Dorothy Geraldine Fowler Howes Light was my Grandmother. She was my Mother's Mother. She was married twice. The first time to Oscar L. Howes and then to Samuel B. Light. She had 2 daughters with her first husband: Marilyn Joyce and Joan Carol (my Mom). For awhile she was a single mom worked as a seamstress and took good care of her daughters. When she was young her family called her "Dutch" because apparently they thought she looked like a Dutch girl.
My grandma had hazel eyes. I remember her telling us that her hair was light in color when she was a kid and then it turned dark as she got older.
Grandma had a tough life and was probably most happy during her marriage to her second husband and love of her life Samuel Bertsell Light aka Pappy.
Pappy bought her a new 1956 black Cadillac - it was her pride and joy. I remember we would sit in the back seat of her Caddy and play with the electric windows - a new invention at the time.
She spent most of her early life and adulthood in the Coldwater, Michigan area. After she separated from her first husband Oscar, she met Pappy who owned a farm in Coldwater. She, Pappy and my mom and dad moved west to California in 1952. They bought a house in Gardena on 164th street about 1957. When they bought the house it had the original locks on the door and you used a skeleton key to unlock it.
About 1960 my grandma owned a dry cleaners in downtown L.A.
My Grandma was a good cook and an even better baker. Molasses cookies, sour cream cookies and pies. We still have the recipes. One time she wrote to one of the big companies that made cake mixes and suggested a mix for donuts. She loved to sew and taught me how to sew and bake. When I graduated Jr High School in 1968 she bought me a mixer.
I remember my grandmother liked Tabu perfume and one year for Christmas I bought her a bottle.
When she was living at her home on 164th street in Gardena we had a big Thanksgiving dinner - likely about 1967.
She always made sure we got Christmas presents every year. When she lived in a mobile home near the end of her life the Helms Bakery truck would go by her place and we'd go out and she would buy us cookies or some type of baked goods. It's almost as if she was a stereotype grandma and I mean that in a good way.
When we were kids my grandma would sew clothes for us. She also did do some knitting and crocheting. She helped me with my Jr High School sewing classes, including making an apron which was one of my assignments. She also did show me how to do some baking.
And even more important - she taught me how to tie my shoes! My mother was left handed and I was right handed as well as grandma, so grandma taught me to tie my shoes.
We could not have asked for a better grandma. We miss you Grandma.
My grandma had hazel eyes. I remember her telling us that her hair was light in color when she was a kid and then it turned dark as she got older.
Grandma had a tough life and was probably most happy during her marriage to her second husband and love of her life Samuel Bertsell Light aka Pappy.
Pappy bought her a new 1956 black Cadillac - it was her pride and joy. I remember we would sit in the back seat of her Caddy and play with the electric windows - a new invention at the time.
She spent most of her early life and adulthood in the Coldwater, Michigan area. After she separated from her first husband Oscar, she met Pappy who owned a farm in Coldwater. She, Pappy and my mom and dad moved west to California in 1952. They bought a house in Gardena on 164th street about 1957. When they bought the house it had the original locks on the door and you used a skeleton key to unlock it.
About 1960 my grandma owned a dry cleaners in downtown L.A.
My Grandma was a good cook and an even better baker. Molasses cookies, sour cream cookies and pies. We still have the recipes. One time she wrote to one of the big companies that made cake mixes and suggested a mix for donuts. She loved to sew and taught me how to sew and bake. When I graduated Jr High School in 1968 she bought me a mixer.
I remember my grandmother liked Tabu perfume and one year for Christmas I bought her a bottle.
When she was living at her home on 164th street in Gardena we had a big Thanksgiving dinner - likely about 1967.
She always made sure we got Christmas presents every year. When she lived in a mobile home near the end of her life the Helms Bakery truck would go by her place and we'd go out and she would buy us cookies or some type of baked goods. It's almost as if she was a stereotype grandma and I mean that in a good way.
When we were kids my grandma would sew clothes for us. She also did do some knitting and crocheting. She helped me with my Jr High School sewing classes, including making an apron which was one of my assignments. She also did show me how to do some baking.
And even more important - she taught me how to tie my shoes! My mother was left handed and I was right handed as well as grandma, so grandma taught me to tie my shoes.
We could not have asked for a better grandma. We miss you Grandma.
Dorothy Geraldine Fowler Howes Light was my Grandmother. She was my Mother's Mother. She was married twice. The first time to Oscar L. Howes and then to Samuel B. Light. She had 2 daughters with her first husband: Marilyn Joyce and Joan Carol (my Mom). For awhile she was a single mom worked as a seamstress and took good care of her daughters. When she was young her family called her "Dutch" because apparently they thought she looked like a Dutch girl.
My grandma had hazel eyes. I remember her telling us that her hair was light in color when she was a kid and then it turned dark as she got older.
Grandma had a tough life and was probably most happy during her marriage to her second husband and love of her life Samuel Bertsell Light aka Pappy.
Pappy bought her a new 1956 black Cadillac - it was her pride and joy. I remember we would sit in the back seat of her Caddy and play with the electric windows - a new invention at the time.
She spent most of her early life and adulthood in the Coldwater, Michigan area. After she separated from her first husband Oscar, she met Pappy who owned a farm in Coldwater. She, Pappy and my mom and dad moved west to California in 1952. They bought a house in Gardena on 164th street about 1957. When they bought the house it had the original locks on the door and you used a skeleton key to unlock it.
About 1960 my grandma owned a dry cleaners in downtown L.A.
My Grandma was a good cook and an even better baker. Molasses cookies, sour cream cookies and pies. We still have the recipes. One time she wrote to one of the big companies that made cake mixes and suggested a mix for donuts. She loved to sew and taught me how to sew and bake. When I graduated Jr High School in 1968 she bought me a mixer.
I remember my grandmother liked Tabu perfume and one year for Christmas I bought her a bottle.
When she was living at her home on 164th street in Gardena we had a big Thanksgiving dinner - likely about 1967.
She always made sure we got Christmas presents every year. When she lived in a mobile home near the end of her life the Helms Bakery truck would go by her place and we'd go out and she would buy us cookies or some type of baked goods. It's almost as if she was a stereotype grandma and I mean that in a good way.
When we were kids my grandma would sew clothes for us. She also did do some knitting and crocheting. She helped me with my Jr High School sewing classes, including making an apron which was one of my assignments. She also did show me how to do some baking.
And even more important - she taught me how to tie my shoes! My mother was left handed and I was right handed as well as grandma, so grandma taught me to tie my shoes.
We could not have asked for a better grandma. We miss you Grandma.
My grandma had hazel eyes. I remember her telling us that her hair was light in color when she was a kid and then it turned dark as she got older.
Grandma had a tough life and was probably most happy during her marriage to her second husband and love of her life Samuel Bertsell Light aka Pappy.
Pappy bought her a new 1956 black Cadillac - it was her pride and joy. I remember we would sit in the back seat of her Caddy and play with the electric windows - a new invention at the time.
She spent most of her early life and adulthood in the Coldwater, Michigan area. After she separated from her first husband Oscar, she met Pappy who owned a farm in Coldwater. She, Pappy and my mom and dad moved west to California in 1952. They bought a house in Gardena on 164th street about 1957. When they bought the house it had the original locks on the door and you used a skeleton key to unlock it.
About 1960 my grandma owned a dry cleaners in downtown L.A.
My Grandma was a good cook and an even better baker. Molasses cookies, sour cream cookies and pies. We still have the recipes. One time she wrote to one of the big companies that made cake mixes and suggested a mix for donuts. She loved to sew and taught me how to sew and bake. When I graduated Jr High School in 1968 she bought me a mixer.
I remember my grandmother liked Tabu perfume and one year for Christmas I bought her a bottle.
When she was living at her home on 164th street in Gardena we had a big Thanksgiving dinner - likely about 1967.
She always made sure we got Christmas presents every year. When she lived in a mobile home near the end of her life the Helms Bakery truck would go by her place and we'd go out and she would buy us cookies or some type of baked goods. It's almost as if she was a stereotype grandma and I mean that in a good way.
When we were kids my grandma would sew clothes for us. She also did do some knitting and crocheting. She helped me with my Jr High School sewing classes, including making an apron which was one of my assignments. She also did show me how to do some baking.
And even more important - she taught me how to tie my shoes! My mother was left handed and I was right handed as well as grandma, so grandma taught me to tie my shoes.
We could not have asked for a better grandma. We miss you Grandma.
