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Geertje (Gertie) Schaap, born 08 JUN 1887 at Grand Rapids, MI; died 17 SEP 1967
at Overisel, MI; married 31 MAY 1911 at Overisel, MI Julius Pomp born 24 JAN 1887 at
Overisel, MI; died 01 MAY 1956; son of Nicholas Pomp and Jennie Oldebeking. A
letter from Mrs. Walter Mack - June Pomp as follows:
"Mom was the middle child of the seven who lived to grow up. She was born in grand
Rapids, MI, and was six when the family moved to a farm in Lamont. She was a sickly child at
first, and got a lot of extra attention and good food. She soon outgrew her ailments. She
was nineteen when her parents moved to Overisel. she and Aunt Anna both worked for a few
years as domestics." (Ed. note: I remember her as a very gracious lady who kept a scrupulously
clean house. I loved to visit there.)
"Dad was also one of seven living children and the only boy. His father died when he was
five, so they were always poor. His sisters were mostly older and were all working and they
wanted to send him to college so he could become a minister, but he declined. Instead he
worked as a helper to Fritz Kaasten who was a mason. He worked in Lansing helping
build Sparrow Hospital, the Kerus Hotel, and St Mary Cathedral. When my parents married
they bought an acre of land across from Dad's mother's house. They always had a big beautiful
garden. He always kept track of all the news in the villeage of Overisel by stopping at the
store on the way home from work, or by his Saturday evenings in Stan Wolters Overisel
Garage. There were about a dozen "regulars" who gathered there then, often at other
times, to drink coffee and socialize."
"Overisel was one of the earliest settlements in the area (1847) and the first log cabin
was built for Dad's grandmother whose first husband died on the way from Province Overisel
to Michigan. His mother was born in that log cabin after the second husband came along. The
church always looked after widows and orphans first, so they built her house first. She then
cooked for the men, who later built other houses and stayed with her and her first batch of
children while they were building for their own families."
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