Christmas 1973: Clearwater FL and Palatine IL

 Christmas 1973  (Ruth's Diary)
"I made a large bowl of cole slaw with halved grapes and nuts.  Also prepared lge. quantity of candied sweet yams.  This was our dinner contribution at Ken & Nellie's.

We phoned Diane & Dan at 9:15 AM & Cindy answered first.  They all got on different phones & thanked us for the gifts.  Diane especially liked the string purse & onyx necklace - was surprised, pleased.  Girls liked rings and doll dresses.  

We picked up Mom and Jim & got to Ken's by noon & got right into package opening & picture taking.  The dinner - 16 lb. turkey & dressing - was all good.  We had pie & fruit cake & coffee 3 hours later.  Had fun with a 'sponge' ball. "

The picture of Kate, Lynn and Cindy in our Palatine house was taken in about 1973 - ages 3, 7 and 6.  The picture of Ruth Kellogg (left) and her mother, Lottie Meredith, was taken in 1978 in the house son Jimmie and Lottie shared in Florida.  Ruth was 72 and Lottie 92.

Our lives changed dramatically when first Ruth and John moved to Florida, followed by Lottie and Jim, then
divorced son Ken with his sons Roger and Philip.  Ken met and married Nellie in Florida.  Dan and I had our holidays with friends or the Pellettiere family.  We saw my parents occasionally, but less and less as the years went by.

1994: The Pellettiere Part of Ruth Kellogg's Family

There we are in the living room of the house in Palatine:  (couch) Kate (24), Diane, Dan, (front) Lynn (28), Cindy (27).  As you can see from the little Santa in the foreground, this picture was on our
Christmas card, so probably taken within a week of Thanksgiving.

Nov. 24, 1994 - Thanksgiving
"Everything went well today, except that the turkey took an hour longer to cook than the directions indicated!  We ate everything except the turkey - then had it later - and dessert still later.

Thought the meal was good.  Vi brought ravioli from a store near her - and sauce.  She brought some artichokes as well as cheese.  The artichokes were disappointing.  Also had a fruit salad, a broccoli & carrot dish with horseradish sauce, sweet potatoes, oven-roasted potatoes, herb scones, Applejack Pie, French Chocolate Cake - plus the turkey and traditional Bread Stuffing.

The stuffing recipe's origin is lost in antiquity.  It probably was Mrs. Millard's, the woman who raised my grandmother when her own mother, Viola Hawley Weekes, died in 1896.  ..I must check the 1900 census & see if William Weekes is on it & if any of the children are shown with him.  

Vi and Dorothy Heitschmidt both joined us for dinner.  Kate picked them up & Dan & I drove them back to Vi's.  Jim was here too.  He had had a dental patient - emergency - in the morning.  He was working on Lynn's car too.  Was in a very good mood  in the afternoon .  He did a lot of the dishes with Dorothy drying for him!  Jim's back was bothering him."

Vi was Dan's much-older sister and Dorothy was one of her closest friends.  Jim Waldman and Lynn were engaged and would marry on June 3, 1995...The grandmother I referred to is Lottie Meredith, Ruth's mother.  Lottie was 9 years old when her mother died of "chronic gatarrhal gastritis" when she was 38.  Two of the 4 children had died.  Only Lottie (Carlotta Lola Lucretia) and her younger brother, Lewis Henry, were left with William, their father. 

Two Thanksgivings - 1925 (diary) and 1957 (photo)

The 1957 photo, taken in the dining room at 1210 N. Euclid, Oak Park,  misses most of 2 people on the right - Jimmie (46) and Lottie Meredith (71), Ruth's brother and mother.  The others are:  (left side, going around table)  Diane Kellogg - 21 , Ken Kellogg - 26, John Kellogg - 58, Esther Wood - 79 (John's mother), Ruth Kellogg  - 51 (turned toward camera)

Thursday, Nov. 26, 1925 - Thanksgiving Day
    "Got up at 5:20.  Evangeline got here at 6:00.  We went for Mrs. Diehl shortly afterward and got at the Oak Park church at about 6:25. Out at 8:30.  
     All but I went to the Chicago this afternoon.  Papa had never seen the inside before.  Irene came out and helped me with my dress.  She had dinner with us at 5:00.  
     At 8:00 Willard rang the bell and came in.  He had come about the ticket, but asked me to go for a ride for 1/2 hour.  I did.  We had a fine ride in the country.  We sat in car in front for a long while.  Irene stayed all night."

The Kelloggs had lived in Oak Park for 16 years when the photo was taken.  Esther Wood lived in Ann Arbor where she and her husband, G.A. Wood, had operated a boarding house for male college students at the University of Michigan.  By 1957 she had retired.  Ken had married in 1956, but his wife, Beth, took the picture, so is not shown.

In Ruth's diary, she speaks of getting up early, which must have been for the Sunrise Service.  A friend, Evangeline, and Ruth picked up a neighbor, Mrs. Diehl and drove to First Baptist Church in Oak Park. Lottie may have prepared some of the dinner that morning or perhaps was reluctant to go to church be-
cause she was increasingly hard of hearing.  The "Chicago" is the Chicago Theatre downtown.

The ticket Willard mentioned was for the prom.  Ruth invited Willard, whom she seemed to have a crush on through the end of high school.  Willard and Ruth sat in the car one time too many.  In early December Ruth's parents, Lottie and Jim, both reproached Ruth for sitting in the car with him, telling her she could not do that for more than 30 minutes.  They may have been concerned about what the neighbors would think too.


   

After Lynn's Birth in 1966, Ruth's Diary Entry & Diane's Note

 The top picture shows 4-month-old Lynn Meredith Pellettiere with mom Diane in the living room of our new house in Mt. Prospect IL Sept., 1966.  The second is a smiling Lynn looking over Grandma Ruth Kellogg's shoulder.  She was born at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

May 25, 1966, Wednesday   I packed this AM after a restful nite.  Baby Lynn only awoke once at 3:45 AM and slept soundly again until eight.  Dan got home early and got me to the airport early.  There I had to wait one hour longer so long-distance phoned John.  In at O'Hare Airport at 9:30 PM. Home 10:10.  John I found reading in airport luggage return area.

I wrote the following note on the night of May 25th, using a "Mrs. Daniel A. Pellettiere Jr." note card.
"Dear Mom,
Right now you're winging your way to Chicago, ending what what seemed a very fast 10 days with us.  I'm glad that you were here to lend a hand and to give moral support in these early days with Lynn.  The night feedings were especially helpful.
        I'm sure that you will enjoy sleeping straight through and in a regular bed instead of on a 
daybed.  But you probably will miss Lynn too - at least her daytime personality.
       She had water at 8:00 PM and should waken any minute for a bottle, so I guess I should end this now.  Hope you're feeling good.     Love, Diane"

John Works His Way Through U of Michigan

Ruth Meredith's future husband, John Kellogg, worked both during school and at vacation time - often one full-time job and one part-time.  Not all of his plans worked out well, but he was able to save an amazing amount of money.  In the picture John is in college, probably about 20 years old.

The quotes are taken from John's autobiography, written at 74.  "You may recall that in my first college year I sold stuff at the football concession stand.  Mainly food and pop.  I talked to another young man and we agreed to enter a joint bid for the concession as partners the second year.  A local druggist had had that concession for years.  How much should we offer?  We did not have any idea at all and finally put the bid at $700.  To our surprise, we got the bid."

"I had intended to put up my half from my earnings the past summer.  Then the other fellow ran out of money about one month after he started, and said he would rather not earn any money to pay his way as it was not dignified.  He just dropped out of college and took a job selling like his older brother."

"That meant I would have to put up all the money, that the risk was all mine, but that all the profit (if any) would likewise be mine.  To raise the $700, I took my war savings stamps from the safety box and got a loan on them from the bank.  I could easily have cashed them at the post office, but had I done that, I might never get them back from the proceeds of the venture.  They had come so hard, one by one, I did not want to give them up.  Hence, I borrowed on them, paying interest."

How did it work out?  During the football season at Ferry Field, John was disappointed.  It was a lot of work in sweeping, planning and there was limited time for the spectators to buy food.  John had to hire some other students to help him.  He didn't even earn back the $700 advance.  However, baseball was a different story.  There were fewer in the stands, but vendors could sell all of the time.  At the end of the season, he had got back his $700 advance plus another $600.  For a second summer, he headed back to the Belle Isle Casino in Detroit to work.  This story and others about John and Ruth are in Pieces of a Life.

1935 - A Pivotal Year for the Young Kellogg Family

Pictured are Kenny (3) and John on Thanksgiving, 1933 on the Meredith's front porch in the Austin section of Chicago.

1935 was a difficult year for the country and also for the extra stress The Great Depression was putting on young families like the Kelloggs.

I went through Ruth's diaries for the early months of 1935.  The more I read, the more Ruth's anger and depression seeped through the pages.  She didn't understand how desperate the economic situation was, so blamed John for working too much - 6 and 7 days every week, denying her of his company and simple social events with friends.  He was in business for himself - like being way out at the end of a limb.

John had seen his family knocked from well-off to barely hanging on when his father died suddenly in 1913.  He was probably terrified in the early 1930s, knowing how easy it would be to plummet again in this situation, with families all around him doing just that.  He would never have told Ruth that he was afraid, but would have nagged at her not to spend even on things they needed.  She was not a big spender during my life time, even when money was ample.

Friday, January 4, 1935  -  "Mama stayed here with Kenny (afternoon while he was sleeping) & again tonite when I went to Club.  John worked all night.  I'm mad.  Mama is too, as she had to stay until I arrived at midnight from Cecile's."

Saturday, February 5, 1935 - "As John phoned he wouldn't be home in time for show, I asked Mama to go with Kenny and me."

Ruth's life was built around 4-year-old Kenny, but her role models were her parents.  Her father worked long hours at Western Electric, taking a Sunday shift as well when money was tight.  But he never had to worry about the business itself collapsing as John did.

The Merediths Say "Good-Bye" to William Weekes, Lottie's Father

This necklace belonged to Viola Weekes, mother of Lottie Weekes Meredith (my grandmother).  It says "1891" on one side and "Mother" on the other.  One of Viola's children, Leroy, was born in April and died in August, 1891.  It's likely that William Weekes, Viola's husband, gave this to her.  Another child, Walter, died in 1894 and then Viola herself passed away in 1896.  That left just William, Lottie (9) and Lewis (7).

I don't have a picture of William, though perhaps one day I'll find one.  Born in Wilkes-Barre PA on Aug. 14, 1844, William moved to Chicago in 1872, according to his death certificate.  That was the year after the Chicago Fire, when workmen of all kinds were pouring in.  So William, a carpenter, packed up his tools and moved to Chicago, where there was plenty of work to be had.  The following excerpts from Ruth Meredith's 1928 diary are not in Pieces of a life. 

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 1928  -  "My Grandad (Mama's father) had a stroke & Mama & Papa had to go & take him to a hospital.  He's not expected to live long.  Folks just got back & ate a little supper.  9:50"

Thursday, Sept. 27, 1928 -  "Grandpa is not breathing so hard now.  Isn't expected to live past morning."

Friday, Sept. 28, 1928  - "I am almost sick with a cold & just at present am alone as the folks are at the hospital and Jimmie is at a parade."

Saturday, Sept. 29, 1928 - "Grandpa died at 6:30 this morning.  Mama, Papa & I had a lot to do to arrange matters besides go to register so as to vote."  Ruth also mentions her cold again.

Sunday, Sept. 30, 1928 - "Cold worse.  The whole family including John went to the Undertaker this afternoon for a few hours.  Irene came in the evening.  At lunch we gave Mama her birthday gifts instead of tomorrow on Mama's birthday."

Monday, Oct. 1, 1928  - "Felt terrible all day.  Had the funeral & service at 2:45..  Mama feels quite sad."  Ruth mentions a few friends of her mother's whom came to the funeral.  She also said that her parents were out for a walk that evening.

 Lottie felt very close to her father, who ended his years in a boarding house, working occasionally as a handyman.  Younger brother Lewis died in the 1920s after having been mustard gassed in World War I.  He lost his balance while riding on a wagon and was trampled.

Sept. 20th, 1915: A Postcard from Grandpa Olmstead

I think I've seen it all in my mother's collection of diaries when out pops this 100-year-old postcard.  It was sent to my grandparents, the Merediths, by James' grandfather, William Henry Olmstead, age 92.  William was living with relatives, the Conners, in Saranac MI.  Olmstead? It was James' mother's maiden name.

         RR No. 2
         Saranac, Mich.
         Sept. 20, 1915

Dear James & Lola,
     Please accept this card as a token of our remembrance
of you and of your birthdays - which occur, we think, James' 35th on Sept. 23rd and Lola's on Oct. 1st.

    We hope they will prove joyous change to you both, such 
                                                          that you will live to enjoy many holiday returns and may the  
                                                          Dear Lord's blessing attend you all the way.
                                                                 Your aunt, Mary G. Conner
                                                                  Your Grandfather, Wm. H. Olmstead

My grandmother, Carlotta Lola Lucretia Weekes Meredith, was called "Lola" and "Lottie."  She was to turn
29 on Oct. 1, 1915, but perhaps William Olmstead was unsure of her age.  It was difficult to read the faded brown ink and tiny, fine writing, especially  in the second paragraph when William was running out of room. William lived to be 93, dying on June 1, 1916.  James' father, Nathaniel, was a Civil War veteran, and had died in 1907 at 63.  Oddly enough, that was the age at which James himself would pass away in 1944.

At this time, the Merediths lived at 3855 Park Avenue in Chicago, according to the postcard.  Their two children, Ruth Viola and Jimmie, were 9 and 4.  This postcard was not in Pieces of a Life.

Unsolved: The Mystery of Irene

Sometimes you wonder how to sift through the tangled maze of memories, divining what is real, what is family lore, what remains hidden.  I don't know what happened to Ruth's close friend, Irene Hertel, in 1925, but I've speculated on illness, depression or maybe being jilted by some unknown man.  Or perhaps Ruth and Irene had had a spat.

Irene was a year or two older than Ruth and a strong Catholic, quite a contrast to my mother's Baptist upbringing.  Yet religion never seemed to be an issue for them.  The picture shows Ruth Meredith (left) and Irene in 1926, probably in the Austin neighborhood.  Looks like a license plate is behind Irene's feet.

Most of the quotes from Ruth's 1925 diary were not in Pieces of a Life, nor was the picture.

Friday, July 3, 1925 - "Not until I started to go to bed did I notice a big envelope and recognize the handwriting.  It is a birthday card and a long letter from Irene.  I read it real slowly; and was very glad and happy about it.  I do love Irene, and I hope that we will renew our friendship with twice as much love and energy.  I pray that we may remain so, if not more, the rest of our lives."

Friday, July 10, 1925 - "Not a word from Irene yet.  I am still waiting, hopefully."  Ruth had written to Irene, mailing the long letter on July 5, her 19th birthday.

Wednesday, July 29, 1925 - "Mrs. Smith, Margarite and James came to lunch today.  (James, often called "Smitty" is brother Jimmie's close friend along with his mother and sister.)  Just as we sat down, the phone rang and I could hardly believe my ears, for it was Irene.   She didn't say anything very important.  We just exchanged words back and forth a few minutes, and then we said Good-bye till two weeks or more from now."  

Birthday Dolls in 1973

In 1973, Kate was 3, Cindy 6 and Lynn 7.  You see them sitting in the living room of the Palatine house in front of a hooked rug Dan and I made.

On Kate's first birthday in April, 1971, Grandma Ruth Kellogg, who was visiting, said that they took movies of  Katie "celebrating with a twinkie cake and a match candle in her high chair."  On May 12 Lynn opened her gifts from Mom and Dad, who were still away at a business-related golf tournament in Las Vegas. One was a doll with hair that "grows", only it didn't!

On Cindy's birthday (which happens to be today,
July 13) back in 1971 Diane and Dan were home and the Kelloggs back in Florida.  Ruth decided to knit a coat for Lynn - and another for Cindy if Lynn's worked out well.  There is a mention in August of starting a pink knit coat for Cindy. Ruth also mentions that she had gifts for the girls - skirts and a dress - "bagged for the trip north"  later in the year.

Ruth Celebrates Turning 73 in Clearwater FL

The picture (1978) shows us about to leave Clearwater FL after a visit with Grandpa (John) and Grandma (Ruth) Kellogg.  Dan, Lynn, Cindy, Kate are shown with Diane as the photographer. This isn't in Pieces of a Life, nor are Ruth's diary entries.

Thursday, July 5, 1979  - "A year older - 73.  Busy!  Hair done while Mom baked chicken thys while Jim & I shopped.  We got Pepperidge Farm pineapple cake and Mom put 5 candles on it.  Later John phoned to get flowers - none at our store!  I did and hurried home for the Kelloggs - 3 of whom came.  

Philip phoned to say 'Happy Birthday' and how old are you?  He had to work from 4:30 to 1:30 A.M.!

Ken brought cake they ordered & got as requested by John.  Gave me a silver bracelet.  All went well.  Took pictures."

My mother meant "thighs" rather than "thys" in the second line of her diary entry.  She was a good speller most of her life, but later on dementia gradually impaired her language skills.  Evidentally they ate with Lottie Meredith, Ruth's mother, and Jimmie, her brother, at lunch in their small home in Largo FL to celebrate Ruth's 73rd - and then dinner with son Ken Kellogg, wife Nellie and younger son Roger (15) to light the candles again.  Ruth and John lived on the 7th floor of Horizon House in Clearwater FL for many years after leaving Illinois.

I looked for the pictures Ruth mentions, but haven't found any.  I'm not sure if copies were sent to me.

Ruth Job-Hunts in 1930 During the Depression

Ruth is shown in 1929.  Life changed dramatically between that photo and the summer of 1930.  By then Ruth had lost her job at Ward's during a severe cut-back that would only deepen as time went on and customers disappeared, fearful of running out of money for food and rent.

September 2, 1930 - "Arrived at Underwood Employment 9:05.  In line until 10:15.  Inter-viewed in Law Office at Ward's (Mr. Jayne)."   

September 3, 1930 - "Very, very exhausted, but managed to place application with Chicago Motor Club this afternoon (thru Mrs. Foote)."

September 5, 1930 - "Spent from 10:15 to 3:15 waiting downtown until could have interview at Chicago Motor Club.  Wasn't very favorable."

September 15, 1930 - "Have hopes of securing Royal B.P. position."  (I don't know what that is.)

September 16, 1930 - "No work yet.  The Royal B.P. hired a 35 yr. old woman!  My luck should change now after 3 failures.  Here's hoping."  (Ruth was only 24 with 4 years of work experience.  She must have viewed the 35-yr-old as ancient.)

September 17, 1930 - "I'm disgusted with job hunting...John thinks he can get me back to work at Ward's."  (Ward's sank deeper and deeper into debt as its customers left.  Not only did Ruth get no job, but John was to lose his position as well. Kenny was born a year later.)

The Steady Hand of the Jim Meredith Falters

The picture was taken in 1939 at Lake Geneva where the Merediths planned to retire...It reminded Jim of southwest Michigan where he grew up.  Diane (age 3), Grandpa Jim, Grandma Lottie and Ken (age 7) are on a bench near the lake.  Lottie is posing with Ken's bow and arrow, which is why Ken is downcast.

Grandpa Jim Meredith had a steady hand on the family, calm, kind and focused with a strong work ethic that sometimes had him at Western Electric 7 days a week. (That happened when the apartment above them was not rented or when someone skipped out without paying them the rent.)

In the summer of 1940, Jim's health faltered, a harbinger of what would come a later.  He was 59.  

These entries come from a tiny diary that I thought was a date or address book  I did not read it until after Pieces of a Life was published.

Thursday, Aug. 1-2, 1940   "Doctor told Papa he has an infected leg...Papa sits in chair with hot towels on leg."

Monday, Aug. 5, 1940   "Papa came home from Doctor's  and went to bed with case of pleurisy.  Very painful."  Two days later, Ruth said, "No relief for Papa yet."

Thursday, Aug. 8, 1940   "Had Doctor over for Papa today.  He bound him up some more and helped a lot."  The following day Papa was up for a few hours, so on the road to recovery."

The medical picture sketched in these lines seems murky.  Was the leg really infected?  How?  Was the pleurisy related to the leg infection?  Ruth skipped many days in the little 1940 diary, so the questions about her father's illness remain a mystery  Also, on Aug. 16 she, Ken and Diane (me) went to Ann Arbor by train to visit John's mother, Esther Wood, and his stepfather, Guy Wood Sr.  Others they saw were Guy Wood Jr., John's stepbrother, as well as Sara Jane Wood and her new husband, Ellis Tobey.  They were married a few weeks earlier.   John drove to Ann Arbor to join Ruth and the kids on Aug. 21.  


 

"My Horse Won - Gallant Fox!"

Ruth Kellogg, pictured in flapper garb, was not a gambler.  Neither was husband John, unless he was buying a business, a factory building or apartments to rent.  He always believed he could swing whatever it was by hard work.  He and Ruth had been married almost a year - June 1, 1929 - and were weathering the Great Depression..

However, 85 years ago Ruth did bet on the Kentucky Derby at work, which was the offices of retailer Montgomery Ward..  I wonder if it was her first bet ever.

Saturday, May 17, 1930
"Sixteen of office secretaries, (me too), bet a quarter a piece on Kentucky Derby horses ($4.00).  My horse won - Gallant Fox.  It's hard to believe.  Monday I'll get the money."

When I skimmed through this on the first reading, I thought she had bet $4.00!  Then I realized that it would have been a huge amount of money in 1930 with everyone losing jobs and cutting spending.  The 25 cents Ruth did bet made a lot more sense.

As kids in the 1940s, my brother and I had a horse race board game with a spinner that pointed to a number, determining  how many spaces your horse could travel on your turn.  There were 6 or 8 horses, all Kentucky Derby winners.  One of them was none other than Gallant Fox.

Ruth's First Granddaughter is Born in 1966

Lynn is in her crib at 4 months old in Mt. Prospect IL at the right.  In the picture below, she is just 4 days old, with new mom Diane in the living room of our apartment in NYC (Riverdale).  It was May 16, 1966, a sunny, cold day for late Spring and we had just driven home from Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

Ruth's diary on May 12 says, "No word yet (3 PM) from N.Y.  Am taking pills to ward off a cold and not doing much - just pot roasting beef for supper and knitting & watching TV.
     Dan phoned about 10:20 PM.  Diane had a little girl, about 6 lbs - name Lynn Meredith.  All O.K.  She went in at 9 AM.  Up at 2 AM and birth about 9:45 PM (Central time).  I phoned Beth & Ken the news."

The following day Beth (brother Ken's wife) sent flowers from both families.  On the 16th Ruth flew in to help with the cooking, washing, baby care until May 25 when she flew home again.  During the time Ruth  was with us, Dan flew into Chicago Fri night through Sun night and bought a house in Mt. Prospect.  We had made a list of what we wanted and he followed it.  The house was 3 or 4 blocks east of the 4-year-old Randhurst mall.

"I'm Kind of Worried..."

This picture of Grandma Esther Webb Kellogg Wood (John's mother), Kenny Kellogg and Ruth Meredith Kellogg was taken in Ann Arbor within a few months of the time the entry was made in her diary.

September 21, 1935 - Saturday
"I'm kind of worried, as I just heard an extra paper about Austin Maniac beating another woman today - that's about the 4th this month. First is in serious condition in hospital.

Baked a sponge cake& made lime Jell-O veg. salad for tomorrow.  Bought rolled veal roast.

John home early enough to eat good meal & I got dishes done before time to go to show.  Saw 'Orchids to You' - John Boles & Jean Muir."

Ruth probably meant to say that she read or heard about an extra edition of the newspaper concerning the "Austin Maniac."   Ruth's preparations for the following day were for her father's birthday.  Jim Meredith was turning 55 on Monday, Sept. 23.  Lottie, Jimmie and Jim went upstairs for the celebration.  At that point, the three Kelloggs were living in the flat above the Merediths.  John had bought the Sealtex business the year before and was still working very long hours, at least 6 days a week.  Because Ruth was back in a familiar neighborhood with her parents and brother, she was happy in spite of John's being gone so much.

Ruth's 3rd Granddaughter, Katherine, Born in 1970

 The top picture shows Diane and baby Katherine in Aug., 1970 at age 4 months.  We were sitting in the family room in the Mt. Prospect house.

The second picture shows a very smiley Kate at 8 months in Dec., 1970 playing with an old Playschool toy.  She was born at 6 lbs., 9 oz. on April 22, but the first time Ruth saw Kate was in Lutheran General Hospital on April 25.  Ruth had flown in earlier in April to help with Lynn and Cindy.  Lynn was 3 years, 11 months and Cindy was 2 years, 9 months.  At 63 the little ones and house were a lot for Ruth to handle, even for a short time.  Dan was going to work and also fitting in friends and other activities whenever possible.


Sat., April 25, 1970
"I saw baby Katherine Diane in hospital nursery this afternoon with eyes wide open and putting on a show for Diane & me.  Diane hadn't seen her eyes open before.  She is a cutey - very much doll-like.  Diane looks good too  Was in a pink perma-prest duo gown & robe - short.

Felt more rested today with Dan here.  I got his suit from cleaners and left one there - also bought a list of groceries he made out, at Jewel near Lutheran General Hospital.  Dan went to see Diane tonight and I put girls to bed.  He got fried chicken out for supper.  I warmed up steak and beans.

Diane had first story acceptance - $10 - in Baby Talk."

I'm not sure what the story was about!

A Big Family Birthday Party for Ruth's Granddaughter Cindy - 1968

The photo shows Cynthia Jo Pellettiere with her mom, Diane, in  Cindy's bedroom in their first house in Mt. Prospect IL. Cindy (probably 18 months) is wearing a green jumper made by Grandma Ruth Kellogg.

Floridians Ruth and John were visiting us to enjoy and help with Cindy's first birthday party (July 13). Ruth's diary entry is not in Pieces of a Life, nor is the picture.

Sunday, July 14, 1968
"A hot day.  I fixed deviled eggs while Diane arranged the buffet table this A.M.  Lynn wouldn't nap so had to be amused somewhat while Cindy slept.  I phoned Mom & arranged to get them at 3 P.M.  

It was bedlam here after Vi's Schnauzer dog arrived on the scene.  Then, even though they put the dog downstairs behind gate, Lynn hung on Dan & Diane, so it was very hard for them to handle food end of the party.  The crying was bad & D & D very nervous.  We couldn't do anything to relieve them.  All the P. family was here and we had 4 tables in yard.  I took (finished) one roll of movies with some help from Marie & John's daughter, Debbie.  Vi & I did up dishes before they had to leave for another party about 8."

My recollection is a little different.  I was walking in and out of the kitchen with food, drinks often - and on one trip, saw that Cindy was crawling on the grass under the tables, chasing the dog, Hughie.  Before I could get to her, Hughie had finally had enough - turned around and snapped at Cindy - but did not bite.  Everyone saw it and that's when Hughie was "jailed" behind the gate.

The "Mom" that Ruth refers to is her mother, Lottie Meredith, age 81.  Ruth picked up brother Jim (age 57) and her mother, who had moved to Mt. Prospect, living there briefly before moving on to Florida near the Kelloggs. Lynn was 2 years and 2 months old.  The house didn't have air conditioning, so was very uncomfortable in that hot summer.  We did have it put in later that year.

Ruth's World in 1990

Sept. 8, 1990  
A SURPRISE GIFT (the diary from Amparo)

"So - I start using it NOW - the date of receiving.  Amparo here to keep me company now & then.  She decides & comes for a few days at a time - it's up to her.  As I don't have a car anymore, it's a nice interval when Amparo comes & we go out to eat a meal 'here and there'."

Amparo is Ruth's daughter-in-law Nellie's mother, 7 years younger than Ruth.  Nellie would figure out when Amparo would go to spend time with Ruth as a companion and paid her for doing this part-time job about half of each week. It was a way to keep Ruth in her apartment a little longer.  That would change soon.

There's also a note inside the diary that says, "Dear Ruth,  Happy Birthday   Love, Amparo"

Ruth's birthday was July 5.  Perhaps Ruth set the diary aside when Amparo gave it to her and began to use it in September.  She only wrote about 15 times, starting on Sept. 8 and ending Nov. 5.  These were small pages with a writing area of 3 1/4 by 3 3/4 inches.

Ruth's gradual withdrawal into dementia started years before in the late 1970s or early 1980s.  John passed away in January, 1987 at the age of 87.  By the fall of 1990 when she was 84, Ruth was still living in Horizon House on the Causeway between Clearwater and Clearwater Beach, FL.  She and John had moved there in 1966 when it was a new building.  They had 2 bedrooms, 3 baths and a den with a couch that could be a bed.  So there was room for visitors like the Pellettieres.

The photo is earlier, from 1979.  You can see that Ruth (73) and John (80) had been playing tennis with Dan (age 43).  The missing player, Diane, took the picture.  I'm sure that our 3 girls, Lynn, Cindy and Kate, were at the pool or beach nearby, but not in the picture!  Neither the diary entry nor picture is in Pieces of a Life.

The Kelloggs Travel to Ann Arbor and Buffalo in 1940

 The pictures show John, Diane (4) and Ken (9) standing by the Lincoln Zephyr in Lancaster NY and Ruth standing in front of the car, probably on the bridge between the US and Canada near Niagara Falls.

On Friday, Aug. 16, Ruth, Ken and Diane took the "streamlined Mercury train" to Ann Arbor to visit John's mother, Esther, and his step-father, G.A. (Guy Ashford Wood Sr.).  John joined them by car on Wed., Aug. 21, bringing gifts.  One was a GE Iron for half-sister Sara Jane, who had just surprised the family by marrying Ellis Tobey when her parents were out of town.  The others were an automatic toaster for G.A. and a juicer for his mother.  Maybe anniversary gifts?

On Aug. 23, the Kelloggs took off for Niagara Falls and Burlington Beach, Ontario.  They drove to Grand Island, where Esther Webb Kellogg Wood had grown up on a farm and where John spent part of every summer as a boy.  Esther was the granddaughter of Potato Famine Irish.  Many of her relatives lived on Grand Island.

Saturday, August 24, 1940 - Went on
The Kelloggs also saw the Falls from the American side and went into Buffalo to stay over night at the Graystone Hotel.  John had grown up in Lancaster and Buffalo. Before leaving, they drove by the home owned by John's much-older half-brother, George Kellogg. They didn't stop, I'm sure, nor make any attempt to see George and his family.

Blood isn't always thicker than water.   John felt early in his life that his Scottish-English Kellogg relatives looked down upon Charles Kellogg's young second wife, Esther, because she was Irish.  Perhaps John thought that he and sister Dorothy were regarded as a step below the other Kelloggs.  

Ruth, John & Kenny Surviving the Great Depression

The photo shows Kenny Kellogg at age 3 (9/ 6/34),  on the front steps of the stucco Iowa Street 2-flat where he and his parents, Ruth and John, lived. You can see his 3rd birthday cake to the right on the ledge.   He's sporting a beret. Neither the picture nor diary entry were in Pieces of a Life.

The Great Depression was still going on, with money tight and jobs hard to find.  John was working a 7-day week and often nights as well, trying to make a go of the Sealtex business that he took over, debts and all, in July of 1934.  He fired the factory workers and his secretary, explaining that he would re-hire them in the Fall when he had the money from bandage orders. He also moved Sealtex into a much cheaper, smaller basement space.  Part of  the money coming in he set aside to pay off the bills run up by the previous owners.  He also negotiated with some of the creditors, who quickly realized that half of the money owed them  by the previous owners was a lot better than none!

Ruth's diary (age 28) reveals that she was depressed about being alone so much and, of course, the restrictions of being on so small a budget. Occasionally, she had friends in or went out, but everyone was cutting back, trying to provide a meal on a shoestring.  She and Kenny were together every day while Ruth did the housework, with Lottie babysitting maybe once a week for an hour.  It surprised me to see how little structure there was to Kenny's schedule.  He really didn't have any!  At one point, Ruth mentioned that  it was the 6th of the month and John was late with the rent. Fortunately, the landlord was Ruth's father, Jim Meredith, who knew all too well about the Depression and how much John was working.

Friday, March 22, 1935
"Spent the day cleaning & preparing for Cecile & Ted's visit tonite for supper.  She & baby came about 5.  They stayed until 9:30.

Spent most of time arguing with John to go with class Sat. to Swedish restaurant and Lawson Y.M.C.A.   No Sale with him!  Darn it.

I took Dorothy down to show her to folks -- they think she's a little doll."

Cecile and Ted Duncan were close friends of Ruth's through the Austin Baptist Church.    Their baby girl was "Dorothy."  Evidentally Ruth couldn't persuade John to go to the restaurant and YMCA with the Yomarco (Baptist adult Sunday School) class because of his working much of Saturday and also not wanting to spent any extra money.

Ruth Meredith and John Kellogg Marry

Ruth and John married in the Meredith's flat at 5458 W. Iowa St. in the Austin neighborhood on the far west side of Chicago.  I don't know how they managed it - must have moved much of their furniture into the 3 bedrooms in order to have room for 24 guests, who also had dinner there.

Saturday, June 1, 1929 - My Wedding Day!!!
"Up early.  Lady upstairs washed and set my hair.  Gifts arriving all day.  Pressed my wedding veil -- some job
   Had 24 at ceremony & dinner.  I was excited when I was repeating after Dr. Gardiner, but John seemed very natural.  Mr. Brenken drove us to the photographer's & back.  Tin cans on our car.  During dinner they tried to get us flustered.  I cut wedding cake.  Florence caught my bouquet from front porch.  Sausen stole me after that.  Finally at Hotel Morrison.  Forgot dresses.  Folks brought them down."

From there Ruth and John went to Detroit for their wedding trip, an area John was familiar with, having lived there as a teen.  After a week, they went on to Ann Arbor where John's mother and step-father lived.  Most of this is in Pieces of a Life.

A Hot July in 1934...and Even Hotter at the Biograph Theatre!

Ruth (28) and Kenny Kellogg (not quite 3 years old)  returned from Ann Arbor MI on July 16, catching a bus in Ypsilanti.  They had visited John's mother, Esther Wood, and his stepfather, Guy Wood as well as seeing Dorothy Hiltner, John's sister and Sara Jane, Guy Jr., his stepsister and stepbrother.  The picture of them was taken on the Wood's front steps in Ann Arbor. I've used it before and think it's also in Pieces of a Life .  Ruth had stopped there for 5 weeks on the way back from staying with John in NYC for  month.  He was working for Sealtex on the East Coast.

It was a hot summer,which Ruth mentions time and again as she does the housework, ironing, cooking in the flat above her parents' apartment on Iowa Street in Chicago. The washing was done in the stone basement, so would have seemed much cooler. Also, she was washing and ironing John's shirts and other clothes, which meant carrying heavy boxes to the post office to mail them to New York City.

On July 22, Ruth says, "Gangster  Dillinger shot to death tonite by police & gov. men as he came out of the Biograph Theatre. Another hot day!  We got ice cream bars every day.  Played Hearts in cool breeze of porch tonite."

Ruth mentions on the 24th that it was "Hot! 105 degrees in the shade."  I wonder if she had been aware of John Dillinger.  He became a famous figure because of all of the newspaper coverage of his shady career, not to mention the movies later made about him.

1966 - Ruth, Diane and Lottie with the Fourth Generation, Lynn Meredith

Ruth Kellogg's diary entry and the picture of her with daughter Diane Pellettiere and mother Lottie Meredith are not in Pieces of a Life. This picture was taken in Mount Prospect IL in Aug., 1966 after Diane and Dan, both 30, moved back from New York City.  One of Dan's clown paintings is on the wall above Lottie.

The scab on Diane's leg came from a fall she took running into Randhurst to buy more paint for the walls she was painting.  Though Diane was carrying Lynn in her arms at the time, the baby was unharmed.

Thursday, May 12, 1966
   "No word yet (3 PM) from N.Y.  Am taking pills to ward off a cold and not doing much -- just pot-roasting beef for supper and knitting & watching TV.  
    Dan phoned at about 10:20 PM.  Diane had a little girl, about 6 lbs. -- name Lynn Meredith.  All O.K.  She went in at 9 AM.  Up at 2 AM and birth about 9:45 PM.  I phoned Beth & Ken the news."

Ruth uses Central time rather than Eastern for each event.  For instance, Lynn (6 lbs. 7 oz.) was born at 10:38 PM at Beth Israel Hospital in New York...The Kelloggs had two other grandchildren by then, Philip Alan (5) and Roger Winslow (2), but this was the first girl.  There would be two more, Cynthia Jo and Katherine Diane.

Ruth (60) flew to NYC to help out from May 16-25.  During that time, Dan flew to Chicago and looked at houses over a weekend, driven round by Diane's brother, Ken.  Dan and Diane had discussed what they wanted in a house before he left, so Dan worked off of that list - and bought a house on May 22 at 1101 Greenfield Rd., Mount Prospect.  They occupied it in August and were happy there until they outgrew it and moved in 1971.

Ruth and John were packing to leave for Florida on any day when they weren't babysitting for us (or Ken). They were now able to occupy their condo with the renter having moved to NYC.  They left on Monday, August 29, started unpacking boxes in FL, but then flew back to Chicago on Sept. 4 to do more packing and also see the Ken's and Diane's families as well as Lottie and Jim, Ruth's brother.  The Greyhound Moving Van came on Sept. 9 and Ruth and John left on Sept. 12, spending the next few weeks unpacking, making small changes in their condo.

It was an enormous change for both Ruth and John.  They both cried on Sunday, Aug. 28 when their Gamma Nu Sunday School class gave them a parting Revere Bowl.  They had been at First Baptist since 1941 when they moved to Oak Park.  One blessing that made it easier was the many church friends who either moved to Clearwater or vacationed there.