Zola Ann Henry

Beautiful Grandma Adair.  Grandpa Adair's Mom, Zola.

Zola Ann Henry was born November 4, 1916 in Ft. Gibson Oklahoma to Marion Clinton "Clint" Henry and Margaret Elizabeth Renfro.  She is the oldest of 4 girls and 1 boy.

Baby Zola, Clint and Margaret Henry - about 1917 or 1918

Zola's siblings are:

Top row:  Joyce (born 1931)  Maxine (born 1924)

Bottom row:  Zola (born 1916)  Hollis (born 1921)  Cleo (born 1919)

I have not found stories or facts regarding the family's move to the northwest, but from bits and pieces I've picked up here is my opinion.  Oklahoma in the 1930's "the dirty 30's" and the dust bowl would have been horrible.  From stories in the Renfro family line many farms/farmers went belly up during that time.  Zola's grandparents (Renfro) farm was flooded out completely three years in a row causing them to "give up farming" and move to other areas.

Weyerhauser was building in Longview in 1929 and in 1931 the pulp and paper division was started.  From what I have been told by my mother Zola's family heard of the great jobs in the mills in the northwest and headed that way.  Her parents and siblings all ended up in the Northwest.

Zola married Lester Adair September 2, 1936 in Ft. Gibson.  Their first son was born, Larry Franklin Adair, February 28, 1938.  Little Larry Franklin only needed to gain a physical body which he did, and quickly returned to Heavenly Father.  He left mortality on March 3, 1938.  From what I was told the delivery was very very rough and his tiny body just couldn't recover.  He was laid to rest at the Ft. Gibson Citizen's Cemetery in Oklahoma.

Bob was born in Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma with Dean and Gary being born in Longview, Washington.  That means they were in Longview by 1945.  By 1948 records show all of Zola's siblings were in the Pacific Northwest.  Zola's mom ended up in the Longview area, and her dad in the Kalamath Falls area.  Between 1930 and 1940 Margaret married Thomas Orville Thornsburry - Great Tom.

Lester Adair

To me this is Grandpa, weird that as you have your own children you have to define this more clearly.  Oh, Grandpa Adair's Dad, Lester.  

Lester was born August 19, 1917 in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma the 3rd of 4 children.  His father is James Harrison Adair and his mother is Clara Bushjost.  

Clara Bushjost - taken before 1918

When I first was given the picture of Clara I wondered - how would I know for sure this is Lester's mom.  But as soon as I saw this picture of Lester's youngest sister Maxine (age 85 at the time of the picture) I knew - this picture had to be their mother. 

Lester has 2 sisters and one brother:

Lois Josephine Adair Moody (Lois & Wayne), January 5, 1915

Earl Franklin Adair (Earl & Annie), February 8, 1916

Lester Adair

Maxine Nadean Adair Kaup (Maxine and Winton), December 3, 1918
Can you hear Grandma Zola saying their "couple names" . . . .

Maxine, Lester, Earl, Lois

Lester's mother died December 29, 1918.  Just 3 weeks after her sweet baby Maxine was born.  Records say she died of the flu and the influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919 was the deadliest in modern history.  It infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, about 1/3 of the planets population at the time.  It is estimated 20 to 50 million died (3 to 5% of the population).  Records say surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults.  My personal thought - there is no record of this, after having a baby her body wasn't strong enough to fight of the flu, and as in many instances, it went into her lungs and turned into pneumonia.  

The four children were sent to live with their "Adair" grandparents.  Mack & Minnie Adair and James Harrison headed to Tulsa where he lived until he passed away.  Again, my own speculation but I bet he was thinking "what in the world am I going to do with 4 kids?"

I'll try to be better with using names, not titles.  But it's weird to call grandpa, Lester.  I miss him, and his crooked fingers especially during this time of year.  Sometimes, I have to leave the table during Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner; when I return I smile to myself and I'm a bit sad when my plate is still there.  

Who's your Daddy?

Well, who?  If you are reading this you probably belong to Bob or Gary (or were married to them)  - if your daddy is Dean, well, I wanna hear this story.  Just kidding, love you Uncle.  

Bob, Dean, Gary (approximately 1950)

For years I've loved family history research.  I've documented and noted, and saved little bits and pieces.  With the cool invention of the internets I've recently connected with several cousins.  One who lives in Arizona and is on the Adair side of our family and another who lives in Arkansas on the Henry side of the family.  We've exchanged stories and some pictures and been able to help each other fill in some of the blanks in our stories.  I love this, maybe it's even a passion.  The love I feel for each of my siblings and cousins has now expanded to great grandmas, great grandpas, great great uncles and aunts and cousins 3 times removed - what does that even mean "removed."  

Anyway, I'd love to share the information with you, and I know you are busy.  So, I thought I would post information here to share.  That way you can read it when you'd like and have time.

How I wished I had realized that family history is a perishable commodity.  It disappears with time, as memories fade, and as loved ones pass on.  I wish I had known that the most important aspect of family history is preserving a record of the present for the future.  (Before you think me clever, I stole that quote - but I don't know who from)