Time Line
Mom's first marriage at age 19 was to Joseph Strickland in
May 1943 while he was assigned to the San Diego naval base
and was thereafter known as Wanda Lilac Strickland, until
her divorce in December that same year 1943.
Wanda Lilac Huether married Stanley Marvin House and was
thereafter known as Wanda Lilac House.
Following the death of her second husband Stanley Marvin
House, Wanda Lilac House married Eliel (Lyle) Crawford
Winder, and some referred to her as Wanda Lilac Winder, she
continued to be generally known as Wanda Lilac House. Lyle
died on heart failure on 13 September 1992 and was interned
in Springdale Utah.
Following the death of her third husband, John Smith, some
referred to her as Wanda Lilac Smith, though she generally
continued to be known as Wanda Lilac House.
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Thoughts about Mother (By Jeni Martens Nov 11/2013)
I was always impressed by my mother, Wanda Lilac House, who
was a small boned woman, only 5 feet tall, 95 pounds; but
strong in spirit, determination, ideas and opinions. She was
deeply, deeply devoted to her children and God and very
proud of her German heritage and her homeland of North
Dakota.
North Dakota, located in the center of the North American
continent, is the 39th State to enter the Union. And in its
early days was eager to attract immigrants, so state
officials heavily advertised in pamphlets and newspaper the
virtues of North Dakota, which included: the "work and win"
philosophy that promised the American Dream of home and land
ownership through hard work, settled by good and just
people. The settlers did come, with the largest numbers
comprising Germans from Russia, which was where mother’s
parents both migrated from, sailing to American, like many
immigrants did back then.
They were Germans who had lived for generations throughout
Russia. Mom proudly told me her German ancestors had been
invited to Russia in the 1760s to introduce more advanced
German agriculture methods to rural Russia. In Russia, they
were promised they could retain their religion, culture and
language, but the Russian monarchy gradually eroded the
relative independence and autonomy they had been assured;
finding it necessary to emigrate to avoid the army and to
preserve their culture. About 100,000 immigrated by
1900-1950, settling primarily in North and South Dakota,
Kansas and Nebraska. The south-central part of North Dakota
became known as "the German-Russian triangle".
On a homesteaded farm in North Dakota, my mother was born on
a cold and snowy wintery Tuesday in December 18th, 1923;
where she lived with her German immigrant parents and older
sister, Vi . It was a small, yet cozy farm house surrounded
by fruit trees and a dry garden (watered only by rain
water). It was without electricity or indoor plumbing and
had a well that Vi and mom would carry water from. Both mom
and Vi had often told me, no one in their community of
Beulah, No. Dakota, felt poor or deprived, as everyone was
in the same situation. Come to find out, in 1920, just 35
percent of American households had electricity and even
fewer did in rural farm communities, where mom lived. But
mom had many fond memories of eating apples and other food
her family stored in their attic-loft, with her sister, Vi,
who she truly loved and adored. And other wonderful memories
of sitting on her father’s lap as he read the Bible aloud to
her in German, pointing to the words as he read.
I always was amazed my mother had been born in such a
different era and had seen so much change in the world. As
she was born in 1923 on a very simple farm without the aid
of doctor, mid-wife or any modern convenience on the heels
of the Gilded Age, WWI and at the beginning of the U.S.
economic boom --called the Roaring 20’s with flappers and
start of the jazz age. Only three years previously, women
were given the right to vote and the Charleston dance had
become popular, talking movies had just been invented and
Calvin Coolidge had been sworn in as President. It was an
exciting era of prosperity with new products and
technologies, the automobile, air flight, movies, radio and
the Chrysler building in New York, dubbed the tallest
building in the world at 319 feet.
Anything seemed possible and I always felt my mother
embodied this philosophy. She was courageous and always
seemed up for an adventure, despite her humble beginnings.
She moved to the Big City of Los Angeles in California with
“hayseeds in her hair” as she told me, when she was a senior
in High School to live with her sister, Mary Lou after her
father died. That’s where she met and fell in love with my
father, who she will be lovingly buried with today. He
introduced her to many new things she had never experience
before and together they created a family of six children,
three boys and three girls.
One of my many memories is Mom taking me to the Pomona Fair
with her every fall. She loved the fair and all the exciting
new kitchen gadgets, which she found hard to resist. One of
the gadgets she purchased was a pressure cooker, a
relatively new invention then, touted as a way to quickly
cook food and retain moisture. Well this pressure cooker
become part of one of the legendary family stories,
incorporating mom’s anything is possible with a new gadget
and her desire and need to be frugal in order to feed her
family of six hungry children. The story is mom was
hastening dinner and the pressure cooker was not allowed to
gradually release pressure as is needed causing it to
explode -- skyrocketing the dinner of split pea soup onto
the ceiling where mom is said to have had to scrape it off
in order to still feed her family that evening. She often
laughed at her own mistakes and never let them prevent her
from trying new things. I found her personal courage an
inspiration to me.
She always instilled in me, anything is possible and gave me
the encouragement to try. She was often my confidante,
advisor and personal cheerleader, which I needed, especially
after Ed passed away. One of her greatest quality was to
encourage me to make the best of everything, to give
gratitude in all things and to face problems head on. She
was a proud woman who believed that there was no obstacle
that couldn’t be overcome and she demonstrated that
attribute right up to the end – with hope throughout her
last four month long, health challenge, which ended up
taking her life, just 2 months short of her 90th birthday,
December 18th.
I will miss you mom, as you have always been my support,
strength and comfort. I don’t know how I will cope without
you – as you leave a massive hole in my life. But I like
what Kacy at the Orange County Health Department Death &
birth certificates said, “Your mom sits at God’s table now”.
I will look at the glass half full and will draw strength
from the things you taught me and try to live by the words
and philosophy you always verbalized, even when I really
didn’t want to hear them: Accept the things you cannot
change and always try to change the things you can. And most
importantly . . . Be joyful always; pray continually; and
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for
all of us. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It is an honor to share some of my precious thoughts and
memories of my mother. She will be missed, but her memory
will live on in me and all of us forever.
I love you very much, Mom, and will miss you more than words
can say. – I won’t say goodbye, instead I’ll quote one of
your favorite hymns, you told me was played at your father’s
funeral, Till we meet again! See you in heaven, mom.
Hymn Text: Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1828-1904 Music: William G.
Tomer, 1833-1896
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