Saturday, October 26, 2013

Supporting Steph

Not a great photo, but it's me and Steph Yakley.
Some current news. My fourth cousin Stephanie Yakley is currently battling ovarian cancer. She was in the hospital and undergoing chemo, but has now returned home. Here's a Facebook page if you'd like to send her some good wishes.

Steph and I share great-great-great-grandparents John Abraham Shanower (1814-1859) and Mary "Polly" Roush Shanower (1820-1896).

A benevolent fund has been set up at First Merit Bank for Steph. Due to chemo and the effects of the cancer, she has been unable to work since July. If you'd like to make a donation, no matter how small, you may do it at any First Merit Bank location, or you can mail a check to: First Merit Bank, 201 West 3rd St., Dover, OH 44622.  Write "Stephanie Yakley Benevolent Fund" on the memo line.

Any support, moral or monetary, will be appreciated.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Helen M. Russell Hietanen, 1928-2013

Helen M. Russell Hietanen, 1928-2013
Another relative that I never met has died. Helen M. Russell Hietanen, born January 27, 1928, passed away on October 10, 2013. The funeral took place last Wednesday, October 16. She was buried in the Millersville Mennonite Cemetery in Millersville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where her husband Paul R. “Bobo” Hietanen (1935-1996) was buried in 1996.

My second cousin once removed Bob Hietanen, who’s also interested in family genealogy, knew his Aunt Helen and Uncle Bobo pretty well and has amusing stories involving them. I asked him why they were buried in a Mennonite cemetery. Was either of them Mennonite? I was interested mainly because so much of my father's Palatinate German Shanower line and collateral strands from the 1700s and on were Mennonite or a related Anabaptist sect. I thought it would be interesting if someone from my mother's Hietanen side was also Mennonite. But Bob says no, neither Helen nor Bobo was Mennonite and he doesn’t know the reason for a Mennonite cemetery.

Helen seems to have led a pretty active life up until the end. I offer my condolences to the rest of her family and friends. You can read her complete obituary here.