Light a candle so a loved one can be remembered. Light a candle so a loved one can be honored. Light a candle so a loved one can pass on her legacy.

For my 9th maternal great grandmother, Mary Beckett, who came from England to marry Mayflower passenger George Soule…Mary, thank you for your steadfastness.

For my paternal grandmother, Anna Mroz, who emigrated from Poland with $9 in her pocket and could not speak English…Anna, thank you for your courage.

For my maternal second grandmother, Maria Magdalen Kraemer, who came from France and married her husband at age 15…Maria, thank you for your faith in God.

For my maternal great grandmothers, Sarah Almina Nickel and Naomi Ruth Stevens, who were Kansas pioneer women…Sarah and Naomi, thank for your your resourcefulness.

For my third maternal great grandmother, Rhoda Howell, who braved Indians and uncivilized frontiers…Rhoda, thank you for your perseverance.

For my maternal grandmother, Isabella Mary Boultinghouse, who mastered needlework and quilting while mastering the role of a farmer’s wife…Isabella, thank you for your pursuing your talents.

For my mother, Merna Mae Storer, who married her wartime sweetheart and raised a family of three children…Mom, thank you for your example of love, kindness, and sweetness.

For all my grandmothers, who paved their ways in this world according to their beliefs, talents, and resources. For all of you, I light candles.

His was the first name I found to research and investigate. I really wanted to honor him with a membership in this lineage society. I would just link it all together, and bam…I would become a member. Then, it got complicated.

My 4th great grandfather, Joseph Boultinghouse, was born in New Jersey in 1740. Records indicate that he served in the 4th New Jersey Militia in the Revolutionary War. However, and it is a big however, he was a deserter. Another however, he earned a land warrant for his service. After the war, he started a state militia group in western Pennsylvania before moving into Ohio and Illinois. So what exactly is his story?

Greatly interested in joining the DAR, I started to dig around in their files to see if anyone had joined on his name. No one. I would have to start from scratch to make inquiries to see if he could be claimed as a patriot. It would be a tough battle to put the pieces together. Did I have the patience to proceed?

Three years ago, I did join the DAR. I discovered that I had a total of nine grandfathers who served in the Rev War. I gained membership by using the easiest grandfather to prove. Meanwhile, Joseph remains waiting in the wings to see what can be done about his good name. Time will tell. Is membership in this society just waiting to honor his name?

Darn it…I missed out when he was alive! He was born the same year as my grandfather so the possibility exists that I could have known him and not just about him. My great Uncle Jack was quite the person I wanted to know. If he would have lived longer, but he was gone too soon.

The events in his life seem exciting, adventuresome, and risk taking to me. I have researched him and know about him from records and pictures. But…I have never heard him speak to tell his life tales in his own words. I have never met him so as to ascertain his character and demeanor. I have never looked into his eyes so I can study what lies within his spirit.

What I do know is he was a Kansas farm boy who loved horses. He was a real live cowboy in Wyoming. He was the roustabout on an oil field. He was a wagoner in the U.S. Army in World War and stationed in France. He was the manager of a wildlife preserve in Nebraska. He was an arms expert for Remington Arms during World War II, when he died in Colorado. He loved coming back to Kansas and going hunting and fishing with his dad. He died at the age of 46 with cancer. Gone too soon.

He was my grandmother’s big brother, and she adored him. He was a small town acquaintance of my grandfather. As a child and teenager, my mother saw her uncle only a few times. She could tell me little about him. Gone too soon.

My great uncle Jack was born Edward Ralph Boultinghouse in June, 1896, in Osborne County, Kansas, and passed on in May, 1943. Uncle Jack, I have a lot of questions for you. Gone too soon.