TENDING THE TREE

Growing up in rural Iowa I inherited a number of qualities – a love for the environment, an understanding of tradition and community, and mostly a sense of family and longevity.  It’s an area that will hold up accomplishments that go back to the town’s founding families, while at same time casting “knowing” glances about that little incident involving your great-great-uncle seventy years ago.  For good or bad, family “legacies” are remembered forever.

My paternal great-great-grandfather Bernard White

My maternal great-great-grandmother Lux.

My maternal grandmother Kathryn (Katie) Heims Gadient 

and three of her younger siblings.

My paternal grandmother Virginia Ludwig White.

My paternal great-great-grandparents, Bernard White and Teresa Daer White.

Family has always been very important to me, and with that comes a love of genealogy.  I’ve always been fascinated with history and family heritage, and could often be found roaming through local cemeteries gathering information from weather worn and moss covered tombstones, always looking to discover that next treasured tidbit to be added to the family tree.

This photo and the title photo are of my maternal grandparents, 

George Gadient and Katie Heims Gadient, on thier wedding day.

My maternal great-grandparents, Peter Gadient and Mary Fuchs Gadient, 

on their wedding day . . .

. . . and here with their wedding party.

My maternal great-great-grandparents, Bernard Heims and Elizabeth Ekrott Heims.

My maternal grandmother, Kathryn (Katie) Heims Gadient.

My family immigrated to the United States 160-years ago from Germany, eventually settling in the newly forming town of Worthington, Iowa.  While this rural town has remained small over the years, my family is still a presence there today, and that sense of heritage is strong.

My paternal great-grandfather, John H. White.

My maternal great-great-grandmother Cacilia Bader Gadient.

My maternal grandmother Katie Gadient (seated left) holding my uncle.  

Seated center is her mother, my great-grandmother Mary Heims, 

with my great-great-grandmother Lux seated right.

My paternal grandfather Raymond J. White.

My paternal great-grandparents, John H. White and Mary Stoll White.

A few months ago, I was looking through a box of old family photos, some of which were starting to crack and tear, and decided to scan them so that they would be digitally preserved before deteriorating completely.  This genealogical trip down memory lane once again stirred that sense of heritage I felt as a youth roaming through those cemeteries, and that feeling of connectedness with family members long gone, many of whom I’ve never met, washed over me anew.

My paternal grandmother Virginia Ludwig White.

My paternal grandparents, Raymond J. White and Virginia Ludwig White, 

on their wedding day.

This one of my favorite photos of my maternal grandfather George Gadient (seated left).

My maternal grandmother, Katie Heims Gadient, with three of her younger siblings.

My paternal great-great-granparents, Theodore Ludwig and Margaret Hennes Ludiwg.

I credit my father for instilling in me that sense of heritage and family.  He would tell me stories of distant relatives long gone which sparked my desire to learn more. From that I developed a strong love of tradition and a great appreciation of lineage. 

My parents, Marion Gadient White and Cyril John White.

My parents on their wedding day . . .

. . . And seen here with their wedding party.

My father as a baby, seen here with my grandmother.

My mother and her two older brothers.

The whole is made up of its many parts, and for me it’s the same with family.  Through being connected to my ancestors I gain a new understanding and appreciation of who I am today, as I celebrate my family tree and the wonderful heritage I have been given.