Category: Landry

Grandma Celeste and the Kids

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Grandma Celeste and the kids circa 1930, likely in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Here is a photo I discovered recently.  I’ve had the photo for a few years now.  I got several photos from some of my Cazes cousins when I went to visit them in Brusly in 2017.  Now I don’t have any Cazes ancestors, but some of the Cazes family lines share a lot of common ancestors.  That’s why I’m never surprised to see a Cazes individual show up as a DNA match to me at any of the testing sites.  Some of my cousins may be familiar with this connection that comes through my great great grandfather Trasimond Landry.  He is one of my ancestors who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.  There are a few books about him written by his descendants.

In the genealogy book written by Trasimond’s grandson Tommy Landry, he mentions that Llewellyn Cazes (another grandson of Trasimond) had one of the biggest collections of information about Trasimond.  The Cazes line descends from Trasimond and his first wife Marie Amelie “Belite” Bujol through their son Moses Joseph “Uncle Mose” Landry.  Tommy descends from their son Thomas Belisaire or Tommy Landry, and I descend from their oldest child Marie Therese.  We’ll talk about another line of their offspring later.  

Claire Landry, Rosey Hebert Landry, Henry, Myrtle (daughter of Mose & Claire), and Mose Landry circa 1930s in Brusly, Louisiana

Uncle Mose brings in a little bit of confusion, because he married another Landry.  It wasn’t a close Landry cousin like some of the other family members connected with, but it was still a Landry marrying a Landry.  He married Claire Landry from Brusly.  She was the daughter of Justin Landry and Rosey Hebert Landry.  They are somewhat distant Landry cousins, but some of their daughters married into closer Landry lines.  The Cazes family had stories about Rosey, but they weren’t too pleasant.  It was said that she wasn’t a particularly nice person.

I know that isn’t true for all of the members of this family line, because my dear friend and coworker Marisa descends from Rosey through her daughter Justine.  Justine married John Peter Landry.  Both of John Peter’s parents were Landrys as well.  I like to tease Marisa about that.  I always say that even though my ancestors married their cousins, at least they didn’t have the same last name!  Like that makes any difference at all!  Rosey doesn’t look all that mean in the photo that she’s in.  My great grandmother Addie has some sour looks in her photos, but she was a sweet lady.  Never judge a book by its cover!  Or by their ancestors!  We’ll talk about another one of Rosey’s daughters later.

We have to talk about another Landry family because I still haven’t gotten to the main topic.  The other important Landry family is the family of Trasimond’s brother Alcide.  Of course I think it’s important since I descend from him as well.  Alcide was married to Marie Celeste Leveque, who we all know as Grandma Celeste.  I descend from them through their youngest child Robert Joseph “Rob” Landry.  Rob married Erie Patureau, the daughter of Trasimond and Belite’s daughter Marie Therese.  Rob may have married his first cousin’s daughter, but their last names were different.  One of his older brothers – Joseph Alcide or “Uncle Joe” – married a Landry.  Her name was Azema and she was a daughter of Rosey.  She was known as Aunt Zim.

So I got the photo of Grandma Celeste and the kids from descendants of Uncle Mose.  But that wasn’t how the photo was labeled.  It was labeled as “Louis, Roberta, and Unknowns.”  I don’t know for sure who Louis and Roberta are, but when I saw the photo the other day, I knew it was Grandma Celeste right away.  It looks just like her.  When I got the photo all those years ago from the Cazes family, I got a huge number of photos.  I thought I had skimmed through all of the folders on my computer.  Either I didn’t look through them all, or I didn’t recognize her the first time I saw it.

And who are Louis and Roberta?  Uncle Mose and his first wife had a son named Louis in 1904.  He later had a wife name Roberta, but I doubt that they knew each other as children.  I don’t think they’re related.  Imagine that!  I also think the photo was taken around 1930.  For some reason the photo puts me in mind of another Landry-Landry connection.  Trasimond and Belite’s youngest child Marie Manette married Alcide and Celeste’s son Sebastien.  Marie Manette and Uncle Seb had one child together, and Marie Manette died shortly after that.  Their daughter – also name Manette- was raised by Uncle Seb and Grandma Celeste.  Grandma Celeste was like her mother.  When Manette grew up and had children of her own, Grandma Celeste was very close to them.  

Manette and Bibb Bouquet had a set of twins in 1926 named Roberta and Robert.  When I showed it to some Bouquet cousins on Facebook, one of them verified that it was Roberta and Robert on the right in this photo.  She suggested checking into Uncle Louis.  Louis was another brother of Rob, Joe, and Sebastian.  He was married to Clemence Babin, a daughter of Belite by her second marriage after Trasimond died.  They had a son named Thornwell, who later had a set of twins of his own in 1928.  The twin sons were named Thornwell, Jr. and Louis.  That would fit perfectly with the ages of the two children to the left of Grandma Celeste in the first photo.  So I think this is a photo of my great grandmother Celeste Leveque Landry with two sets of twin great grandchildren.  Interestingly, her father had a twin brother.

I’m glad the Cazes family kept this old photo of an unknown woman with some kids.  Come to find out, it was their Aunt Celeste.  Or maybe it was their cousin Celeste?  Or cousin-in-law?  With these three Landry families connecting in so many ways, it’s difficult to determine all of the relationships between any two people.  It doesn’t really matter; I’ve got another photo of my great grandmother thanks to some generous cousins who were willing to share.  With the help of other cousins, I was able to figure out all of the identities of the children in the photo.  I like that.

Bob & Betty at Kerosene Flats in 1953

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Newlyweds Bob and Betty Landry in their first home in California

Last year I wrote about the events that led up to the marriage of my parents in 1952.  I like to commemorate important anniversaries, and 70 years is notable.  I thought I would continue that a bit more with a couple of photos from their first year together as a married couple.  The photos come from a photo album that was always in our house when we were growing up.  I always thought of the photo album being something that my mom put together.  But when I look at it now, I notice that the writing is definitely my dad’s.

Thinking back to how I thought when I was a kid, that photo album was the be all end all of our family history.  Any curiosity about my family’s past was found in that album.  I mean really, it went back a whole fifteen years when I was an eight-year-old.  World War II ended just over seven years before my parents’ wedding, and I remember thinking that that was ancient history.  Our perception of time definitely changes as we get older.

This first photo was on the first page of that old photo album.  It is a photo of my parents in front of their first home in January 1953.  How do I know that?  Because it’s written on the page of the album below the photo.  I had to include that in the photo.  I also included their names – Robert Joseph Landry, Jr. and Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  My dad was in the Air Force at the time and he was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California.  It is on the edge of the Mojave Desert and near Joshua Tree National Park.  The housing for married service members was called Wherry Housing, but it was also known as Kerosene Flats.

My mom would talk about her days in the desert.  She was not familiar with the dry climate.  She said that the clothes dried on the line so much quicker than in Louisiana.  She said that by the time she finished hanging all of the clothes, the first things she had hung up were already dry.  One time in the wintertime she hung them up, but instead of drying the clothes quickly, they froze.  She didn’t realize how cold it was.  

Betty and Bob Landry in California at their first home. Note Betty’s newest painting on the table behind them.

But her favorite thing to talk about was the fact that the stoves at Kerosene Flats actually used kerosene to cook.  This was fine for young newlywed Betty Lou, because she had grown up using kerosene.  But all of the other wives in Wherry Housing were not familiar with it.  So my mom helped them all out and taught them the basics of cooking with kerosene.  There were some benefits to growing up in the small Louisiana hamlet of Hathaway.

This second photo of my parents was taken a few months later.  It was taken in the spring of 1953.  It’s a great photo of the two of them.  They even had an enlargement of it made back then.  It’s hanging on the wall behind me right now.  My mom had just finished the painting that you see in the background. 

They sure do look happy!

The Pierre Patureau Collection – Ferdinand and Emma’s Children

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Beginning of the list of the children of Ferdinand Patureau and Emma Landry.

Sometimes, after I have decided on a topic for some of my posts, I’m tempted to apologize for not having something glamorous or exciting to post.  But then I tell myself that if they don’t want to read it, they don’t have to.  There is information that I come across that I find important, so I want to share it.  When I find myself referring back to different documents or pages of information often, I figure other people may find it beneficial as well.  And who knows, they may notice something in it that I skim right over.  

That thing this week is a list of the children of Ferdinand and Emma Patureau in the back of an old work ledger.  The pages come from the Pierre Patureau Collection at the Tyrrell Historical Library in Beaumont, Texas.  The collection reference number is AC-824. I visited it over a year ago and took hundreds of photos of the pages, letters, and photos.  The photos are my favorite things from the collection.  How could they not be?  I’ve shared a few of those amazing old photos of various family members from over 100 years ago.

But I’ve scoured this list for as many details as I can figure out.  It’s a bit tricky for me, because it is in French.  The list includes my great great grandparents Ferdinand Patureau and Marie Emma Landry Patureau and all of their children.  And they had a lot of children!  I thought all of them had been born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, except for my great grandfather Vincent Maximilian “Max” Patureau.  I’ve always known that Grampa Max was born in Mexico.  He was born there during the Civil War when the Patureau family went there to get away from the fighting in Louisiana.  Well, the list showed that a few of their other children were born other places as well.  Nothing as exotic as Mexico, mind you, but they were not all born in Plaquemine.

If you look at the very first line on the page, you’ll see what I’m talking about.  “Zulma Patureau est nee le 5 mai 1848 a 3 1/2 heure du matais. A Brule Landing W. B. Rouge, Louisiane.”  See?  She was born in West Baton Rouge Parish, not Iberville.  So she was born in Brusly on May 5, 1848, at 3:30 in the morning.  So when Ferdinand and Emma first got married, they lived in Emma’s hometown.  She was born in St. Gabriel, but the family moved to West Baton Rouge Parish shortly after.  The next two children of Ferdinand and Emma – Aline and Leobon – were also born in Brusly.

Leobon was born on August 20, 1851, and the family moved to Plaquemine before the birth of their next child Marie Valentine in July of 1853.  There is an entry for her death as well and it was just over a year later.  Elizabeth Palmyre is listed next.  She was born in 1855 and died in 1870.  This entry makes me think this list was written over the years of when the children were born (and died).  I say this because the ink color is different, and it looks like they went back to it 15 years later when she died.  Marie Valentine was born and had died before the next one came along.  It all looks like one entry.  It’s not the same for Elizabeth Palmyre.  It must have been either Ferdinand or Emma writing this information.

The list continues with the entries of Marie Zelica in 1857 and Ferdinand Pierre Jr. in 1858.  F.P. Jr. has a footnote that shows his death on June 25, 1862.  Yes, it says 1862, while the tombstone in Plaquemine shows 1860.  If you want to know which one is correct, look at what one of his parents wrote.  It is written as 1862.  And not only that, the year is underlined to emphasize that year.  I just changed it on my family tree.  

At the bottom of the page is the entry for Anne Emma born in 1860.  I’ve seen her name written as Anna Emma as well.  She died in 1874 after a jump-roping incident.  I don’t see that listed.  There is something about Chalet and July 23 written below her entry, but I don’t know what it is about.  In the left margin, reading from bottom to top, there is an entry for Ferdinand Pierre Patureau who was born in LaRoche-Chalais in France in 1826.  Above that is listed the birth date for Emma Landry in Iberville Parish (St. Gabriel) in 1829.  Between their entries is a smaller entry for Emma’s mother Zerbine Dupuy in W. Baton Rouge Parish in 1807.

Second page of the list of the children of Ferdinand Patureau and Emma Landry.

On the second page of the list, the children continue.  Surely you didn’t think eight children would be enough!  We haven’t even gotten to Grampa Max yet.  Ignore the first few lines on the page.  That’s just a reference to an uncle of our Pierre Patureau (1800-1860).  Uncle Pierre Patureau (1774-1827) fought under Napoleon in the late 1790s and received a Legion of Honor Award in 1814.  The list continues with more children born in Plaquemine.  Joseph Onesime was born in January of 1862 and died six months later.  According to this list, Ferdinand Pierre, Jr. and Joseph Onesime died only eight days apart.  It must have been a sad time for the household of Ferdinand and Emma.  I wonder if there was some disease going around at that time?

The last of the pre-Mexico Plaquemine births was next.  Rose Elisa was born in 1863.  She lived to be almost 77 years old.  Only her older sister Aline lived longer.  She made it a month past her 77th birthday.  I don’t know the exact details of why or when the family moved to Mexico.  Some family researchers said it was to get away from the fighting of the Civil War.  Others say it was to pursue a business venture connected to the French ruling in Mexico at the time.  Ferdinand’s sister Victorine Patureau Laulom is said to have moved to a border town in Texas at the time.  Victorine’s daughter Eliza Laulom married Vicente Crixell (rhymes with Michelle) in Texas in 1864.  She gave birth to a son in 1865 in the same area of Mexico where Grampa Max was born that same year.  I do know that the family moved back to Plaquemine later that year.  

And still the children kept appearing.  Pierre Oscar was born in 1866.  Joseph Alcide was born in 1868.  Omer Abel was born in 1870.  The last child was born in 1873.  Her name was Marie Victorine and she was the one that started collecting all of the family information that ended up in the Pierre Patureau Collection.  Ferdinand and Emma were pretty prolific.  Many of their children were as well.  There were over 70 grandchildren of Ferdinand and Emma.  Large families seem to have been a family tradition.  There are over 1000 descendants of Ferdinand and Emma at this point.

And it all started from this little list of children.

Bob and Betty in the Round

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Bob and Betty – the round dancers – in 1988.

Today is the sixth anniversary of my mom’s death.  Betty Lou Bucklin was born in Hathaway, Louisiana, on May 20, 1933.  She died in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on January 19, 2017.  My dad was not far behind.  Robert Joseph Landry, Jr. was born on January 31, 1929, in Lake Charles, and died there on January 24, 2017.  Yes, it was only five days apart from natural causes.  They liked to do things together, so it was appropriate that they had a joint funeral on the 28th of that month.  They had 64 good years together.  Toward the end they were growing much more dependent on one another.  We always thought that when one of them went, the other wouldn’t be far behind.  I never thought that it would be that close.  

When I think about it, I always thought that my dad would be the first to go.  He was the one with the heart problems on his side of the family.  His dad (RJL, Sr.) died at the age of 64 from a heart attack in 1957.  His mom (Germaine Erie Patureau) died at the age of 78 in 1973 – also from a heart attack.  He had open-heart surgery and that’s probably what extended his life so much.  That and the healthy food my mom always cooked. 

But that didn’t stop us from worrying.  Most of the time when I would get a call from home, I would wonder if it was the news that the end was near or had already happened.  I did that for years – probably decades.  I know my sister Karen used to do the same thing.  I remember talking about it before.   Even toward the end we were thinking the same thing.  There was talk about moving my mom to Texas when my dad died.  She could be closer to my younger sister Jamie for a while.  

At the end we were still thinking that.  I got a call on the 18th about Daddy going into hospice and that he only had a few days left.  Later in the night I got a call that Mama had fallen out of bed and hit her head on the floor.  Something similar had happened before, but it was nothing too serious.  So the next morning it was my dad who had the Last Rites performed on him, but it was my mom who died.  She didn’t want to be left alone.

Ok, that’s enough sad talk.  I wanted to talk about Bob and Betty the Round Dancers.  They had so much fun dancing with each other through the years.  When my dad retired in the mid 1980s, he had hobbies like golf, barbershop singing, and genealogy.  Those are fine hobbies (especially the genealogy!), but they aren’t ones that included my mom.  So mom insisted that they come up with an activity that they could do together, and round dancing was the answer.  Most people don’t know what round dancing is, but it was perfect for them.

Now most people know what square dancing is.  Couples form a square and dance around, following the directions of someone giving them calls for specific steps to complete.  Sometimes the couples dance with other couples’ partners.  In round dancing it is more like ballroom dancing.  The person giving the instructions is a cuer (he gives cues, not calls).  The couples dance in a large circle and they stay with their partner.  

My mom and dad did this for years.  They loved it.  They would go to dances all over the South.  Every year the big one they went to was in Dallas at Thanksgiving.  My mom was able to incorporate another of her talents with the dancing.  She made all of the dresses that she would wear for the dances.  They had to be made from comfortable material that had a nice design to it and it flowed well when she’d twirl.  I saw them dance in their house, but never saw them dance at any of their dances they went to.  But I got to see the videos that they made at many of the dances.  My dad got to be a cuer and he would make up dances for some of his favorite songs.  So it helped to record the dances.  That way he could show the video when he’d teach people the dances.

Now that I’m talking about it, round dancing was also another thing that helped to extend my dad’s life.  That’s probably true for both of them.  It was such a good activity that they both really enjoyed doing together.  It also helped that they loved each other and enjoyed each other’s company. Their love for each other and their family is a legacy they left for us.  The dancing was just one way of many of demonstrating that.

Pee Paw’s 130th Birthday

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Robert Joseph Landry, Sr. circa 1893 in Westlake, Louisiana.

130 years ago in Westlake, Louisiana, my great grandmother Marie Celeste Leveque Landry was getting ready to give birth to her last child.  It was about time for her to stop – she had recently turned 45.  There were a few eventful things that happened during her pregnancy.  The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden were found murdered in their Massachusetts home. Thomas Edison received a patent for the two-way telegraph. The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in the United States, and the next day the fifth moon of Jupiter was discovered. And The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was published in London on the Halloween of 1892.

I don’t know if she noted these events that happened during those nine months, but they are all things that most of us are familiar with.  But she was familiar with what to expect during pregnancy.  She had already given birth to nine children – seven boys and two girls.  Celeste and Alcide’s first child had been born 22 years earlier in Brusly, Louisiana.  That’s where most of their children were born. At some point in the 1880s, the family moved west across the state and settled in Westlake.

I believe they moved there for the railroad industry in the area.  There were a few family groups that moved from West Baton Rouge Parish to Calcasieu Parish.  Some of them – like Landry and Leveque – are who I descend from.  Others – like Myhand, Bird, and Thompson – are families who married some of my ancestors’ cousins. The closest family group to Marie Celeste and her husband Alcide Landry included two of their siblings.  Alcide was the youngest in his family, and he had an older brother named Pierre Belisaire.  Pierre Belisaire was married to Celeste’s older half-sister Lise Leveque.  They also ended up in Westlake.  So even though they moved across the state, there were still family members around.

So there were a few people waiting to see what Celeste would give birth to.  Would it be a girl?  A boy? They would just have to wait and see.  But not all of the children of Celeste and Alcide were still alive.  Their oldest, Lily, had died at the age of 19 in 1889.  Celeste had given birth to twins in 1879 and one of them did not make it.  Yet there were still seven siblings waiting to see the newest addition to the family.

Once 1893 arrived, they didn’t have to wait long.  Little Robert Joseph was born on the second Monday of the year.  And it just happens to be the same date – January 9 – as the second Monday of this year.  This coming Monday will be the 130th birthday of my paternal grandfather.  Happy birthday, Pee Paw!

 

Christmas in Jennings in 1973

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I had a difficult time deciding on what photo to post this week.  Last week I thought of a theme to continue through these next few weeks.  I even found a photo that would go with it, and it was in the family line that was up for discussion.  But then I thought about Christmas approaching.  The last two years in December I’ve done two posts from Christmases past, and I thought I’d continue that tradition.  So much for my ongoing theme I came up with.  None of my Christmas photos fit that theme.

The Landry family at 758 Lucy Street in Jennings, Louisiana, at Christmas 1973.

Then I had to pick an old Christmas photo that was just perfect!  I had worked on this photo from 1973 a few months ago.  I like the photo, even though I don’t think it’s particularly good of me.  But it’s such a good representation of the Landry household at Christmastime during the 1970s.  It shows the old furniture, the traditional ornaments we used, and all six of us Landry kids.

I started to second guess myself and thought about picking a photo from exactly 50 years ago, but that one needed some editing.  This one was ready, so that’s what you’re seeing.  I hope you like it.  If not, too bad.  It’s what you’re getting!

The place was 758 Lucy Street in Jennings, Louisiana.  The time was Christmas Eve of 1973.  As you can see, there are more than just the six Landry kids in the photo.  That’s because in August of 1973 my oldest sister Jodie got married to Dennis Franklin.  I don’t usually talk much about him, but he was part of the history of our family.   He is the guy sitting down on the floor on the left.  Jodie is sitting next to him on the floor.  I think she made that groovy outfit that she is wearing.  She got her sewing machine from Mee Maw’s (my paternal grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry) sister Lorena.  Aunt Lorena died in 1972.  Mee Maw died on September 2, 1973, which was just a few weeks after Jodie and Dennis’s wedding.

Standing up behind the newlyweds is my younger sister Jamie.  She is standing beside the musical instrument that brought her great notoriety when our family played at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Lake Charles a few years later.  What’s that you say?  You don’t see a musical instrument?  It was not a traditional musical instrument.  It is the jug that is holding the cattails on the stereo system.  She and my dad would play dueling jugs and bring down the house at that old pizza joint. 

On the right of Jamie and also on the stereo system you can see the nativity set that the family would put out every year.  It was a charming ceramic set that my mom got early in their marriage.  In the center of the photo is the Christmas tree for the 1973 season.  I can make out many of the homemade ornaments that we would make from year to year.  One year we made ornaments out of felt.  Another year we painted wooden cut outs of different shapes.  I don’t see any of the white “clay” ornaments we made out of baking soda, salt, and water.  (An online search showed the ingredients of baking soda, corn starch, and water.  That may have been what it was.  I just remember them tasting salty!)  It seemed like we did that a few years.  If you know what to look for, you can even see a few musical instrument and angel ornaments.  Those were always on the Christmas trees.

Sitting at the base of the tree is my older sister Karen.  Of course, she is wearing a blue shirt.  It was her favorite color.  It didn’t matter if it was light blue, medium blue, or dark blue.  She loved her blue.  Behind her is the oldest Landry boy.   That’s Rob.  He had graduated from high school that year and was in his first year of college at Louisiana Tech in Ruston.  He was a fan of the band Chicago, and I believe that’s what is on his shirt.  I remember him playing along with those old albums on his trumpet.  Sitting next to Rob is Al.  Funnily enough, he wasn’t as big of a fan of Chicago, but he did end up living in Chicago.  Al started high school in 1973 and he also played the trumpet.

And lastly there is me.  Like I said, it’s not my favorite photo of myself.  It’s probably because I have those clunky black glasses on.  I was in the 7th grade at the time.  That was at Northside Junior High in Jennings.  My dad was the band director at Northside at the time.  I was a paper boy and delivered papers on Lucy Street and May Street.  In March Karen, Al, and I would change our looks when we got our first pair of contact lenses.

The times they were a-changin’.

Pee Paw and Uncle Sidney

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Robert Joseph “Rob” Landry, Sr. and Sidney Cary circa 1930.

I decided to write about my paternal grandfather today.  I thought about posting a photo of him from World War I, but only one of those photos caught my eye and it will take more editing than I have time for.   As I was scrolling through the old photos from the Tin Can Collection, this photo called my name.  So Thanks, Tricia, for sharing the contents of that wonderful tin can found in the attic.  I’m so glad Aunt Wana treasured these items and didn’t destroy them or throw them away.  (I’ve heard horror stories.  Not about Aunt Wana!  Heavens, no.  The horror stories were about people throwing away old family photos.)

This is a photo of my dad’s dad.  My dad was Robert Joseph “Bob” Landry, Jr. and as you might suspect, his father’s name was Robert Joseph Landry, Sr.  He was known as Rob or Pappy by his family and friends.  His eight children called him Papa and his multitude of grandchildren called him Pee Paw.  He was born on January 9, 1893, in Westlake, Louisiana.  He died on August 28, 1957, in Lake Charles.

The great thing about this photo is that the name of the two individuals was written on the back – “Robt. Landry + Sidney Cary.” The main connection between the two of them is that they were married to two Patureau sisters from Plaquemine.  My grandmother was Germaine Erie Patureau and the sister in question was Frances Lorena Patureau.  They both went by their middle names.  Actually “Sidney” was Uncle Sidney’s middle name as well.  His first name was Samuel.

Lorena Patureau & Sidney Cary circa 1920.  We can thank cousin Sis for this old photo of her aunt and uncle.

Sidney and Lorena were married in 1916.  They had a daughter named Marie Therese in 1917 who I think died in infancy.  I don’t have any information about her except for her name.  They didn’t have any other children.  Rob and Erie got married in 1921 and the first of their eight kids was born in 1923.  So the photo of Rob and Sidney was taken some time between 1921 and 1936.  1936 was the year that Sidney died at the age of 47.  The photo was taken in the back of Pee Paw and Mee Maw’s house.  It looks like it was taken around the time of 1930 or so.  I kinda like this photo of the two brothers-in-law.

I don’t really know much about Uncle Sidney.  That’s probably because he died when my dad was just a kid.  I don’t remember hearing any stories about him.  But I do remember Aunt Lorena.  I remember going to her house in Opelousas and I have some vivid memories of going to her funeral in 1972.  Remember?  I’ve told y’all about that before!  I somewhat regret that I didn’t post a remembrance of her on the 50th anniversary of her death on August 17, 2022.  But if you remember, I was busy recalling the events leading up to the 70th anniversary of my parents’ wedding.

When you start looking into the history of your family, you come across many dates that are important in the lives of so many people.  I can’t comment on all of them, but sometimes I see some that I try to remember.  Just tonight in looking through the information about the people I’ve been talking about, I came across two important dates.  I’ve mentioned both of them.  The one concerning the 50th anniversary of Aunt Lorena’s death was overlooked by me.  I’m hoping I won’t forget the other one.  It’s just a month away.  You may have noticed the date when I mentioned it earlier.  The 130th anniversary of my grandfather’s birth will be on January 9th.

So be patient.  It will be here before you know it.  In the meantime, I plan to have three other posts for you to read.  Aren’t you the lucky ones?!

Landry Family 1976

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The Landry family in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Christmas Eve 1976.

This is Thanksgiving week and for some reason this photo keeps coming to mind when I think of this week’s topic.  So here it is.  This is me with my immediate family on Christmas Eve 1976.  It’s not a photo of Thanksgiving, but I don’t think I have any photos that I can identify as being from any Thanksgiving.   Of course Thanksgiving doesn’t have an easily identifiable thing like a Christmas tree or Easter eggs in a basket.  Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, and I have always been thankful for my family.

I have lots of photos of my family and this is one of the better ones.  Sure, we were wearing lots of loud prints and patterns.  What can I say?  It was the 70s!  It was December 24, 1976, to be exact.  From left to right, starting on the back row, we have my dad – Robert Joseph “Bob” Landry, Jr., me – Van, and my brothers Al and Rob.  In the front are my sisters Jamie, Karen, and Jodie, and my mom – Betty Lou Bucklin Landry. I only have the black and white version of this photo.  I’m not sure who took the photo, but it was taken with my sister Jodie’s camera.  There is another photo taken at the same time and it is in color, so I think the original of this one was in color, too.  With all the colors of the 70s clothes, I can see why Jodie chose to make it black and white.

We were at my dad’s sister Frances Landry Raley’s home in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  For many years Aunt Frances and Uncle Joe hosted the yearly Christmas feast and gift exchange at their home.  It was a very festive occasion.  My parents continued this tradition with their own children and grandchildren in the 80s and 90s and into the 2000s.  So many get togethers to be thankful for.

Things have changed quite a bit since then.  We lost Jodie in 1989 and both of my parents died in January 2017.  Then Karen passed away in 2020.  So of those original eight in my immediate family, we are down to four.  When I focus on that and the fact that the four of us are spread across the country, it can seem a bit sad.  But the family continues to grow as time passes by.  There’s even a grand nephew that I’ve yet to meet!  We also have our partners and friends and extended family that we can be grateful for.

And yet I’ll never get over missing my parents.  They are a part of me.  I’m made up of their shared DNA.  But it was much more than that.  They protected us and taught us how to love and be loved.  For that I will always be thankful.

 

Erie Giving Haircut

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Two years ago I wrote a post about homemade haircuts and in that post I featured my maternal grandmother Myrtle Phenice Bucklin (known to my generation as Grandma).  It was partly an encouragement to people that even if they had to have a homemade haircut during the pandemic, they would survive.  I do my duty when needs call.  The name of that post was “Myrtle Giving Haircut.”  I even followed it up with a photo of myself cutting one of my cousins’ hair.

Last year I was going to write a followup to that post with a photo of my paternal grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry (known to my generation as Mee Maw).  I decided against it at the time because another photo called my name.  But I always planned on posting a photo or two of Mee Maw showing off her scissor skills.  And now I’m following through with that plan.

My cousin was fortunate enough to have our Mee Maw (Germaine Erie Patureau Landry) give him a haircut.

This is a  photo of Mee Maw cutting the hair of one of her grandchildren.  If I had to guess, I would say this is my cousin Kenny.  He looks pretty young in the photo, so it could be his first haircut.  That would be a particularly photo-worthy event.  And even though it looks like he is the center of attention for this photo, the central figure in this story is our dear sweet Mee Maw. 

The photo was taken in Lake Charles, Louisiana, out the back door at my grandparents’ home.  If you could see a little further to the left on this photo, you’d see the rest of the steps and the corner of the house.  Around that corner you would find a ladder leaning up against the house going up to the second floor.  I’m not sure why it was there, but you can see it in many photos.  I need to post one of those photos soon.  I don’t think I’ve shared one of that ladder yet.

My cousin is sitting in a highchair with some artwork on the back of it.  It looks like a little person with wings, but it doesn’t look like an angel.  I don’t recognize it from anything. Then on the tray part of the highchair is a box or a book with some writing on it.  I’m not sure what that is either.  Oh, wait!  I just found out what it is.  I did an online search for Drene Diapers.  That’s what it looked like to me.  But what came up from the search was Drene Shampoo, which makes much more sense!  It also showed an ad for Drene from 1954 that says that this new synthetic shampoo had silkening magic!  Wow, Mee Maw wanted to make sure her grandchildren had the best!  Silky, shiny hair for everyone.

My Mee Maw was the best!  I think I was her favorite!

Jodie at McNeese Circa 1972

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Jodie Landry circa 1972

I just thought I would write a short post about my older sister Jodie.  Today is the anniversary of her death.  She was born Jodie Lou Landry on October 14, 1953, at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  She died on November 5, 1989, in Franklin, Texas.  She was married and had two young boys at the time.  She was only 36 years old.

But the photo I’m sharing is from her early years at college.  She graduated from Jennings High School in 1971 and started school at McNeese State University that fall.  She played flute in the band, but I think she played the upright bass in the orchestra.  I just know that she played the bass sometimes and on one particular occasion she caught the eye of a photographer for the school paper.

This photo was shown in the Contraband – the McNeese student newspaper.  There was a monthly series called “Wednesday’s Child” that focused on one of the students at the college.  Jodie was featured with this photo, which is one of my favorite photos of her.  I would give the photographer credit if I knew who it was.  My mom always liked the photo, too.  I think that’s how we ended up having this photo now.  She somehow got the original and now it is in my possession.  Enjoy.

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