Fred Kroetch & Nell Abbott

Uncle Fred was an interesting person : born in Washington, he was "adopted" by his Aunt Wea in Whatcom county - his mother's eldest sister -after his mother died. When he was a teenager, and his father remarried, he showed up at his father's house in West Seattle. His stepmother didn't know that her husband had any children (he had 4 - and a few years ago - due to DNA - we found out that there was a 5th half-sibling, conceived between marriages). When Uncle Fred called up his younger brother (my father) and said "I have a good thing going here. Join me", my father showed up. That was too much for the step-mother, their father took them to sign up for the Navy (per their stepmother). It was WW2, their dad signed them up (they were young teens) and they joined and served as teens for most of WW2 After WW2, Dad got a college degree (he hadn't finished high school) and Uncle Fred got a Masters in Math. He spent most of his career (I believe) working in the aeronautics industry. His sister (my aunt) used to joke that she was the only one without a degree or more. That was quite an accomplishment in the 40's and 50's. Uncle Fred loved to joke around. For instance, he said "how am I" when he greeted you. Truthfully, I didn't like that - I was too serious.

Nellie was my great-grandmother and she was a spitfire! A strong woman who made her way in the world working as a seamstress (on the Barbary Coast in San Francisco - sewing for the prostitutes and pimps!), a maid, a hotel manager, and finally the owner of a hotel in Seattle Washington. Her first marriage was to my great-grandfather, JB Kroetch. Rumor has it that she had a couple of other husbands (I know of a man whose surname was "McKenzie”) and then finally, the only great-grandfather I knew - David Shirley Abbott (who went by Shirley). They were married until she died. His profession was gambling - and he was very good at it. He did work in the Merchant Marines for several years but he said (and I believe him!) that was just so that he could win the wages of the other men on the trip home. He and Grandma Nell were a pair - she didn't allow drinking or smoking in her house and he adored her. She always wore dresses (usually satin, with several petticoats), even at home, and a fur (mink) coat when she went out. She made good bread but boy, could she over-cook a roast! Since she grew up on a farm in Kansas, she followed the customs she knew - dinner was at noon, the main meal of the day, and supper (in the evening) was a light meal. She sewed clothes for my sister and me until she died and made "smoking jackets" for her grandsons. (Following the Victorian fashion, she made them multi-colored and of silk - a patchwork construction. My Dad - her grandson - said wearing it outside when we lived on Bird Ave in San Jose CA, traffic would stop!) She also crocheted/tatted - she made a tablecloth for both of her grandsons and their wives. I still have both of them. She loved arts and crafts. Remember "Popsicle" lamps? She made those - and she used "paint by numbers" kits to make art for the walls. (This was in the 60s - Grandpa Shirley also brought home velvet paintings when he went on trips in the Merchants.) And she made leather purses for my sister and me - still have my purse too. You should have seen their house! It was very large for the time and it was filled with her finished projects and his memorabilia from his travels. Also, they kept a lot of cash (from his gambling - although he had stocks too) in the house, hidden in various places. So when they bought a car - always a Lincoln - the salesman would deliver the car to their house and they would give him cash for the full price. What a treat to have both of them as great-grandparents and how blessed were we to know them all of the time we were growing up.