Remembering Debbie

December 1989

2011-12-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

In-Laws and Out-Laws

2011-12-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus Visits Pumphouse Gardens

2011-12-05T11:52:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 1986

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Christmas 1989

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Red is always a popular color at Christmas!

Great Grandpa Finley and his girls

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Dinner with Sam and Helen in 1949 - their garden? Plus some time at the beach with Pop Finley.

Debbie's Great Grandpa William Francis Estlow

2011-11-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

My mother's mother, Helen Finley Estilow, used to take the youngest child for a week in the summer to give my mother a break.

July 1, 1958, Roger was the youngest. During his visit MomMom Estilow took Roger to her father-in-law - William Francis Estlow and his wife for a visit. She also took her camera so we have some photos. We don'tk know who the young girl in the bathing suit is.

That's a very old two door refrigerator in the background.

a few more photos below

Ambler, PA Snow Man

2011-06-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

This has to be from the winter of 1958-1959 in Ambler, PA. Dad was an assistant professor at Ambler (now Temple) Junior College. We lived in housing owned by the college. Debbie was in second grade, Bobby was in Kindergarten and Roger was pre-school.

Debbie at 8 months old - May 1952

2011-03-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

Some photos of Debbie with her paternal grandparents, Olive and Ernie Thomas. Looks to me like they are in the grandparent's home at 50 N. Fernwood Ave, Pitman, NJ.

Deb's Great Aunt Elsie

2011-02-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Deb's grandmother Helen Finley Estilow had three sisters that survived to adulthood. One we called Aunt Elsie, shortened from Elsinore. I recently found some photos of Aunt Elsie. I don't know much about the photos more than what is written on the back of them. The top left photo has this written on the back, "March 9, 1965." I know that she lived in Florida for a while and the palm tree confirms a southern location for the photo.

All the photos on the right appear to be Christmas photos. The middle one has this written on the back, "Franklin's House." I know she had a son named Earl Franklin Craner and I think that the other woman in the photo was his wife.

Almost a Picnic - Home made fun

2011-01-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

The group on the lawn - we know who they are - but where and why?

The lower photo is on N. Monroe Ave. with a home made cart made from salvaged wagon wheels and wood scraps. Roger is riding the cart. It might be Robbie Cook pushing it.

Deb's daughter Becki with Deb's Niece Tina

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I don't know why Becki has her nose wrinkled.

This was taken in Mom and Dad's livingroom.

On a summer day - the four Thomas children

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I am not sure where these photos were taken. It must have been about 1963. Dee looks about 3 years old. Is that Baum's house in the background? Perhaps it is the Jersey shore?

Two Photos of Deb's Mom

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I first saw this photo in 2011 when I took the photo below out of the frame.

This photo is marked 10/30/4 - which might mean 1954.

Some Photos of Deb's Dad

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1st Lt Robert R Thomas USAF

Roger As One of Santa's Helpers

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Roger was always a jolly Santa's helper.

Around the Dining Room Table

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A popular place to park was at Mom and Dad's table.

Debbie as a bridesmaid at Roger's Wedding

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December 31, 1983. The wedding of Roger Thomas and Cindy Renner.

From left to right

Aaron Valentine, Bob Thomas, Carol Valentine (now Thomas), Jeff Bozarth, Debbie (nee Thomas) Bozarth, Becki Bozarth, Cindy (nee Renner) Thomas, Roger Thomas, Pearl (nee Estilow) Thomas, Robert Thomas, Dee Thomas (now Newman), Steve Newman

It looks like the photo is dusty but it is an effect of the type of paper used to print the photo.

Debbie as a bridesmaid

2010-08-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

A photo from a wedding that took place in 1969 or 1970. Debbie was the second bridesmaid. The couple getting married was Bob Van Natta and Carolyn Galczynski.

Parents of Helen Finley Estilow

2010-04-09T05:53:00.001-07:00

Here's a family portrait made the "Thomas Studios." In the photograph are Beulah Finley, Helen's little sister and her parents, Anna Cordelia Laurence Finley and Chester Alexander Finley. I don't know what year this photo was taken. If you know or have a good guess please let me know.

MomMom and PopPop Estilow

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There's Sam on an International Harvester lawn tractor. The sides were up so he may have been adjusting it or something when he was asked to sit down for the photograph. I don't know what year this was taken.
The colors have faded a bit in this photo printed the week of November 23rd, 1953 as is says on the back. Helen has Bobby, born April 8th, 1953 on her lap and Debbie, born October 9th, 1951 is putting a flower in her hair. Of course there is a dog running through the photo. MomMom always had a dog around. I don't know where this was taken or whose dog it is.

Mom and a Convertible

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This is a photo of Pearl Estilow, soon to become Pearl Estilow Thomas. Written with a pencil on the back is "1949." Other than that I don't know much about the photo.

During the 1950s

2009-10-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

Deb at Mom Mom in Bridgeton's back steps.

Deb, Bob and Mom on a beach somewhere. Deb on a tricycle in Mississippi. Dad at training on Fire Island before going to Alaska.

Dad at training on Fire Island. Ernie and Olive Thomas - don't know where and then again in the living room of a house my parents rented in Mississippi.

Winter of 1966 - Deb, Dee, Bob and Michele Hood on Monroe Avenue

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Deb is pulling Michele Hood on a sled. This is late in the day because the sun is coming from behind the house and the house faces east. Dee is pretty bundled up and not exactly happy, but she most likely asked to go outside with her brother and sister. Bet you didn't know that camouflage clothing was being sold in those days. The old Pontiac a four door - the pink lady - may have been a 1956 model - Pontiac Chieftain. It was the car that we moved from Ambler, PA to Wenonah, NJ with in August 1959.

Dreams of Wenonah That Survive Waking Up

2009-05-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

It doesn't snow very often in Wenonah, NJ and when it snows it doesn't last long. Each snow leaves an impression. Lately you can go a whole winter without a good snowstorm.

When we were kids in Wenonah snow on a school day would most likely mean a day off. A good friend of mine who grew up in Wenonah and still lives there, Deborah Lake Mix, is a wonderful artist. She alertly captured the morning scene of the Wenonah train station after a light snow. You can see from the snow still on the tracks that the number of trains has dropped way down from the height of 168 trains per day.

Enjoy more photos by Deb Mix by visiting her photostream on flickr.com using the link below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willowview/

Deb's PopPop Sam, A Railroad Man

2009-03-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Deb's maternal Grandfather, Samuel Dare Estilow, worked for The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey for a number of years. A crippling accident where his lower leg got crushed in the coupling of two freight cars ended his days as a brakeman. The injuries were severe and the danger of gangrene setting in was great but he wouldn't hear of amputation. He kept the leg but never walked well again.

Another name that railroad is the Jersey Central. Here's the cover of his rules book that shows a crease where he used to fold it to carry in his pocket.

Having suffered such a horrendous accident PopPop was always one to stress safety to his grandchildren.

I looked at the exam card below and wondered why it was so neat and unsigned. It wasn't until I scanned it that I noticed the typo in the name, spelling "Estilow" as "Eastlow." Most likely they typed out a correctly spelled one which he signed and carried. Perhaps they let him have this rather than throw it away.

The Banana Boat Ride

2009-03-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

On a cruise in 2005 Deb, Jeff and Pete enjoyed a fast tow on the "banana boat". Becki would have been on there too but she was pregnant with PJ.

Here they are being told how to signal the tow boat from the banana boat.

Jeff was not entirely convinced that it was a fun ride.

MomMom Thomas

2009-03-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

Deb's paternal grandmother was Olive Helen (Parent) Thomas - she loved to laugh and joke around. She looks pretty serious in this photo but she wasn't always anywhere near this serious.

This photo was taken in the livingroom at 102 N. Monroe Ave. She is wrapped up in a comforter and sitting in the "library" chair that was in the corner of the room to the right of the front door. The photo must have been taken late in the day because the sun is coming in through the sun room windows and the French doors (which were usually open) and lighting the right side of her her face.

MomMom was a stickler for having things clean. Years ago she made the mistake of buying a red wool rug for her livingroom. She was always vacuuming and cleaning that rug because both light colored and dark colored soil showed up on it. We hardly ever spent any time in her livingroom for fear of getting it dirty - but you had to pass through the livingroom to get to her sun room with the fireplace.

The rug was made too well to wear out and soil never stopped landing on it. If I ever see a livingroom photo from her house that shows the rug I will add it.

She was born June 8, 1910 in Millville, NJ and died just after Christmas in 1985. She had been in a nursing home for quite a while before passing away. Her husband Ernie went to visit her every day. For all the time that I knew her she lived at 50 N. Fernwood Ave in Pitman, NJ. It was big white house with a large side yard. The house was so big that they made an apartment and rented the upstairs out.

102 N. Monroe in 1961 and 1966 - Deb in Snow

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Four photos scanned in together. One enlarged further.

On the top left is a photo most likely taken by Deb's grandmother, Helen Estilow. The date on the photo is 1961. It could have been taken in 1960. That car looks like one that Mommom Estilow used to have. I enlarged the old house photo even more - you can see a wagon and some duck cut outs under the mulberry bush. Mom used to hate the mulberry bush. The berries tasted great but we would walk on them in our bare feet and then track red stain all over.

On the top right is the house in 1965 or 1966.

Bottom left Deb is pulling neighbor Michele Hood on a sled. Bottom right Dee is sitting on the steps.

Another four photos. Looking across the street at the houses. Notice how few trees were in the backyard behind what was the Wolfe house. That old '56 Pontiac was the one that brought us from Ambler, PA to Wenonah in 1959. We nicknamed it the Pink Lady. Who would ever make a pink and gray car? Who would ever buy one?

That's Roger in the morning - about 8 or 9 years old. He was not always bright eyed and bushy tailed!

PopPop Ernie and the Barnsboro Hotel

2009-02-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

Image of Barnsboro Inn/Hotel used by permission of pacdal - see more of her photographs on flickr.com at this link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacdal/

Here's a neat wagon story that I was inspired to write after reading that one of Debbie's classmates, Chris DeHart, was a member of a family that built wagons in South Jersey until motorized trucks came along - at which time they switched to trucks and still build them.

Years ago, about 1978, I told my grandfather, Ernie Thomas, that I went into the Barnsboro Hotel with my father, brother, and perhaps Jeff, my brother-in-law after we had been shooting clay pigeons down that way for a while on a cold afternoon. At that time the Barnsboro Hotel was stuck in time. It was very rough and hadn't seen any improvements in ages. The inside was a dingy white with original plaster.

My grandfather who was 77 at the time rubbed his chin and said that he hadn't been in there in about 50 years. He wouldn't have gone in then but he was driving down the road out front on a dark night in an old car with poor lights and he clipped the wheel of a wagon. The wheel collapsed. He could have driven on - but perhaps preachers were more convincing in those days - so he stopped.

He went inside the hotel and asked the bartender whose wagon it might be. The bartender had no doubt that it belonged to a certain gentleman passed out under one of the tables.

My grandfather left his name and address and told the bartender to please give the information to the man on the floor and he would make good on the wheel.

About a week or two later the fellow came around to my grandfather and asked for payment.

Ernie asked, "How much do I owe you?"

The guy came up with a quote that was about twice the value of the whole wagon.

Ernie said, "Bring a receipt from the man who did the work and I will pay you."

He never saw the guy again.

Here's another photo of the Barnsboro Hotel - now called an Inn by the most recent owners. I took this on July 1st, 2009. I added it to en.wikipedia.org because they didn't have a photo of the place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Gloucester_County,_New_Jersey

H.A. DeHart workers in Thorofare take a break to pose for a company photo.

To learn more about Chris DeHart's family's company go to

http://www.hadehart.com/Index.cfm

At MomMom and PopPop's in Pitman

2009-01-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

Recently I found some photos from Pitman, NJ. Deb had a birthday party, took care of her dolls, including bathing them and played on the sidewalk. I don't know who the boy her age was but I am the little blonde boy.

The grandfatherly looking gentleman is PopPop Ernie Thomas. He was a good grandfather to us and spent a lot of time with us.

You can click on the photos to see them in larger versions. Notice that the tractor made it either out to Kewaunee, Wisconsin or back from there.

These were black and white photos scanned in. In some cases the scanner software added some green to the grass!

Debbie in Wisconsin

2009-01-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

Our dad was in the Air Force and they had us roasting in Mississippi and freezing in Wisconsin. Here's the only photo that I have ever seen with a Wisconsin label on it. On the back of the photo there's some of my mother's handwriting.

517 Dorelle St
Kewaunee, Wisc.

3 1/2 years.
1955

Debbie at Christmas

2008-12-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

To say that Debbie loved Christmas would be a huge understatement.

She knew all the Christmas carols and could sing them from memory and on key. She was in the church choir when she was younger and enjoyed practicing for Christmas and performing at the Christmas services. Mom loved Christmas, too, and they would always find some FM radio station that would play Christmas music constantly for all of Christmas Eve, if not more.

She wrapped presents with great care. Working with her sister and mother at Pumphouse Gardens she decorated beautiful wreaths with handsome ribbons.

Yep - for Deb Christmas was special.

PopPop Ernie

2008-12-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

I was backing my car into the barn tonight and I thought of PopPop Ernie
Thomas. He was born in April 1901. When he grew up there were no or very few cars in South Jersey. He always kept his cars under cover. He backed his car into his one car garage very carefully. He had to because the garage was old and the cars got bigger and bigger. His last car was a big boat of a station wagon. He barely had room to get out of the car after parking it. To keep from backing up too far he had hung an old tennis ball on a string next to the place where his driver side mirror was supposed to end up. It was a neat trick to do that. I wonder if he thought it up or someone suggested it to him.

For him cars were amazing. Phonographs were amazing. He had a wind up Victrola Phonograph in his attic until one of his tenants stole it from him. Phones were amazing. Radios were amazing. Airplanes were amazing. Television was amazing. Computers were amazing. He bought me my first computer - a Timex-Sinclair 1000.

He drove past the time that he should have been driving. He told us that he couldn't tell if the lights were red or green at the intersection of Gloucester County 553 and the Delsea Drive (NJ 47), there was merge lane and he would just keep going. Just a little way down 47 there was a MacDonald's that he would go to for coffee with a bunch of old friends. The coffee was free at a certian time in the morning for guys over 80 or maybe 75.

Ernie died at age 91. He enjoyed a lot of years past the age of 80. He never lived in a nursing home. He lived at 50 N. Fernwood Ave in Pitman until about a week before he died. One morning he woke up and made some coffee and was eating a grapefruit the morning that he asked my father come and look at his leg. While drinking his coffee his foot went to sleep. He slid up his pant leg and looked at his leg and it was purple. There was a blood clot in a vein in his leg.

My father drove down and looked at his leg. I don't remember if they went to the doctor first or straight to the emergency room - but he ended up at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, NJ. The doctors there thought that his blood chemistry was out of whack and wouldn't operate until they got his potassium level between certain limits. They waited too long and a clot went to his brainstem while they waited. He lapsed into a coma and he never regained consciousness.

My father's garage was too full of stuff to have room for a car. Deb's garage rarely had room for a car. Roger's garages recently have one car and a bunch of stuff. For a long time Roger didn't have room for a car in his garage. Inf fairness to Roger due to a medical condition he hasn't been driving a car at all while living in his current house.

Dee and I put our cars under cover almost every night. I back in like PopPop Ernie. I don't have a tennis ball on a string to guide me but I do have a bunch of salvaged "roadkill" license plates that I have found on the shoulder of the road nailed to the back of the barn to guide me. In the other garage I line things up with the porch that I see through the garage window.

What does all this mean?

I don't know exactly - just some things that I was thinking when I was backing my car into the garage.

Deb, Jeff and Becki at Deb's father's retirement dinner

2007-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

The dinner was held October 10th, 2000.

The month before Deb and Jeff had gone up to NY to visit Bob and Carol.

Deb and Jeff, December 28th, 2003

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Deb with a look of mischief. Remember that you can click on most photos to get a larger version of the photo.

A hot July 21, 2003 at Pumphouse Gardens

2007-11-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

Mom was never very comfortable having her picture taken, but Deb and Becki had no problems with it.

Carol and Bob took Mom to Ocean City, NJ for a stroll on the boardwalk.

Thanksgiving 2003 at Dee's House

2007-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Dee opens her home for a Thanksgiving dinner every year. This one was in 2003. We still had Mom and Deb to share our thanks.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

This is our first Thanksgiving with out Debbie. She was great at gathering the family for a feast and we each miss her in our own way.

Mother and Daughter

2007-11-12T19:54:00.001-08:00

I can't say that I remember the exact words that were said but Deb thought that it was funny and Becki just had to close her eyes. This was after Ryan's Eagle Scout award ceremony. Click on the image to see a larger version of the photo.

Dressing Up For Easter, 1959

2007-11-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

Debbie, Roger and Bobby on the steps of the farm house at Ambler Junior College on Easter, 1959. I am not sure who the woman in the background might be. It could be my father's grandmother known to us as "Muddy", Helen Robinson Parent. She ran a florist business in Millville, NJ. My father lived with her and helped out in the greenhouses during his high school years.

Debbie was in second grade and I was in kindergarten. Roger, who looks like he is holding a cell phone to his ear, was just over two years old.

These are photos of an old slide.

Photos found at Mom Mom's House, 1951 and 1952

2007-09-21T13:16:00.001-07:00

Christmas 1951, Debbie was just about 2 months and 2 weeks old. Mom Mom Helen Estilow is feeding Deb on the top left photo and on the right Mom Mom Olive Thomas gets a turn.

In front of the Christmas tree is the proud mother Pearl, a woman that I can't ID and Mom Mom Olive. On the right Debbie is in her christening dress.

The top photo below is Pop Pop Samuel Estilow at Ernie and Olive Thomas's house for the christening.

The rest are February and March of 1952, some are from Biloxi, MS. Deb is looking a look bigger. Neat shot of Mom Mom and Pop Pop Estilow and their dog. Remember that you can click on the photos to see a larger version.

Scan of Yearbook Photo - Class of 1969

2007-09-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is Deb's yearbook photo for her senior year. Class of 1969 at Gateway Regional High School. The first class to graduate from the new high school. The photo is a bit dimpled looking because it is a scan of a photo that was printed on textured low gloss paper.

102 North Monroe before Alterations

2007-09-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the fuzzy image and yellow tint. It was taken hand held with available light. When I first saw it I thought that it was Mom Mom Estilow's house in Bridgeton, but now I see that it is Roger counting what might be newspaper money with Dee looking on.

If you don't recognize the wall behind Roger it is because it is long gone, replaced by a counter. The gas stove behind Dee was replaced by an electric stove on the west outside wall and a counter put up along that whole wall. The sink was also updated. The stairs behind Dee's shoulder were closed off and left accessible only from the living room. Dee tells me that she used to perch on those steps and watch Mom cook. Sometimes Dad would bring home a whole crate of kale and Mom would scald it and freeze it to eat during the winter.

Most alterations to the house were made in 1968. Two carpenters, Weller and Yost, did the work. They installed the bathroom and shower downstairs where previously there had only been a breakfast nook. The redid the upstairs bathroom. Next they finished the attic. They were good workers and did a good job with the complex angle cuts on the trim in the attic.

A portable dishwasher was usually stationed where the steps had been. This was taken in late 1964 or early 1965. I have the pewter candlestick in the foreground. - Bob

Around Thanksgiving 1964

2007-08-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a slide that I didn't know we had. It shows Deb's maternal grandfather Sam Estilow on the left, Bobby holding a rabbit he shot in the middle, and Sam's father-in-law, Debbie's great grandfather "Pop" Chester Alexander Finley in Sam's backyard on South St. in Bridgeton. Pop's rabbit dogs, a pair of beagles, kicked up the rabbit and chased it around in a circle till in came in range. The hunting area was along some railroad tracks within a few miles of Elmer.

1965 August

2007-08-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Debbie and Bobby are on the front step at 102 N. Monroe for a photograph. They don't look too happy to be made to sit down together for the photo. Deb is 13 and Bob is 12. Bob is holding a zipper closing change bag from the bank and the payment book for his morning Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper route.

Deb at Becki's Wedding Rehearsal Dinner, October 2004

2007-08-09T07:51:00.001-07:00

Bob, Deb and brother-in-law Steve at Becki's Rehearsal Dinner in Philadelphia in October 2004

At PumpHouse Gardens by the Pool

2007-08-09T07:31:00.001-07:00

Carol, Deb, Dee and Pearl in the back row with Becki outside the pool and Tina in the pool sometime in the 1980s.

Christmas at Deb's - late 70s or early 80s

2007-08-09T07:21:00.001-07:00

Deb's mother-in-law Doris May Bozarth points out the camera to Deb's grandmother Olive Thomas while her husband Ernie Thomas smiles. I think that this was taken at Deb's house in Audubon at a Christmas Day dinner.

Christmas at Roger's Alloway House, 1986

2007-08-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

Debbie, Bob, Roger and Dee at the house Roger had built on Earnest Garton Rd in Alloway Township in 1986.

Two Photos of the Thomas Siblings

2007-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

The top photo was taken on or around Thanksgiving on the front porch at 102 N. Monroe Ave. sometime quite a ways back. It may have been late 1970s or early 1980s.

The bottom photo was taken on February 2, 2004 inside 102 N. Monroe Ave.

Deb & Jeff Take A Cruise

2007-08-08T09:01:00.001-07:00

You can click on most photos to see a larger version of them.

Deb and Jeff took a cruise sometime in 2006, I think. Pete and Becki and others went with them. Becki can provide more details.

Slides Processed in August, 1959

2007-08-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

These are a digital photos of slides that were processed in August, 1959, 48 years ago. It may have been taken as early as Easter, 1959. Top photo shows Debbie at 7 years old and Roger at 2 years old. Next photo is Mom about 26 years old Deb, Roger and as it says on his shirt, Bobby, at 6 years old. These might have been taken in the farm house that my father got to live in as part of his pay as an assistant professor at Ambler Junior College.

Doesn't that floor shine!

My sister

2007-08-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

I'm the youngest out of all of us. Debbie was 9 years old when I was born.

I remember sharing our bedroom (it was the smallest bedroom in the house) with Debbie and a foster child that lived with us. There were 3 people in this little room. 2 twin beds 3 dressers and a cot. You had to sliver your way into the closet. But it was always clean and always alive with laughter.

She got married when I was 10 so that would make her 19. I really didn't want her to leave, I liked it, her and I in that little room.

She married and moved out to live with her husband. She used to watch me now and then when Mom and Dad went away or just because I wanted to stay at their apartment or house.

Their first house was on Bell Rd and it was a duplex. Deb and Jeff weren't real handyman type people and I was a little more mechanically inclined and every spring and fall I would go up to their house and help Debbie with spring cleaning. They had these old windows and Debbie hated them, she could never get them to work right. So I would go up and do her windows.

We always worked well together, it didn't matter what kind of work, we would roll up our sleeves and get it done, because afterwards Debbie always treated you to something sweet to eat, summertime it was custard and wintertime it was going out to Cikos Diner for a late night snack, or just making homemade fudge and putting it in the freezer so it would harden up quicker so we could eat it.

Her second house was on E. Atlantic. It was a beautiful 2 story Victorian, it had a big kitchen, dinning room, living room and a wrap around porch. It also had hardwood floors.

She was busy at work and the holidays were coming up and she needed her house cleaned and she asked me if I would mind cleaning it for her. I said, "No problem."

Well I went up there and I cleaned the house and she called from work and asked how I was doing. I said, "Great, just about done."

Debbie said, "Don't forget to polish the hardwood floors."

I said, "Okay." Now I'd never polished hardwood floors before, so thinking that they're wood, I figured you use Pledge on the floors, that furniture polish, it gave them a beautiful shine, and made them slippery as all hell. ( she didn't like hardwood floors because she was always afraid of getting splinters).

I got a call that night. "Dee, what did you use on the floors? I'm slippin' and slidin' all over the place, if I get a splinter!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Debbie, all I used was Pledge," I said. I didn't know that there was other stuff to use back then. They were slippery for a long time. Oh yea, she did get a splinter. She never walked on those hardwood floor in her barefeet again.

Pictured above are Debbie, Carol, Dee and Cindy.

Debbie, I'll always remember all the great things that we did together.
You will be missed.
Dee

Debbie's 3rd Grade at Wenonah Elementary School

2007-08-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

We moved to Wenonah, NJ in August, 1959. We had lived in a number of other places prior to Wenonah. As I recall they included the following towns in the order listed:

Biloxi, Mississippi
Pitman, New Jersey
Kewaunee, Wisconsin
Poughkeepsie, New York
New Brunswick, New Jersey
downtown Ambler, Pennsylvania
rural Ambler, Pennsylvania
Wenonah, New Jersey

Why so many moves? My father was in the Air Force (AF) and taking training in Biloxi. The AF sent him to Nome, Alaska to work at a Distant Early Warning (DEW Line) radar site after the training and we couldn't go, so we lived with my paternal grandparents in Pitman, NJ while he was gone. Next the AF sent him to Keewaunee, WI and we followed. After the Korean War cooled off he resigned from the AF and went to work for IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY but they wanted him to move about the country as much as the AF so he quit that and went back work on a graduate degree on the GI Bill.

While working on the degree he was offered a teaching job at Ambler Junior College so we moved into a brick row house there while the college renovated some old farm houses. Once one house was done we moved into the rural spring house on the far edge of the campus. We later moved into a larger nicer farm house within sight of the first one.

Ambler Junior College is now Temple Junior College.

While teaching at the college my father was told about a sales position with Gloeckners, Inc., a company that sold bulbs, plants, seeds and supplies to greenhouses. My mother had always liked Wenonah, based on the impression of it that she got when she rode the bus from Bridgeton to Philadelphia, so when my father left the college job they hunted for a house in Wenonah.
Our parents bought a house at 102 N. Monroe Avenue in Wenonah. It was their first house purchase and the last house that they lived in.

Click on the photo to view a larger version of the photo.

Debbie started school in Kindergarten in New York. She must have attended school for a while in New Brunswick and then again in Ambler.

In September of 1959 she entered 3rd grade in Miss Quigley's combined 2nd and 3rd grade class.

Here's a photo of the class. If you would like to read a bit about growing up in Wenonah in the 1960s check out her classmate Jack Wiler's blog -

http://jackwiler.blogspot.com

click on the class photo to see a larger version of the photo

Deb with grandson PJ and with brother Bob

2007-08-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of Debbie with her grandson PJ in May of 2007 at a reception following the funeral of his great grandmother Doris Bozarth. He's a cute boy just full of energy!

Deb and her brother Bob on the same day. This photo was taken by Patti, Jeff's twin's friend.

My Mother

2007-08-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

I thought about my Mother just tonight. I was asked to help teach a family member how to plant flowers. She usually had Mom do it, but I stepped up. I usually would be very shy and not confident to help, but tonight I received strength from her above. I did not even think about it I just did it.

That is how my Mom lived her life. She was always helping others. She took such good care of my father, my children, my husband and myself. She was able to do things for others so easily without even thinking. She was always positive.

My mom helped fund me through college, even when we barely had two nickels to scrape together. Mom found a way. She encouraged me to get my first job and a new apartment. When I had my wedding she was there to help with all the plans and was there for the birth of my children.

The last year was so special to me and I never realized it would be the final year. We spent time doing such simple stuff, however so valuable. We enjoyed our weekly trips to the market. We would each take a child with us. I usually had Payton and Mom had P.J. We would then sometimes get a quick snack and go home with all of our groceries.

Mom thank you for everything. I will always love you.
Becki

October 1, 2005

2007-08-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bob Thomas and Carol Valentine were married on October 1st, 2005 and all the family made the trip to Morris, NY to witness the event. Here's a photo of Deb sitting next to her daughter Becki. In front of them is Deb's nephew Ryan and behind them is her nephew RJ.

Generous Sister Frightened

2007-08-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

In 1969 when Deb graduated from Gateway Regional High School she hadn't decided to go to college so my parents decided to give her a new car for a graduation present. She got a dark green Toyota Corolla.

My friend Rodney Hinwood's family had moved to Rockville, Indiana and I wanted to drive out and visit him. Rodney was having a tough time adjusting to life in very rural Rockville after suburban Wenonah. To make matters worse he had to switch high schools for his senior year.

I asked Deb if I could borrow her car to go out there. She very generously let me borrow it. I left early in the morning and there was virtually no traffic on the Schuykill Expressway (I-76) as I went under the 30th Street railroad station in Philadelphia.

There was a huge coil spring from some sort of vehicle right in the middle of the lane that could pose a dangerous obstacle if commuters later in the day began dodging the spring. To avoid a problem later I pulled over and scooped up the spring. I put it on the floor of the driver side seat and forgot all about it. Apparently the spring rolled under the driver seat and out of sight.

Deb was driving the car a few days later and a quick start or something caused the spring to roll around making a big enough noise so that she heard it. She was frightened thinking that the spring had fallen off her new car and I hadn't told her about it.

She left me know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't to be picking up things like that spring if I couldn't remember to get them out of her car afterward.

Born in Mississippi in 1951

2007-08-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Deb was born Deborah Lynn Thomas at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi on October 9, 1951. She was the first child of Robert Roy and Pearl Helen (nee Estilow) Thomas.

Bob and Pearl didn't choose Biloxi as a place to live. Bob chose the Air Force rather than be drafted during the Korean War. The Air Force chose Biloxi for them.

Both Bob and Pearl had grown up in South Jersey. Bob was born in Pitman and grew up in Pitman and Millville. He graduated from Millville High School and later Rutgers University.

Pearl was born in Seely and grew up in Seely and Bridgeton. They had both enjoyed going to the coast to cool off during hot South Jersey summers. She graduated from Bridgeton High School.

The gulf coast of Mississippi near Biloxi was not useful for cooling off. Pearl said that the water was as warm as bath water and very shallow. You walk out for a long ways and sit down in the water and the sweat would still be rolling off you.

A Good Woman

2007-08-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

My sister's husband, Jeff, gets a faraway look in his eye and says, "Debbie was a good woman. She went to heaven in a Cadillac driven by Saint Peter."

He's right. Debbie was a good woman. Her trip to heaven began just a few days ago on Tuesday July 31st, 2007. We will miss her forever but we can remember her here.

Please join by sharing photos and stories about Debbie.

A School Photo

2007-01-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is a scan of a school photo. On the back 65-66. Debbie was about 14 or 15 and attending school in Wenonah, NJ.