Merle Elaine Johnsen 1926-2008Roy Lavern Johnsen 1931-
For the past couple of weeks, I've used Sepia
Saturday to post about Martha May Sampson,
The Mister's maternal grandmother. Mattie
married George Johnsen and they lived in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Today's
picture is of their first two children Merle and Roy.
Merle is The Mister's mother.
The Sampson family can be traced back to Henry
Sampson, one of the original Pilgrims.
The Johnsens originally came from Denmark.
Both of these children were born and raised
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The photo was taken in 1933 when Merle
was 7 years old and Roy was 2.
We miss 'mom' very much as she's only
been gone less than 2 years.
Uncle Roy is still with us. :)
****
Check out other Sepia Saturday pictures
by clicking HERE!
I so enjoy your Sepia Saturdays. Love the old pictures, and makes me want to go out and find a box of old pictures I have in the garage.
ReplyDeleteLove the way they posed for pictures back then...
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
They are such beautiful children. Merle has such lovely eyes and her little outfit is just darling.
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy, Great sepia picture... I have said this before, but I love hearing about my blog friends' family history. What a neat picture of your mother-in-law and her brother. Obviously the brother (uncle) is still alive. How neat!!!!
ReplyDeleteHave you done family history on your family??? If not, you should.
Hugs,
Betsy
That is a wonderful photo. I like the chair they are sitting in and they looked very well groomed for the photo.
ReplyDeleteThe picture looks so fresh and well kept.
ReplyDeleteI love Sepia.They are two really cute kids.Thanks for sharing!~~Becky
ReplyDeleteCharming photograph of your Merle and Roy.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see the Scandinavian heritage.
nice. so will you be moving through the fam with the pics now?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture. The Scandinavian ancestry is very palpable.;)
ReplyDeletexo
Have a nice weekend,
Zuzana
Love the heritage tracing you mentioned and most wonderful photo! Happy week-end, Betsy :)
ReplyDeleteThese children are DARLING.
ReplyDeletebeautiful photos... and so wonderful that you know so much about your family history... cool!
ReplyDeleteI love her little knitted sweater complete with pom-poms! What a sweet, sweet brother/sister photo.
ReplyDeleteThat is a stunning and charming portrait for the time. The need to be still didn't rob them of character as so often happened.
ReplyDeleteYou must have a treasure chest full of family treasures!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting ideas of classic poses from these wonderful photos.
This pictures is priceless.
Not just the "sen" in the last name, but the blonde heads and a certain aspect to their faces would lead me to believe they were Danes.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture!
Kat
Kat ~ yes! We gave our Spencer the 'Johnsen' as his middle name.
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty blonds! And I'll bet at the time lots of folks remarked that the boy got the curls while the girl's hair was straight.
ReplyDeleteLovely children, Roy has such a cherubic face. It is interesting that the Sampsons go back to the Pilgrims.
ReplyDeleteA beauty and a cutie! Neat shot.
ReplyDeleteYes, such beautiful children, such eyes. What a great photo.
ReplyDeleteSuper photo. She looks Danish.
ReplyDeleteShe's really angelicd looking, Betsy. Was she an angel of a mother-in-law?
ReplyDeleteBETSY....YOU ARE THE WINNER OF MY GIVE A WAY!!! (SEE MY BLOG POST) :D
ReplyDeleteEMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS AND I WILL GET ALL OF THIS SENT TO YOU BY NEXT WEEK! CONGRATULATIONS! :D
A great shot. My mother was born in 1925 and passed away in 2004. We have many shots of her and her sister around the same time and with the same bobbed hair. Sending out warm memories of all the moms who are no longer with us on earth but very much with us in spirit.
ReplyDeleteLovely faces; the brief presentation is interesting and you are blessed to have had her in your life.
ReplyDeleteBTW I love the shot of the cardinals in the snow at top of your blog! Not much lovelier than that red contrast against white!
Merle's little dutch boy haircut is so cute!
ReplyDeleteTwo sweet kids! What big eyes Merle had! The sort that if she wanted anything, ahe only had to flutter her eyelids and she would melt anyone heart, and they would give in to her.
ReplyDeleteNice photo. I love the knitted dress Merle is wearing - especially with the pompom ball.
ReplyDeleteYour mother-in-laws family had so many beautiful photographs. This is another one of them. The first thought I had upon seeing the last name and her striking features is that she must be Scandinavian. I think your triplets look very much like Uncle Roy.
ReplyDeletehow beautiful is this vintage piece of history!!!
ReplyDelete"one of the original Pilgrims"
ReplyDelete--You sure you aren't related to the mister's side of the family too somehow? you certainly are just as hardy as these people must have been.
I really like this picture. So cute!
ReplyDeleteI love the way the faces not only seem to look into the camera, but also seem to look into their own futures. Such pictures as this are always our brief appointments with posterity.
ReplyDeletebeautiful children.
ReplyDeletethere is something about their outfits and how they are arranged which seem so contemporary - but not surprising they are of danish descent.
hugs re merle's passing...here's hopes that uncle roy is healthy and hale
I love her neat fringe and knitted (?) top.
ReplyDeleteit doesn't get easier, missing them, does it?
What A Nice Shot. Both "Formal" yet relaxed & Comfortable.Betsy, You & Yours Have A Fine Weekend.
ReplyDeleteThey have that land to the north look..fair haired blondes....
ReplyDeleteGreat pic. :) The Bach
they have the prettiest hair! how do you think they managed that before Johnsons no more tears baby shampoo?
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice picture. I knew Merle and loved her, too. She often played the organ for BMM conferences. We have no one who has replaced her. She also spent each summer at the BMM conferences. I'll never forget a comment she made to us single women after her husband had gone to be with the Lord. She told us she had told her children she would never remarry, going on to give a very definite reason. She probably would not appreciate it if I were to publish it here, though. It sure made for a good laugh. I've repeated it many times in certain settings. She was quite the lady. And she maintained her physical and spiritual beauty throughout her lifetime.
ReplyDelete