The Ancestor I Admire The Most

There are many ancestors I admire. They didn't do anything important - they just survived, and in my mind, that's something to be admired. My grandmother was one of those who endured many trials and tribulations. She did not have an easy life. 

Stella May Edwards was born on 23 July 1912 in Williamson County, Illinois. Her parents were George Elmus Edwards and Olive Isabel Pogue. Stella was ten years old when her father died in March of 1923, leaving her mother to raise the three remaining children. Her little sister Hazel had been killed in a horrible fire just a couple of years before. 

Stella's mom remarried in 1926 to Joseph Kehder. That marriage produced a half-brother, Richard Eugene "Gene" Kehder, who remained close to his half-sister until her death, even after the marriage ended in divorce. Olive Pogue went on to marry at least one more time, possibly two. She lived until 1959. 

My grandmother moved to Chicago to find work sometime around 1930. There she met and married Anton Martinek/Butzek. (He legally changed his name to Butzek, the name of his stepfather, when he was naturalized in 1943.) The couple stayed in Chicago for a couple more years, where my mother was born. They moved back to southern Illinois by 1935, where a son was born in 1939. 

Life was hard in southern Illinois during the depression. My grandfather farmed during the day and worked in the coal mines in his spare time. He learned to farm by reading books on agriculture, and apparently, he had one of the more prosperous farms in the area. But even that wasn't enough. He was working on a WPA road crew in 1940. Things were only going to get worse.

In November of 1943, my grandfather was killed by a falling piece of coal while working in Old Ben Coal Mine #15 in Franklin County, Illinois. My grandmother and her two young children stayed in southern Illinois for some time. (My mom was ten, my uncle just three.) They moved into town, and my mom graduated from West Frankfort High School. My grandmother didn't actually sell the farm until many years later.

Sometime after 1950, the family moved to Chicago so my grandmother could find work. She worked at a meat company near the stockyards for a while, then moved to Goes Lithographing as a secretary. She held that job for many years until her "retirement." 

Early in my life, my parents bought a small house in Dolton. My grandmother and Uncle Tony lived in a small upstairs apartment. I always felt lucky that they were close by. I used to go upstairs every night and brush my grandmother's hair. I assume she found it relaxing, but I remember it as being a way to bond with her. 

Even after my grandmother retired, she still did odd jobs. She often "looked after old ladies," as she described it—sitting with them and taking care of them. She moved from her small Roseland apartment to a basement apartment in Blue Island. She kept active in her church and had many friends. 

My grandmother died on January 1, 1989. She had gotten in her car to go to church. Her Bible was on the seat next to her. It was sudden and unexpected. She was only 76 years old. 

My grandmother never did anything extraordinary. She just went to work every day to support herself and her children. She never remarried, having lost the love of her life early on. She loved her church. She loved her grandchildren, and I was happy that my sons, her first great-grandchildren, got to know her a little bit. Her life was not unlike that of many of my other ancestors, admired for how they faced life's daily challenges.

The first #52Ancestors Prompt of 2026 is An Ancestor I Admire

Hard Times

This week's theme for #52 Ancestors was Hard Times. I was hard-pressed to choose a subject for this topic—not because my ancestors didn't face hard times, but because there were too many "hard times" in their lives.

But top of mind was my grandmother, Stella Mae Edwards. Stella was born 23 July 1912 in Williamson County, Illinois. She was the second of four children of George Elmus Edwards and Olive Isabel Pogue.  In 1921, her five-year-old sister Hazel was killed when her dress caught fire while she was drying her hair in front of the fireplace. 

In March of 1923,  when she was just 11 years old, her father died from complications of tuberculosis. I don't know if that meant he had been ill before that. My grandmother never mentioned it, but with TB, it is likely.

Three years later, her mother married Joseph Kehder and one more child, Gene (Richard Eugene) Kehder was born in 1927. The marriage was over by 1930. There would be at least one more marriage and divorce between 1930 and 1940 to Ray Hedges. 

Around 1930, at the age of 17 or 18, Stella left for Chicago to find work. She started work at the American Can Company where she met my grandfather Anton Butzek (Martinek). They were married in Chicago in May of 1931 and my mom was born a year later. 

Stella, Anton and Dixie Butzek about 1933

At some point, Stella and Anton decided to head to Southern Illinois. Apparently, my grandfather had always wanted to be a farmer. They settled on a farm in Thompsonville and had one more child, born in 1939. 

Life in southern Illinois was hard. While my grandfather was apparently a good farmer (learning everything he needed to know by reading agriculture books), it wasn't enough to support the family. He went to work in the coal mines, which were booming in southern Illinois at the time. Anton often worked the farm during the day and went to work in the mines at night. And, of course, being a farm wife was a hard life for my grandmother.

My grandfather, who was born in Austria, was naturalized in September of 1943. Two months later, he was killed in a coal mining accident in Old Ben Coal Mine #15. He was running a drilling machine when a rock fell, breaking his neck. 

My grandmother was left a 31-year-old widow with two children, aged four and eleven. She stayed on the farm until around 1950, allowing my mom to graduate from high school. Then, she moved back to Chicago to find work. 

Stella continued to work until retirement. By then, both her kids had married, grandkids had been born, and great-grandkids were on the way. She never remarried, choosing to live with her memories. 

I think of all the hard times that my grandmother faced--growing up in poverty, losing her sister and father, becoming a farm wife, being widowed at an early age, and raising two children on her own. She had a strong faith and was always a church-going woman, and that faith likely sustained her through all the hard times. She never had much in the way of physical possessions in her life. But fittingly, she died as she was getting ready to go to church, with her much-read Bible by her side.