Bill (Willie) & Constance (Connie) Tasker

Eileen Constance "Connie" (Tasker) Benning's father was William Tasker (1879 - 1933) and her mother was Mary Ann (Jones) Tasker (1882 - 1956). She had siblings Willie Tasker (1906 - 1932) and Ethel Allen (born 1909). My great-grandmother, or "GG" as I called her, was a strong proper Welsh woman. She outlived each of her 3 husbands and just could not take another spouse dying on her. She worked hard in her later years, moving to Seward Alaska as a nurse (she was in Seward during the great quake on March 27, 1964 and her family didn't know if she had survived for 3 days) and then returned to California's Bay Area, working at a hospital in Redwood City. GG was a proper Welsh woman until the day she died. From her granddaughter Kathy: Grandma was married 3 times - her first husband was our biological grandfather - and between 1946 and 1961, each of her 3 husbands died. Later in life, she told me that she had so much heartbreak during that time that she didn't want to marry again and have another husband die. But as she got older, she was lonely and wished that she had married again. Grandma was an active person and always up for an adventure. In her 50s, she moved to Seward Alaska (on her own, knowing no one) and was there for the big Alaska quake. She was working at Seward Hospital and had a funny story about the quake: When it begin, she stood in the doorway of a patient's room - an elderly man. After they both survived the quake, the elderly patient told everyone who would listen that she had "saved his life by holding up the room." After Seward, she moved to Valdez (also devastated by the quake) for a year. Grandma returned to the San Francisco Bay Area (where we were living) and worked at Sequoia Hospital. After she retired from Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California, she went to work as a companion for an elderly woman in Arizona. The woman was very wealthy, so they split the year between her home in Scottsdale and her other home in Michigan. But the work was physically difficult, so Grandma retired and returned to the Bay Area where she bought a small mobile home in Aptos, near Santa Cruz California. It had been a life-long dream of hers to live in Australia, but that dream was never realized. While she lived in Aptos, however, she became an active member of AA, a daily walker, a devoted yoga practitioner, and took lessons in the Welsh language. Even in her 70s, she couldn't sit still!

William, often called 'Willie' by his two sisters, was the first born child of William Tasker and Mary Ann Jones. Per his birth certificate, Willie was born March 24, 1906 and his parents were living at #50 Upham Park Rd., Chiswick. His father's occupation on the birth certificate is listed as a 'Rigger, and he signed the cert on April 14, 1906. 1911 English Census: Name: William Tasker Birth Place: Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales County/Island: Hampshire Country: England Street Address: No. 170 Mortimer Road, Itchen, Hants Occupation: Sailmaker Journeyman (works in a ship yard) Registration district: South Stoneham Registration District Number: 100 Sub-registration district: St Mary Extra Household Members: Name Age William Tasker 31 Mary Tasker 28 William H Tasker 5 Eileen C Tasker 3 Ethel R Tasker 1 In April 1913, William, Sr., traveled to South Dakota to start work in the mines there. A few months later, Mary Ann Jones Tasker, her mother-in-law Ellen Tasker, and Mary Ann's 3 children boarded a ship to join William in South Dakota. The couple's daughter, Connie, later in life said that they had 'tickets' and didn't have to travel in steerage...Connie was very proud of that. They traveled on the shiip, St. Paul. 1915 South Dakota Census: Card #127 NAME: William Tasker AGE: 36 BIRTH YEAR: 1879 GENDER: Male RACE: White BIRTH PLACE: Wales NATIONALITY: Welch MARITAL STATUS: Married MARRIAGE YEAR: 1905 Occupation: fireman Can read and write ARRIVAL YEAR IN COUNTRY: 1913 ARRIVAL YEAR IN STATE: 1913 ARRIVAL STATE: South Dakota ARRIVAL COUNTRY: USA RELIGION: Congregationalist FATHER'S BIRTH PLACE: Wales MOTHER'S BIRTH PLACE: Wales FHL FILM NUMBER: 2283942 SHEET NUMBER: 127 RESIDENCE IN 1915: South Dakota, United States Naturalization records for the family were started in Grant Co., SD..date of intent: 3/3/1915, Page 94, Location 6118 per South Dakota Historical Society. Tasker, William Grant 03/03/1915 South Wales 6118 94 The Tasker children were bright, and Willie was also a very kid child. Lead Daily Call Newspaper, Lead SD: February 5,1916: Willie is noted as an honor student Lead Daily Call Newspaper, Lead SD: Willie is mention October 18, 1916 as an honor student in grade 4B... January 10, 1918 "Lead Daily Call" (newspaper in Lead, SD) Willie name was mention along with other children as members of the Red Cross, and noted for the amount they raised and donated to the Red Cross Per his sister Ethel: "I called him Willie. He died so young- 28 - of asthma - suffered so terribly. Could hardly walk up the slight sidewalk hill to our house. I used to come home on the same trolley from the city of Seattle to West Seattle and he'd walk up backwards to help him breathe. He'd get blue in the face from coughing. Those days - the 20's - there were no meds for asthma. He worked at Heiden's Mailing Bureau - the only job he ever had. Willie and I used to sit on our back porch - I was about 12 or so - and he'd point to the stars and name them." Ethel Rosina Tasker Allen 4/93 Per his death certificate, Willie died of plural-pneumonia, with the onset date of 10/1/1934. He was a "mailing clerk" at Heidens Mailing Bureau, and died at 28 yrs., 7 months and 19 days (unmarried). The "contributing cause" to his death is listed as possible endocarditis (with a question mark). Willie died 9 months after his father. The were both cremated and their ashes are stored together at the crematorium on Queen Anne Hill, Seattle. Connie was quite close to her older brother. She said he was so smart and loved astronomy. Towards the last two years of her life Connie said she dreamt about Willie often, and she really missed him. I like to think that they are where ever they are, laughing and looking at the stars up close. (Note from Kathy: According to Connie, Will also loved reading science fiction and always said that men would walk on the moon one day)