Friday, January 22, 2010

In Memory of My Great Grandmother Lillie Mae~



Ninety-one years ago today, the 22nd of January ~
Lillie Mae Pate Tabeling, my paternal great grandmother, along with her unborn child, passed from the 1918 -1919 flu epidemic.
~~~~~~~~~~~
My great grandfather, Albert "Fritz" Tabeling, and their children: Maggie, Mamie and Morgan, passed shortly after Lillie, also from the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, leaving my grandmother, Inez and her four sisters: Josephine, Viola, Gladys and Oletha, orphans.


Photo received via email from cousin Dawn Inman, location of original is unknown. To our knowledge, this is the only photo that exists of Lillie Mae and Albert Fritz Tabeling. Date is also unknown.




17 comments:

Barbara Poole said...

Hi Gini, What a tragic event in your family history. And to think they were young and with a family. I hope the remaining children were able to live together. So sad. Thanks, Barb

Unknown said...

How sad - a lot in the same family to go so close to each othe

Deb said...

Oh how sad that your family lost so many during the flu of 1918! My Mom lost her own little brother (2 years old) & sister (2 months old) during it as well. This just left her sister, herself & her parents to carry on. It affected so many family!

Later, Deb

Amanda said...

So sad! What a lovely photo you have of them.

sjtaliaferro said...

Gini,

Any loss is sad, but so many of one family in such a short span of time - how tragic. Very nice photo; you displayed it perfectly.

Sandra

Anonymous said...

What a sad story, but a lovely photo.

Joan said...

Gini,
Such a handsome young couple. Even with such tragedy, he remains ever handsome and dashing, and she young and lovely. A great way to remember parents, grandparents and the greats. A beautiful way to remember them always.

Greta Koehl said...

It's so hard to imagine how hard this epidemic hit some families; one of the Floyd families on my mother's side was similarly devastated.

Felicia R Mathis said...

Hey Gini,
I nominated your Blog for the Blogger's Best Friend Award. Please stop by My Nola Heritage and pick yours up.
Felicia

Teena in Toronto said...

Happy blogoversary :)

Gini said...

Thank you all for your kind comments. It was so sad that it nearly wiped out the entire family. So many lost their lives due to that flu. I was able to visit their family plot in Cloverport, KY. What saddened me even more was finding out that the family does not have a headstone. It is my goal to at least find a way to have one set in the middle with the "TABELING FAMILY" engraved on a marker. My grandmother and her sistes were not able to afford one at the time.

Amy Coffin, MLIS said...

What a sad story. I do like how you displayed the photo, though. It's a lovely tribute.

Sharondipity Designs said...

Very Sad story Gini, but beautiful what you did with the picture. I noticed quiet a few Spanish Flu victims from tree as well and it was never just one in a family.

Nancy said...

Hello: Your post on the tragic loss from the 1918 Flu Pandemic struck a cord with me, too. My grandmother and her six-month-old baby also were taken by this catastrophic event.
This post and others that I've been reading on your blog over the past year are inspiring me to become a genealogy blogger soon.
Thanks, Nancy Hurley

Caroline said...

Gini, how sad for Lillie Mae. I too had a Lillie May, my great-grandmother, who passed away when my Paw Paw [my grandmother] was only 6 years old. Such a shame for the ones they left behind.

Thank you for sharing this family tribute.
Caroline

Mavis said...

Beautiful picture and I love how you displayed it in the blog.

That 1918 flu epidemic was viscious. My grandmother's half-sister that I often talk about was a victim of it, too.

Sandy said...

Gina,
This is my first time to your blog. I just read this post and realized how just by the grace of God any of us are now here....almost a whole family. And all of those children orphans...what happened to them all? Sandy