This continues my Oct 10th blog about my sister Madeleine. If you have just joined me, you might like to read my previous posts: “I Will Remember You” and “I Will Remember You ~ Part 2.”
My mother died in August of 1987; some time after, Madeleine asked if she could help with my genealogy project. When Madeleine married Jere Melo in 1987, she embraced his family and fell in love with their stories. The Melo family became as important to her as her own family. She had been working on the Putnam family history and decided to add research on Jere’s family.
Holidays now included the Melos. Melo Christmas in Mount Shasta was every other year. Madeleine and Jere often included Roy and me in the celebrations. She didn’t miss many special occasions; she had just added the Melos to her list of special family occasions.
Over the last 40 years, we have discovered a lot about our genealogical relationships. Madeleine would periodically ask, “ Are we done yet?” My response was, “We will never be done.”
For the Putnam genealogy, Madeleine’s original goal was to trace back to the original immigrant ancestor. Since our maternal line was more recent immigrants, I had historically “jumped the pond” by the 1850s. Today I need to navigate both maternal and paternal family stories on my own.
Since that first trip to the San Joaquin County Records office, we have traveled extensively for genealogy together and on our own. We have done large family group travels and some where it was just Madeleine and me.
Looking back, starting in 2014, I have written about most of our trips. My second blog in February was about John Lyle Dougherty – Civil War Soldier. Madeleine and I had been to Independence, Missouri. Then, in 1994, Madeleine, Roy, and I visited Pike Co. and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where John Lyle Dougherty spent his youth and his service as a Civil War soldier.
Our first trip internationally was to England in 2000. It was a gift to travel after I had been back in school for almost four years, earning my BS in Architectural Engineering. Madeleine, Jere, Roy, and I flew to London. Madeleine had made all the arrangements. She either enjoyed it or was compulsive about knowing what she was doing every minute of our trips. I gathered the research information, and she made appointments to meet people. She was excellent at arranging an appointment to view the historical church records in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, and finding the Family Church in Puttenham, Hertfordshire, England.
Jere worked for Georgia Pacific in Fort Bragg as their head forester. He and Madeleine worked on the Fort Bragg Sports Foundation. They both actively worked to raise funds and oversee the construction of the Fort Bragg High School Football Stadium. Jere was elected to the City Council and served as Fort Bragg’s mayor. He and Madeleine worked on the Fort Bragg sister city, Otsushi Cultural Exchange program.
In 2007, we took a genealogy trip to Ireland with our husbands, sister Barbara, and Sister-in-law Bevvie. Goodness, that was an excellent trip. Again, Madeleine took charge of the accommodations, and we all had a marvelous trip.
Madeleine continued working in Fort Bragg as a Nurse Midwife. She had been a staunch advocate for nurse midwives and served as President of the California Nurse Midwives Association.
Madeleine and Jere were intelligent and caring supporters of issues for the continued growth of Fort Bragg, California. The partnership enriched the lives of those around them. After Roy and I moved to Fort Bragg in 2001, I marveled at the care Jere gave to his community and the responsibility he shouldered as a city councilman. He was the go-to guy if you had questions or wanted to learn how to get things done.
Madeleine traveled with Jere to California League of Cities Meetings and State Conferences on Forestry and Logging.
To be continued…
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