My mother, Alda Mae Lind, was born 16 June 1908 in
Laurium, which is on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Another famous person
from Laurium was the "Gipper," George Gipp.
My father, Elliot Kerr Irwin, was born 28 January 1905
in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
His grandparents were Scotch, Scotch, Scotch and
Border English.
He came with his family to Detroit, Michigan in November 1919. The family had a new home at 1150 Calvert Street.
He attended Northern High School where he was heavily into athletics, particulary basketball. Presumably his lifelong nickname, Bunny, was a result of his being very fast.
He enjoyed all types of athletics his entire life. His first reading of any day was always the sports section of the newspaper. He remembered everything, names, games, batting averages, trades,etc.
Most of his life was spent in the property and casualty end of the insurance industry. When he retired he was the Michigan Branch Manager of London Guarantee Insurance Co.
When my father retired in 1970, he bought a small Airstream trailer. He had never pulled a trailer in his life. He and my mother then went to Padre Island, TX and then to Phoenix where they joined an Airstream Caravan. The Caravan went to Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Mexico City, Guadalajara and ended up in Texas. My parents then went to San Diego, up the Pacific Coast to Vancouver, across Canada to his birth place, Portage la Prairie and back home to Michigan. The trip had lasted nine months.
My parents then retired to Sanibel Island, off the coast from Ft. Myers, Florida. My father died 6 Dec 95. I am convinced that living in Florida added at least ten years to each of my parent's lives.
My mother, Alda Mae Lind, was born 16 June 1908 in
Laurium, which is on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Another famous person
from Laurium was the "Gipper," George Gipp.
Her father was also born on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan and her mother was born in South Kinloss Twp., close to Lucknow, Bruce Co., ON, Canada. Her grandparents were Scotch, Scotch, Norwegian and Norwegian.
My mother's family moved to the Detroit, MI area in 1918 where she contracted diphtheria during the world-wide flu epidemic. This affected her heart throughout her life. She grew up and attended high school in Van Dyke (now Warren). She met my father while working at the White Star Refining Co. They eloped and were married in Bryan, OH. I arrived in Ferndale, MI shortly thereafter.
During World War II my mother worked at Packard Motors making parts for Rolls Royce aircraft engines. She later worked at the Chrysler Tank Arsenal.
My mother was a first class seamstress and very active in sea shell crafts.
Mom died 16 Nov 1993. She had a cold, fell and broke her hip. While in the hospital she caught pneumonia from which she never recovered. A sad but common story.
For more information about my father's parents click here
For more information about my mother's parents click here
