General Notes

[Joanne's Tree.1 GED.GED]

2  PLAC 113
2  SOUR S332582
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: 14 Jan 2004


[daveanthes.FTW]

Sources of information include:
   The journal  "The Way We Were" written by  Luella. M (Klein) Schwalen (lms)
pg 43
"In June, 1933, on the 24th of the month, Gerald Michael was born.  It was a blistering, hot day and mother, who was with me during that confinement, hung wet sheets across the bedroom window to cool the room. Gerald was a very good baby.  By the time he was a week old, he no longer wanted to wake in the middle of the night to nurse.  I worried about it until I asked the doctor and he told me I was an idiot to lose sleep over that.  It was providential that Gerald was so easy to care for because it was not unusual I had to put him in his crib while I took care of Betty Lou. Many times this happened while I was giving him his bath or nursing him, but he seemed to thrive on the neglect."

pg 47
"Gerald went off to school and it was a traumatic experience for Betty Lou. To keep her happy, I taught her to do simple sewing, embroidering and provided her with pencils, coloring books and taught her to read. She resigned herself to being home; having the smaller girls home with her helped us through the long winters. In the summer, she did her best to keep up with the rest of the children, many times exerting herself past her endurance.  When she cried, I dropped everything to go to her. Carrying her in my arms I walked around the yard, hoping and praying the blueness would leave her face and she would recover just one more time. Gerald cooperated in an amazing manner and helped out by taking the girls in the wagon when they went to play at a neighbor's house.  In the winter, he pulled them on the sled. More than once, the mothers told me how careful he was to check out each sister to be sure they had on their mittens and overshoes and that all zippers were properly closed before he took them out into the cold and headed for home.
It was very aggravating when total strangers commented that Betty received preferential treatment over the younger kids.  On a trip to the dentist, I had Betty Lou and Gerald with me. We had a long stairs to climb and I knew I had to carry her while Gerald was not much more than old enough to climb from one step to the next. Two men passed us and made derisive remarks to the effect that mothers always favored girls while boys were left to fend for themselves. While I was hurt by the remarks, I realized there was no way they knew any different since Betty Lou appeared perfectly normal most times.  Close inspection revealed otherwise because her fingernails were always blue. She grew in stature but was always very thin.  She had lovely blonde curly hair. In the face of all her difficulties, Len and I exercise cautious discipline. We had no intention of raising a monster, and tried to treat her the same as the others.

pg 55
"Gerald had his turn at the doctors office. When he was about eight, his tonsils were so large they obstructed his breathing and he had countless sore throats.  Dr W.. and Dr F took them out.  I was at the hospital in the waiting room when they took him to the operating room.  Gerald was too excited for the preliminary sedatives to have much affect and he was alert when they tried to anesthetize him.  I heard him screaming, 'Help! Help! Murder! The nurse came running for me to help hold him onto the operating table. He quieted when I was there and they soon had me leave once more. Gerald stayed in the hospital over night and came home. Because he fought the anesthetic so desperately, he took more of it than the usual patient, and he was quite sick for longer than normal."

Statesman Journal Newspaper 2/4/2000
Gerald Michael Schwalen
June 24, 1933 - Feb. 1, 2000

WILLAMINA - Gerald Schwalen, 66, died Tuesday. Cause of death was unavailable.

He was born in Amery, Wis., and served in the Navy during the Korean War, then for 23 years, retiring in 1974. He worked for Champion Plywood until 1980, retiring from Rogers Machinery in Tualatin in 1990. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and gold mining. He was a member of the National Rifle Association and Linn County Miners.

Survivors include his wife, Kathy; sons, Nathan and Leonard, both of Willamina; daughter, Wanda Harrison of California; sisters, Mary Mendenhall of Salem, Sally Shook of Milwaukie, Linda Cary of Fredericksburg, Va.; and nine grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in Adamsons Sheridan Funeral Home. Interment will be in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Contributions: Willamina Volunteer Firemens Ambulance Fund or Willamina Friends of the Library.


Poem from Funeral Service for Gerald
     Crossing the Bar
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving sees asleep,
Too full for sound or foam.
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark.

For though from our our bourned of time and place
The flood may bear me far.
I hope to see my pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar
      Alfred Tennyson

Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon
Schwalen, Gerald Michael, b. 06/24/1933, d. 02/01/2000, US Navy, MMCS, Res: Willamina, OR, Plot: BB 0 545, bur. 02/07/2000