Happy Birthday to My Baby Sister!

My sister Mary Elaine playing dress-up in her bedroom, Houston, Texas, 1967

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Sibling Saturday: Happy Birthday to My Brother Brian!

My brother Brian at a roadside park in Texas, during a stop for a picnic lunch on our way to or from New Mexico in the summer of 1966.

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Sibling Saturday: Happy National Siblings Day!

This photo was taken on the driveway of our family home at 8015 Sharpview in Houston, Texas, sometime during or before October 1966.  From the left, Brian, Karen, Mary, me, and Mark.  We girls are wearing short sets sewn for us by Mom.

© Amanda Pape - 2021 - e-mail me!

Sibling Saturday: Happy 90th Birthday to My Aunt!

Jo Ann Guokas, either as an eighth grader, freshman, or sophomore 

at Incarnate Word Academy, Houston, Texas, 1944-1945-1946

© Amanda Pape - 2020 - e-mail me!

Sibling Saturday: Happy Birthday to Me, 1967

Celebrating my birthday in 1967.  That's my brother Mark on the left, and my sister Karen on the right.  My parents had this neat set of paintings hanging in the kitchen with portraits where the faces and upper bodies were made up of food (in the style of Arcimboldo, but not nearly as frightening).  The fruit/vegetable lady hangs above Karen's head.

© Amanda Pape - 2020 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Happy Birthday to My Brother Mark

My brother Mark hamming it up at Liam Streff's birthday party in May 2014.


© Amanda Pape - 2019 - e-mail me!

Sibling Saturday: Found Photos, Dairymen's Country Club, Wisconsin, July 1951

I found these two photos when sorting through items belonging to my father, Frederick Henry Pape (1929-2017) after his death late last year.  All he wrote on the back of the Kodacolor* prints, processed the week of July 20, 1951, was "DCC July 1951."  DCC stands for Dairymen's Country Club in Wisconsin, where my father and his family of origin spent many vacations from the mid 1930s at least into the early 1950s.  Dad had 15 days of leave from the Air Force from July 12-27, 1951, and went home to Evanston, Illinois, during that period - and it looks like he joined his family at Dairymen's during that time.  I know who the people are in the following two photos:

Above:  Paul Robert "Bob" Pape (1926-2008), Rose Mary "Moe" Pape Dietz (1931-2007), Frederick "Fred" Henry Pape, and Marilyn Electa "Beete" Pape Hedger.  This was before any of these four married.  Their sister Elizabeth "Betty" Mary Pape Streff (1927-2017) had married in 1948 and had three children by this point.

Below:  Bob and Fred with their mother, Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape (1902-2000).

*Because it is Kodacolor and it has been nearly 70 years since these photos were taken, the colors have faded to mostly shades of pink and dark green.


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Happy 60th to My Sister

My sister Karen's birthday in 1968.  Clockwise from front left:  brother Mark, grandmother Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald (1907-1997), sisters Karen and Mary, and dad Frederick Henry Pape (1929-2017).

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: April Fool on Me! Wolfe, Not Shelton, Family Reunion, c. 1964-1969

The photograph at left is of my great-grandmother (seated at far left), Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Odom Harris (1890-1977), and her four children and their spouses. Standing are Wallace "Archie" Archibald (1896-1970), Lloyd L. Wolfe (1906-1993), Louis Ely (1913-1980), and Robert "Bob" L. Brown (1908-1970). Seated are Addilee, my grandmother Sara (1908-1997), Lloyd's second wife Georgia Noreen Turner Wolfe (1911-1997), Neva Marie Wolfe Ely (1912-1995), Edith Elizabeth Wolfe Smith Murff Brown Gould Knox (1910-2006), and my aunt, Sara's daughter, Sister Jean Marie (Jo Ann) Guokas (b. 1930).

I first posted this photograph nearly seven years ago, and at the time, I thought it had been taken at a Shelton family reunion.  However, when I attended the reunion in June 2016, I found the following newspaper clipping in an album owned by my first cousin twice removed Shirley Thompson:

According to the caption, this photograph was taken during the Christmas holidays at the home of my great uncle Lloyd L. Wolfe at Crystal Lakes Estates near Lake Livingston, Texas. Archie and Bob both died in 1970, so this photograph was taken sometime before then; but after the death of Lloyd's first wife Florida Louise "Sally" Lasyone, who died April 29, 1963.  Noreen and Lloyd married on August 31, 1964, and the article gives the implication that they are a married couple, so the photograph was likely taken between Christmas 1964 and Christmas 1969.

Oddly, the caption in the newspaper leaves out the names of half the women.  The caption should have read, in the style of the day, "Left to right, seated, Mrs. C. B. [Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Odom] Harris, Mrs. W. [Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas] Archibald, Mrs. L. L. [Georgia Noreen Turner] Wolfe, Mrs. Louis [Neva Marie Wolfe] Ely, Mrs. R. L. [then Edith Elizabeth Wolfe Smith Murff] Brown, and Sister Jean Marie [Jo Ann] Guokas.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: My Siblings, Probably August 1966

My siblings Karen (about 8), Mary (almost 2), Mark (age 6), and Brian (age 4), probably on Mark's birthday in August 1966 (the slide film was processed in December 1966).  That's my hands and legs and blue sleeve and hair on the far right.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Mary and Mark, 1966

My youngest sister Mary and my brother Mark, sometime during or before December 1966, based on the processing date on the slide mount.  I think this was Mark's birthday in August 1966, based on the gifts behind him.  My parents gave me the piece of furniture they are standing in front of (a mahogany china cabinet), and I had it until late December 2005, just before I moved back home to Texas from Washington state.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Papes, In or Before July 1966

Mom, Mary, Karen, Mark, and Brian, in the backyard at 8015 Sharpview, Houston, Texas, sometime in or before July 1966 (the processing date on the slide mount for this image).  You can see the reflection of my step-grandfather, Wallace Franklin "Archie" Archibald (1896-1970), in the sliding glass door - he is taking the photograph.  Not sure what Brian is sitting on and looking at.  The boxes appear to say something about bricks.  They might have been used to edge the flower beds, or to make the patio bigger.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: 1966

This picture was taken in the backyard of our family home at 8015 Sharpview in Houston, Texas, sometime during or before July 1966 (the processing date on the slide mounting).  That's my brother Mark barely visible on the far left, my sister Karen, me, and my brother Brian.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Mark and Mary, ABT May 1966

Two of my siblings in the backyard of our house at 8015 Sharpview in Houston, before it was fenced.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: 1966

I'm not quite sure exactly what is happening in this photo.  It was taken in or before June 1966.  I am guessing May, because I think the balloons my sister Karen and I are holding are wearing graduation caps.  Our aunt, Sister Jean Marie Guokas, was principal of Incarnate Word Academy, and their school colors were red and white.  Many of our babysitters were Academy girls.  The picture was taken in the backyard of our house in Sharpstown at 8015 Sharpview.  At this point, we still did not have a backyard fence, although we'd been living in the house for a couple of years.  There was no need really; we did not have a dog at that time, and apparently most of our neighbors did not have pets either.  My brother Mark, on the right, looks a little puzzled by his balloon, while brother Brian, on the left, looks upset that his balloon is little and has no face.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Shelton Sisters, BEF 1959

After the Shelton Family Reunion back on June 25, I went to the home of my first cousin twice removed Shirley Thompson, and looked through an album of old family photographs and newspaper clippings.

One of the photographs was this one, of three of the Shelton sisters.  From the left, they are Euna Ann Shelton Thompson (1905-1959), my great-grandmother Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Odom Harris (1890-1977), and Elvie Eloise Shelton Reeves Jowers (1907-1988).

Since Euna died in February 1959, this photograph must have been taken before then.

I've written before about my great-grandmother.  Here's a little more information about Euna and Elvie.

Euna Ann Shelton was born January 1, 1905, the ninth of the twelve children of my great-great-grandparents, Levi Marion Shelton (1863-1941) and Sarah Ann Spikes Shelton (1871-1935), in Winn Parish, Louisiana.  She married Charles Elzy Thompson (1900–1986), who went by his middle name, on January 27, 1926.  They had four daughters:  Elise Lemora Thompson Stroud, Julia Garnell "Nell" Doherty, Joy Faye Thompson Boeta (1937-1991), and Shirley Yvonne Thompson Edington Morrill.   Euna died February 13, 1959, and is buried at the Hargis Baptist Church Cemetery in Grant Parish, Louisiana.

Elvie Eloise Shelton was born July 2, 1907, in Louisiana, most likely in Winn Parish, the tenth of Levi's and Sarah's twelve children.  On January 9, 1926, she married Wesley Byron Reeves (1900–1968), who was divorced with one daughter.  Elvie and Wesley had a daughter, Adilee LaVerne Reeves Antee (1927-2005), who was born June 10, 1927, in Montgomery, Louisiana.  Elvie and Wesley were divorced by 1930, and on August 28, 1938, she married James Monroe Jowers (1892-1949), a widower with four children.  Elvie died November 18, 1988, and she is also buried at the Hargis Baptist Church Cemetery in Grant Parish, Louisiana.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Shelton Sisters, June 1, 1974

After the Shelton Family Reunion back on June 25, I went to the home of my first cousin twice removed Shirley Thompson, and looked through an album of old family photographs and newspaper clippings.

One of the clippings was this photograph from the first Shelton Family Reunion of descendants of my great-great-grandparents, Levi Marion Shelton (1863-1941) and Sarah Ann Spikes Shelton (1871-1935).  It was held at Nantachie Lake in Grant Parish, Louisiana (between Montgomery and Aloha) on June 1, 1974.

The photo shows the four of Levi's and Sarah's children who were still alive on that date.  From the upper left, standing, they are Elvie Eloise Shelton Jowers (1907-1988) and Pearl Vivian Shelton Chelette (1909-2003); and, seated from left, Cleola Eugenia Shelton Davis (1902-1991), and my great-grandmother, Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Odom Harris (1890-1977).

My second cousin once removed
Phyllis Doherty Holmes verified who was who, and also said, "We always called Elvie 'NeeNee,' so you might hear her referred to that way. Don't know where that got started. Minus Aunt Pearl, this was the domino playing group; I think it was maybe Uncle Sid's* wife** mixed in with the three sisters to round 'em out to four, because when they played, Vicki*** and  I were assigned two each to watch and make sure they didn't cheat; Donna**** was always the score keeper. They were a rowdy bunch playing dominoes! It was always fun to hang out with them even if we weren't allowed to play."

* Uncle Sid would be John Sidney Shelton (1891-1963), brother to these four sisters.
** His wife was Sarah Corena "Cora" Hayles Shelton (1896-1979).
*** Vicki is Phyllis' sister, Vicki Irene Doherty (1957-1977).
**** Donna is Phyllis' other sister, Donna Denice Doherty Dyson (1956-2013).

Here's a little more information about Pearl and Cleola (Elvie will be in a future post).

Cleola Eugenia Shelton was born in Winn Parish, Louisiana, on October 10, 1902, the eighth of Levi's and Sarah's twelve children.  On October 5, 1919 - just short of her 17th birthday - she married Birrs Alvin Davis (1898-1900).  They had seven children, three of which died by age 2 and two more that died as young adults.  They were living in Grant Parish on the 1920, 1930, and 1940 Censuses, and specifically in Montgomery in that parish (which is adjacent to Winn) at the time the photograph above was taken in 1974.  Cleola died September 15, 1991, and is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Wheeling, Winn Parish.

Pearl Vivian Shelton was born December 23, 1909, in Louisiana, most likely in Winn Parish, the eleventh of Levi's and Sarah's twelve children.  She married Peter Lee Chelette (1902-1997) on June 16, 1926, and they had seven children, two of which are still living.  When the photograph above was taken in 1974, Pearl was living in Colfax in Grant Parish. Pearl passed away June 12, 2003, in Tioga, Louisiana.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: 1965

Karen (age 7), sitting in Dad's rocking chair and holding Mary (age 1) and a Raggedy Ann doll; Mark (age 5) holding a football, and Brian (age 3) in front.  Christmas 1965, at 8015 Sharpview, Houston, Texas.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Pape Girls, Summer 1966

A very overexposed picture of my sisters Karen (age 8), Mary (age 2), and me (age 9) in the summer of 1966, on the driveway of our house at 8015 Sharpview in Houston, Texas.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Happy National Siblings Day! (tomorrow)

Mark, Mary, Amanda, Karen, and Brian, sometime between August and October, 1965.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.