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History of Nancy Helen Jones Holmlund Swanson

Born:  August 4, 1947

Place of Birth:  Jamestown, New York

Father's Name:  Marshall Gilbert Jones

Mother's Name:  Helen Arlene Rein

 

Joined in Marriage

on  June 21, 1969

to Bruce Wayne Swanson

 

Aunt Nancy

Where did I live while growing up?  I lived in Lakewood, New York.  Sometimes I lived with my Mom in a small apartment, right in the middle of  town and sometimes I lived with my Grandparents about 2 blocks from Mom.  My Mom was a nurse and worked a lot of nights.  That's why I lived with my Grandma and Grandpa.  When I was 8 years old, my Mom got married again to Ted Holmlund and we moved to a house in the woods on the Hunt Road.  It was wonderful!

What was my house like? Well, my apartment was very small and on the second floor of a house.  An older couple, Jim and Hazel, lived below us.  They liked my Mom and I and I liked them.  We visited with them a lot.  My Grandparent's house was on Ohio Avenue, a tree lined street filled with old homes, about a block from Chautauqua Lake.  I had my own room there.  My house on the Hunt Road was on about 5 acres of wooded land.  We had a very long, curved driveway and a separate garage.  Lots of lawn and woods and a creek on both sides of the house.  Our house had a big family room with lots of windows, 3 small bedrooms - 1 downstairs and 2 up, a nice kitchen with pine cabinets, a dining room, a basement (or cellar as we called it), 2 small bathrooms - only 1 had a tub, no shower until we had it remodeled several years later, and a screened porch that we never ever used. I loved the woods and walked in them all the time.  My cousins and I played by the creeks a lot too! I had a big collie dog, Fred, and he and I were great friends.

What was my school like?  It was built in the early 1900's (I think).  It was all brick and had lots and lots of windows.  I will scan a picture of it for you.  They used it until this last year (2001).  It was about 3 blocks from my Grandparent's house and I walked there when I lived with them.  I thought it was a beautiful school.  I liked it very much.

Lakewood School

What is my favorite memory?  Christmas at our house was wonderful.  We got a tree and Mom always let me decorate it.  I put all the ornaments on it and then filled it up with icicles!  I used to stencil the windows everywhere in the family room with Glass Wax.  Mom let me do it every year.  The presents from Mom and Dad were under the tree way before Christmas.  The ones from Aunt Irene and Uncle Allen I used to open carefully and then rewrap them. (Uh-oh!)  We had lots and lots of snow - 5-6 feet sometimes - and I loved to play in it.  My cousins Martha, Jane and Gary would come up and we had so much fun making snowangels, snowmen, sliding, walking on the ice in the creek, walking in the woods, etc.  I used to sit in the kitchen at night and watch the giant snowflakes fall by the porch light.  On Christmas Day, Santa would have come during the night and I would be so excited.  Especially when my brothers were little - that made it even more fun!  They loved to open presents - they always got a mountain of them too!  Lots and lots of toys.  Grandma and Grandpa came for the day, so did Aunt Louise, Uncle Clayt, Martha, Jane and Gary.  We had fruit soup, Korv, rice pudding, mashed potatoes, a vegetable of some sort, limpa bread, prune whip with whipped cream for desert.  After the dishes were done, we opened more presents!  Then we went out to play in the snow!  For supper we always had cold fruit soup, Korv, Boodoust (sp?) cheese, and limpa bread and then we watched TV maybe.   It was a very happy time of year for all of us.