Ruth and John Say Happy 92nd Birthday to Lottie Weekes Meredith!

Oct. 1, 1978 - Sunday
"Mom's birthday (Meredith) - 1886
Mom 92!  We got there about 1 P.M. & put candles & 'Happy Birthday' sign on the small Lemon Coconut loaf cake.  We 4 sang the song & I cut the cake & we had ice cream with it.  She rec'd 9 cards.  Ken & Nellie gave her (on Thurs) small chain & imitation diamond in silver setting.  We played some Silly Solitaire.  Left about 3:30."

By 1978 the Kelloggs were well into their retirement years in Clearwater FL.  Ruth's mother, Lottie, and her son, Jimmie, were living together in nearby Largo FL.  Jimmie, a schizophrenic since his teen years, was 67.   Ruth and John were 72 and 79, still fairly healthy, able to see friends, play cards, enjoy tennis, take vacations in the US and other countries.

John loved to take walks. One of his favorite walks was to the library once a week, taking a book bag.  He would return books and pick up another 6 or so.  At one point his goal was to read all of the books in the Clearwater

Library, in alphabetical order.  When he ran into the new-to-him "Avon Romances", he decided that he could skip any books that didn't appeal to him - like those.

In the picture are Ruth and John with Dan after playing tennis. (I was the photographer,)  Ruth's diary entry and the picture aren't in Pieces of a Life, my book.

Two Diaries Speak on Aug. 9, 1965

I had had surgery in July, 1965 at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, so was not yet back to work at U.S. Life on Maiden Lane in NYC when I wrote this diary entry. Our apartment was in Riverdale.  Calling long distance is still considered very pricey in 1965, as you can guess by my noting the time we talked.  The home office of the ad agency Dan worked for, N.W. Ayer, was in Philadelphia, though the office he went to most of the time was in the Time-Life Building at 50th and 6th.

Monday, August 9, 1965
"I got up at 9 and vacuumed the whole apartment. Then at 11 while I was writing to Dan's parents, the phone rang.  Surprise - my mother called to find out how I am.  We talked for 12 minutes....
The sky was overcast and it rained off and on, so I didn't go to the pool.   Wrote to my parents and continued reading an interesting book - The Heartland:  Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.  Dan called to say he would be in Philadelphia over night, then called from Philly at 7.  I read, baked cookies, watched TV.  Stayed up til 1:00."

 On the same day many miles west of us in Oak Park  IL, my mother, Ruth Kellogg, wrote in her diary.  

Monday, August 9, 1965
"Rain.  Phoned Beth & long-distanced to Diane.  As a result of talking to Diane (who is feeling fine), I started making a shift for Diane out of her former sorority curtains.  She is using shift a lot I made her."

The picture below is from July, 1936 when Diane was 2 months old.  Ruth Kellogg (30) had driven, Kenny (4), and grandmother Lottie (49) out to Elgin.  They were visiting Ruth's brother, Jimmie (25), in a mental institution.  He was diagnosed as a schizophrenic as a teenager.


Here are some short entries from Ruth's diary.  She was now the mother of 2 children - an infant and a 4-year-old, Kenny.  If you have ever leaped from 1 to 2 children, then you know what a big jump that is.  Ruth and John lived in a flat above her parents at 5458 W. Iowa St. in the Austin section of Chicago.  Lottie did help with some babysitting from time to time.  Her father, "Papa", was always a calming, steady influence.

Sunday, June 1, 1936 - "CHILDREN'S DAY.  I sent Kenny to Sunday School with the Allens.  At 4:45 we went for Children's Day exercises.  Had baby Diane dedicated with Cradle Roll members.  Had Allens to dinner."
Baptists are "dedicated" when they are named.  Later they are baptized, immersed in water, at around 12 years old when they are aware of the decision they're making.   The Allens were neighbors and close friends of Ruth and John, but soon moved to Reading PA and then on to Texas a few years later.

Monday, August 10, 1936 - "After we were in bed last nite it poured & blew terribly & a tipsy doctor skidded into our car at curb.  Funny.  I awoke John & he had to call garage to get bumpers unlocked."
Interesting that Ruth thought the "tipsy doctor" was funny - maybe because of the locked bumpers.  She was brought up in a non-alcoholic family as was John.  

Saturday, August 22, 1936 - "Went to show & left baby with John.  Kenny with me.  When we got home, she was crying in the dark while John slept on the back porch."
This was probably John's way of showing me who was boss.  He was reared in a more harsh time for children, having been born in 1899.

Friday, August 28, 1936 - "John had bad smash up with car on way to work.  Says a milkman was in way & he didn't see the other car soon enough.  Both at fault."

Friday, September 4, 1936 - "Had to bail John out of jail at 9:45 tonight.  Lucky for him I had saved $70.00.  The other fellow in accident served warrant & John has to go to court."
On the following day when they were leaving for Ann Arbor MI to see John's mother and stepfather,
Ruth mentions that John returned the money, so apparently the court felt it was not his fault.

Sunday, September 13, 1936 - "Rained hard & long today, but we started for Elgin to see Jim at 2:15.  He was fine & we all ate downtown & drove around.  Home at 8:15."
Jimmie did have shock treatments at Elgin, but I am not sure just when.  His first flare-up was at church as a teenager, so 9 or 10 years earlier.  Mental illness was not understood at all at this point or even 40 or 45 years later when he was placed in a mental hospital in Florida.

The Merediths at Baron Lake MI in 1916

"Summer 1916, Rutlage's Resort, Baron Lake, Mich" is on the back of the picture in my grandfather's writing.  Brought up in Berrien County on the southwest corner of Michigan, James R. Meredith loved the green forests and the lakes, including the big one, Lake Michigan, that formed the western edge of Michigan. 

Jim didn't have a middle name, so used "R." as his middle initial.  I've always thought it was because of his grandfather's name.   
Benjamin R. Meredith from Kent Co., Maryland had that initial.  Did it stand for a name?  Maybe.  Born in 1801, he was a soldier in the Florida War and the Black Hawk War.

Jim and his wife, Lottie Weekes Meredith, did travel from Chicago back to Michigan often to see his family at this stage, only married 11 years (Nov. 23, 1904).  Jim was doing well,
after moving to the big city, Chicago, for a job and a better life.  In 1916 he was working for a major company, Western Electric, where he would be employed for the rest of his life.

The small woman seated between the two children must be Jim's mother, Ruth Parks Olmstead Meredith, age 68.  She appears in another picture a few years later.  The girl is Ruth Viola Meredith, named for both grandmothers, at age 10.  The boy is James William Meredith (5), who is named for his father and his mother's father, William Walter Wilson Weekes, from Wilkes-Barre PA.  They called him "Jimmie."

Standing behind them are two women I'm guessing are a cousin and an aunt of the man in the middle, Jim Meredith.  Lottie, Jim's wife, wasn't in the picture.  Maybe she was behind the camera.

This is a casually posed picture with three of the subjects looking off to the right side, drawn to something - a dog barking, laughter, someone heading their way.  Young Ruth, my mother, looks strikingly like I did at about that age, right down to the somewhat bored vibes.  It looks like there's a house or a cabin behind those pictured.

Pictures from the past give you a feel for what life was like, but dredge up more questions than answers.  They make me want to study further what life was like at that time and especially for my ancestors.

Ruth's Life Changes Again in Florida, 1983 Diary

The Pellettieres seen in 1981 in the family room in front of the fireplace in Palatine.  In 1981 Cindy was 14, Diane and Dan 45, Lynn 15 and Kate 11.

I've just gone through many of Ruth's diaries in her late 60s/70s and found that as her life in Clearwater became secure, there were few mentions of the family back in Illinois.  I think she was still sending a gift and card for birthdays, but there is no mention of that either or of the birthday itself.

However, to be fair to Ruth, she had had some major developments in her 70s.  She was very slowly moving into dementia, though the early signs of it were easy to mistake for just aging.  Her brother Jimmie, a schizophrenic, was placed in a mental hospital far from Clearwater after having a breakdown.  He had been living in a small house in nearby Largo with his mother, Lottie Meredith.  Lottie was 96 when the following diary entry was written and was living in a nursing home close to Ruth and John.  It happens that July 13 was granddaughter Cindy's 16th birthday.

Wednesday, July 13, 1983 -  "I spent 2 1/2 hours with Mom.  Pushed her down halls and into Rec. Room briefly.  Watched her eat sparingly of her lunch, which has at least 5 items plus coffee.  I got back here by 3:45 & J. took off in car."  It sure gets a work-out between us."

Thursday, July 14, 1983 -  "Had my hair done - first since Perm last week.  Looks good - Mary is perfect after all these years doing it for me.  I give her a good tip too.  I no sooner got home than J. took off with car on errands.  In afternoon he walked  to and from town for exercise!"

The Kelloggs each had a car from 1942 to around 1980 when John decided they should sell one of the cars.  John was a month from his 84th birthday when he walked to town.  I recall his walking to the library from the Horizon House on the causeway all the way into Clearwater, both for exercise and because he loved to read.  John was not easy to get along with and very strong in his opinions!

Ruth and John Fly to Palatine to Visit the Pellettieres

Ruth and John Kellogg, Diane's parents, pictured in front of their car in Fl in 1977.  They were 71 and 78.  The diary entries are from 1980.

Sunday, June 22, 1980 - "Early 7 A.M. pick-up by Limo to Tampa Airport where we waited over an hour for 9:15 flight (breakfast) to O'Hare. There 4 of the 5 Pellettieres met us in their yellow Cadillac!  Cindy stayed home.  Later - John found odd things in a pocket of luggage! He had wrong one!  His still at airport.  We're minus shaver and other essentials until tomorrow!"

Monday, June 23, 1980 - "Diane drove to airport first & John EXCHANGED luggage at the lower level while we slowly circled and returned for him.  Then on downtown to D&D's McDonald's which is quite remarkable.  Very attractive.  Diane & Dan told us all about how it runs & J. took some pictures.  Vi in office.  

We had steak sandwiches & later ice cream - after J. & I walked over to State St. and had Sara Jane's Genealogy pages copied for Diane.  We waited an hour or more for D&D to finish at McD & drive home by 5 P.M. - tired!  My feet! - to bed 9 P.M."

Tuesday, June 24, 1980 - "J. & I played little tennis with Cindy (not interested) and Katie, who takes lessons and is good for her age.  Then we saw Dan & team play exciting softball game - 14-6, after salmon cake dinner."

Dan and myself had become McDonald's owners in Sept., 1979, so it was still new and exciting to us and to our friends, relatives.   I'm not sure just what was copied of Sara Jane Wood Tobey's.  "Sally", as my father called her, was a much younger half-sister.  She and John had the same mother, Esther Clara Webb.

Vi Saletta was Veronica, Dan's sister, who was 16 years older and worked in our McDonald's office for 10 years...Cindy was never interested in tennis, probably just doing a good deed, while Katie really did like it. I don't know where Lynn was...Dan has played softball for most of his life, including 2016.  The diary entries and picture are not in Pieces of a Life.

Ruth on Iowa Street in 1938 with Young Ken (7) and Diane (2)

This 1940 photo of Ken (9) and Diane (4) was taken on the front steps of 5458 W. Iowa St., Chicago where grand-parents Lottie and Jim Meredith lived.  At that time Ruth and John Kellogg rented the small upstairs apartment.

Wednesday, Aug. 17, 1938 - "Kenny had tonsils and adenoids out at Douglass Park Hospital, 11 A.M.  He was an A No. 1 patient - cost $12.50, total clinic fee.  Home at 6:15 and to bed."

Thursday, Aug. 18, 1938 - "Kenny won't eat. Whimpers about throat hurting.  Nothing but water, not even ice cream will he take.  Hope he's better tomorrow."

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 1938 - "Card from Martha.  First since they left.  Doesn't like Reading much.  Took Kenny back to the hospital tonite.  They said throat is 'beautiful'.  Now feels better."

  In 1938, they didn't have the surgery cut-off in early Aug. that existed in 1945 when I had my tonsils out at age 9.  The cut-off was due to the polio scare that went on for several years.  One child on our block (1200 N. Euclid) in Oak Park was infected with polio.

The card Ruth mentions was from Martha Allen, a former neighbor.  We did visit the Allens in Reading PA and then later in Dallas in the late 1940s when they moved again.  I have a scar on
my forehead that came from running after the bigger kids in Reading and having a throw rug throw me into the corner of a door!