elevators in the Midwest, he had gone to the Dakotas to build a grain elevators where he met Elise. After their marriage Elise went to Freeport, Minnesota with Joe where the Henry family farm was located. Joseph was 39 years old and Elise was 18. Elise’s parents warned her about marrying a man twice her age, she would be a young widow, but in reality Joe lived to me 95 years old. Elise only out lived him by 5 years.
Joe could do magic tricks with cards. He would reach towards the ceiling and all at once has a card in his hand. He played the violin. Even when he was very old he would dance though a whole evening.
Joe and Elise had 12 children. George was the oldest. His younger brothers and sisters looked up to him, maybe due in part to the fact that Joe was on the road a lot of the time. The 2nd child was Constance, then Norman who died at the age of 36 due to a heart ailment, leaving behind three children. Leona was the 4th child. 5th was Earl who died was killed in a hit and run accident while serving in the army during WWII. Lucille was the 6th child she died at the age of 28, they say she died of a broken heart after the death of her baby brother, Edward (Buddy) the youngest, who died in a barn fire while she was baby sitting him. Next came two more girls Elsie, known as Ginger, then Evelyn. The 9th child was Walter Sylvester known as Spud. Spud was always in trouble and phoning home for money. He disappeared for many years everyone thought he was dead then one Thanksgiving he called like nothing had ever happened. The 10th child was Viola Florence known to all as Aunt Vie. She was the life of the party. The youngest daughter was Cora Mae.

John HENRY and Mary LESSELYOUNG

John HENRY and Mary LESSELYOUNG were married 26 Feb 1823 at St. Cecilia's RC Church in Sheldon, Wyoming, N.Y. by Gather Grubber.

John and Mary had 11 children:

1 Helen 1851-1887
2 John 1854
3 Peter 1855-1933
4 Theresa (Tracy) died young
5 Michael 1859
6 Julia 1859
7 Nicholas 1861
8 Joseph Nicholas 1867-1962
9 Anna Elizabeth 1870-1967
10 Ludwig (Louis) C 1871
11 Ted died young due to fall in well.

My goal with this Blog is to share photos and information from the family history I created in 1993 in memory of my beloved PaPa George Henry