Trips With Grandma Aldrich

Albert Glassnap always walked to work in the later World War II years.  Gasoline was rationed during the war, and by not using the car in town any more than necessary, they could still drive to De Pere and visit Estella’s family at least once a week.  As soon as the war was over and gas rationing came to an end, they were anxious to take a few longer trips to visit some of Emma’s relatives that they hadn’t seen in a long time.  Here are two of those trips.

UPPER LEFT:  Emma’s sister, Victoria, lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and we all piled in the car to visit Aunt Vic.  Left to Right: Emma (De Keyser) Aldrich, Alma (Aldrich) Verhagen with her youngest son, Kenny, Victoria (De Keyser) De Vroey, and Estella (Aldrich) Glassnap.

UPPER RIGHT:  George Verhagen and Louie De Vroey, Vic’s husband.

BOTTOM LEFT:  The Gardner Family with their son, Joyce and Estella Glassnap and Grandma Emma Aldrich.  We started out to visit Emma’s sister, Josephine (De Keyser) Foley Plessner, in St. Louis, Missouri, but had a bad accident along the way.  A car of teens came careening around a curve, sideswiped our car and rolled the car behind us.  The Gardner family, who herd the crash, became our good Samaritans and took us in for three days while the car was being fixed.  We never made it to St. Louis so Joyce never got to meet Aunt Josie.  The Gardners wouldn’t accept pay for keeping us.

BOTTOM RIGHT:  The Gardner family on their old car.  Everybody had to make do.

The three upper photos are of Harold Aldrich’s family:

UPPER LEFT:  Boo Boo (Harold Aldrich, Jr.) and Ruth Ann are pushing Donny in his little walker (about 1944).

UPPER RIGHT:  (Front Row) Ruth Ann, Donald George, and Beverly Jeanne Aldrich, with Harold Francis Aldrich (Boo Boo) behind (about 1945).

RIGHT:  Ruth Ann and Harold Aldrich, Jr. (Boo Boo) don some neat “shades” to keep the sun out of their eyes. 

The two bottom pictures feature some of Alma (Aldrich) Verhagen’s and Estella (Aldrich) Glassnap’s families.

BOTTOM LEFT:  Cousins Kenneth Wayne Verhagen and Elaine Dawn Glassnap look like Mutt and Jeff, a popular tall-and-short comic book duo of that era (about 1957).

BOTTOM RIGHT:  (Back) Alma Verhagen, her daughter Carol (Verhagen) Gerke and Estella Glassnap; (Front) Tom, Gloria and Rick Gerke and Elaine Dawn Glassnap (1957).