Memorial Day
Rasmussen will be closed on Monday, May 29, in observance of Memorial Day, the day we honor our fellow Americans who died while serving in the U.S. military.
Last Memorial Day, I related observances from my best friend and classmate from the US Naval Academy as he toured Arlington National Cemetery. Earlier this month, Irene and I traveled to a small cemetery in Iowa where we stood by my buddy as he buried his wife of 35 years. We are here for each other in death and grief as well as life.
Iowa was home to many of my ancestors, on both my Mom’s and Dad’s sides of the family. Irene, who is quite accomplished in genealogy and ancestry, and I traveled through many parts of Iowa on this trip connecting with my family at their final resting places. Irene was excited to be in the presence of the headstones and markers she had seen in photos many times during her research. Here are a few of note.
On my Mom’s side, my 3rd Great Grandparents, Irena and Austin Cowles, are at rest in a private plot on what had been their homestead in southern Iowa, near the Missouri border. Austin was born in 1792 in Vermont, and died in 1872. Irena was his second wife, who also passed in 1872. Austin had eight children by his first wife, Phebe (who died in 1826), and six more by Irena. Austin had quite a history with the early Church of Latter Day Saints.
My 2nd Great Grandparents, Johanne and Soren Rasmussen, rest in the north-central part of Iowa. In 1878, they brought their young family of six children, including Rasmus, the founder of our company, to the USA from Denmark. Three more children would be born in the USA.
In 1906, the year his mother died, Great-Grandfather Rasmus left Iowa for California, and the next year his wife Edith and their four living children joined Rasmus in Whittier, CA. One daughter, Florence, died of diphtheria at age 20 months, and is buried next to her two cousins, who also died in infancy, at the Lincoln Township Cemetery.
Sisters Myrtle and Johanne Rasmussen, with cousin Florence Rasmussen.
So, as we remember those who died in the service of our great country, we should also remember those who came before us, and thank them for their love and service to our family.
Thank you, Mom. I love and miss you, every day.
Quote of the Month
No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
– Calvin Coolidge