My Maternal Grandfather was born on September 4,1887.
Judd Dewitt Van Sickle. Durand, Illinois
John Christopher Van Sickle 1851–1927and Lucy Maria Judd Van Sickle 1850–1915 were his parents. He was the one of their seven children, to reach full adulthood, passing in 1975.
The inscription on the back of his baby photo is in my mother’s hand.
Born in Durand, Illinois on September 3rd, 1912. It’s the anniversary of my mother’s birth. One hundred eight years ago. Next week marks twenty years since she passed. The early years, from my grandmother’s album.
Charlotte Rowley VanSickle.
My maternal grandmother. 1888-1980
Durand Illinois.
My grandfather Judd Dewitt Van Sickle had 6 siblings. His sister Jessie Van Sickle was the only one to reach young adulthood.
I’ve seen the siblings’ markers surrounding the parents’ graves in Durand, Illinois cemetery.
Jessie was Born in 1878, and she passed on May 27,1904. My cousin John said she was studying to be an opera singer. There are notes that say their mother, my Great Grandmother, Lucy Maria Judd passed from “la grippe”(influenza)
Married 28 January 1904. Durand, Illinois. My great Aunt May B. Rowley (b.1883-d.1972) and her husband Ralph Alson Potter (b. 1882-d.1971). My grandmother Charlotte’s sister.
I visited Uncle Ralph and Aunt May’s home in Durand when I was a kid. I remember I didn’t understand the words on a plaque over his garage- Dun Workin’ .
They had one son Melburn Clark Potter. b.1906-d. 1940
From my grandmother’s album. My mother Marian and her brothers, Robert and John, in a wagon. Durand Illinois.
My mother Marian on the left her elder brother John in the middle, her younger brother Robert on the right with the dog in his arms. Maybe 1926? was born in 1912. Wish I knew. Would like to ask who is that gray haired man on the porch?
From my grandmother’s album.
My mother, Marian Van Sickle, pulls her brother Robert in the wagon. Durand Illinois. 1918.
From my grandmother’s album.
My Uncle -Robert E. VanSickle Durand, Illinois from my Grandmother’s Album 
My Uncle John, Uncle Robert my Grandfather Judd and my Mother, Marian
This morning, when I heard today’s date, I realized it was on this day, eighty years ago, that my parents married. (Well I had a bit of help as my friend counted the decades by tens.)Although they passed away in 2000 and 2002 I was thinking about their wedding day all those years ago.
Durand Illinois. August 28, 1939. Not sure who took this home movie but here are a few shots from the screen. Roy Joseph Hendricks and Marian Van Sickle and family members in photos below.
