MY FATHER'S FOLDER: About Mom

Another from the archives

She Took Great Delight

The following was written & presented by Dad at my grandmothers memorial service, April 2000.

"I have been blessed with having my mother here on earth for nearly seventy-nine years.  Mom was born April 25th, 1901 near Fargo, North Dakota.  Her parents were immigrants from the Ukraine in Russia.

Mom with her mother

They were looking for a place to settle when mom was born.
They then moved to Saskatuwan, Canada, where she grew up.  At age 7, her mother died, and for the next 8-10 years, she lived with her father, stepmother, 4 brothers, and a number of stepchildren.
Mom was a very spunky young lady, and when her brother Isaac offered to take her to Oregon, she accepted and decided to stay.

1920

She got a job, first as a maid for the Henry Voth family at Salt Creek, and then worked in the Dallas Hospital.
Mom accepted the Lord at a young age in Canada, so when she came to Oregon, she found the Mennonite Church, or Brudertaler, where Solomon Ediger was the pastor.  She soon became acquainted with the Ediger family and fell in love with Aaron Ediger.
They were married in 1920.  I was born in 1921.  Eight more children soon arrived.
Jamie, who preceded his mom's home going, Richard, Miriam, Ted, Barbara, Janet, Beverly, and Emory.  Also surviving are 27 grandchildren, 47 great grandchildren, and 2 great, great grandchildren.

Taking a moment to enjoy her children.

Mom didn't have much financially to work with on in the early days of her marriage.  She had to make due in many ways to support her growing family.
She learned to drive the Model T Ford so she could at least go to the nearby relatives for help when needed.

Pop, as Dad was called worked in the sawmill and commuted those few miles to Dallas with his brothers.
Mom bought material to make our overalls.
When the depression hit in 1929, Pop and Mom lost everything.  By then, she had 4 children.
Every summer, she would take us harvesting or picking, first strawberries, then cherries, raspberries, hops, and then prunes, all of which was our vacation from school.
School in the fall usually started when the prune harvest was finished.  Mom took us camping to the fields, where we would spend weekdays working.
Pop came and got us for Sunday's church.
Mom saw to it that we were well fed.  She used her own money to buy food at the camp store during the hop-picking season.  We were paid each day according to measurement with tickets.  She allowed us to keep most of what we earned for clothing and school supplies.
These jobs took us to various places:  Forest Grove, Eola Hills, Independence, and Silver Creek Falls.  Mom sometimes stayed home to cook when the jobs were right close, such as Dave Peter's Cherries at Fir Villa.

In 1942, economic times were better, and the folks sold their farm on North Fir Villa Road, and purchased a larger farm at Dayton.  Mom worked at many jobs to help with income.  She worked in the turkey plant in McMinnville, and later in West Salem.
After moving to Fruitland, east of Salem, she worked for a time as a cook in a restaurant, and also worked in a mushroom plant.
While living there, my family of 4 came on our first furlough from Mexico.  The folks got us a house across the road from their chicken farm.  Mom would baby-sit for Betty and I so we could go on speaking engagements.  Both Pop and Mom were supportive of our ministering in Mexico.
She wrote us frequently, telling us news from Dallas and Salem.  Her ministry to us started when I was in school at Simpson in Seattle.  On a regular basis, she would recycle her Itemizer Observer, and send it to me at school, to Montana when I was in summer ministry, and to Mexico those early years.

On their 40th wedding anniversary, the folks came to Mexico to visit us.  They experienced the rickety 5-hour bus trip out of Mexico City to Tetela de Ocampo.  And then Mom rode the horse, which was sent for her to take her to Cuautempan, our missionary post.  It was a hard trip, but she greatly enjoyed it, and to see the work the Lord was doing among the Indians at Puebla.

Mom took great delight in the missionary conventions which were held every year in the Alliance Churches of both Salem and Dallas.
This dated back to the early 40's when she hosted the missionary speakers.  Her greatest ministry to people and the church was during the years 1968-1983, when she lived in Keizer, in the mobile home park.
According to mom's diary, her home was the stopping off place and visits from her children and grandchildren.
She records her numerous visits to shut-ins in Dallas and Salem, including her relatives.  She made regular trips to see and encourage Mrs.Ricky, Mrs. Clark, and Mrs.Kliewer in the Lutheran rest home north of Salem.

Every summer during those years were spent canning and freezing fruits and vegetables, enough to send along with the kids and grandkids who visited.

She and Pop drove down to Los Angeles to attend 3 weddings in my family that occurred within 1 year.  On their visits to see us in Los Angeles, Mom would bring these goodies, which she had preserved during the harvest season.
Pop and Mom regularly each summer for 50 years attended Canby Camp.  Never once during that time did they miss hearing famous Alliance ministers giving out the Word.

When Pop's health began to decline in 1984, they moved their mobile home to Independence across the road from Richard and Shirley.  This way, they could help oversee Pop.   During this time, Mom remained strong.  Pop went to his home in Heaven, just short of his 87th birthday.

That same year, Mom moved into the newly constructed Village Retirement Center in Dallas.
Here she enjoyed the love and fellowship of many relatives and friends for 10 years, from 1985-1995.  She remained close to Rich and Shirl, Jamie and Patty and their families.

When it was decided that Mom needed assisted care, she move up to Crista Shores in Silverdale, Wa.  Now she was near two of her daughters, Miriam and Barbara.  One or the other visited her every day, and she made many new friends.
She went with joy to her heavenly home from Silverdale at 3:15 p.m., April 6th, just short of her 99th birthday. 
We thank the Lord that we had her that many years."

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I Wuv My Grandma MOM

 What a legacy she left.  I am forever grateful to have known this great lady and that she was MY grandmother.

MY FATHER'S FOLDER: Moments From The Past

You never know when you will capture a moment from the past.

As we were driving on the 101 after yesterdays adventure, Dad comments on how the San Fernando Valley used to be mostly orange groves.

This led to him describing past memories of trips taken with his parents in the Model T and stopping to eat oranges and how delicious they were as they were considered a rarity in Oregon.

This led to fond memories of Christmas's past when he was a boy.

Each Christmas everyone was given a brown paper bag after the Christmas program at their church.  Each bag had an orange, some nuts (usually walnuts), and some hard candy and soft candy wrapped in cellophane.

Each church had their programs on different nights.  Dad recalls how they eagerly waited for those little brown gift bags at the end of the service at several churches. They would go from one church to the next so they could get another one of those little brown bags.

(I also recall our Christmas's in Mexico as we also would receive a small brown paper bag with the same contents except it was peanuts instead of walnuts. I do not recall being to eager to receive one.)

Then Dad recalled how his grandfather had a special closet where he kept the Christmas gifts and how he and his brothers tried to "break" into it to see what was in there.

Today, we had a quiet lunch together of the best chicken quesadillas with pepper jack cheese and guacamole that I have ever made. As we were eating our watermelon dessert, Dad is again reminiscing.

He told of a story that his grandfather told him of when he was a boy.

Back in Kansas, they grew many watermelons so as a boy of about 10, he (his grandfather) took the ax out to the field and they would chop them melons in half and eat them right there.

I hope to capture other of these random moments from the past.

My Father's Folder: LOREN'S STORY

The House That Pop Built

LOREN’S STORY  (From his paper archives.)

It was the beginning of WW II, the older members of the A.W. Ediger family were finding their own way in life.
First, for the boys there was the inevitable draft registration and the waiting to be called into military service.
I had enrolled at Simpson Bible College, Richard took advantage of rising wages in the logging and lumber industry.  Jamie felt a tug to get in the defense industry and the Bremerton shipyards.
Jamie also became active in the C & M A youth group.  He took advantage of any opportunity to get home to Dallas for even a short time.  On one occasion he brought several friends including Betty Wedgwood, a vivacious young lady who was a member of the youth group.  I was home from school at the time, and though not particularly attracted to any one of the girls, I was impressed by the spiritual tone of the entire group of young people.
Upon graduation from Bible College in 1943, I was led into various short-term ministries including summer camps, Vacation Bible school and pastor of a small church. 
During this time I had kept up with the happenings in the Bremerton C & M A church and especially the young people.  To my surprise, I found out that Betty Wedgwood had enrolled at Simpson Bible College.  I wanted to know more about that girl who my brother had brought to Dallas that summer week-end. 
Betty was very devoted to her studies at Simpson and only on rare occasions was I able to see her on weed-ends when she came home across the Sound from Seattle.  I took every opportunity to come up and “see my brother”.  We corresponded frequently and two summer vacations Betty spent in Vacation Bible School.  One school was held at Silverton, Ore., C & M A church.  What a thrill would be mine to go on “business” to Silverton during those days.
At that time I became aware of her musical abilities.  Would this young lady be the one the Lord had chosen to be my companion and co-laborer in His work?

Sometimes God uses an individuals heritage in the unfolding of His plans.  His Word says that He knew us before the foundation of the world.
Grandparents Ediger, Warkentine, and Dick-Fehr were staunch Mennonites who migrated from south Russia as children with their parents.  The church among the Mennonite communities was a closely knit family of believers ruled by elders who were the spiritual leaders.
My grandfather Solomon S. Ediger was an elder and founder of the Evangelical Mennote Brethern church of Dallas, Oregon.  My grand uncle on my mother’s side, Isaac Dyck was the founder of the Polk Station General Conference Mennonite church.
Grandfather Solomon Ediger was a man of excellence in all he undertook.  In the early 1920’s he felt led to leave the Mennonite church, which at that time had some problems with its leadership.  Grandpa then helped found the Dallas C & M A church.
I remember on of his sermons on Noah and the flood.  This was the first impression I received that the world was lost and without Christ. 
I did not become a singer, but at the age of four, I sang a solo.  My parents, having placed me on a table in the home where services were held and had me sing:
    “Throw a line, Throw a line.
     Help the perishing to shore.
     While the breakers loudly roar.
     He will save them, everyone.
     If we help them from their death.”

BLOGGING MY WAY THROUGH WEDGWOOD HISTORY

Heritage, a grand old word with many implications, many of which are unknown to us.

Doris in swing~Betty standing

The only known facts handed down from mother to daughter

On my mother's side (my mother, Betty recalling what was passed down to her) that her mother was the oldest of three daughters born to my grandmother, who had each daughter by different men.  My mother was raised by her grandmother and grandfather who was a saloon keeper.  I never knew either of them.  My mother's name was Ethel Robinson and my maternal grandmother's name was Bertha Robinson.
They were native Washingtonians from near Everett and a little town called Oso.

Emily Elizabeth Wedgwood & Edwin Chatfield Wedgwood
Edwin Francis Wedgwood Jr., my grandpa (left) Charles George Wedgwood (right) and Bertha May Wedgwood(back middle) The boys were twins.
Photo taken in East Chicago, Indiana 1907

On my father's side, his mother was of English ancestry, but born in the U.S.  My grandfather Edwin Chatfield Wedgwood was born in England and brought to the U.S. when he was twelve years old.

Edwin Chatfield (1863–1937). 18 Feb 1937 • Hessville, Indiana, USA
Public Census records state that Edwin Chatfield W. immigration from England was in 1886. That would make him 23 yrs. old not 12.

If my research is correct: 

Black Oak Road Chicken Farm, Hammond, Indiana, E.C.W. Home

Records appear to indicate that Edwin Chatfield W. father Edwin W. was 3rd cousin of Charles Darwin. The Wedgwood/Darwin family is actually two interrelated English families, descendants from the Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the pottery firm and the prominent 18th century doctor, 

Erasmus Darwin. Josiah & Erasmus Darwin were very good friends and One of Josiah's daughters married Erasmus's son Robert. One of the children of that marriage, Charles Darwin, also married a Wedgwood, Emma, Josiah's granddaughter.

My grandmother was a teacher and my grandfather a boilermaker by trade.

Emily E. W.

  I only saw my grandfather once when I was twelve years old.  The next year he died.  My father had one sister, Bertha who died of cancer soon after her father's death (no children) and a twin brother.  He had married after he was 60 yrs. of age (no children).  My grandmother lived into her 80's.  My uncle who was Dad's twin passed away in his 70's.

My father volunteered for the army when he was 17.  My family was very uncommunicative so I do not know the details, but my grandmother took us to the grave of a brother of mine, Edwin who died at birth.

Page from Grandpa Edwin F. Wedgwood's Bible  Records the death of Edwin J. Wedgwood, May 1,1921, death at 23 days (Debbie has Bible)

After several years of army service my father returned, having been gassed in the war and shot in the leg.

Edwin F. W.

  He was a veteran, having served in France in WW I.  After this he attended Valparaiso University in Indiana.

In the 1920's, he took the advice of the times "Go West, young man, go west"  He left home and came to Seattle and Everett, Washington, where he met and married my mother at the age of 27,

( however, it appears,

FAMILY RECORD IN THE BIBLE

that a little known fact that Edwin F. had been previously married to a Ruth Thompson as recorded in his Bible. (Becky)
  My father worked in the Seattle area at various jobs. 

Betty with her mother,  Ethel

I was born at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, and by the time my sister Doris was born 18 months later in Bremerton, we had settled in Bremerton, where my father worked in the Naval Shipyards.  My father passed away at the age of 62 of cancer.  My mother was 75 when she passed away.  

Betty with parents

Both had remarkable conversion experiences in the Olympia C & M A church several years before they went to be with the Lord.

"Your Grandfather Wedgwood was a kind loving man. He was sick and at times grumpy, but, he controlled his hurt and pain, especially after he came to the Lord. He served in the church in any way he could. He ushered and became a friend of many who attended that church." (Dad)
  "Yes, he smoked when I first knew him. The cancer in his lungs resulted in extreme bleeding and I believe that is when he quit. Doris's family would know more about this. They lived near each other there in Olympia for many years." (Dad)

Of my early years, I remember fruitful gardens, the constant remodeling of our house and the upkeep of the variety of cars we owned,

Doris & Betty

including Model T's and a Hupmobile.

Betty left & Doris right

From Mother's journal: "...When he (father) finally found permanent work in the Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., they moved to Bremerton.

Bremerton City Directory, 1936

He borrowed $50 for a down payment on 2 little shacks on 4 lots. He continued to pay the owner for the next 20 yrs. $20 a month on the property at 1213 Ohio Ave. Doris was born at Harrison Memorial Oct. 29,1925. This was the only home I remember. He (father) put the 2 shacks together and moved them on the 2 lots facing Ohio Ave.

The front of that house on Ohio Ave

He was continually fixing and improving the property with Mother and us girls as his helpers.

Betty & Doris on Ohio Ave. house

As soon as we finished one project, we began planning and saving for the next project."

"He did the plumbing, built kitchen cabinets, laid hardwood floors and painted, put on siding, roofing & shingles, etc. Between times we went fishing, camping,short travel trips, etc., did yard work and he always had a fabulous time and a sweet disposition." 

Betty & Loren at house in Tracyton

 This was still in Bremerton. Betty's parents had sold their place on Ohio and bought this 2 acre farm on the east side of town along the water. I don't remember the name of this little The Bremerton suburb of Tracyton on the Sound.  It was a 2-story house with bedroom upstairs, if I remember right.(Dad, Loren)

 "We had our little church in rural Snohomish." (Dad, Loren)

Ethel & Edwin F. W.

 "After living at Tracyton a short time, as I recall they decided to sell everything and move to your Grandma's place in Indiana. After a short time there, they were homesick for the West. Doris and Bill's parents lived in Olympia. The parents were old timers in the Alliance Church there. Bill and Doris had moved there also, so to be near Doris and Bill they bought that property and house that you came to know as Grandpa and Grandma's place." (Dad, Loren)

Edwin F. W.

 They lived there until their passing, your Grandma in the summer of '62. (Dad)

My paternal grandmother perhaps had more influence on her children and grand daughters than we realized.  Somehow she implanted in my father, Christian standards and values of honesty, perseverance, and other spiritual values.

Mr. Harry Flesher, a friend of my father invited us to Sunday School at First Baptist.  My sister (Doris) and I enrolled in the beginners class.

CAMPING

  Mr. Flesher and family went camping with us, experiences we did not forget.  Shortly after this Mr. Flesher passed away and we had no more contact with the family.

CAMPING

 Mary Kaness was an outstanding teacher at First Baptist. 

Doris left & Betty right

Through her teaching and encouragement, I gave my heart to the Lord and was baptized.  I was twelve years old.  We kept up correspondence with her during our years in Mexico and spoke in her church during furlough.

With the Harry Flesher Family

Two blocks from our home evangelistic meeting were held one summer in a large tent.
A Rev. Cooper from South Africa (Charlotte, his wife was Bob Landis's Aunt) was conducting the campaign.
We girls wanted to attend but for some reason my father did not want us to go.  However, Ken Nelson came by to pick us up.  Ken, later married Loren's sister, Miriam and worked as an apprentice under my Dad, was given permission to take us. On that occasion we recommitted our lives to God.

Camping with the Fleshers

After that both of us determined to make a career of working in the Lord's service.   About this time we met Peggy Peterson and the Kresterson sisters, who went to the C & M A church.  Peggy lived near us and becoming friends, we went to their church where we became members.

Church and special meetings became a large part of our lives.  The meetings with Florence McDonald (later Mrs. Paul Turnidge) greatly encouraged us to go to Bible School.

Betty, teen years

Canby Camp which I attended two different summers was an influence to a total commitment to the Lord's work. During high school years, I felt I would like to go into the teaching profession.

  Perhaps this was encouraged by our next-door neighbor who was a teacher.  Or maybe it was because I had enjoyed teaching a Sunday School class since I was sixteen.  My father and mother encouraged me to go into the teaching profession and promised to help with finances.  They wanted me to go to teachers college.

Betty

Working after high school in the Navy Yard for two years, I felt more and more that God was leading me to Bible School.  One of my friends was going to "Three Hills" in Alberta, Canada, but that seemed so far way and too cold.

Betty L, Doris R

My father and mother were ignorant of the importance I felt was a call of God to Christian service.  Whereas they had promised to help me financially if I were to go into a secular profession, they indicated their unwillingness to help me with finances to go to Bible School. 

Thus, I used my savings and trusted the Lord for the rest.  When I graduated I owed only $25, which Loren and I paid from a wedding gift.

The dress code for women was strict: no pants,ankle socks, make-up or ear rings; stockings had to be worn, and skirts had to be below the knee.
Sundays were honored as the Sabbath. Students traveled by bus to church and dressed up for Sunday meals. They were assigned to different tables each month. Faculty and staff ate with them.
All students had a work assignment, whether landscaping, housekeeping, kitchen or office duty.
Missions was a vital part of community life-there were mission bands every Friday night and numerous mission groups. Many of the instructors were former missionaries.

Loren & Betty

Jamie Ediger, Loren's brother, worked in the Bremerton Navy Yard and also attended the C& MA  (Christian & Missionary Alliance)

Jaimie

  Jamie took a group of young people to visit the family farm at Dallas, Ore.
  
From Mother's notes, The visit to the farm in Dallas was in summer of 1942, just after she had graduated from high school. "We spent most of the day driving, were there for a few hours, attended the early evening service and drove back all night. I did not see Loren again until the next summer,1943 at Canby Camp. After that he started writing me and visiting me in Bremerton."

Just Married at the Wedgwood rural home,Trayton

There I met Loren, though it wasn't until several years later, and several dates at Canby Camp and Bremerton that we were engaged.

Betrothal, Oct.5, 1946

  We were married on Friday, June 13, 1947 in the C & MA in my home church.

(Mother,) "We lived on Callow Ave. in a room and shared bath while Loren worked with Rev. Lester Meltzer at the C & M A church. Then in October we moved to Clearview, Wa. (North of Seattle) at Clearview Chapel." (Callow Ave. Bremerton?)

Dad had little to offer his bride in a material way, but he had a great spiritual heritage, a very strong faith in God, and a personal commitment to Christian service. He presented Mother with that accordion as an engagement gift. Mother, having just graduated from Simpson, accepted the offer and wholeheartedly agreed to working together on a foreign field. Her Christian education at Simpson and music talents would later prove to be an asset.

June 1947
Peggy Peterson, Doris Edgbert, Ken Nelson, Bill Emery.
Flower girl, Beverly Ediger Buhtz.

Just me an Grandpa W.

"Laborers Together With Him." Loren and Betty Ediger's journey as "Laborers together with Him" began June 13,1947 in Bremerton, Washington. After a brief time assisting in the C&MA church there and then ministering at Clearview Chapel near Snohomish, Washington, they set their eyes on a notice in the Sunday School Times by The Mexican Indian Mission concerning Mexico's spiritual needs.

With an adventurous spirit, correspondence with Dr. James G.Dale began and a lengthy visit with Eugenia Baron, who spoke at Seattle Pacific College further touched their hearts. As a result Dr. Dale wrote back, "Come to Mexico as soon as possible. We will trust with you for your support." "The life of faith" was soon to begin bringing about its blessings and challenges in the most primitive and dangerous are as of the State of Puebla and Veracruz.

A Visit To Mexico

Due to dangerous incidents the previous missionaries, traumatized by harassment and death threats left the location and Mexico.(Becky)
They were stepping into the unknown.

BUSTED AT THE BORDER  CLICK HERE