Victor
Henri
June

Nestor DeRuyver (b. Dec. 11, 1899) and Elizabeth DeMyer (sometimes spelled DeMeyer) (b. July 11, 1899) were both born in Belgium and moved to the U.S.A. at an early age, somewhere between seven and eleven years old (SSDI). Nestor had lived closer to the Belgian-French border while Elizabeth had lived more in the interior. Upon their separate arrivals in the U.S., the DeRuyver family and the DeMyer family got on a train for the Mid-West. Their destination was a small town in southern rural Michigan named, Pottersville. Pottersville was comprised of many Belgian immigrants. Nestor's parents and his brothers Hector (name uncertain), and Victor are buried in Pottersville.

Nestor had three brothers, Victor, Leon, and Hector. One brother was killed in the Cavalry during World War I (Editor's Note: This may have actually been a cousin). Another brother died when he and Nestor were buried together under a collapsed house. While trapped beneath the rubble, they were close enough to hold hands while waiting to be rescued. Nestor felt his brother die. The brother that lived was Leon (b. Dec. 28, 1898 d. Feb. 1965 in Florida) (SSDI). He married a woman named Mary. They had a daughter named Betty. She married a man named Glen Petterson. It is believe that they had two children, a boy and a girl. They were last known living in Indiana

Nestor grew up on his father's farm after moving to the United States. He started working in a factory when he was 13. Since he was under age, his older brother Leon filled out the employment papers at the factory.

Little is known about how Elizabeth and Nestor met and married. However, their great-granddaughter Debra remembers being told that they had originally used the round bands that come on cigars as wedding rings.

Nestor and Elizabeth lived the remainder of their lives in Northern Indiana. They owned two different grocery stores in Mishewaka, Indiana. They raised their family in a house attached to the store. Their children helped by stocking shelves, taking orders, etc. Nestor kept his job at a factory during the day. After work he would deliver orders called in to the store that day, pick up stock, cut meat, etc. Also, they raised chickens for the eggs to sell. On the weekends, Nestor would go to farms and pick out cattle, pigs, chickens, etc. which he would buy take home and butcher himself.

Elizabeth had always been very frugal and had saved enough so they could retire in the early 1950s, either 1951 or 1952. They built a new house on State Road 23 in South Bend, Indiana. They wanted their son, Victor DeRuyver to take over the grocery store but since he didn't want to they sold it. Nestor often spoke of wanting to go back to Belgium and visit the places where he and Elizabeth were born and raised during the first few years of their lives. However, they never went. It has been suggested that the reason for this was Elizabeth's frugality. Instead, they loaned their money to their children at a very low interest rate (the equivalent of what they would have received had they placed it in a savings account) so their children could purchase houses. If something broke or needed to be replaced, Nestor and Elizabeth were there to help their family out financially.

During their retirement years, Nestor and Elizabeth continued many of their previous activities. Along the back of their property, they had a small workshop where Nestor tinkered, a fenced in area for their chickens, and a chicken coop. Their chicken raising activities affectionately earned them the nicknames of Great Grandma and Grandpa Chickie by their great granddaughter Debra and her two siblings who found their own last names very difficult to pronounce when they were children. During the month prior to the Fourth of July, Nestor and Elizabeth sold fireworks out of their garage to passers-by. Their great granddaughter fondly remembers selecting her bag of fireworks each year from their stand, knowing that larger, more exciting fireworks were being passed along to her father to be set off on the Fourth. During these times, the family would frequently end of playing a spot of poker with Elizabeth usually ending up the winner. Nestor, however, did not play. He usually sat on the side and played a game of "21" with his great grandchildren.

For many years, the entire family would gather at Nestor and Elizabeth's on Christmas Eve to open one or two presents each and celebrate with them. Nestor always received a box of his favorite Fanny Mae chocolates, tiny squares of chocolate covered with a green chocolate-mint soft shell. Elizabeth received chocolate covered turtles (nut and caramel clusters).

Nestor died suddenly on May 1, 1983. Elizabeth died ten years later on July 19, 1993 (SSDI). Both are buried in Mishewaka, Indiana.

Nestor and Elizabeth's Children

Elizabeth had four children. However, her first child-- Raymond-- was born out of wedlock. While Raymond did not bear the DeRuyver name, the family has always contended that he was Nestor's son.

Raymond married a woman named Mary and had four children: Robert, twin girls-- Rosetta and Rosella-- and Raymond. Last known location was Indiana

Henri (b. Dec. 22, 1919 d. April 4, 1989 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) married several times (SSDI). He and his first wife had a daughter Nancy who later married Harry Palmer (current location, Edwardsburg, Michigan). With his second wife, Henri had several more children: Leah, John, Bruce, Sherry, and David. Last known location of these children was New Mexico. It is believed that John and Bruce are both deceased.

Victor DeRuyver (b. April 29, 1923 d. Oct. 3, 1992) (SSDI)married Wilma June Smith (b. June 23, 1927) and had three children: Victor (b. Dec. 14, 1945), Maxine, and Barbara.

June DeRuyver married Buster Cabanaw and had three children: Diana, Linda, and Larry. Last known location of June and all children was Indiana.

If you have any memories or pieces of information about Nestor and Elizabeth or their descendents, please contact Debra DeRuyver.

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