Wednesday, January 2, 2008

The Mystery of Bessie Finch Solved

I've been trying to find what happened to the children of Alsey and Bertha Wilder Finch for forever.  Bertha Estelle Wilder was the daughter of Charles Edgar and Mary Jane Clark Wilder.  Charles was the brother of my great-grandmother, Eva Bell Wilder Lemon.  Bertha and Alsey lived in Armada (pronounced "ArMADEa", not ArMODa), Macomb County, Michigan.  They had at least three children:

Kendall Finch b. 26 Oct 1906 and was either stillborn or died the same day he was born.
Bessie Finch b. Abt. 1906 and, as I just found out tonight, d. 2007.
Florence Finch b. Abt. 1913.

I haven't been able to find anything at all about Florence, but I hit the motherlode on Bessie.  I knew she'd married a man by the name of Clarence S. Frederick and had at least one child because I found them in the 1930 Census.  Their child was Nettie Frederick.  I found her obituary tonight.  


Nettie Jean Vaden ADAMS

June 19, 1927 - June 10, 2001 Nettie Jean Adams, 73, died Sunday,
June 10, 2001 at her home in Waldport, Oregon with her husband John at her side. She was born in Armada, Michigan, the daughter of
Clarence and Bessie Frederick. She graduated from Armada High
School in 1945 and in April of 1946 married V.G. (Geary) Vaden.
They had three children: Christie Anne, Charles Frederick, and Clarissa Jaye. Nettie was a longtime resident of the Seattle area, but had spent the last seven years on the Oregon coast. She adored reading, traveling, good restaurants, and her family and friends. She was outgoing, outspoken, and always a challenge to all who knew and loved her.

Nettie was preceded in death by her father, Clarence Frederick, in
1950. She is survived and truly missed by her husband of 12 years,
John Adams; her mother Bessie Frederick 93 of Anacortes, WA., her
brother and sister-in-law James and Dorothy Frederick of Anacortes,
WA., her daughter and son-law Christie and William Eichler of
Anacortes, WA., her son and daughter-in-law Charles and Patricia
Vaden of Federal Way, WA., her daughter and son-in-law Clarissa
and William MacLean of Rigby, ID., her step-children George Shargas,
Debra Edwards, Catherine Drew, Carol Adams, Robert Adams, as
well as 13 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. A private
memorial will be held Saturday, June 16, 2001 at 1 p.m. at the home of 
her brother James. Memorials to the American Heart Association and
the Arthritis Foundation in Nettie's memory are suggested. Cremation 
was conducted under the direction of Bateman Funeral Home in
Newport, Oregon.

Jun 15 2001
Seattle Times

http://obitz.us/obits/Index%20A/notesobit_a_1680.txt

The very sad thing is that I also discovered that Bessie Finch, Nettie's mother, died in 2007 at the age of 99.  She was like most of the Lewis women; they lived very long lives.  Bessie's mother, Bertha Estelle Wilder, lived to be 97 years old.  Her grandmother, Calista Marie Lewis Wilder, lived to be 91 years old.  Calista's mother, Sarah Tarbell Lewis, lived to be almost a hundred years old also.  I haven't found Bessie's obituary yet, but I'm pretty certain I know where she died.  Best of all, Nettie Fredericks had a brother I didn't know about because he was born in 1933.  He's listed as living in Washington state.  I plan on calling him tomorrow.  I'm very excited.  It would be wonderful if someone in that family was interested in genealogy.  

So, a mystery solved, perhaps new "cousins" to connect with, and more names to enter in the database.  Not a bad start to the new year!

1 comment:

  1. I have some info I'm the daughter of florence finch macek It was good to see that someone was interested in the family my name is carol sue macek-may I have 2 brothers and they haven't talked to me since mom died april 17 2001
    not a close family anyway it was good to hear from you

    ReplyDelete