Anna moved to Lamont, MI as a young girl. With her sister, Gertie she worked as a domestic in Grand Rapids, later in Kalamazoo. Anna was a hard working mother. She kept a "Dutch Clean" house, was a seamstress for her family, and a humorist for all who knew her

Nobody could tell a story like she could. An unpleasant situation was turned into a humorous story. Her daughter, III.C.4.b. Irene relates tis story. "During the war the folks bought a half dozen chickens for the meat. In between the garages was a small space where Dad fixed a coop. He used an old door to enclose it, however the door didn't reach the dirt floor. Mother suggested nailing a board across the doorway but he said someone might stumble over it. But she said 'GOODNIGHT, ANY FOOL CAN SEE THAT BOARD.' So against his better judgement he nailed it on. The coop being very narrow, the chickens took up most of the space. When Mother fed the chickens (it was winter) she wore an old, long, black sealskin coat. On a cold morning she went out with a pan of feed, but forgot the board and fell head first into the coop, chickens squaking and fluttering around. Back to the house with her now white spotted coat, she said, 'Well, this fool didn't see the board."

Excerpts from Irene's 30 JAN 1983 letter:
"Yes, my mother was a very interesting person, lots of fun but also a strict disciplinarian as far as bringing up her children. You didn't get away with anything in the line of "talking back" without receiving punishment. She would take us out for walks, play games with us, all my friends liked her as she was such a good sport, always ready for fun.

She was a very spiritual woman who tried to instill Biblical principles and character in her children. She was a student of the Bible and no one she ever talked to for very long left without her telling them that the most important thing in her life was her faith in Jesus Christ and that He was Lord of her life. I remember her quoting so often Prov. 3-8 and attributed this to her long and healthy life. I'm sure they were her favorite verses, especially verse 8."

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