Tombstone Tuesday - 3 August 2010 - Norma Mayer Strazewski

Norma E. Mayer Strazewski (AKA Strauss) was my 2nd cousin. Her mother was Edith Dallman Mayer (who, interestingly, married two different men, both named "Mayer," making it so her two children, one by each man, able to go through their childhood years with the same surname despite having different fathers.) Norma was the daughter of the first of those men, Ray Mayer. Norma was born 20 January 1926 in Illinois and died 28 July 1993, same state. Norma and her daughter, Elaine, attended the reception following my marriage to my first husband. Elaine is also now gone. Both are buried in Arlington Cemetery, DuPage County, Illinois. Because of the miracle of blogging and Facebook, I am now in contact with Elaine's son, my 2nd cousin, twice removed.

Tombstone Tuesday, 30 June 2009

M. Elaine Hill (nee Strauss) was born 13 July 1943, in Illinois to Norma Mayer & James Strazewski (changed to Strauss). She was married to Clark Hill. She died in June 2005 and was interred 27 June 2005 in Arlington Cemetery, DuPage County, Illinois. The burial records have been instrumental in helping me sort out the relationships, complicated because her mother (whose own mother had 2 children by 2 different husbands, both with the surname of Mayer), after divorcing her father, changed her name from Strauss back to Strazewski, making my research skills severely challenged. Elaine was my 2nd cousin, once removed and, while I met her a couple of times, I had no idea how complicated her life was until now, in my attempts to track this part of my family (and I'm kicking myself because I was well emersed in genealogy during her lifetime; why didn't I make an effort to interview her? Lesson learned: interview everyone . . . tombstone Tuesday could come at any time for any one of us!).

Post Script: I have been in contact with a cousin of Elaine's through her father's side and have cleared up some of the relationships in my family tree. This dear woman located me because of Tombstone Tuesday. While I have been posting tombstones and family stories for my own enjoyment and to spread the Geneabloggers Tombstone Tuesday program into yet another blog, I have gaine so much information from this one contact that I cannot begin to express my joy and excitement! And I was able to fill in blanks for her, as well. So, thank you, Joan, for helping me!