wartime and George Gallant had received a letter that brought tears to his eyes. It stated that his son, Tommy, was not dead, but was a prisoner of war. Everyone was overwhelmed with joy and it left everlasting memories.

Roach and Marjorie had a son, Sterling, nicknamed “Buster,” a very fine, active ten-year—old who was in perfect health. Suddenly, he started having nose bleeds. One day, he came home from school complaining about not feeling well. They took him to the hospital, and he died a month later with leukemia. This was a great tragedy for this couple, but they were able to cope and carry on.

When her health improved, Marjorie was a “Jack of all trades.” She worked at night, painting and papering after the children were tucked into bed. In September, she would have the children put out their old toys for Santa to pick up. The next day, they would be gone. These same toys would appear under the Christmas tree with a new face-lift, thanks to Marjorie’s skills. Bernice recalls, “We never knew the difference.” On Christmas Eve, after the children went to bed, Marjorie would make doughnuts and place them on the Christmas tree as a treat for the children the next morning. One Christmas, however, the dog got there first, and ate all the doughnuts before the children made their appearance. The dog did not get much attention that day. They always had a goose for Christmas dinner. They would raise them all summer, and in the fall set them up for a card game, leaving the two best for themselves, one for Christmas, and one for New Years.

After their second child, Gene, was born, Marjorie was advised not to have any more children, but went on to have seven more. When the third child, Bernice, arrived Marjorie thought that she was going to die. She survived, but as fate would have it, died forty-seven years later on Bernice’s birthday.

In 1961, their house was in need of repairs, and they wanted to

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