Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

  NOVEMBER 10, 2021 The death of my great grandfather must have come as quite the surprise to my great grandmother. Roy Foltz was only 43 years old when he died after surgery at Walla Walla Hospital. Week 43: Shock The story, as told in the Foltz family, was that George LeeRoy Foltz was shoeing a horse when it kicked him in the stomach. The damage was intense enough to send him to the hospital. It's said when they opened him up, they found a cancerous tumor the size of a man's head. Though he made it off the operating table, he unfortunately died a few days later. Washington State Board of Health, Roy Foltz death certificate, record no. 167, registered no. 579, 25 Nov 1923, Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Washington. All of this took place in Walla Walla, Washington. At the time, Roy and Myrtle were living in Weston, Oregon, but Roy ran a wagon team, so it's likely he was out on the road working. George LeeRoy Foltz, 1912, Oregon. There is a conflicting report of what occurred at...

  SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 My mom was supposed to have an older brother. I was supposed to have an uncle. My grandparents were supposed to have a son. But life is full of curveballs, and Chester Leland Millhouse became a victim of one of those wayward pitches. Chester Leland Millhouse, 1950, 157 Ridgecrest Rd, Bethlehem, West Virginia. Week 33: Tragedy On 10 February 1950, my would-be uncle, “Ches Le” was born in Wheeling, West Virginia to Edna and Ray Millhouse, first time parents. As Edna’s sister, Sheila, would put it, “Ches Le was such a bright light for us.” Annie Diamond (Williams) Millhouse, 10 Feb 1950, diary, unnumbered page, Chester Leland Millhouse birth announcement. The little boy came at a time when the family needed a little pick-me-up, as Edna’s father (Chester’s namesake) had suddenly passed away from a heart attack just a few months prior in November. Edna Millhouse and son Chester Leland, 1950, Oil City, Pennsylvania. Ray and Edna Millhouse and son Chester Leland, 1950...