February 15, 2010
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Remembering Johnny
Sometimes I wonder what happened to some of my childhood friends. In looking at old pictures, I came across this one taken back in the summer of 1940 when we lived above Mr. Van Gemert’s monument company in West DePere, WI. There were four apartments above the gravestone business. During the day Mr. Van Gemert and his handsome sons were busy carving and grinding granite stone markers which they displayed in the adjacent landscaped yard which ended at the banks of the Fox River.
John Easter, his mother and his Boston Terrier “Dixie” lived in the large front apartment. It was nice and had thick carpeting on the floors. I don’t remember ever seeing Johnny’s father. Mom said he was a travelling salesman. He must have done well, for Mrs. Easter was always dressed in expensive looking clothes. I remember she had a pair of shoes with clear heels and a fox fur piece….the kind with the animal’s head still on it….ugh….which I thought was pretty gross. The second apartment was smaller and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Hansen and their cute 18 month old son Bobby. We lived in the smaller of the two back apartments. I didn’t realize then how poor we were. I knew that Johnny lived in a much bigger apartment with nice upholstered furniture (ours was wicker) and had his own room. However, I didn’t think about the difference in how much money our families had. As long as kids are happy, those things don’t seem to matter…at least it didn’t 70 years ago. Johnny Easter played “Superman” to my “Lois Lane” and once rescued me when I got locked in their bathroom. He climbed up the ladder and through the window to unlock the door. I’ve never been very good at opening things like jars, cereal boxes and, in this case, a locked door. Although Johnny was a couple of years older, he was small for his age. We enjoyed a lot of the same things like playing “mad scientists” and making pioneer villages out of my Lincoln Logs….and just pretending. I do wonder what happened to him. He’d be 80 years old by now. Here we are in front of one of Mr. VanGimmert’s stone markers with “Dixie.” My mother had a little Kodak box camera and Dad developed his own photos. Mom colored this one herself with colored pencils. By the way, the Van Gemert family is still making granite markers in Wisconsin.
Comments (5)
Hmmm I was just wondering the other day about friends from ‘my’ childhood and early teen years. Can you remember how old you were when you went your separate ways Joyce ? That’s a lovely pic of you both with his little dog.
I think I remember this photo – I guess I always figured this was one of the Northcutts…
How cool that you still have this picture. Have you tried to find him?
@Chatamanda - We moved back to Indiana the very next summer after this photo was taken…the summer before I was in 4th grade.
@murisopsis - Johnny was a nice little boy but a lot different from my tall Northcutt cousins…..except for “Charlie Boy” who also loved playing Superman with a dishtowel cape around his neck. “Charlie Boy” jumped off the back stoop playing the “Man of Steel” and knocked out an upper front tooth…..hitting the clothesline really hard as he flew!
@gottobereal64 - I confess I haven’t….we were close friends for just a couple of years before WW2, and I probably would have forgotten him except for the photo. Pictures have a way of triggering memories.
This is a great post, complete with a picture
I often think about where my childhood friends have gone to as well. We were also not well off in my early childhood as my dad was still studying but like you said children don’t notice lack of money. They’re happy with the simple things. My poor parents though had to swallow their pride a lot for our sake.