My Ryskamp Family Heritage

By Sally Birch

My Ryskamp Family Heritage, Sally J. Birch summarizes the past generations up through the present time in her life. Born towards the end of the Great Depression and living her early years during World War II, it gives a background starting in the early 1940s. Coming from a strong Dutch/Irish family, she recounts lessons learned from her parents great personal and financial success from their many years of hard work and determination to succeed. It describes their caring for and closeness to family members, which she hopes will offer guidance and inspiration for her familys generations to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499074895

Sally Birch

My mother was born on June 20, 1937, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and has resided in Michigan her entire life. She graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1955, John Robert Powers Finishing School of New York that same year and attended Western Michigan College for undergraduate studies in Business Administration. She owned and managed two businesses: Kalamazoo Ordinance Systems and Birch Travel of Marquette, Michigan. This is her second published book. The first, “My Ryskamp Family Heritage” was written in 2014. She and her husband, Bill, enjoy a blended family of seven children, twenty-grandchildren, three great grandchildren and pet dog, Daisy. They reside happily in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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Copyright © 2014 by Sally Birch.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/22/2014

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Contents

Prologue

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 MY ANCESTOR’S

Chapter 2 MY DAD

Chapter 3 MY GRANDMOTHER ROSA

Chapter 4 MY MOM AND DAD

Chapter 5 PLACES WE LIVED

Chapter 6 MOVING ON

Chapter 7 RIDGEBROOK

Chapter 8 GRANDCHILDREN

Chapter 9 MY SISTER AND BROTHER

Chapter 10 MOM & DAD

Final

Epilogue

Prologue

An idea came to me today. It is February 1, 2014, in the midst of a record cold snowy winter. As I was recuperating from knee surgery and progressing through time, pain pills and physical therapy, I had a great opportunity to sort through many photographs that I’ve accumulated over the years. I’m not sure what happens to all old pictures, but as the years go by, sooner or later no one knows who the people are. I have always appreciated pictures. I have taken so many and with the one’s I have been given, I keep. As I get older, I know a lot of these pictures and the history attached to them, will become vague and forgotten. I then decided to pull together some of my ancestors history. After reviewing all the trials and tribulations they went through, I feel it is a miracle that any of us are here today. As I go through life, reach a goal, succeed at something, see myself in my grandchildren’s eyes, or when I experience happiness and enjoy the comforts of today’s world, I’ve become more acutely aware of the human connection between yesterday and today. I appreciate all the love and family support throughout the many generations that got us to this point in time, and made our lives possible. I wanted to preserve some of this history. I felt I needed to write a story of our family.

Later, when I was walking our little dog, Daisy, on another extremely snowy, cold day, I thought how hardy our ancestors had to be to endure all that they did. It pushed me to walk faster and stand straighter as if I were receiving encouragement from all those who have passed. I feel they want their story told. They want us to know and remember that life is not easy, and it takes work and determination to make our lives matter. When it comes down to it, life is about connections with family, and we in the Ryskamp clan are especially fortunate from the large number of family members we have and have had. During this writing, I have gained strength researching the great family members that have gone before me, and realized we are not alone on this journey called life.

In memory of my parents

Peter John and Ruth Ryskamp

This book is dedicated with love to

my grandchildren, great grandchildren,

great nieces and nephews, the future generation.

Shawna Johnson-Lowry

Melissa Johnson

Tyler Johnson

Haley Dixon

Jacob Dixon

Scottie Clay

Xochitl Ryskamp

Joseph Ryskamp

Iyla Ryskamp

Estella Ryskamp

Keely Ryskamp

Lucas Ryskamp

Nicholas Ryskamp

Elizabeth Scott

Alexandria Scott

Shea Tiley

Alexander Tiley

Ella Ruth Tiley

Quote from Gail Lumet Buckley from The Mirror of Sisterhood

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who

belong to us, we see the past, present and future".

Acknowledgments

Included in the contents of this book are remembrances from my siblings, as well as many other family members who generously contributed. I like the phrase from the introduction of the movie, The American Hustle, when it said this story is mostly true. Re-creating history can be a real challenge. We all remember it a little differently. I hope I can capture some of the interesting aspects and interject a little of our ancestors personalities with the intent that this will extend the memories of past generations for a little bit longer.

Thanks are extended to my sister, Marguerite Clay, who helped me with the family history as well as her ongoing support during the process. To my brother, John Ryskamp, for remembering many family stories, to my sons Matt and Paul Dixon, my nephew Jason Ryskamp, and nieces Rebecca Ryskamp-Scott and Nicole Tiley for memories of their Grandparents, to my cousin Connie Burke who helped fill in missing details about our Aunt Katie Stewart, Grandmother Martha Ryskamp and especially some of my Dad’s stories, to my cousin Jackie Burke for memories of her parents, Connie and Jack Doherty, to my cousin Jeanne Ryskamp for stories about her parents, Abe and Ila Ryskamp, to Carolina J. Shearer for her historical information on my Grandmother Rosa and to my daughter-in-law, Tracy Dixon for encouraging me to include the story of my daughter Cindy. Also thanks to my sister-in-law, Janet Ryskamp for making a beautiful family album, tracking not only photographs but also the family history. And a big thank you to my husband, Bill for all of his editing assistance and loving support throughout the entire writing process, and to our friend Bernard Brommel for his expertise in the final editing. My apologies to my granddaughter Haley, who gently chastised me for not including her generation in this book.

Chapter 1

MY ANCESTOR’S

My roots, I know, started way, way back. Our family tree on the Ryskamp side has been traced back to the 1700’s Gronagen region in the Netherlands. Since I wasn’t able to find much information from those years so long ago, I will start with my great grandparents on my fathers side. Frederick and Alberdina (Sluiter) Ryskamp. They were married in 1875. Frederick was a seaman out of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Frederick’s brother and family had moved to the United States in the early 1880’s. Frederick decided to take his family and follow in his brothers footsteps. They arrived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1885. Once located, Frederick found work at the Gibson Paper Mill as an Engineer and remained there for 18 years. Frederick and Alberdina had nine children, one of whom was my grandfather. He was their third child. The children were Grace, Anne, John, Dena, Albert, Betty, George, Fred and Harry. Alberdina died in 1903 at the age of 53. Frederick lived to the age of 51. He was in ill health for eleven months with kidney problems before he died in 1904. His death certificate states that he died of tuberculosis.

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MY GRANDPA (PA)

My grandpa, John, (Pa as he was known to all his family), was born in 1880, the first son of this large family. As a young man he served in the Spanish American War, from 1901-1904. He was a private in Troop F, 14th U.S. Cavalry. His father was in ill health suffering from kidney disease when he left for the Army, and his mother became ill and died while he was gone. Because of his families needs, the Army discharged him early. His father died shortly thereafter. This left many young children to take care of and that is what Pa did with the help of his older sisters Grace and Anne. The sisters took Albert, Betty, George and Fred to live with them. Pa raised his youngest brother Harry who was eight years old at the time. Harry lived with Pa until he was 18 years old, he then joined the Army, serving during World War I. Pa got a job at the Monarch Paper Mill and helped out with all of his siblings whenever he could. Working in the paper mill became a popular job for many of our family members through the years. The Monarch was a division of the Allied Paper Mills, a huge company with many plants. By 1937, reportedly 25% of the Kalamazoo workforce was working in area paper mills.

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MY GREAT UNCLE HARRY

Harry was quite an interesting person. After military service, he returned back to Kalamazoo. He got a job with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department which began his long career in law enforcement. Shortly thereafter he married. His wife’s name was Marguerite. They lived in a small home on Cork Street. I remember them as meticulous people, who liked everything neat and orderly. They loved dogs, in fact, Marguerite always claimed that she hoped when she died, she would go to dog heaven, wherever that may be. For many years they had a chow dog that put the Fear of God in all of us that visited. Harry was tall and handsome and even though they never had children, he was very fond of all his great nieces and nephews and was always so nice to us. One thing, I remember well and would always marvel at, was that right in the back yard of this close little residential neighborhood, they had a beautiful horse. They kept it in an area at the end of their garage. The horse’s name was Dolly Dimple, and was the apple of Harry’s eye. He rode her often to patrol Milham Park with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department’s Mounted Division.

Harry belonged to the Kalamazoo Masonic Lodge No. 22 F&AM and was a life member of the National Rifle Association.

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Harry worked in Kalamazoo until 1952, and then he and Marguerite moved to Seattle, Washington, where he got a job as deputy with the King County Sheriff’s Department. In 1961, Harry retired and they moved back to Kalamazoo. Although Harry was an accomplished stone mason and leather goods maker, he preferred the option of working with leather and spent many years making holsters, saps, (a sap is a blackjack, which is a small, leather covered club with a weighted head and a flexible handle, which used to be carried by policemen), and belts for various sheriffs departments and police agencies in the mid-west. Harry had a small catalogue The Ryskamp Line, showing all the products he had for sale. His work was highly respected and regarded for its fine quality and attention to detail at a most fair price. He became well known throughout the area as an honest and capable small businessman. All his products were guaranteed as to workmanship and materials for a full refund if the customer was not satisfied. He used only the best cowhide obtainable, hand stamped (or plain), and hand sewn. Harry offered thirteen models of holsters with a price range of $2.35 to $3.35. He offered ten