“In [Mexican] tradition, people die three deaths. The first death is when our bodies cease to function;
when our hearts no longer beat of their own accord, when our gaze no longer has depth or weight,
when the space we occupy slowly loses its meaning.

The second death comes when the body is lowered into the ground, returned to mother earth, out of sight.”

The third death, the most definitive death, is when there is no one left alive to remember us.”
MexConnect

Introduction

“The Families Are Forever: Henjes & Paton” is a seven-generation photo album. This album has pictures of members of the Henjes family, of the Paton family, and of their descendents. I hope that it will help you remember the history of your ancestors and family, and maybe even learn a little.

How to use this Website: This main page contains nearly 250 preview images of family members and scenes. Click on the preview to bring up a new page with an enlarged image of the photo and a description or story behind the photo. Occasionally there will be supplemental photos in this page and even links to other information. You can return to the main page by clicking on the photo or by using your back arrow.

You can download full-sized photos from the supplemental pages for enlarging or printing. To do this on a Mac, hold the ’Control’ key down and click on the photo. Then click on “Save image as...” in the menu that appears. In Windows, Right-click the picture that you want to save in a graphics file format, and then click Save as Picture. In the Save as type list, select the graphics file format that you want. Many pictures were scanned at least at 300 dpi, so you can blow them up a moderate amount when printing them.

Thoughts for the future: Here are some things that can be done to improve “Families Are Forever: Busse, Henjes, & Paton”.

  • Most important, if any of the text is wrong or incomplete, please let me know so I can correct it.
  • More photos! If you have illustrative images that I don’t have or if you have higher resolution versions of the images here, please let me know.
  • Third, many of the photos included need to be cleaned up to eliminate dust specks, scratches and other flaws in the copies of the photos available to me. That is something I need to do, given time.

    Jump into the different sections of this album by clicking on the appropriate line in the list here:

    Al Holm
    Original Distribution: December 27, 2010; Updated: June 24, 2023



    Henjes Family

    The surname Hennies is a North German and Dutch patronymic from the personal name Hennig or Hans, according to Ancestry.com.

    Christian Henjes (1827-1890) was the founder of the Henjes family in America. He accompanied the family of Friedrich (1800-1877) and Johanna (1803-1878) Busse to America in 1848. They all came from the village of Bakede in north-western Germany where Christian’s parents Friederich Ludwig Conrad Hennies and Hanne Friederike Zersen and his grandparents Hinrich Hennies and Eleonore Stomeyer had lived.

    In April 1849 Christian, Henry Busse, and a Mr. Henry Grupe from Bloomingdale joined the California gold rush in a prairie scooner from Independence, Missouri. Their trip west took seven months. There were no good maps, no roads, and many places to go the wrong direction. Add to this that the three men were unable to speak English as they traveled into the unknown in this wild country. It really was an adventure.

    When they returned home, they chose the sea route via Panama, walking across the Isthmus where the Panama canal is now situated. Christian Henjes sailed to the port of New York first and then came back to Elk Grove Township. Once back, Christian bought a 108 acre farm about a mile south of where the oldest Busses had homesteaded.

    Johanna Busse, the daughter of Friedrich and Johanna, married Christian Henjes on April 27, 1857. They had ten children, of whom eight reached adulthood. Their children were Johanna, Louisia, Sophia, Fred, Henry (died young?), Caroline (died young?), Emma, Wilhelmine, Martha, and Alvina.

    Fred Henjes was the only son of Christian and Johanna Henjes to grow to be an adult. He attended the old Elk Grove school. In February 1890 he married Ella Duntemann of Leyden Township Illinois, at the St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran church in Leyden Township. Fred and Ella had four daughters: Elma, Martha, Edna, and Rosa.

    As the only surviving son, Fred inherited the family farm when his father died. He made truck farming his business and would take the farm produce to the Water Street market in Chicago to sell it. In 1915, the Henjes family moved from the farm to 619 West Campbell Street in Arlington Heights. The first year after moving they rented the farm to a non-relative; after that they rented it to a cousin. In about 1918 they sold it to an oil company for storage tanks at $300 an acre.

    Ella passed away at home from pneumonia on May 30, 1949, after a lingering illness. Fred died just one month later, on June 29, from cerebral hemorrhage. Both were buried in the Elk Grove Lutheran Cemetery.


    Google map showing the location of Bakede in Germany A photo of St. Nicolai, the home church of the Hennies and Busse families Hanne and Johann Busse, founders of the Busse family in Cook County, Illinois
    Johanna Busse Henjes standing with her hand on the shoulder of Christian Henjes 
           who is seated A large two story building with a woman, a man, and three
               girls in front of it, and a horse and buggy to the side. The grey monument erected for Christian Henjes The granite monument erected for Johanna Busse Henjes

    Tintype photograph of a young Fred Henjes in a tintype studio photograph. 
           This was before he grew a mustache. Fred Henjes a studio photo. He has grown his mustache and is looking 
 slightly to his left. Photograph of the bride 
      Ella Duntemann Fred Henjes and Ella Duntemann studio photo. She’s sitting and wearing a dark 
dress with a white train. He’s standing with his hand on a book

    Fred Henjes and an older man at Kolze’s Electric Park Fred Henjes seated with two men and a boy Fred Henjes standing on a ship and leaning against a lifeboat
    Members of the band are in two rows; Fred Henjes kneels in the front row Members of the band are in three rows; Fred Henjes sits in the front row


    Fred Henjes wearing a coat, tie, and a brimmed hat Color photo of 65-year-old Ella Henjes An elderly Ella Henjes

    Fred and Ella Henjes with three daughters at a resort Fred and Ella Henjes with their daughters, the daughter’s husbands,
          grandchildren, and other relatives on Easter 1941 Fred Henjes in his garden
    Fred Henjes with sons-in-law Herman Gieseke & Bob Paton and grandson Lester Gieseke The home of Fred and Ella Henjes The granite gravestone of Fred and Ella Henjes

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    Henjes daughters

    Elma (1891-1951) married Fred Meier in 1913. They had two daughters, Bernice and Loretta. Bernice married Ed Koelper. Loretta married first Robert Maierhofer and later Clarence Allison.

    Martha (1892-1989) married Herman Gieseke in 1914. They had a son, Lester, and a daughter, Sylvia. Lester married Mildred “Millie” Smida. Sylvia married Alvin Beyer.

    Edna (1894-1979) never married. In 1913 she was teaching and bought a car when cars were rare. It was considered somewhat scandalous that a woman would own one. She joined the nursing corps in 1918 and was stationed in the Panama canal zone for a while. She became sick with multiple sclerosis, but worked in hospitals in California as long as she could.

    Rosa (1906-1988) changed her first name from "Rosa" to "Rose" when she attended high school in Arlington Heights. "Rose" sounded less German and in the years of World War I people were reluctant to be associated with Germany. She bought her first car in 1922 with $150 saved picking berries in the summer. In those days driver’s licenses were not required so the garage man who sold her the car took her down the road a few miles to show her how to operate it. That was all the training she had! In August 1926, Rose and a girl friend drove her car to Niagara Falls and back, sleeping in the car in parks along the way. Here is her journal of the trip.

    Rose began working in the post office in about 1926 for 65 cents an hour. She got the job as a clerk because no man wanted it. When she quit in 1945, she was earning $2400 a year.

    Rose married Robert Paton in 1929. They had a son, Guy, and a daughter, Gail.


    Studio photo of the three oldest daughter’s of Fred and Ella Henjes: 
              Martha, Edna, and Elma A studio portrait of Elma, Edna, and Martha Henjes
    Baby Rose Henjes standing on a chair for her portrait Baby Rose Henjes holds a flower and has a bow in her hair for her portrait School photo of Rose Henjes, Guy and Gail’s mother

    Martha Henjes Gieseke in a darkened room Rose Henjes Paton, Martha Henjes Gieseke and families sitting around a table

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    Paton Family

    The Paton family came from Scotland. The Paton surname goes way back into the 1500s in Highland Scotland, but it is not a formal clan name, according to FamilySearch.com. “Although there are Patons in the Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, and in particular in the Clan MacLean, the name is believed to have actually started as a Christian name, meaning ’son of Pat’ or ’son of Patrick’, with the ’- on’ as a French suffix meaning ’son of’ (the French equivalent of the Gaelic ’Mac’, or the Norman ’Fitz’).”

    The first ancestor whose name we know for sure was James Paton, a farmer, who was born in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1828. His parents probably were Thomas Paton and Christian Auld who married in 1806 in Falkirk. James married Mary Mclellan, on 25 Nov 1849 at Airth in Stirlingshire. Their children included Mary, born January 1849, Thomas, born about 1852, Christina, born June 1853, James, born December 1854, George, born March 1857, John, born April 1859, Robert, born December 1863, and Grace Paton, born April 1866. All the children were born at Airth or St. Ninians in Sterlingshire. In his old age, James lived with his daughter Mary and her family. He died after 1901.

    James’s son George married Sarah Hepburn McLean on Oct. 18, 1878. He was 21 and she was 18. The wedding was in Gorbals District of Glasgow. Sarah’s parents were Robert McLean and Elizabeth McGeachy. Sarah’s father had been a mate in the Merchant Service, but was dead before she married.

    Sarah and George had at least four children. George, Jr., the eldest, was born at 38 Norfolk Street, Glasgow, on May 7, 1881. At that time, George Sr. worked as a police constable. Another son, Robert, was born on April 19, 1885, at 63 Sandyfaulds Street. George Sr. was working as a biscuit van driver then. They had two more boys, John, “who died young” according to a distant cousin Mae Brown, and James. Later the family moved to 1 Bannockburn Road in St Ninians. George, Jr., is the one we’ll follow. I don’t know what became of Robert and James.

    In May 1904, George Paton, Jr., boarded a ship named Mongolian to Halifax, Canada, arriving on June 1. He listed his profession as joiner and his destination as Winnipeg, Manitoba. I don’t know if he made it all the way to Winnipeg, but he soon found himself 130 miles to the east on the shore of Lake of the Woods.

    Isabella Johnston followed him, arriving in Montreal on September 5, 1904, on the ship Pretorian and traveling to Keewatin, Ontario, to join George. (Note that in 1905, Keewatin joined with two other towns to become Kenora.) They married eight days later on Sept 13, 1904, in the Rainy River District of western Ontario.

    Isabella “Bella” Johnston had been born in Scotland in December 1883, the daughter of Robert Sorley Johnstone and his wife Isabella Casson. She had one older brother, Robert who was born in about 1882, two younger sisters, Catharine “Katie” who was born in about 1885 and Jeanetta “Nettie” who was born in about 1888, and a younger brother, James who was born in about 1889. They lived in St Ninians in 1891. In 1901, both Isabella and Catherine were working as servants in other family’s homes. The family with whom Isabella lived was about a 10 minute walk from where George Paton lived. There is family lore that their parents did not want George and Bella to marry because of the difference in their social classes. I have not found any records for Robert Sorley Johnstone in the Scottish census or birth records for his children. Had he died after his youngest son, James, was born?

    Soon after George, Jr., and Bella were married, they moved to Port Arthur, Ontario. There they had two sons, George McLain, who was born in January 1905, and Robert Johnston, who was born in Spetember 1907.

    George worked in a saw mill in Port Arthur, but was nearly blinded by sawdust while working in the sawpit. In 1910, he decided to go to Chicago where he got a job with Carson, Pirie, and Scott, the big department store there.

    In June 1911, Bella took the boys George and Bob from Canada (either Quebec or Montreal) on the steamship Grampian to visit Scotland, arriving at Glasgow on June 18, 1911. They returned to America, going to New York instead of Canada, on May 6, 1913. They traveled on the steamship California, which was later sunk by the German submarine U-85 on February 7, 1917.

    At first the family lived in the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. In August of 1915 the family moved out to Des Plaines

    George’s brother Robert Paton came to America in 1912. He sailed on the Grampian from Glasgow, arriving in Montreal on October 5, 1912,. He crossed the border to the U.S. at Port Huron, Michigan, on October 7. He joined George in Chicago and quickly got a job as a fireman. Sadly, he died on November 27, 1912, only 53 days after he arrived in the country, and was buried at the Oakridge-Glen Oak Cemetery.

    During World War I, George Paton, Jr., enlisted in the Canadian Over-seas Expeditionary Force as a U.S. recruit on Feb 9, 1918, in Winnipeg, Canada. The Canadian army had a recruiting office in Chicago at the time and he might have been recruited there on Jan. 31, 1918. At the time, the family was living on Prairie Avenue in Des Plaines. He was sent to England where he helped train soldiers.

    George’s surviving brother, James, married Maggie Boyd on July 23, 1920. In September 2020, only months after he got married, he followed George across the Atlantic to Des Plaines, Illinois, saying that he intended to live in the U.S. permanently. Four and a half months after their son was born, Maggie and the infant followed James to Illinois. In May 1922, James and his family arrived back at Glasgow. Jamesˆs mother, Sarah Hepburn McLean, had died on 26 Jan 1922 and it is possible that they returned to Scotland to care for his aging father? After that, James remained in Scotland for most of the rest of his life, moving to Wales in 1957.

    James and Maggie had five children: George (1921-1974), James (1922-1977), Margaret (1924-2022), Elizabeth (1933-1999), and Iain (1943-2022). George married Phyllis Jones in Wales in 1947, and they had one son. James married Beryl Williams in Wales, and they had a daughter. Margaret married David Berrie and they had three children. Elizabeth married the Reverend David Evans and they moved to New Zealand, where they had two daughters. Iain moved to England. He married Lesley and they had two sons. James died in Wales in 1967.

    Neither Bella nor George obtained American citizenship. They returned to Scotland to retire, possibly in 1936. The family story is that she returned first and that he followed about six months later after realizing that she wasn’t going to return to the U.S. They settled in Grangemouth, which is on the River Forth. Bella died in September 1951 and George died in May 1952.

    George M. married a woman from Illinois named Harriet Jefferson in 1925. They had three children Donald L., Robert S., and Jean, all born in Illinois. In August 1937, the family moved to Houston, Texas. He became a U.S. citizen in April 1941. George and Harriet divorced before October 1946. Harriet and her two youngest children returned to live with Harriet’s mother, Alice Jefferson, in Des Plaines, Illinois. George married Lou Ella Bramlett in Rockwall, Texas. George went to work in Carracas, Venezuela, for a while, but later returned to Texas. He lived in Liberty, TX, and later in Anahuac, TX, both near Houston, with his second wife, Luella. He died there on November 16, 1981, after being sick for a couple of years and having a leg amputated.


    George Paton and his family in the late 19th century Young Bob Paton riding in a goat cart Isabella Paton with her sons Robert and George
    Bella Paton in a studio photo Nettie Johnston, Bella Paton’s sister, in a garden George and Bella Paton with her brother Bob Johnston
    George and Bella Paton sitting in a garden The Johnston sisters with their dogs George and Bella Paton at tea
    James Paton with his wife, two children, and three grandchildre James, Margaret, and Maggie are sitting in beach chairs
    George and Robert Paton standing in a yard with a large utility shed and pine trees
    Three children in a studio photo, maybe from the 1930s. They are two
        boys holding a girl. The oldest boy looks 9 or 10 and the girl looks about 2 1948 High school senior photo of Donald Paton 1952 High school yearbook photo of Jean Paton

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    Bob and Rose Paton and their family

    Robert Paton and Rose Henjes married on November 15, 1929, only two weeks after the stock market crash that started the great Depression. At first they lived in an apartment, but in 1930 they moved into her parent’s house because Bob had lost his job and their $50 rent had become too much. Later they moved into their own seven-room house in Arlington Heights.

    In 1934 and 1935 Bob went to work for Carson, Pirie, and Scott because jobs were hard to find. His brother George was the straw boss for this job. Bob worked at night building scaffolding and covering the merchandise with drop clothes so the painters could work. For this he was paid $20 a week. He did not clear much because it cost so much to commute from his home in Arlington Park to downtown Chicago.

    They moved to Genoa City, Wisconsin, in 1945 because Bob saw an opportunity to run a small hardware business. The building and the business cost $16,000 which is what they got for the house in Arlington Heights. The store was empty because the previous owner had been unable to make a go of it. At first Bob and Rose lived in a small apartment over the store. The apartment was 20 steps up. It had a single bedroom, a kitchen too small to eat in, and a small dining room. It was hot in the summer but, by putting an exhaust fan in the bedoom window and closing the doors to the other rooms, that room was kept livable.

    Bob also joined the Genoa City Volunteer Fire Department in 1945, keeping up that service for 30 years.

    When Rose’s parents died, she inherited $7,000 which she and Bob used to start building their house on Wisconsin Street. They lived there for the rest of their days.

    A few years later in 1958, when a new basement was being dug next door to the hardware store, the hardware store slid into the hole and was destroyed. Luckily there was enough warning so that everyone got out and no one was injured.

    Bob Paton retired from his plumbing and hardware business in 1972. He continued to work part-time at the Nippersink Resort, and also spent time building wooden furniture and toys in his basement. He never liked to travel and visiting wasn’t interesting to him unless there was work to be done.

    In his later years Bob became increasingly ill. He had come down with diabetes in his 40s and had increasing trouble keeping it in balance. He died in November 1986.

    Rose’s health degraded too, and she passed away in February 1988.


    Wedding picture of  Bob Paton and Rose Henjes The first home of Bob and Rose Paton, a two story building with white siding studio photo of Rose Paton with her son Guy
    Rose Paton with her infant son Guy sitting on a lawn Bob Paton lounging below a tree on a picnic Guy Paton kneeling on a stump at a picnic
    Rose Paton holding Gail’s hand and standing in the snow Gail and Guy Paton in fall 1947 Guy and Gail with five other Cub Scouts lined up in front of 
               dome for the 40-inch telescope at Yerkes Observatory in 1948
    The Paton family is dressed nicely. Gail and Rose are seated at a table
          with a fancy cake on it and Guy and Robert are standing in behind them. Photo of Bob Paton for the Genoa City Bank
    Looking north on Main Street in Genoa City with businesses on both sides Gail and Guy Paton standing in front of the hardware store window. 
             Phone number 15. Debris in basement where Paton’s hardware store collapsed. 
          Two men are working in the hole.
    A formal, black-and-white protrait of Rose and Robert Paton.
          She is wearing a checkered jacket and he has a dark jacket without a tie. Rose Paton in a pink suit for Gail’s graduation Rose Paton standing in Veterans Park and holding several pieces of paper, 
               possibly raffle tickets
    Robert and Rose Paton sitting with their daughter Gail and her husband 
           with Albert Holm with a wood-paneled wall and a cat behind them Bob Paton holds granddaughter Niki in his living room

    Celebrating Bob and Rose’s 50th Anniversary, September 1979

    Bob and Rose Paton celebrating their 50th anniversary on the dance floor Bob and Rose Paton celebrating their 50th anniversary with their family
    Sylvia Beyer, Rose Paton, and Bob Paton sitting on lawn chairs in the Paton’s
           side yard. Bob and Rose Paton sitting on lawn chairs with their 
          grandchildren Niki and Troy Paton standing beside them Bob Paton seated in an orange recliner with Carolyn Holm 
             standing on his lap.2
    Rose Paton  with a glass of beer at home in June 1982 Bob Paton at home in his favorite chair in June 1982 Bob and RosePaton standing with grandson Douglas Holm and
           holding Carolyn Holm in 1982
    Douglas Holm and Troy Paton are comically sticking out their tongues Rose and Bob Paton are sitting together in a room in their home.
               They are looking at the camera. The one-story house and two-car garage are sitting under
          a shade tree on the corner of Wisconsin and Tower Streets.

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    The Great South Pacific Adventure

    After Guy and Gail married, Rose Paton took the newly extended family on a three-week vacation in winter 1975 to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia as a family bonding exercise.

    Tahiti

    Tahiti, the capitol of French Polynesia, was the most exotic stop of the trip, but also the shortest, only three days. We had a tour around the coast of the island, saw where Captain Cook landed to make observations of the 1769 transit of Venus, visited the beaches, and watched hula dance demonstrations.
    The Patons and Al Holm standing in front of a wall overlooking the ocean in Tahiti Gail and Al after swimming in Tahiti Six Tahitian women and two men in red skirts demonstrate a hula dance
    Southern Cross Constellation
    New Zealand

    In New Zealand, we joined a coach tour visiting the glow worm caves and the hot springs region at Rotorua on North Island. At Rotorua, we were entertained by Maori dancing and we took a light plane flight over the volcano.

    On South Island, our tour picked up a family of Texans who quit their rental car after deciding that driving on the “wrong” side of the road was too stressful. We visited Christchurch, Dunedin, the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tekapo, and Milford Sound. We stopped along the road to see Mount Cook, now called Aoraki, but it was shrouded in clouds. We did see lots of sheep and had a demonstration of sheep sheering. In an article in the Lake Geneva Regional News paper, Rose reported that “New Zealand was the more beautiful of the two countries and that New Zealand serves a more American type of food.”
    Sheryl and Guy Paton in Rotorua, New Zealand Al and Gail Holm  in Rotorua, New Zealand The Patons and Al Holm with the other passengers alongside our 
              New Zealand coach

    Australia

    From New Zealand, we flew to Sidney, Australia, where we we joined another coach tour. First we visited the Opera House and the Sidney Bay Bridge. Then we went inland to Canberra, the capital. There we saw the usual monuments and government buildings, but also had an adventure when Bob needed to visit a medical clinic to get a prescription for his insulin refill. The driver/guide was not happy with us for delaying his tour.

    Continuing our journey, we stayed in Albury and visited a winery and a large hydroelectric dam before arriving in Melbourne. One motel where we stayed had pass-through windows in the doors of the rooms where breakfast was delivered. One item on the breakfast menu was spaghetti. We thought we'd try that. It turned out to be Chef-boyardee canned spaghetti on toast. Interesting! In Melbourne, we visited the beautiful National Gallery of Victoria art museum and Captain Cook’s Cottage in the Fitzroy Gardens.
    Sheryl and Guy Paton feeding treats to a wallaby, that stands
      about thigh-high between them. There’s a fence and a tree behind them.

    Our flight home had a change of planes in Hawaii. We didn’t leave the airport, but the warm, moist air and lush flowers were wonderful.

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    Guy Paton and his family

    Guy was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and moved with his parents to Genoa City, Wisconsin, when he was seven years old. He attended school in Genoa City. The Genoa City school included grades one through twelve at that time, and Guy graduated with twenty-one classmates in the spring of 1956. When he graduated his goal was to become an electrical engineer so he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He became dissatisfied with the University, and the following October enlisted in the U.S. Navy to be trained as an electronics field seaman. Health problems forced him to leave the navy.

    Later he went back to UW-Madison and got his electrical engineering degree. In 1967 he began working at Univac in St. Paul, Minnesota. He bought a duplex house and rented out half of it. He met Sheryl Beskar, another Univac employee, and in July 1973 they married. In summer 1975, they had a daughter, Niki Love Paton.

    Soon the family moved to Sheboygan Falls, WI, where Guy managed a Hardware Hank hardware store. Guy and Sheryl had a son, Troy Robert, in spring 1977. Hardware Hank suffered from vandalism and wasn’t profitable, so Guy moved his family to Hudson, Wisconsin, and began working for 3M Corporation. Later, they had a house built across the river in Stillwater, MN, where the family lives still.

    Sheryl passed away on the eve of her birthday in 2022.


    The smiling infant Guy Paton is lying on a leopard-spotted blanket A formal photo of Guy Paton in a coat and tie Guy Paton in his graduation robes standing next to his father
    Sheryl Beskar and Guy Paton are leaning against his yellow
             Fiat convertible in a suburb of Minneapolis Sheryl and Guy Paton in a wedding photo flanked by their attendants Sheri Paton is holding Niki at Niki's baptism. 
               Sheryl is wearing sunglasses.

    Sheryl and Guy Paton are sitting on a sofa. Guy is holding baby Niki.
              Sheryl is holding a stuffed Big bird toy. A Shelty dog is lying on the
              sofa next to Sheryl. Guy Paton is sitting on the floor in front of a crib and holding Troy Paton.
                 Niki is sitting beside him. A studio photo of Guy and Sheryl Paton with their children Niki and Troy

    Niki and Troy Paton are sitting together with a dark background in a
              studio photo. Both are wearing matching, red-and-white sweaters. Troy and Niki Paton are riding on a “Big Wheel” tricycle.
               Troy is wearing a bright red coverall.
    The Paton family in a studio photo Sheryl, Guy, Troy, and Niki Paton in a studio photo

    Niki Paton hugging Troy Paton on Easter 1982. Both in warm coats 
              with some snow on the ground Niki and Troy Paton with a puppy in Genoa City, WI. Bob Paton is 
           sitting in the background. Guy Paton’s home seen on a winter day in 1992 with a clear blue sky
    Sheryl Paton wearing her cap and gown at her college graduation and 
         standing between two of her professors, both bearded. Sheryl and Guy Paton in a studio photo during their 30th annivesary year Gail Holm and Guy Paton standing together in front 
            of St. John Lutheran Church in Mt. Prospect, IL

    The Paton family with Gail Holm on the evening before Niki’s 
            graduation from River Hill State University The family standing in front of a red curtain. Troy Paton, CJ Holm, Niki Paton and Al Holm on the 
      observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building
    A selfie by Guy Paton with his daughter Niki by his side in the dining room
            of a restaurant The Paton family in a humorous Christmas photo

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    Gail Paton and her family

    Bob and Rose Paton moved to Genoa City shortly before their daughter, Gail, was born, but went to the hospital in Woodstock, Illinois, for the event.

    As a teenager, Gail enjoyed owning and riding horses. She wanted to be a veterinarian. She started college at the University of Iowa, but soon found it wasn’t the place for her. She re-started college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Discouraged from seeking a career as a veterinarian because she was a woman, she got her bachelor’s and maste’s degrees in poultry science. She then went to work in a lab at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul.

    In 1973, Gail returned to Madison and in 1974 married Albert Holm, an astronomer employed by the university. She went back to school and got a second bachelor’s degree in agriculture journalism. Then she worked in the public affairs office for the University Hospital. She was glad to leave that job in 1977 when Al got a job for Computer Sciences Corporation helping to run one of NASA’s satellites at the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland.

    They resettled to Bowie, Maryland, where they had a son, Douglas, and a daughter, Carolyn. Gail stayed home to raise the children. Things were rough while Al’s work required rotating shifts where over the course of a year he would have to start at any time of day or night. Things improved when he was transferred to a day job in Baltimore, helping to plan operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, but he now had a long commute.

    In 1986, they moved to Columbia, MD, to shorten Al’s commute. When the children were old enough to care for themselves, Gail began to volunteer to teach reading to illiterate adults. She enjoyed this activity so she enrolled in the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) to get a degree in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. After getting her master’s degree, she taught at UMBC and at Howard Community College until retiring in 2015.

    In retirement, Gail and Al purchased an recreation vehicle and spent summers volunteering as camp hosts at state parks around the country.


    Baby picture of the smiling of Gail Paton on a pillow Studio photo of a smiling Gail Doris Paton in a blue dress 
              and with a blue ribbon in her hair Gail Paton at age 1 1/2 years sitting on a baby pool with three of her cousins
              in July 1947
    Gail Paton and her friend Myrna Moericke standing and holding hands Gail Paton leaning on a fence and petting a calf Gail Paton on a pony in 1949

    Myrna Moericke and Gail Paton on play horses in April 1950 Gail Paton on her bike with training wheels in 1950
    Gail Paton in her first grade school photo in 1950 Myrna and Gail standing next to their tables at a hobby show
    Genoa City 2nd and 3rd grade classes

    Class photo of the second grade on the front steps of the 
             Genoa City school in 1952

    8-year-old Gail Paton kicking up a leg with other dancers on stage A Santa worker and Gail Paton sitting in front of a brick wall Gail and four friends, the five Indians, with headdresses and face paint
    Gail Paton in Genoa City school photos

    Gail Paton in her photos from the 1957-58 and 1958-59 school years

    Five girls in swim suits and towels, lined up, eating watermelon and 
             spitting the seeds
    Gail Paton wearing a Betsy Ross costume stands next to Judy
              Zarnstorff wearing an Uncle Sam costume

    Bob Workman and Gail Paton standing in front of her home Gail Paton and three friends with rakes and shovels are cleaning the 
              bank of the stream behind them
    Gail Paton in Lake Geneva High School photos

    Gail Paton in her photos from the 1959-60 and 1961-62 school years

    The three girls are looking toward the camera. 
               They have the old-fashioned, balloon-tire bikes. Gail Paton in a studio portrait in 1963 Gail riding a horse in a parade

    Gail Paton in her graduation robe and cap, and holding a diploma case Wedding photo of Gail Paton and Albert Holm standing at the altar, flanked by their parents Wedding photo of Gail Paton and Albert Holm running through the thrown rice as they leave the 
         First Congregational Church
    Gail's home at 13500 Youngwood Turn, Bowie, Maryland Snow covering our home in Bowie after the 1979 Washington’s Birthday storm Albert and Douglas Holm after the 1979 Washington’s Birthday snow

    Douglas Holm holds his new baby sister with Daddy Al Gail Holm and Barb Engh sitting on a blanket with their children Douglas and CJ amidst their toys in front of the Christmas tree in 1982
    Carolyn, Albert, & Douglas Holm sitting in the arm chair and reading 
           a picture book Gail is sitting between CJ and Doug on the sofa. CJ is pulling 
              Gail’s ear

    Douglas and Carolyn making faces The house in 1987 CJ and Doug Holm with Kelly Workman at the tot lot
    Our dog Roxie at 10 weeks of age and confined in our dining room Douglas, Carolyn, and Gail standing by the railing with the falls in the background
    Gail and her family in a studio photo in 1989 Our family picture for Christmas 1993
    Albert, Gail, Doug and CJ Holm in a 1997 studio photo Gail Holm is sitting in a classroom with female and male Egyptian teachers Gail Paton and Albert Holm celebrating their 25th anniversary 
          with flowers and a cake.
    Albert and Gail Holm dressed for a celebration in 2003 Gail, Doug, CJ and Al standing in front of a San Diego home with Christmas lights

    Gail Paton Holm in China

    Gail with others in front of the Chinese farmhouse Gail descending Wu Gong Mountain on the steps
    Gail and Al standing on the edge of a cliff with Grand Canyon cliffs 
           rising behind them Chris, CJ, Gail and Doug Holm at ’Top of the Rock’ in New York City

    Gail Paton Holm in Ecuador

    Gail Paton Holm posing in a room with her Ecuadorian students Gail and Al Holm posing with a sleeping giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island
    Gail Holm talking with a microphone Gail Holm with cleaning tools at a picnic table Gail Holm snorkeling off the beach in Aruba
    Gail and Al Holm standing in front of the Haceta Head Lighthouse Gail Holm standing at the gate to Sterling Castle, Scotland
    Al and Gail Holm standing near a tree with a field behind them. Gail Holm with her graddaughter, son, and daughter

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    Another generation


    Niki Paton

    Little Niki is standing at a toy piano and looking at the camera a photo of Niki in 1983 wearing a rainbow-colored shirt
    Niki with her hands on her hips in a room with photos and posters on the walls Gail Holm and Niki Paton standing together in front of the church

    Niki Paton in her graduation robes at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Niki is seated and smiling at the camera Niki Paton in a tandem sky dive with the ground far below

    Niki is buckled in and wearing a headset Niki is floating down in a blue sky Niki Paton with her flight instructor in a Piper

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    Troy Paton

    School photo of Troy Paton in 1983 Troy Paton in a studio photo with a flowering shrub background Troy Paton in his fifth grade school photo Bearded Troy Paton with his cheek resting on his fist

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    Douglas Holm and his family

    Rose Paton holds infant grandson, Douglas Holm, and smiles Bob and Rose Paton; Rose holds smiling grandson, Douglas Holm 3-month-old Doug sitting in Gail’s lap and listening to the phone
    He is sitting in front of a typewriter and pressing keys with his left hand “Do you want to talk with me?”
    A conversation with 3-year-old Douglas
    shortly after the birth of his sister
    Douglas is laughing and wearing a bowtie in front of a dark background

    Douglas is standing on the lower branches of the leafless tree. Doug on his bike on his first day of 5th grade Douglas stands in front of our garage door in scout uniform with two bags 
                 and a rolled-up foam mattress
    Douglas and Carolyn Holm standing at a wall 
                 with rock tower and Lake Superior in the background Doug in a freestye bike contest on his orange bike Polaroid snapshot of Doug with dreads and on the phone

    Two photos with Doug Holm working on the roof over a mobile home Doug Holm with his guitar on stage at Berklee College Doug Holm is sitting at the dinner table with phone in hand

    Doug Holm in his robes at his high school Baccalaureate service Doug is standing by the hood of the car, and wearing his uniform, 
                a red and blue shirt and hat Doug Holm lying back on a pillow in a hospital bed and smiling with a bag of candy Doug napping on the sofa with Misty, the cat

    Douglas Holm in California

    Doug Holm is standing next to shelves of videos and holding a box Doug Holm after receiving his graduaton certificate at SDSU

    Douglas Holm Gets A Family

    Family photo when Joey was adopted Joey and Lisa sitting together on the grass in front of the playground in our Tot Lot

    Doug holding Abby on Oct 9, 2010, in the medical center where Abby was born. Lisa holding Abby in bed in the medical center where Abby was born. 
         Lisa and Joey are looking at the little girl. _ Abby dances before she can walk _

    A photo of Doug's new house in Edgewater in January 2010 Joey’s Jig Doug Holm is giving his daughter Abby a ride on his shoulders
    Lisa and Doug flank their newly erected family tent Joey Holm is perched in a leafless tree

    The family is standing in front of the river on a sunny day. 
                 People are walking across the footbridge on the left Abigail Holm riding on a horse at a corn maze
    Douglas Holm smiling while sitting in a chair Abigail and Joseph Holm wearing hats and looking at camera

    Joseph Holm is photographed with the high school principal Abby holds her scroll and the hand of the Principal on stage

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    CJ Holm

    Newborn Carolyn in the delivery room with Gail and Albert Holm Baby CJ asleep in the cradle that grandpa bob made Toddler Carolyn Holm standing with her arms spread
    Cowgirl baby Carolyn on a stuffed horse in our rec room in 1982 Carolyn Holm looking confused at Halloween in a bunny costume
    Carolyn Holm with a stuffed bunny is sitting in front of a phtograph of a stream and woods Carolyn Holm dancing in our living room in a red dress and red tights Carolyn with a wand in front of bookcases
    Carolyn Holm sitting on our front porch before leaving for kindergarten Carolyn Holm posing in her ballarina costume in front of our garage doors Carolyn Holm petting a deer at Aqualand

    Carolyn carrying Misty in a basket
    “I really have some great jokes”
    A recording by 6-year-old Carolyn
    Carolyn Holm as dressed Raggedy Ann for the Christmas pageant
    Carolyn Holm standing at the railing by the Niagra River where it flows 
                over the falls Al and Carolyn Holm hugging at the Wright memorial in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Carolyn Holm standing by a fence with a pony on the other side

    CJ is carrying a tray with two cups and wearing a crown with imitation candles. CJ Holm standing on our deck with Roxie sitting by her side Carolyn and the Seymour actor standing together on stage
    CJ, her friends, and Roxie are in our driveway next to a huge pile of snow CJ Holm sitting on the sofa with her guitar School photo of CJ Holm at Sandy Spring Friends School

    CJ Holm and Evan North standing together Standing in a parking lot, we are pointing at the award

    CJ in a dance performance CJ and Al looking at each other on a sunny, late autumn afternoon CJ Holm, in a suit, graduating at Hampshire College, receiving a scroll 
          from the blue-robed college president
    Program cover for the Choreography Showcase with a link to a video
       of CJ Holm’s performance. CJ is holding baby Abby in our family room

    CJ, wearing protest buttons, is looking to the right Krista and CJ are performing a movement with their arms and one leg outstretched
    CJ, wearing a helmet, is standing behind her bike which is loaded with her gear She is looking at the camera through the midsection of a skeleton CJ is wearing her purple gown in front of Madison Square Garden

    Photo by Erika Kapin Photography of CJ posed by a tree in Prospect Park Newborn Morgan lies on a pad while a pair of gloved hands check him out CJ is in her hospital bed with Morgan sleeping on her chest.

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    The Busse Reunion of 1998

    The Busse family set the first Guinness World Record for the largest family reunion in 1998. The reunion brought together descendants of the six children of Friedrich and Johanna Busse. the original 1848 immigrants. The family had reunions in 1898 for the fiftieth anniversary of their immigration, 1923 for the seventy-fifth, and in 1948 for the one-hundredth. In 1998, the 2,369 descendants and spouses gathered at the Lake County, Illinois, Fairgrounds.

    The organizers developed a system of color-coded shirts that attendees wore based on affiliation with the six branches of the family: Christian’s, Friedrich’s, Henry’s, Louise’s, Louis’s, and Johanna’s. So many people attended that only one branch at a time could be photographed on the bleachers provided for it. Families being families, some people were descended from more than one branch so there are green, red, and purple shirts scattered among all the blue here.


    The descendents of Johanna Busse in 1998

    Headline from Chicago Tribune report on the reunion A family tree of Friedrich and Johanna Busse with their children
    The four cousins are are seated side by side on a bench Bernice Koelper is standing with her husband and two sons

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    Henjes Cousins

    Siblings Barb and Steve are clustered with their children The Botterman family’s Christmas photo for 1990 Family members lined up with Kristen Botterman and her groom
    Rae and Bruce Botterman in their airplane repair shop in May 2005 Gail Holm, Guy Paton and their cousin Bernice Koelper Bride and groom with the bride’s family on a patio

    Millie Geiske with her employees in her fabric store Gail Holm and Millie Gieseke with our pickup
    Gail Holm, Bernice Koelper, and Ron Koelper in a restaurant Al and Gail Holm with Rae and Bruce Botterman

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