I don't know if it's the photo or her arm - my grandmother (and my mother) didn't know who she was and, of course, there was nothing written on the back but "George and girlfriend" :(
Joanne Latham Jacobellis ....I did not want to offend..but..since you ask...look at her toes...my own mother was born with half a left arm..so am not trying to be rude..just curious.
I wonder if it is a bit blurred because she moved. Her fingers and feet look a little odd on closer inspection. So maybe its the film back then.
He was a handsome young man.
Joanne Latham Jacobellis He did. Unfortunately, he died 3 years before I was born. My mom missed him all of her life. He could play any percussion instrument - including piano - by ear and sat in with many famous bands of the time.
I so love seeing pictures of grandparents when they were young, it reminds us they were once young too, a whole life ahead of them, dreams and plans they may have had.
George Lawrence Benning was born to William Joseph Benning (1852 - 1930) and Imogene N. (Millard) Benning (1854 - 1916) in Boone, Iowa. He had 9 siblings: Nelson, Henry, Lois, Cora, Walter Joseph, Grace, Arthur, Mabel and Lloyd. He was the youngest.
George was married twice, first to Mildred Wilson, and his second marriage to Eileen Constance (Tasker) Benning had Marian Joyce (Benning) Kroetch. He also had a daughter, Lois (Benning) Ewen, from his first marriage to Mildred (Wilson) Benning. His second family lived first in Seattle, then Portland, then in Bremerton Washington, a small port town which grew during WW2. He owned the Chevrolet car dealership in Bremerton.
Micky Reed, the owner of the Reed Chevrolet dealership in Bremerton Washington, was on a local river fishing trip and drowned. Micky's widow, Meeka (who I, his granddaughter knew, since she and my grandmother were friends until they died), sold the dealership to George. He called it Reed-Benning dealership as an homage to Micky. Chevrolet didn't like the fact that a woman (oh lordy, a WOMAN!) sold the dealership on her own so they made new rules. The upshot? When George, my grandfather, died, my grandmother couldn't sell the dealership!
He was very active in the business, social and political components of the community. I know that he was a Freemason and a Shriner, and that he had some strong relationships with State politicians. (Note from his granddaughter: George was good friends with Warren Magnuson, first a US Representative and then a US Senator. Evidently, Magnuson used to spend summers at my grandparent's house - I saw a letter of condolence from him to my grandmother when George died, expressing how much he would miss George and referencing the wonderful summers he spent at their house. Also in their social circle? Names that you would recognize today: the Gates' - yes, that Bill Gates family - the Nordstroms , and more. The Seattle/Bremerton community was small then.) George also was instrumental in establishing the Elks Lodge in Bremerton, and was involved with the creation of the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle. George was also a founding member of the Isaac Evans American Legion Post in Seward, Alaska in 1919.
One cool story about George: He had a bit of real estate in Bremerton and rented these homes to his employees. Upon George's death his will stipulated that the deeds to the homes get passed along to the employees.
Also, the story my Mom (George’s daugher) told me about the homes - the people weren't employees but simply people who lived in Bremerton at the time. Since George was a Mason, he was also involved in charitable activities. Mom said that no one (including family) knew that he had bought (I heard 3) houses for people who had problems paying rent and were going to be evicted. (This was probably around the end of the Depression.) He didn't charge the tenants rent and when he died he left the homes to the tenants. However, my sister (who says she has a copy of George's will), notes that there is no record of any homes being deeded.
Help reunite mystery or 'orphan' photos that have lost their families.
Photos with the names and dates lost in history. AncientFaces has been reuniting mystery and orphan photos with their families since we began in 2000.
This 'Lost & Found' collection is of photos foun...
These historical photos have generated quite the buzz!
This collection of historical photos has got people talking. These photos - either because of the subject and/or the story - have generated a lot of comments among the community. What do you have to s...
Friendships are the most important relationships. These snapshots of buddies and pals will likely remind you of your lifelong friends.
I get by with a little help from my friends. - The Beatles, 1967
Aristotle described a true friend as a “single soul dwelling in two bodies.” Time and/or distance don't matter in a real friendshi...
World War 1, the Mexican Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Easter Rising in Ireland . . . the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania. Spanish flu killed well over 20 million people world wide ...
Those ancestors of ours had a sense of humor - amateurs and professionals!
Based on the solemn non-smiling expressions of our ancestors in old photos, you'd think they didn't have a sense of humor. Well these pictures prove we're wrong. Since it's inception, photography has ...