Mary Franklin Rohr's 88th Birthday, Thompson Reunion and Edstrom Reunion

My parents, wife, sister and I flew back to Minnesota for my mother's sister, Mary, 88th birthday, a Thompson family reunion and an Edstrom family reunion.

We visited where my parents grew up and the Spring Garden Lutheran Church where many of the Edstrom's are buried that I will have in a separate upcoming blog post so my father can put in his memories and information as well.

Below are some of the highlights.

Above is my mother on the left and my Aunt Mary on the right.  It was a GREAT birthday party!

My sister and I went bass fishing with my cousin Kyle on his mother of all bass boats.  My sister caught a very nice large mouth that our Uncle Luverne enjoyed that night for dinner.

Below is my sister catching the nice bass.


Below is my mother and sister in Cannon Falls at the Fair Grounds area on a beautiful day being towed on a trailer with a couch.

The first day we surprised my aunt on the Bier Stube in Hastings.  My father is out above after the big surprise lunch.

Below is me giving a tour of my Uncle Tat Thompson's Mercury that he absolutely loved.




Below Julie and I sat on one of my cousin Troy's Harley at Tom and Cindy's house for a Thompson Reunion.

Below are the Harley's leaving Tom's.




Tom gave us a tour of his garage above and a tour of Zumbrota in his 1939 Chevy below.

 Above my father met with his five cousins in Hastings during the trip as well.

Above is Mary with her grandchildren at her 88th birthday party.

Below is at Mary and Marvin's place in Hastings.

Above is my godfather, Uncle Luverne, standing is my Uncle Merle and my father is seated next to his brother.

Below is the Red Diamond Saloon in Randolph, MN where the two uncles above and my other uncle Gene (now deceased) took me in 1977 and got me the drunkest I have ever been on my 18th birthday.  Now some of it was my fault :-), I walked in and it was .25 for a beer, so I said, "A quarter a beer, it's my 18th birthday, two beers for everyone in here on me!"  Well, needless to say that made me pretty popular for return beers in Randolph :-)  The population is 447 today and likely below 350 in 1977.  My three uncles thought, quite correctly, that it was hilarious that they got the oldest grandson of Kenny and Dorothy Edstrom and the son of John K. Edstrom absolutely stupid drunk on his 18th birthday.  They busted my chops forever on that day :-)

Below on the flight back, I put my parents in first class as they automatically upgraded me and Julie.  My mother had picked up a stomach bug and was not feeling that great as you can see in the photo.

It was a fun 6 day trip back to Minnesota.

Thanks and Goodbye Evie....

My Aunt Evie passed away on Friday January 16th, 2009 in her home in Zumbrota, Minnesota.

Evelyn Gloria Irene Husbyn was born March 10, 1929, in Minneola Township, Goodhue County. She grew up on the family farm, attended country school, and graduated from Zumbrota High School in 1947. On Jan. 17, 1948, she married Stanley "Tat" Thompson in Zumbrota.

Below is Evie and me at my sister's Ph.D. graduation at George Mason University in 2006. Evie is the lady in the white hair second from the left.

They owned their own businesses and were extremely successful. I remember working at their Skelly Gas Station in Zumbrota, Minnesota with my cousin Richard Franklin while our Grandpa (Melvin Thompson) would oversee our duties. My Grandpa would give discounts to all customers when they filled up their cars or trucks, but it was a total to mystery to me on his percentage discount logic. When I asked Tat and Evie on what math logic that Grandpa was using they just laughed. They told me, "Dave, Pa does not have any logic, he simply makes it up as he goes." Neither Tat nor Evie would tell my Grandpa to stop, because they knew that it made Grandpa feel good to give the people of Zumbrota a discount on their gas.

Tat and Evie epitomized the smart, caring and cool couple.

Tat and Evie always had the coolest cars. There was a time in 1970 when Tat owned a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T that had 7.2 litre engine at 375hp, 0-60 in 6 seconds, 0-100 in 13.3 seconds and top speed of 150mph. That year and model car was voted the best muscle car of all time. Evie had a 1970 Ford Torino Cobra Jet that had the 429 cubic inch engine with 370hp, 0-60 in 6 seconds and was Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1970. Tat and Evie's love of cars, trucks and motorcycles (Tat owned Harley-Davidson's long before it was fashionable to do so) really created a love of cars, trucks and motorcycles in everyone's lives they touched. One of my life goals was to have a car faster than anything that Tat or Evie owned. Finally, at age 42, I bought a Corvette that as faster than anything Tat or Evie owned. But, Tat and Evie had more cool in their little fingers than I have in my whole body :-) You can not buy cool.

My family moved around lot growing up. When Tat and Evie would come visit us, the excitement level was palpable. Tat always had a big wad of cash in his pocket. No one on planet earth knew more jokes or stories than Tat Thompson. What always amazed me about Evie is that no matter how many times she heard Tat tell a story, Evie would always laugh out loud like it was the first time. One time when Tat and Evie came to visit I was in the process of buying a 1972 240Z and need to pay cash to the owner so I had $2,100 on me. After Tat and Evie were there for awhile, I said to Tat, "Tat, I don't have any clue on how much money I have in my wallet right now, but I will bet you $100 that I have more than you do." Tat said, "well, I don't want to bet you, but let's find out." Tat had about $700 or so. After I got to about $1,000 Evie just started laughing. It was like that MasterCard commercial - pricelesss.

Evie was extremely smart in dealing with people and had a level of common sense that was unmatched. Evie's mother, Ida, was the same way. I remember when I was 18, I was giving Ida a hard time because she had (literally) $3,000 in a freezer in Tat and Evie's cellar. When I told her that she was not making any interest by doing that, she simply responded with two sentences that put me in my place and I am reminded of that conversation today.

Ida asked me, "Dave, let me ask you one question. If you went to the bank to get your money and that bank was closed down and you lost all of your money, how long will you remember that day?" With our economy in the toilet and getting worse, I think of Ida's advice often....

Evie will be greatly missed among all who knew and loved her....