52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 25

Week 25:

The theme for Week 25 is “FAN Club.” In genealogy the FAN club refers to someone’s friends, associates, and neighbors – the people we often need to research to find answers about our family. Who is a member of the FAN club in your family tree? Who did you make a discovery about because you looked a bit wider? Or… is there someone in the family who was known for being a fan of a certain celebrity? Be creative!


I'm a little late to Week 25. If I'm being honest, I feel incredibly uninspired by this prompt. 

When I first read this prompt no one on my family tree jumped out at me. 

I'll introduce you to my maternal grandmother, Betty Arlene Erney Weber.


Betty Arlene Erney 

Born: 11 Feb 1938 Fairview Township, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Death: 5 November 2020 Dillsburg, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America








Betty lived to be 82 and sharp as a tack right until the end. I could always ask her questions about family history and she'd have answers for me. She was also really good at identifying people in old photographs. 

Almost all of the research I've done on the maternal side of the family tree was assisted by my grandmother. 

Grandma and I had a really difficult relationship. We loved each other, but we didn't always get along. My brother and my grandmother got along great, while I was always a Pappy's girl. 

After a few awkward years of being estranged, grandma's heart started to give out. She ended up in the hospital and was allowed to come home on hospice care. She ended up living for two more years.

During those two years my mom and I were with her daily, making sure her wounds were tended to and her medications were dispensed probably. For someone in hospice she was still incredibly sharp. A year into her hospice journey Covid reared it's ugly head.

She talked a lot about wanting to shop at Boscov's (her most favorite store) and had family buy her a lot of slippers (evens though her feet were too swollen for any of them to fit). We couldn't get her to understand why she wasn't allowed to leave the house to go to Boscov's (Boscov's was closed for Covid). 

Even with all of that, if you asked her a question about a family member or something from her childhood she could recall it with perfect clarity. 


When she passed away I inherited a treasure trove of family pictures. She had them labeled and in photo albums. Priceless memories that I'll always be extremely thankful for. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM

    My mother's father was one of the first inventory of the heat pump which still holds several patents. I believe he was 91 when he passed and his mind was like your grandma's sharp as a tack.

    ReplyDelete

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