Cousin Eugene

I might as well include a few comments about my cousin Eugene at this point. As a child he was a loquacious, interesting individual and I certainly enjoyed his company; I suppose I was a bit envious of him. On their visits to Gowrie (I suppose during the time uncle Serenus was attending the seminary) they typically would stay at the home of Ellen Stenholm (aunt Edith’s sister who was the widow of Pete Stenholm who had been the International Harvester farm implement dealer in Gowrie). Her home was about a block from the little brown house, rather an imposing structure made of sort of pink-colored stone of cement blocks.

I think Eugene went to college at Fresno State and I believe he was assisted in his expenses by my uncle Carl. Following WWII, in which I believe he was in the service, he entered the field of advertising. On one occasion he was involved with the account of some beer company and was in San Francisco in connection with it; he looked us up while we were living in El Cerrito. This must have been not long after Jean and I were married and before Eugene and “Dode” were married.

The last time I saw Eugene was in Chicago when Jean and I and our three daughters came through Chicago on a drive in a rented car from Kansas City to Des Moines. On that trip we did such things as visit the Field Museum and we also had dinner one evening with Eugene and Dode. They lived in a high-rise apartment building in the downtown section of Chicago. It was a rather imposing, sophisticated place of residence. “Dode” (a nickname for Dorothy I think) was a very short lady quite a bit older than my cousin. Where or how they got together I have no inkling. They seemed quite compatible but I always thought it a rather odd marriage. Coming from uncle Serenus’ family I suppose I should not have been surprised.

Several years ago I wrote a letter to my cousin, I don’t recollect now what I wrote about. I sent the letter to the last address I had for him, in Canada. When he retired from the advertising business he and Dode moved to Canada where she was from originally. She died and my cousin stayed in Canada. The letter came back with the notation on the outside either that he was no longer at the address or that he had died. Subsequently in connection with a family reunion that he was setting up, my brother tracked him down and found out that he had indeed died and a lawyer friend wound up his affairs.

To the end of her life he had maintained his mother in some institution in the Twin Cities and he had I think willed his estate to that institution in gratitude. According to the lawyer he had developed a drinking problem (perhaps because of Dode’s death) and had given the lawyer control of his funds. He had always been a rather heavy smoker and I surmise that he had health problems with that habit also. At one time he had considered retiring to some location in the Carolinas and I have the impression that such a move was abandoned because of his health.

For many years while he was still working he used his vacations for trips around the world. Perhaps he met his wife on one of these trips. His Christmas cards would reflect these excursions. At one time our daughter Palma was in Chicago for some reason and, remembering that our family had once visited him and Dode in a downtown apartment tried to contact them but they had retired for the night.

Although I had my uncle Carl as a namesake, I always had the feeling that he had a closer relationship with Eugene than he had with me. Perhaps it was due to the years when he and Serenus were on the Peterson farm together. My last comment about my cousin Eugene, and it is a feeling that developed and strengthened with the passage of time was that, like his father he was sort of an odd person.