Marjorie M. Mattson Bristol

MARJORIE MATTSON BRISTOL

Born 3/17/27

My name is Marjorie Mattson Bristol. I was born in 1927, the middle daughter of Winona Fowler and Charles Mattson. Winona was born in Manistee, Mich. in 1905 - Charles was born in Helsinfors, Finland in 1900 of Swedish parents. There is a story that my dad wandered off on the ship coming to America (he was 2 yrs. old) and he found and pulled the master switch, shutting off all the lights on the vessel.

My first recollection of my life was when I was about three years old. I had a sister two years older, Betty Jane (called herself Bean Jean), and little Barbara had just been horn. We were living on River Road and my grandparents lived about a half mile down the road where my grandpa ran a saw mill. His name was Fletcher Fowler and he was born in 1879 in Muskegon, Mich. on a hill overlooking Mona Lake. He met Laura Johnson in Manistee and they were married in 1899.

Grandma told the story of sitting on a high wall with some friends when they pointed out the new good looking young man in town. Grandma had an apple and threw it, hitting him in the head. He followed her home and romance bloomed. They were married in 1899.

Winona met Charles while he was making shipping crates at Grandpa Fowler's sawmill. They dated awhile and one evening they went to Muskegon to see a movie, but instead they eloped, with Aunt Lizzie (dad’s oldest sister and husband, Earl) standing up for them. They couldn't sleep together the first night as they had to tell her parents. They eloped on 6/19/24. I remember that when the neighbors found out, they held a chivaree. This is where everyone brought pans and something to bang on them so as to make as much noise that they could. I have never heard of this custom since then (couldn't find the spelling in dictionary)

Fletcher's and Laura’s family consisted of Winona, Dorothea and Fletcher Fowler, Jr. (called Buster), however my grandmother never quit mourning for her firstborn, Russell, who died in infancy.

Fletcher was an entrepreneur. At one time he owned a circus with many acts and many animals. It was called the Fowler Bros. Circus and they traveled all over the Midwest and down to Florida in the winter. Grandma cooked for all the crew. She worked so hard. Winona had some strange playmates. In one town they were staying in a boarding house and mom had an alligator for a pet. It got away from her and fell down the stair and the owner called out to Grandma to get that beast out of there!

In the summer he stored his animals on M20 highway at a tavern which he purchased and ran. He had built a big addition on one side to store the animals in and had a caretaker and trainer staying there. I can imagine someone putting a beer to his lips and hearing a lion roar or an elephant’s sound. Though, I guess most of the clientele were from the neighborhood and knew he had the animals there. It was at this time that Mom, Grandma and a friend, Laverne, sang in a trio in vaudeville.

At another point in their married life, Grandma and Grandpa owned a second hand store on Pine Street in Muskegon. They bought estates of furniture, much of it ending up at the Fowler’s home. One thing I remember in particular was a gorgeous hand carved dining set. It was very heavy and had high back ladder chairs. There was a matching buffet and also a china cabinet. I always loved that set, having Thanks-giving at that table for many years long after Grandma died and mom had it.

Sometime in the late 1920's Fletcher opened West Lake Park which was on West Lake in Twin Lakes, Mich. There was a small house on the property and they added an enormous living room with a fireplace on the front, making the present living room into a dining room. There was a porch overlooking the lake which made for great sleeping! The park was an instant success! It had a huge store which consisted of a restaurant, bar and gift shop. There was a Merry-go-round and a loopo plane (which I never ever rode) It was fun to take all my friends on the merry go round all for free. A couple hundred feet away there was a toboggan slide. There was a charge to ride the toboggan down thesteep slide and into the water. I think each slide could seat two or three people. When Barbara was very young she decided to slide down on it on her bottom. She ended up with a monumental sliver of wood in her bottom which I don't believe was ever removed.

There was a special bear who was trained. His name was Teddy. They kept him in a cage at West Lake Park in the summers and he was trained to drink coke out of the bottle. One day he bit the trainer very had and had to be shot. He ended up being a wonderful bear rug in front of Grandma's fireplace.

Grandpa also brought a tribe of Indians from Minnesota for the summer and they would put on a big show on weekends. They built birch bark teepees and lived in them. They made all sorts of gift items such as beaded headbands, leather fringed dresses and pants (also beaded), canoes made from birch bark, dolls, moccasins, etc. All of these were sold by the Indians and also in the park store gift shop. We had many Indian costumes for many years which our whole family, plus many friends wore on Halloween. The Indians would build a big fire and dance around it with war paint on. It drew big crowds.

Also on weekends, grandpa would show silent movies on a big screen which was attached to the big roller rink (also used as a-dance floor). Every Sunday there was a balloon ascension. The balloon was an ugly grey color unlike the beautiful colored balloons you see today. Winona claimed that she went up in the balloon one Sunday. She had more guts than I do. After the balloon was up in the air, a lot of people would jump in their cars and follow it to where it landed.

Another venture of Grandpa Fowlers was opening the first super market in Muskegon. It was called the F&F store and was on Marquette Ave. It was a self serve market like the supermarkets of today, with two cashiers. Mama’s younger sister, Dorothea worked with grandpa at the store while Mom's brother, Buster, attended to West Lake Park.

I believe that Grandpa's being in the grocery store business prompted Mom and Dad to open their first store. They rented a big building on the corner of Getty and Laketon Ave. It stood just across from the railroad tracks. At this time my Dad's youngest sister came to live with us. She was Aunt Sally and she was our nanny as Mom worked in the store along with Dad and a hired man, Floyd Burgess. Aunt Sally had a crush on Floyd.

Our living quarters were upstairs - quite large - and Betty started school. In 1932 I started school. I was only 2 when we moved there so my memory is a bit foggy. I remember kindergarten was at Porter School and I attended only a couple of grades there as Dad's lease ran out and the owners wanted the building for something else, so Dad found a building in Muskegon Heights which had been a small local grocery store, with living quarters in the back.

I loved that neighborhood and my school was close by. I believe I was going into 4th grade at this point. The store didn't do well at all as a new A&P market opened just a couple of blocks away and Dad couldn't compete with their prices.

In 1937, Grandpa Fowler was very instrumental in the Muskegon Centennial celebration. He built a working saw mill for people to watch things from the lumbering era. He worked so hard, that he died later in the year with congestive heart failure.

When the centennial closed, Dad purchased part of one of the buildings and built a new store on the corner of Getty and Summit. I attended a one room school on Broadway. I believe I went there for 5th grade only and for sixth grade was bussed into Muskegon Heights.

This store was a real success. Dad had a great meat counter, beer and wine license and gas pumps. It was opened sort of like a 7-ll store. Most customers were on their way home from work and picked up a few things, but he had a big beer & wine business. Since I was the only child who could get along with Dad I worked in the store. I was the tallest and could reach for all the things on the top shelves. I did a lot of stocking, waiting on customers, pumped gas, and also cut pork chops, sliced lunch meat. In those days, everything was in the bulk, no pre-packaged food. Cookies were in bins, as were potatoes, pickles in big crocks, etc.

Things went along real good ‘til World War II started. Then the Government started rationing Gas, sugar, coffee, etc. and set prices on many hard to get things. This caused Dad to have a lot of paperwork, which really drove him nuts. He loved running the store, but all this was a big headache for him. In 1945, the year I graduated from high school, Dad sold the more like gave it away! He took a house in Muskegon Heights payment and we moved there. He had become so irritable from paperwork, the OPA (Office of Price Administration), that he couldn’t wait to get OUT, He was only 42 years old and retired!

I didn't mention that in 1935 my brother, Jack was born. My folks were so happy to have a little boy and he was a doll. Of course, I was eight years older and so we were adults when we really became friends.

Growing up with a grocery store on the premises was a strange way of life. Since Mom worked in the store too, we would each decide what we wanted to eat and go get it from the meat counter. Sometimes she would prepare a meal and we would all sit down together, but that was the exception. If we did, the store bell would ring and we would take turns waiting on customers. At first, the store was closed on Sundays and we would go to Grandma’s at West Lake and have a picnic and swim.

Living in Muskegon Heights proved to be not so bad. We all enjoyed walking to the local hangout – Grover’s Drug Store for a soda. Mom loved walking to the Five and Dime store for crochet thread, etc. But, my folks were ready to go back to their roots. They wanted to remodel the first house they lived in after marrying, so moved to River Road and Dad added on some rooms. Since I was working in Muskegon Heights and had no transportation, I moved in with some gals I worked with at Sealed Power Corp. There was no telephone service on River Road right after the war, so I would have been incommunicado and wou1dn't have liked that!

I had started dating Ken Becker and we were having fun going to dances and movies, to the beach, etc. When I moved to Westover’s house, we six gals had a flat. You couldn't call it an apartment, as we had three bedrooms, a kitchen and a bath. No living room, so we were not allowed to have boys visit. They had to ring the door bell.& wait out front.

Mrs. Westover watched us like hawks. We each had a marble of different colors. There were two boxes in the front hallway downstairs. We were responsible for putting our marble in the out box when we left for the evening and back in when we came home. We all goofed at one time or another and got locked out, as when all the marbles were in the in box, the front door was locked and Mrs. Westover went to bed right after she took out her hearing aids. What a time we had trying to get back in.

Ken was called to the war in Korea and so I went out with the girls a lot, particularly, Jeanne Wurtz. We did everything together. She was like a sister. I stayed at her house a lot on Mona Lake. Her folks were determined that when their son, Barth, came home from the war, Barth and I were made for each other. However, he was like a brother to me. No chemistry!

After Ken had been gone for about a year and a half, Jeanne and I went to the local hangout "Occidental Candy Shop." In walked Clare Bristol and George Pulos. They were heading for the dance at Jr. College, a block away and asked us if we’d like to join them. Well, I danced with Clare all evening and had a ball. He was a GREAT dancer. The next day, George called me at home and asked me go to Fruitport Pavilion dancing with Clare. Clare felt it was too late to ask. I asked my mom if I should and she said "You go ahead" you have been staying home so much. This changed my life!

I didn’t tell Clare that I was engaged to Ken at first. I never knew how serious this would get. However, as time went on, I knew I couldn't be in love with Ken when I felt this way for Clare. So I had to find a way to tell Ken. I didn’t want to write him a "Dear John" letter, so waited ‘til I knew he was leaving and wrote him a letter. But, he didn't get it ‘til he was home!

He was very understanding, and said the least I could do was to let him date me and give him a chance to win me back. We had a joint bank account, his mother had bought a dinette set, a bedroom set and many linens as she couldn't wait to have me as a daughter-in-law. I would go out with Ken one night, and Clare the next, with the other one driving around the block to see when I got home. I was so confused after awhile that I lost weight and was getting to wonder who I did want. Ken wanted to bet married NOW, Clare talked about it, but he knew we would have to live in the house he and his mother purchased together, she making the down payment and he making the monthly payments, then sharing the utility and other expenses.

I finally got so disgusted, I went to Florida with Mom, Dad, Barb and Jack and decided I would just move there. I got a job lined up, an apartment rented, but when they were ready to leave, I just couldn't stay there along; Meantime, Clare had gone to the East Coast with Warren Maxfield to check out MIT. He had been offered a great job with Michigan Associated (bought out by General Telephone in about 1960). and was torn between going to college as all his brothers and sisters had, or taking the offer at the Telephone Co. I think he knew I wouldn't wait for him and he couldn't see school and marriage too.

When I got back from Florida, I decided I would not see either one of the guys, so started dating other fellows. Ken and Clare became good buddies and followed me (stag and together) to the dances and stood and leered at me - then would go where everyone ended up for a bite to eat and stared some more. Not fun!

I finally started seeing them both again and by this time I knew it was Clare I wanted. One day he picked me up and took me for a ride to Duck Lake and stopped. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring and we set a date! We drove to Mom and Dads immediately and told them. By this time, Mom and Dad had accepted Clare, however, at first, they liked Ken a lot better. He was like an old shoe, and Clare was just a bit more formal. It was a GREAT decision.

We were married March 12, 1949 and took our honeymoon to the Smokey Mountains with his sister, Ruth's car. She was about to give birth to Kurt and was sure she was ready and asked us if we would drop her off at Percy Jones Hospital in Battle Creek. We did, and when we returned a week later, we learned that she had taken a bus home and hadn't had her baby yet! I believe he was born in early April.

And so, we started our life on Roosevelt Road, living with his mother and for six years it was tough. He, being the baby of the family and 20 years younger than his eldest brother, Harold, needed a lot of guidance, she thought. We had advice on everything. I never felt it was my home. She was the same age as my grandmother Fowler.

Marc was born on October 3,, a tiny bundle, weighing in at 4# 8 oz. I guess Grandma Bristol was a big help with him, as I had never had experience with a baby before. Though tiny, 18 in. long, he was a very good baby. I tried to nurse him, but it just didn't work for me, so he went on formula and began to flourish. He remained very small, in fact, noone believed me that he weighed only 25# when he started kindergarten. He was the smallest in his class with the exception of a little dwarf girl.

We waited for a couple of years, then tried to have another baby, but just couldn’t. We went through all the testing, taking my temperature, etc. for a couple of years. Finally in 1955, our friend, George Pulos, who was in the real estate Sales talked us into selling our house. Clare was a frustrated architect, the field he would have followed had he gone to college, so he drew up plans, purchased land just behind our house, and broke ground, just six weeks after our sale of our house closed. We were able to pay his mother back, with interest, her down payment, and to buy the land. He then arranged to borrow money from Prudential Insurance Co. to pay for our dream home.

We purposely built a two bedroom home, thinking we could at last be alone. We moved into a third floor walk up apartment close to the telephone company, and he would leave work at 5:00 PM, run home, I had his meal all ready, and he would go out to the house and work ‘til ll PM many nights. We both worked all weekend. Only a couple of our many friends showed up to HELP! They would stop and admire, but not many grabbed a hammer or shovel!

The house was a California style house, with high ceilings, clerestory windows that we could open with a long pole with a hook. The house had 25% ft. window on the front and another 5 ft. window on side of living room. I had all the draperies made for the living room before the glass was put in. I couldn’t wait to have my OWN home, and decorate it as I wanted to.

We planned to move in only when it was finished, but, lo and behold! I became pregnant two months after we broke ground, and after a few months, my Dr. didn't want me walking up three flights of stairs, so we broke ground in June, and actually moved in our new home in February of 1955.

Wendy was born June 8, a beautiful baby girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Just as I had ordered. She was such a joy, always happy and such a darling little girl.

I guess I haven't mentioned that Clare was involved with Barbershoppers from about l951 on. He didn't have ' much time to spend while building the house, but after we moved in he had joined a quartet and they were competing in all the state an international contests. They didn't win first place for 3-4 years, but they worked very hard. They were called the "Airetonics". He had been in a couple of other quartet, but this was a very compatible group. They practiced every week and the girls would meet at another house and play cards while the guys practiced. We accompanied the quartet to their jobs and contests whenever possible and always had a good time. The quartet managed to make enough money to pay all our expenses, baby sitters, gas, food, etc. so it made for some fun weekends.

Clare kept working on the house, but there were a few small things that never got finished ‘til we sold it in 1966. Little things, like baseboards in closets. Actually, when Wendy was a couple of years old, he made the inside stall of the garage into a third bedroom as we had her crib in our bedroom and wanted her to have a room of her own. We were only a one car family at that point.

Clare had a problem when the house was finished as we hadn't kept very good records and ended up spending about $4,000 more than we had been approved by the insurance company. He finally got a loan from Hackley Bank to cover the full cost of the house, but we were in debt.

I went to work again as a secretary to get out of debt and to help furnish our dream house. Thank God, I had the best housekeeper and nanny in the world "Grandma Edna Kiess". The kids just loved her and she did laundry, had our dinner on the table when we got home from work, loved Marc and Betsy as her own. She even taught Marc piano lessons. She and her husband would often stay for a weekend to take care of the children on our all weekend Barbershop outings.

I was working at General Telephone at that time, playing in a couple of bridge clubs (evenings), drinking lots of coffee, smoking almost two packs of cigarettes a day.& involved in Marc Boy Scouts. He tried for sports as he got older, but he got tired of sitting on the bench as he was so little. With almost six years difference in their ages,

Marc liked his sister, but there wasn't much interplay between them.

When Wendy was almost three, I had a nervous breakdown. It seemed the whole world caved in on me very suddenly! My boss at Gen. Telephone died in the next room from me, I was trying to be too many things to too many people and burning the candle at both ends! I went to Mom and Dad's at the Lake and cried for weeks. I had anxiety and depression.

Mom and Dad were angels to me. I started having shock treatments by a local Psychiatrist and didn't feel I was getting anyplace. After several months passed (all the while being paid full salary and Edna staying with the children) my Mom heard of "Recovery, Inc." which was a group therapy for people with my condition. They met at the YWCA, and on the first meeting I started getting better. I found that many getting better. I found that many people had experienced these same symptoms and were getting better by helping each other. Though I was feeling much better, I stayed in the group for a couple of years to help others. I participated in group discussions at churches and service clubs as that was the only way that Recovery could be known. They could not advertise, but by word of mouth. It saved my life!

In 1961 I learned that I was pregnant. I was scared as I had had the post natal blues after both Marc and Wendy - I now know that my hormones were going haywire, so I really feared having another baby. Afraid that I might have another breakdown. But, with the help of my wonderful Dr. I came through it just great. We had our Betsy (named after her Aunt Betty Jane who was pregnant at the same time and wanting a girl so badl)

Betsy was a darling little girl. She was so smart, and talked at a very early age. She seemed more explorative than the other children had been, and got into trouble as a result. Once when she was only about 18 mos. old, she climbed on the kitchen counter and reached up to the top shelf to get the bottle of baby aspirin. Poor kid had to have her stomach pumped as those orange crumbs were all around her mouth I didn't know how many she had ingested.

She was very tall for her age, also. Betty, Barbara and my brother's wife, Nan, were all pregnant at the same time, all due within five months of each other. The other three had boys, and I had the only girl. I didn't care as I had one of each. I have a picture of those three boys and Betsy in a playpen and she is almost a head taller than the others. She ended up the same height as I am, but she grew real fast just as I and My mom did. They always said Nona was going to be a big tall woman – her final height was 4’ ll"! I was taller than Mom, Dad and all my siblings and felt like a big ox!

When Betsy was a young toddler, I took the real estate license and became a real estate agent with Coutchie Real Estate. I was, in fact, a Coutchie Girl. Alex hired five women, one for each day of the week to answer phones (getting any leads for that day), his typing and general go-fer. I did very well in this field and enjoyed it a lot, but it became too much of an interference with the family. I had open houses almost every weekend, and when someone called to see one of my listings, I had to go show it! So finally gave it up - hoping to go back to it later.

In 1966, Clare was transferred to a sister company, GTEC Cable TV. He was only the fourth employee and he was so excited about it. We were moved to South Haven Michigan and our house didn't sell real quick, so being only 75 miles away, we went home most weekends and saw all our friends. Clare was running the Cable business in this little town of l8,000, which grew to three times that in summers, being right on Lake Michigan. He also had some traveling to do securing other franchises for GTEC. I hated having him away from home.

In l967, Mom and Dad were in Texas for the winter, and I got a call that my Dad had died of a heart attack. Poor Mom, all alone down there, but her landlord took care of her, put her and Dad's casket on the plane and we picked her up in Chicago. Clare and I helped with all the arrangements for the funeral, my first experience in such a thing. It was a huge funeral, taking up two rooms, as Dad had so many friends having been in the grocery business for several years. Mom stayed with us for a couple of weeks, then went to Betty's in Okemos for awhile. Sooner or later she had to go back home at the Lake all alone. Now I know how tough that must have been. They had been married 43 years - almost seven less than Clare and I.

Mom did some traveling with a lady friend, but soon met up with Victor Erickson who she had gone to grade school with. Victor had never been married and they hit it off. Victor taught Mom to dance and they were the hit of every dance they went to, especially when they got in their 80's. They loved to take us to the Muskegon Heights Eagles and show off how great they danced. Everybody would get off the floor to watch.

We lived in South Haven, spending the first three months (starting in March) in a summer cottage right on Lake Michigan. We watched the ice burgs come and go and enjoyed the big lake ‘til we were able to get in the house we purchased from a local Dr. who decided to go back to school. It was a big two story colonial and we proceeded to decorate and remodel bathrooms. The girls loved it as they each had their own room. Marc took the big sun room as his bedroom and seemed to like that. He worked in the local dollar store for a few months before going to Michigan State College in Lansing on a partial scholarship.

Marc was only l7 when he started college and when he came home for his first break at Thanksgiving, his hair was below his ears. This was something we never expected. He was always so fastidious and a regular clothes horse! He also became what we thought was a hippie. He called himself a free spirit. Anyway, it took a lot of changing on our part to handle all this.

In 1967, we took a trip to California for our Christmas. We bought little and also inexpensive gifts as we had to pack for our family of five. We had a wonderful trip, stopping in Las Vegas on the way. We took Marc to see the "Sammy Davis Show" and it was so cold outside there were snowcaps on the swimming pool. We visited old friends in the San Jose area and then headed south to the Los Angeles area. We visited the Dickinsons (Clare had transferred Bob to GTE of SC and they lived in Newbury Park) Clare went into Santa Monica with Bob one day and saw a lot of people he knew and I went with June to see new home models. We actually looked at this subdivision where we now live, but I didn't realize that until many years later when June reminded me. This particular model was my favorite but I never wanted to move to California!!!

We were at Disneyland Christmas Eve. and visited Buster Mills family in Seal Beach, having dinner with them that night. Clare drove us up to the top of Mulholland Drive that night on way back and we saw all the lights of the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. Christmas Day, we opened our presents and all looked at each other and said "let's head for home!" We missed our own tree and fireplace, and snow and all that reminds you of Christmas. We had planned to stay a couple of more days, but we had done Universal Studio, saw a couple of TV shows, and we were READY! Disneyland was great too!!!!

We drove to Phoenix that evening and went to a fine restaurant which was almost vacant. Clare told the kids to order anything they wanted as this was Christmas! Betsy would have nothing but a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and when it came, the chef had decorated that sandwich with little Christmas trees - it was darling. She hadn’t had her favorite food since we had left home! I don't remember how many days it took is to get there - but we vowed we would never again be away at Christmas!!!! We always had wonderful Christmas's.

Usually Clare and I were up very late, putting together Barbie Doll Houses, or something that needed assembling. Jack and Marilyn Krolczyk who were childless made a tradition of stopping that night each year for some Christmas cheer and to help us with our projects!

In l968 Clare was promoted and we were moved to Ft. Wayne, Ind. To live. We bought a beautiful new house, but it wasn't as much fun as Clare had to travel to Pennsylvania every Monday, coming back on Friday. He was securing franchises in the Pennsylvania area for GTEC. We only lived there for about fifteen months when he was promoted again to Northwest Division Mgr. This covered the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. He was to be the Northwest Division Manager. Since I wouldn't fly, he and Wendy went out to Seattle and she helped him pick a new home for us. He had to report there in June, so I wasn't in a hurry to sell the house. I knew the girls wouldn't meet friends ‘til school started. So, I priced the house pretty high, but, wouldn't you know, it sold the very next day after listing. In fact, we had two offers that very morning.

When the moving van left Ft. Wayne with all our furniture, the girls and I drove up to Michigan (with our cat, Taffy) and landed at Twin Lakes at Mom's on the very night that the first man walked on the moon. We were listening on the radio all the way and I was hoping we would be able to see it LIVE, We just made it, and Clare called right after from Seattle. He took several days off and we took our time driving to Seattle as we had never traveled that way before. It was a fun trip. When we arrived in Edmonds, (a bedroom community of Seattle) our house was not quite ready, so we lived in the Holiday Inn for a few days ‘til our house was finished and our furniture arrived.

Clare loved his job in Edmonds, it was a nice little town with lots if good restaurants, Puget Sound left much to be desired for swimming after having Lake Michigan at our feet for so many years. I remember when the girls went in the first time and came out covered with seaweed all over them. YUK! The beach was not white sand like Lake Michigan but dark dirt and rocky. Oh well! We made some nice friends there and after experiencing a Newcomers Club in Ft. Wayne (a good way to meet people - especially bridge players!) I learned there was none in Edmonds so I started one with the help of the Welcome Wagon lady.

Marc came out to visit us and many of his Michigan State friends had moved to the mountains near there, so he went back to Michigan, packed up his things, left college and moved to the mountains too, in fact, the very week we moved to Southern California. He and Mary DeVuono got together in that same year and they were married in 1977 after they moved to Duvall, They were divorced in l981, but the divorce wasn't final ‘til 1983. They had just finished building a new house, when Mary decided to leave. We were very sad about this, and I sure worried about Marc. He did manage to be with his kids a lot! Mary dropped them off in the AM on her way to work and they got to school on school bus and came back to Marc’s to stay ‘til Mary picked them up. It never seemed to hurt the kids, they still had both Mom and Dad, but not together.

In 1970, the FCC put GTEC out of business, claiming monopoly as most of GTEC’s franchises were in General Telephone territory. Clare was heartbroken, as he loved this assignment. He had been with GTC for so long, and was assured of a job, but when we learned we were moving to So. California we were heartsick! We moved to Newbury Park in 1971.

Clare was very unhappy with his first job in Marketing and went to work mad every day and came home angry every night. I truly believe this is what caused his heart attack in 1973 as there was no history of heart problems in the Bristol family and all his siblings were so much older than himself. There was much damage to his heart, but nothing could be helped by surgery. He was only 46 years old and what a shock for us. He soon landed a job which he was much happier with and from that time on he loved GTC and California!

In 1974 we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We had a big party, telling no one it was our anniversary, but announced it at midnight with a cake and champagne and were toasted by all our friends. Even our best man, Buster and wife, June, had no idea what the occasion was. It was a fun evening and I put the pictures in an album, hoping to add our 50th anniversary pictures to the same album. But that was not to be.

I didn't mention that when we moved to California, we lived in the Holiday Inn for almost two months as it took that long for escrow to close. Our Edmonds house took a long time to sell - GTC paid all the utilities, taxes, interest, etc. plus our room and board at Holiday Inn all that time. The house didn't sell ‘til the following October. Since Boeing was the major employer in the Seattle area and they had laid off thousands of employees, there was a glut in the housing market and even with GTC's help, we took a $3,000 loss out of our own pockets. GTC also gave us the down payment for our Newbury Park house until we sold the Washington house.

The minute I saw this house I knew it was mine. It had basically the same floor plan as the Edmonds house and it felt like home, plus had the swimming pool that the kids insisted on! I've never regretted buying this house. It has increased so much in value as we bought it just before the market went sky high.

Wendy and Betsy got involved with a great church youth group as soon as we moved here. It was a Methodist church and so our worry about teens on drugs left me. The girls both did great in school, but Wendy missed her Washington friends. She never lacked for dates though! Betsy made a friend who had horses and she became really involved, finally having two horses, She could walk to Kelly Rd. where they were kept and was there most of the time!

Betsy was in 5th grade when we moved here, but was tested and put into a gifted program. it was a 5th and 6th grade combined. She skipped a grade and went from 6th to 7th.

Wendy graduated high school in 1972 and worked at the local theatre, She tried to attend Cal State Long Beach but wasn't happy there so came home and worked at Lynn Eye Group for a few years, where she was introduced to Ken. They were married on ll/25/77, the same fall that Betsy started UCLA. Betsy met Mark Brown at UCLA and quit college just short of graduating to be married on December 19, l98l.

I am so thankful that both daughters are happily married and that I love both son in laws. We were so happy when Marc met Gaby at a convention and they fell in love. They courted long distance as Gaby lived in Germany and he kept those phone lines busy. We were a little worried about their age difference at first, but if ever there was a perfect match, it is them!

Clare retired in 1983 and we did about ten years of traveling, first with our trailer, then purchasing a nice motor home. We had so many wonderful trips together, often traveling with our dear friends, Dorothene and Beverly Moser. We were able to travel about six months of the year and Clare was working on a contract basis for GTE for about four months, so it was a perfect setup.

My mother, Winona started to fail in 1990. Both she and Victor were legally blind, but her mind was going. One evening Vic went to play Bingo and left Mom alone and they found her in a snow drift and she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. She went from hospital to a nursing home as Vic couldn't take care of her. That was an awful four years - as we drove back each summer and stayed at the lake and visited her as much as possible.

In l994 mom died of Alzheimers. It was almost a blessing as she was so unhappy. Victor lived in their house at West Lake and died in 1998 Clare developed congestive heart failure in 1993 after a bad fall on the back hill. He hit his ribs on a railroad tie and ended up in CCU at Los Robles for a week, then was on oxygen for several more weeks. He was taking eleven different medications and lost a lot of weight, but was able to live a full life and stayed very active in Telephone Pioneers, worked as a docent at the Stagecoach Inn and we played in two couples bridge clubs.

We had many wonderful times going to movies and to lunch or dinner together. We had a wonderful life but as in life, all good things must come to an end. We were married just four months less than 50 years when Clare died peacefully in bed beside me. I didn’t think I could go on without him and lived in a fog for several months, but time helps and my attending a bereavement group where I have many close friends has helped immensely.

He was a very special guy as everyone who knew him knows. I was so lucky to have him for 25 years after his heart attack. We have raised three terrific children and at present have 14 grandchildren. I think we accomplished quite a bit!!!!!!

Who knows what the future brings, but if I died tomorrow, I will have had the best life anyone could ask for.

(Mom met Art Landry at the bereavement group, Art had just lost his wife Lana. The two of them became close, and it put my mind much at ease. I’d been thinking that I ought to move down to Newbury Park or nearby, so mom would have another person to go to lunch with, or to the movies, and Art filled that void for her. He became part of our family, and I personally am extremely grateful for all he’s done to give mom a reason to keep going. I firmly believe that Art’s love for my mom, and hers for him, is what has given us a few more years with her.

There are some anecdotes I remember her telling, which she didn’t include here. Here’s one of them:

Marge and her best friend Jeanne Wurtz decided to move to Chicago and seek their fortunes. They saved up money, and their friends gave them a fine sendoff party. When they arrived in Chicago, they found that the hotel reservations they had were preempted by soldiers returning home from WWII. They had no place to stay, and all the rooms in town were taken up the same way. So they went shopping, spent all their money except a train (or bus) ticket home. They arrived back in town and snuck into a dance only a night or two after they had left, trying to stay in the shadows out of embarrassment for being back so soon. I’m sure their friends found them and welcomed them home! Jeanne eventually did relocate to Chicago, and had a modeling career there, married, and had at least one son I remember meeting.

–Marc Bristol)