Last week, I heard from Carol (Jastram) Blaha, a direct descendant of Fred Bader, younger brother of our great-grandfather, J. R. Bader. J. R. and Fred were the "Bader Bros." who had the furniture store in Fremont, Nebraska.
Carol's grandmother was Ruth Bader, Fred's eldest daughter, born in 1896. Ruth married Mernitz Dewey Jastram, probably in Fremont. Their son, Rupert Mitchell Jastram (called 'Bud') was born in January, 1926.
This is "Grandpa" Fred and baby Bud, taken on the front steps of Fred's home in Fremont, July 6, 1926.
Carol is the eldest daughter of Bud Jastram and Ella Jane Stroud (called Jane), who married in 1950. she and her sister, Kathryn (Kate), were born and raised in Minnesota, where Carol still lives.
She's been kind enough to share a lot of family snapshots of the Bader/Jastram clan in Fremont.
Here are Ruth Bader Jastram, her husband Mernitz Jastram, and baby Bud, April, 1926.
Fred and his wife, Laura (Cochran) Bader only had one other child, another daughter, Ruth's younger sister, Marian, born in 1902.
Here is the very lovely Marian with her new nephew, Bud, in June, 1926.
Carol writes, "I never knew my grandmother Ruth, she died before I was born or maybe just after, but I knew Marian, her sister, my great aunt. She lived in Fremont until her death sometime in the 1970’s.She was a lovely woman….never married and was the librarian at the high school in Fremont."
In late 1927 or early 1928, Ruth and Mernitz had a second child, Bud's younger sister, Edith (called 'Edy') Marian Jastram.
Carol writes, "This is Ruth, Dad (Bud) and Edy. I love the look of admiration (and mischief) on Edy’s face! Had to have been August 1930."
This is Edy and Bud, probably around March, 1931. "Love the clothes!" writes Carol. "They were always dressed beautifully and elaborately."
Carol writes, "(This) photo album stops when Dad was about 7. The Jastram side of the family says that Mernitz left his family about then.
"We’ve found that he lived until the early 70’s and that he’d remarried. I think I remember my mother telling me that they received a telegram when I was born, so Dad and Mernitz must have stayed in touch."
The four people on the left in this last photo are Jastram family members. But the dark haired young woman is grown-up Edy Jastram and her mother, Ruth Bader Jastram. Carol dates this photo around 1949, give or take.
Thanks for all the info, Carol. Welcome to the Team!
