patriotic sewing

On the left is my grandmother, Cynthia Meerdink, with the Girls Society of the First Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa sewing a banner with stars for church members serving in the First World War.
About 1917.
Her brother Henry was a soldier in France at Verdun. Her boyfriend Jurrien Dykstra, who became her husband and my grandfather, (pictured below) was on the troop ship in New York Harbor when the armistice was signed.

farewell LeClaire

Farewell LeClaire. You shaped who we are as individuals and as a family. May you bless all who enter in.