mom – Voices of Ancestors

Mom and Dad’s Photography. Circa 1944

at Stewart Field in Newburgh, NY.

When Mom and Dad were first married, they posed and took photos of each other, then developed them in a dark room. These photos are a couple of my favorites. They look so young and happy!

My Uncle Paul and Aunt Alice. Circa 1944.

I Found A Photo I Had Not Seen Before

of my mother, Louise Johnson Rier, and my grandmother, Elizabeth Keegan Rier. It was taken at Stewart Field in Newburgh, NY about 1944 when my father, James “Gene” Rier, was stationed there. I have many photos of Mom from that time, and photos of Grammy Rier over her lifetime but none at this age, about 52 years old, dressed up in a fur coat and hat. Quite a treasure!

Square Dancing and Gatherings in the 60s.

Downeast Maine. Pictured above L to R. Vivian and Vernell Leighton, Lorna and Carroll Gay, and my Mom, Louise Johnson Rier.

Who else remembers when our parents went to Square Dances? When I was in Grammar School, I went along with them and learned to allemande left and other steps called out that I no longer remember. But I vividly recall that a good time was had by all!

The same group except Dad is sitting between Mom and Lorna Gay.

A buffet dinner after or before the dance. I believe that is Millard Whitney in the grey sweater beside his wife Dot?

A gathering at my parents home. I recognize Burt and Marion Bagley on the couch. Could that be Dot May Whitney in the blue dress?

Mom and Friends. Rotary Anns Bowling Team Trophy. 1959.

Mom and Dad. Halloween Rotary Party. 1976.

Machias, Maine. James “Gene” Rier and Louise Johnson Rier.

Dad and Mom both had a sense of humor. This photo makes me smile. I especially enjoy Dad’s costume, his crazy glasses, red flannel dress, black stockings and a garter. Mom seems to be a ghoulish worker woman in overalls, red handkerchief scarf, cool mask and shower cap. They make an attractive pair.

Today, I can hear them laughing, and see them smiling.

This is another photo of a Halloween party, circa 1960s.

L to R. Phil and Muriel Watts are in the Native American costumes, behind them ?, Connie and Richard Young (he’s a skunk!), Dad, and a lady I do not recognize beside him.

I know it’s Dad because I recognize the striped flannel shirt, and the coolest mask and wig ever. I used to retrieve them from Mom and Dad’s attic and scare my kids. Then they each took turns, ran around with mask and wig, and scared each other at random.

I wore that wig and mask to a Halloween party at the Grange Hall in the 70s. No one recognized me for the entire evening. It was great fun!

Summer Lilies

for Mom and Dad. And, my beloved niece, Jessica Marie Rier, who would have turned 42 years old this year, had she not been taken from us at age 5.

A summer breeze blows. I pull a bit of long grass around the stones. And, think of my mother, father, and niece, and how love never ends.

Mom Hanging Out with Friends — Voices of Ancestors

Machias and Roque Bluffs, Maine. 1936 to 1942. What did girls do? Well, pose on a cool car. Hang out around their homes. Swing. What else? Hang out at the Cemetery, of course. Does anyone know Mom’s friend, dubbed “Tombstone Annie”? No one grows up in Machias without spending summer days at Roque Bluffs. You […]

via Mom Hanging Out with Friends — Voices of Ancestors

This is the most popular post on this blog in the past six months. Originally posted February 6th, the day 665 hits came in! Thank you Mom!

The 1980s: Dad, Mom and Gordon.

Left to right: Dad (James “Gene” Rier), Gordon Ackley and Mom (Louise Johnson Rier). Gordon’s Model A (or is it a Model T?) is in the background. Gordon was the manager of the shop at Rier Motors for many years, as far back as I can remember. He was part of our family. I miss them all dearly, but it is nice to see them together smiling on a sunny day!

The Beginning of A Business in Machias Maine. Rier Buick. 1949.

After 23 Years in Business, Dad’s Car Dealership Burned to the Ground.

My Dad, James “Gene” Rier: Maine’s Dean of Gas Engines. 1985.

Mom and Friends. Rotary Anns Bowling Team Trophy. 1959.

If you lived in Machias, Maine in the 1950s and 1960s, you went bowling at Machias Valley Bowling Lanes. As kids practiced their skills, our parents were on teams in the bowling league, part of the social fabric of Downeast Maine.

My Mom, Louise Rier, is in the back row on the far left of the photo. I was seven years old at the time. She is 39 years old, a lot younger than I am now.

Good memories, good times.

When I married and left Maine in 1970, I learned how to bowl with big balls. Today, I learned that candlepin bowling was primarily practiced in the Canadian Maritime provinces and New England in the US. The history of the sport is interesting and this version of bowling is still promoted in Maine.

Mom Keeps Men at Stewart Field Air Force Base on High Alert. 1944.

Mom’s Adventures in Portland: Horse Back Riding. 1942.

Mom Hanging Out with Friends.

Mom at 16. High School Graduation. 1936.

My Mother Louise Adele Johnson.

Mom and Brother Robert on a Sleigh Ride. Postcard 1920s.

The back of the postcard reads: “Louise and Robert on a sleigh ride with Chris the man who cares for Billy’s trotting horses. This is Wm’s horse.” ~ Albert J.

The children on a sleigh ride in Machias, Maine, are my Mom and her brother, Louise and Robert Johnson. Billy is their uncle, Billy Means and Wm is William Means, the children’s grandfather. The horse drawn sleigh is on the wooden bridge across the Machias River with the Getchell Grist Mill and the roofline of the Phoenix Opera House in the background.

Mom at 16. High School Graduation. 1936.

This photograph of Mom was found in the old barn at 24 Broadway in Machias in the later years of my mother’s life. It was in an old trunk strapped up under the stairs to the second floor. I had never noticed it before. Mom said that Dad put the trunk there when they moved into the house in 1952 just before I was born, in an effort to store old things in a hurry. The forgotten trunk belonged to my grandmother Harriet and was filled with antique linens, her scrapbook, and old photographs. When the photo was discovered, I took it, along with other items from the trunk, for Mom to see.

“I haven’t seen this picture since I was young,” she said and smiled up at me from the chair where she sat most of the day, her mobility limited by severe arthritis.

“Wow! You’re so young and pretty, Mom,” I replied in excitement. I wanted to add that she still was but I knew that remark would irritate her. She hated getting old and no compliment could assuage her disdain for her reflection in the mirror. Wistfully, she fingered the linens I set in her lap and then looked through her mother’s scrap book which she did not remember. No wonder. It was 2007, seventy one years after that photo was taken.

Today, as I went through cartons of storage in need of one more round of organization, I found the photo in the original frame and another treasure: my mother’s writing.

My Mother Louise Adele Johnson

Mom Hanging Out with Friends

Mom’s Adventures in Portland: Horse Back Riding. 1942.

Mom Keeps Men at Stewart Field Air Force Base on High Alert. 1944.