Murdock Muse
May-June 2005, Part 2

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Carol Mannisto Maicki, 2004 Gallery Photo Obituary

DEATH OF CAROL MANNISTO Jane McCauley March 8 Wondered if you had been notified about the death of Carol Mannisto Maicki. Thought you might like to put it in your newsletter. I have her obituary that I could scan if you would like. She was quite a gal. They had four memorials for her. It was a sudden death and very shocking to her family and to me, to whom she sent weekly emails. March 9: I sent a memorial to the Barre Gazette on Carol, and I think her daughters wrote the obituary. They sent me the memorial service also. I met them when Carol brought them east to see her hometown. March 9: Carol was the daughter of Emily and John Mannisto. Emily was the daughter of Gladys Bumpus who was the daughter of Emily Howlett. Emily Howlett was Carol's great grandmother. Will send a picture of her under separate scan. [Ed. Note: Carol, born in 1936, was my first cousin once removed, as her mother, Emily Mannisto, was my first cousin. Their family lived in the house my mother later bought when the Mannistos were moving out of state.--NAM] Click for photo and obituary of this remarkable woman. GRANDMA MAWHINNIE'S FAMILY John Howlett I dug up some more info in tracing back Grandma Mawhinnie's family: our great GP's: Hiram Derby (1843-1887) Mary Elizabeth Donald (1842-1903) great-great GP's: Henry P. Derby (1811-1870) Mary Ann Kilburn (1811-1891) g-g-g GP's: only Lucinda Derby (1789-1815) listed g-g-g-g GP's: Benjamin Daby (1747-1817) Rebecca Hart (1754-1827) g-g-g-g-g GP's: Joseph Daby (1716-1792) Elizabeth Nourse (1700-1755) g-g-g-g-g-g GP's: John Daby (1686-1769) Hannah ? (1686-1744) note-John Daby was one of original founders of Harvard, MA g-g-g-g-g-g-g GP's:Thomas Derby (1637-1749) Mary ? (1644-1726) note-Thomas Derby was from Stow, MA The above Daby/Derby ancestors are listed in the "Decendants of the Puritans" There are no confirmed antecedants of Thomas Derby but there are references to the Derby/Daby/Darby family in English records going back to 1200 in England. There is a Darby Hall partly in Leake, England, and partly in Leverton, England. It is noted that the family were considerable proprietors in both these and adjoining parishes for several centuries and that the family was allied by marriage to the Dymocke family. NEW BEES FOR THE BEEKEEPERS Priscilla Januskiewicz May 3: We were on vacation (in Hawaii) in March and returned on April 8th, so we are just getting to you now. It takes a while to get caught up with everything, including mail. Mum is here until May 14th, when she will go to Joy's in Pembroke, Mass. We would love to see you whenever we can get together during your stay in New England. Let us know what your schedule is. Roy is in Georgia right now with a beekeeper friend, loading up a truck and trailer with packages of new bees for the beekeepers here in New Hampshire. They will leave tonight and drive straight home, so that the bees can be put in the hives as quickly as possible. It has been a bad year for honeybees, as you may have heard on the news. There are many reasons, the main one being the devastating mite problem. Viruses, cold weather and, occasionally, starvation have also played a part. There won't be as many hives for pollination this year, so the food supply may be affected also. If you need anything more for Mum's web page, let me know. We have all written poems for her over the years on many occasions, and I have several in my file cabinet. There are also three photo albums that I put together for her 90th birthday. One has old sepia-toned photos from her younger days and the other two are filled with more recent pictures. I know you wanted a short bio of my father also. I will try to work on it soon. NORTH MINNEAPOLIS MURDOCK FAMILY GREETINGS Rickey (Nicholaus) Murdock Just moved into our new home in North Mpls/Columbia Heights area! Very excited about it... Got a two-bedroom duplex with garage laundry room and shop room. After moving in, we decided to invest in a new computer too... So we got a desk top style Compaq Presario SR1123WM with 160 gb harddrive, 512 ram, radon 9200 graphics card, dvd/rw/r-/r+ cd/rw/r drives....and we have a 3-1 printer. Very nice. The boys are doing well and Daniel is doing well with his speech and talking very well... He was a big help moving things in our new home too. Jack-rabbit is doing more and more artwork every day. He really loves to draw. Tanaya is doing very well in school and - with the exception of her math skills - she is the top of her class, academically speaking, that is. We will be having her for the whole summer so that will be great! Xacara is doing pretty well still. Saw her and Amber (my half-sister) and Amber's boyfriend at the mall and got some new pictures taken. As you may have heard from Deanna already...We are expecting a girl (my last kid) (vas time). Her name will be... Trinity Nancy-jean Murdock. Yes, the middle name Nancy is in honor of you, Grandma. (Jean is Deanna's mom's middle name) I just got out of the hospital two weeks ago after my appendix burst and I had to go to the ER. Everything is fine now but I got a nice 2inch scar. I am working PT and writing a book PT and looking for another FT job doing construction work again. Just gotta take it easy for a month or so to let the wound heal. Writing a book is really fun but a lot of work. NEXT INSTALLMENT Valerie Davidson April 30: Well, of course I now have to reply about our first stint in Baltimore. I remember only odd snatches. For instance, I can see the front of our building in my mind, with a green awning stretching toward the street. Is that accurate? I remember that we lived near a park, and we often went there before the heat set in. My favorite activity in the park was stringing cut segments of colored drinking straws together for "necklaces" ! I wonder if it was the Art Museum that had giant lion statues on either side of the main entrance. Do I remember sitting on them with Roy? I remember the coin-operated television in our apartment. Also, I think you occasionally supplemented our activities with small gifts brought forth from the bowels of your closet, on a rainy day, for instance, when we couldn't go to the park. The memorable one of these, for me, was a miniature metal tricycle. Finally, I remember our vacation in Pinehurst Beach, where Roy and I were made nervous of jellyfish (I think there were many around at that time). But of course the corker was the NASTY tap water, which tasted too vile even for tooth-brushing. So we procured a milk can of city water and I'm sure I took a cup of that for brushing my teeth each time. A postscript here: Perhaps the reason I remember the jellyfish business is that Roy and I encountered one later, near Grandpa's house, below where a road crossed the pond at a small bridge. Recognizing the jellyfish for the dangerous creature we had learned about, Roy bravely took a stick and killed that sucka, and I bragged about this to Grandpa. He was quite dismayed, and set us straight on creatures that are minding their own business. I've always felt that we suburban kids were very fortunate to have those Hubbardston experiences. [Ed. Note: We have lived in the Baltimore area three times. Valerie had just turned four the first time, when we stayed first in an apartment hotel right near the museum, and the final 2 weeks near the water. It's amazing to see how much she can recall of that brief sojourn, especially considering the number of times we moved during her early years.--NM] PANCAKE PROSPECTS Meredith Murdock I have jury duty for the first time starting Monday! I hope they'll dismiss me the first day! I don't want to be stuck a whole week. We have been having a tiny bit of rain with sunny hours interspersed. Maybe the weather thinks it's June already?? Anyway, I'm hoping for a little sun time by the pool today. Oh - Tim has a big day today - the prom! Maybe he or Becky will do a follow-up note. Well - I'm heading down the block to get some pancakes. The thing is, it's a family restaurant run by Asians, and they serve Mexican food! I bought a quesadilla the other day, but they have NO SOUR CREAM! I had to stop at a little market on my way home to get some. They did cook a homemade green chili salsa into it, though. Yum! But if they have no sour cream, I am not at all confident about the probability of real butter for my pancakes. AN INTERESTING TRIP Gene Murdock FYI: On the trip to Mass. over Memorial Day I will be taking along the following twenty audio books: Will in the World by Greenblatt, A “biography” of Shakespeare Alexander the Great, a biography Theodore Rex by E. Morris, Teddy Roosevelt's presidency Mornings on Horseback by D. McCullough, Teddy Roosevelt's youth Q is for Quarry by S. Grafton, a Kinsey Millhone mystery Endurance by A. Lansing, Shackleton's incredible voyage The Way of a Ship by Lundy, a square-rigger sea voyage The Last Precinct by P. Cornwell, a Kay Scarpetta mystery Bird’s-Eye View by J. F. Freedman, a Fritz Tullis mystery Air Force One by A. Collins, a dramatic novel The Power of Gold by P. L. Bernstein, the history of gold Julie of the Wolves by J. C. George, a story of a girl and wolves in Alaska Piranha to Scurfy by R. Rendell, an anthology of mysteries Shadow Warriors by T. Clancy, a Special Forces story Don’t Make Me Stop This Car! By A. Roker, a comedy about fatherhood Pearl Harbor by R. Wallace, an historical novel Personal Reflections of an Historian by S. Ambrose, an autobiography What If? Vol. 2 by R. Cowley, essays on the way things might have been What If? Vol.3 by R. Cowley, essays on the way things might have been I know What The Night Knows by E. Gorman, a horror mystery Plus about fifty music CD’s; I guarantee you, the trip will NOT be boring! BETTY'S RECOVERY FROM SURGERY Paul Bisbee Update on Betty (Thelma): Betty is doing well. She is in Gardner at Wachusetts Manor. She is there for rehab. 3rd. floor. Betty has no phone in her room. It will depend on her and the staff how fast she recovers and when she will be able to come home. She should be home this month sometime. Betty is walking with help from a walker with wheels. She doesn't really need the walker; it's only in case she gets a lot of pain and needs to rest. Just a precautionary thing. She still has pain off and on in her lower back where she had the surgery. She still has stitches where the surgery was done. The stitches should come out this coming Monday. After she comes home she will need some help from me on housework, cleaning, cooking, etc. Betty will more then likely come down to camp when she is better, after being at home for a while. She will have help down at the camp from me, her sister and friends. The camp ground opened up today. (5--7--05) The camp ground is about six miles away in Phillipston, MA. I should have our camper all set up by the end of this coming Monday. Our camper is well equipped with hot and cold water, electricity, cable, heating system, full bath, AC, etc. God Bless you all. Keep in touch. To all you Mothers, Have a very nice Mother's Day. UPDATE FOR THE GRANDPARENTS Nic Rickey Murdock May 8: Things are going outstanding here. I have two new job offers to choose from (gush) One is...to train to be a seamless gutter installer working with a rapid growing company and making 15 + dollars a hour doing it. Option number two is .... Working with a company installing patios and decks and doing occasional hot tub /steam rooms/or misc. styles of luxurious living extras...and making a min. of 350-500 dollars but up to 800-1200 a week. For that job I would need to be trained as an apprentice to the lead carpenter. I am hoping for a career with the patio company, though. My first Interview was a huge success! The man who does the final hire was blown away by my knowledge of the construction trade...and was apparently moved by my enthusiasm towards working for their company. So much that - out of 107 applicants, 8 are to be chosen to go on site and meet the lead carpenter (and there are only two slots) so out of the eight people only two will be hired . Guess who was the Seventh Man chosen to come and hopefully secure the job? ME!!! yyyyyyesssssir.... Aside from that, the day is coming quickly for the birth of our daughter Trinity Nancy-Jean. Deanna signed her paper for Tubal Ligation and I have an appointment scheduled for a vasectomy in July so this will be our final child. We are getting excited to have this little bundle of joy born and Deanna is looking forward to having a little girl to cherish. I am just happy to have my "foot in the door" so - to - speak, with the right company.(s) And to have the wife I have been blessed with and the handsome bunch of children I am so happy to have. [Ed. note: see photo in the May-June Gallery.] Jason is back, and he and Dad and Kathy all came over for a welcome home party/BBQ for Jason. As always, Dad worked the BBQ grill and Jason showed us all photoslides of his time in the Middle East ...and Deanna made a salad and helped make everything comfortable. Later my friend Tom stopped over and hung out with us all. The day was nice and weather not bad at all. [Ed. note: see photo in the May-June Gallery.] We got rid of our broken-down vehicles and bought a 1990 Pontiac Transport Van and are looking forward to getting a worktruck for me. Just saving money. The boys are doing great and having fun playing outdoors with all their toys. We have a cool climbing tree in our backyard and Daniel loves to be a little daredevil and perform stunts that make me - at times - very nervous, but never-the-less very happy to see him enjoy his youth so much... Jack, and his smiles, they are so innocent and true. This is such a blessing - being a lucky parent. Tanaya and I have been talking almost every day by phone and have really bonded. She and I are really looking forward to spending a lot of time together this summer. Anyways that is my Update for you both... Here is Deanna... I got your birthday greeting yesterday and I wanted to say Thank you; it put a smile on my face. Things are starting to look up here. I see Rickey filled you in with all the good news. Hopefully in a week I will be starting class for Math so I can finish my GED test. All I have left is the Math part. I am getting excited to finally get that out of the way. Once I accomplish that, I have a job lined up for $11 an hour working with my cousin. Eventually I want to go on to further schooling when the kids are all in school. I guess that covers everything, so you guys have a good day and we will talk to you later. Love, Rickey & Deanna Daniel, Jack, Tanaya, Ciera, and Trinity -Murdock- VERMILLION FLYCATCHER AND FRIENDS Margery Aukstikalnis Our favorite bird of late is the Vermillion Flycatcher. Jack has seen them on our mountain property, and now we have at least two pair on the homestead. They are quite tame, and flit around within ten feet of us. We also have identified cardinals, pyrrhuloxia, western wood peewee, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, flickers, downy woodpecker, roadrunner, LOTS of quail, a pair of resident red-tailed hawks, ravens, two kinds of chickadee, a cactus wren (I had trouble identifying this one because he is huge for a wren, so didn't even consider the wren page in the books) curved-billed thrasher (beautiful voice), goldfinch, purple finch, and one the natives call "the orange variety". There are sparrows, swallows, and warblers I haven't defined yet. The hummingbirds haven't arrived yet, but will be along shortly. Absent: robins, bluejays, woodthrush, and orioles, but maybe we just haven't seen them yet. We have seen, in Arizona, but not on our property, great blue heron, sand cranes, and even a migrant pelican, much to my delight. I expect there are many more I haven't identified yet, so I am looking forward to the challenge. March 25: For those of you who don't know, my fondest hobby is Gourmet cooking. I read cookbooks like novels, then go about creating a meal by instinct and by gorry, rather than follow a recipe. We have had some exciting meals, and thank goodness, Jack loves to try new foods. Well let me tell you, Arizona is a challenge, at least here in the high desert. Our house is at about 4500 feet above sea level, which makes it right on the edge of normal cooking and high altitude cooking. Some recipes need no change, and others totally flop if I cook as I used to in NH. It took a while to learn to bake breads that rise properly, and my first batch of baked beans resembled Boston Baked stones!!! I boiled five eggs for a recipe tonight, and, of course I cracked both ends of all of them before I started peeling. UGH! The whites were still runny around the yoke! Have you ever re-boiled cracked eggs? All the fences are mended; Jack has become quite the cowboy! Now I'm not out chasing cows from my flowers anymore. The lizards are out entertaining us in the heat of the day. There are a million birds serenading us throughout the day from pre-sunrise to post-sunset. And the wildflowers!! Oh my gosh, the wildflowers!! Within 50 feet of the house we have found, to date, over 30 DIFFERENT kinds, adding more almost daily. I never expected this in such arid country. We have a few more things to do to secure the house and make it easier to come back in the fall, but I anticipate we will be leaving here around the 10th of April. My goal was to arrive in Fitzwilliam by the 23rd so I could go to church on the 24th to say "Happy Birthday, best friend Diane", but I think it will be somewhere mid-week after that. We have to be back before May 2nd, because Jack's drivers license will expire then. (Happy Birthday, Jack) We were caught with roaming charges on our cell phone last month because we were in between land lines at the time of the closing of the house sale, and in two short days, incurred about $120 in "over" charges and roaming charges. We had no choice. The calls had to be made, and the location was out of cell range. I'm glad we have cell phone, but holy, moly! And OUCH! (This coming from people who normally pay under $5/month for phone bill because of retirement benefits from Verizon and infrequent use of long distance.) SO. See all you New Englanders in about a month. Thanks to all of you who have responded to our e-mail notes; it's so good to hear from family and friends. It keeps the homesick bugs away. CHRISTO'S GATES Colleen McKay I made reservations to take the bus to NYC on Saturday Feb. 19 for the day on Tuesday when it looked like there would not be a storm. I wanted to go walk in Central Park and experience Christo's "The Gates." After stopping at Panera Bread and getting a muffie and a bagel for the ride up, I got on the bus at 6:40 am for the 4 hr. ride to NYC. The bus dropped me off at Times Square at 46th and Broadway. I walked over to Seventh Ave, then up 7th avenue to 57th Street and the park. The day was clear and in the 20s, a bit cold for me since I still am a Californian. I had a one use camera with 15 pictures on it. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of people in the park walking under the gates, and lots of cameras. I talked to the gates guards (young people with the grey vests and the poles with tennis balls on the end, hired by Christo). I was surprised that there was no graffiti on the gates since they had been up for a week. Jamie said that they do an inspection at 7:00 am each morning and that the material is treated to repel paint. He said that one million 2-inch squares of the gates material were being passed out. He had already given out his morning allotment. Luckily I did not have to wait until after his lunch to get one of his afternoon allotments because I found a gate guard with one last morning allotment on his way to lunch. I never got to see Jamie and Jeannie use their poles to untangle the gates, because by the time they would get to the gate, the wind untangled it. While I was talking to them, I met a visitor from Germany who was a wrap guard when Christo wrapped Reichstag (German parliament building) in Berlin in 1995. She just had to come to NYC during the 16 days of the display to see Christo's "The Gates." So there are crazier people than me. She flew from Berlin and I only took a bus from Baltimore to see "The Gates." [Click here for a photo by Colleen.] SINGING IN A SHOW Christel Murdock As for an update, I am in a show for charity, singing a song from Man of La Mancha, called "The Impossible Dream," as a solo, along with some other songs as duet and group numbers. I am in a musical theatre class, and am starting a new job at Geico next week. I'm single again, but learning that it's not necessarily horrible to have time to do the things you need to get done and to spend with your friends. I've lost 105 pounds now (gained some back with the breakup, but have finally lost it again)... with about 40 to go, and I'm trying to think of more to say, but seem to be coming up blank. I hope everyone is doing well, and perhaps I'll have another update soon! [Click here for photos.] LOOKING FORWARD Claudia Lindsey March 9: Just thought I would let you know that we have our tickets for our trip to beautiful New England. We will be arriving in Manchester on July 21st and leaving on the 31st. As my birthday is August 1st, Dennis asked me what I wanted and I told him that the trip would be enough. He is looking forward to seeing Dad again after all these years and finally getting to meet everyone else. March 7: Our little granddaughter, Isabeau, had her checkup with her cardiologist today (March 7th) and has been given a clean bill of health. He even asked if there was anything else he could do to make her even more active. GROAN !! If she is any more active than she already is, Grammy & PaPa will really need that vacation in beautiful New England in July. She is just about ready to walk and has four teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom, and is cutting more. Oh, and remember when you gave your kids there first Oreo cookie? Well, today was her day for that and she had lots of fun with it. Grammy had to show her how to do it correctly, but without the milk. Of course PaPa took pictures. As she likes to share her cookies with all, we got an Oreo kiss. [Ed. note: see photo in the May-June Gallery.] WE'RE MOVING Lori Howlett March 30: Just a quick note to let everyone know that as of 4/2/05 (eek!! just a couple of days!) we will have a new address. We're going to be renting a very nice 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom house; hardwood floors, huge yard. Only thing that would be better would be if we were buying it, but...such is life. I'm off to pack yet more boxes. Click here for Part 3 of the May-June 2005 Muse. Top / Muse Home / Who's Who / What's New