Sentimental Sunday: Sailing New Worlds Together

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip Columbus McCormick  (1892 – 1981)   Not until the early 1980s did time finally begin to catch up with the couple who had deftly evaded its reach their whole lives.   Benita (McGinnis) McCormick gazes lovingly at an oil portrait by  artist Mary Rowley of her husband, Philip McCormick, on their 50th wedding anniversary, at their San … Continue reading "Sentimental Sunday: Sailing New Worlds Together"

Amanuensis Monday: Portrait of a Woman

  Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) A local Bay Area feature story from the mid- 1970s depicts Benita (McGinnis) McCormick  with mementos from her travels. Clipping courtesy of Suzanne Olson Wieland. [Note:  Amanuensis is an ancient word meaning one who performs the function of writing down or transcribing the words of another.  Derived from the Latin root manu-  , meaning manual or hand, the … Continue reading "Amanuensis Monday: Portrait of a Woman"

Wedding Wednesday: Ole and Jane (McCormick) Olson

  Benita Jane “Janie” (McCormick) Olson     (1927 – 2011) Elson “Ole” Olson (1924 – 1994) Secret courtyard passage, Carmel-by-the-Sea On May 6, 1960, while 20 million television viewers watched England’s Princess Margaret marry Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey, Eldon Olson and Benita Jane McCormick were being married in front of two witnesses in the quaint … Continue reading "Wedding Wednesday: Ole and Jane (McCormick) Olson"

Sentimental Sunday: Loving and Letting Go

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick     (1889 – 1984) Phillip Columbus McCormick (1892 – 1981) Phillip Eugene “Bud” McCormick (1927 – 2004) Benita Jane “Janie” (McCormick) Olson     (1927 – 2011) Elson “Ole” Olson (1924 – 1994)   Benita Jane McCormick, known as “Jane,” circa 1960. As happens eventually to parents everywhere, Phil and Benita McCormick must have wondered … Continue reading "Sentimental Sunday: Loving and Letting Go"

Travel Tuesday: Postcards from Mexico, Part 4: Tracing Phil and Benita’s Footsteps through Mexico

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip C. McCormick (1892 – 1981) Three basket weavers smile obligingly at the photographer in “Tipos Mexicanos,” or “Mexican People.”  Photographer and location unknown, circa mid-1930s.  From Benita (McGinnis) McCormick’s scrapbook. The black and white photographic postcards my great uncle and great aunt, Phil and Benita (“Aunt Detty”) McCormick purchased during … Continue reading "Travel Tuesday: Postcards from Mexico, Part 4: Tracing Phil and Benita’s Footsteps through Mexico"

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: It’s All Relative

Phillip Eugene “Bud” McCormick (1927 – 2004) Benita Jane “Janie” (McCormick) Olson  (1927 – 2011) Joan (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) My great-aunt “Detty,” or Benita (McGinnis) McCormick, and her younger sister (my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon), lived several blocks apart on the South side of Chicago, both from each other and from their mother, Mary Jane (Gaffney) … Continue reading "Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: It’s All Relative"

Matrilineal Monday: Two Little Bundles of Love

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip Columbus McCormick (1892 – 1981) Phillip Eugene “Bud” McCormick (1927 – 2004) Benita Jane “Janie” (McCormick) Olson (1927 – 2011) Christmas 1927 brought a very special gift to my great-aunt and great-uncle, Benita and Phil McCormick.     These two little cherubs, “Buddy and Jane,” or Phillip Eugene and Benita Jane  … Continue reading "Matrilineal Monday: Two Little Bundles of Love"

Treasure Chest Thursday: Sharing a Gift from the Railroad

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip C. McCormick (1892 – 1981)   Indian Tree pattern teacups and double-handed bouillon cups, part of a 1921 wedding gift to Phillip and Benita (McGinnis) McCormick, from his employer,  the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Of all the wedding gifts my great-aunt Detty (Benita) and great-uncle Phil McCormick received  on October 3, 1921, this charming dinner service … Continue reading "Treasure Chest Thursday: Sharing a Gift from the Railroad"