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| L to R: Bill Young, Grace Bertram Young (David's niece, daughter of his sister Elise), Faith Crabtree Blakely, David Blakely, David Jewett Crabtree, Jr., (Faith's brother) and Charles Blakely (brother of David Blakely) 1 Dec 1946 Photo courtesy of Cheryl Blakely (who thinks this might have been a double wedding)
One of the places I wanted to visit on our recent trip to California was the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery so that I could locate and photograph the graves of my Aunt Faith Crabtree and Uncle David Blakely.
It was a day that combined a quiet rural setting and recollections of some of my favorite people ever, with the use of some high tech tools After we did some pre-trip exploration online, the location of the cemetery was entered into our iPhones, which made the drive there from our hotel in Santa Nella simple and direct.
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Once we arrived we found ourselves far away from the sounds of the highway. It was a beautiful and tranquil place.
You can get an idea of the size of those hills by the little dots of cattle grazing near the top. The only sounds were of birds and the occasional cow calling out.
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| At the visitor center |
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| A place for ceremonies |
We had previously looked up the location of the graves, Section 10--Site 1012, on the website, but there was also a kiosk at the visitor center for looking up locations and displaying maps.
I wanted to show the view in either direction from the gravesite; looking north...
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| ...and looking south |
Although she was always "Faith" to us, my aunt's name was sometimes given as "Faith Muriel," and as "Muriel Evelyn"
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I always loved our trips to Aunt Faith's. The Blakely family was so much fun - boisterous and funny. It always felt like a chance to let down our hair, coming from our very orderly life in Marinwood. And I loved Lucky. Such an exuberant poodle!
ReplyDeleteOh, I loved Lucky Pierre...after surviving our house burning down, it was more appropriate. Also, we can't forget how well mum played her nose. Are you saying we were a noisy bunch?
ReplyDeleteOh, about mum's name. Although she was born Muriel Evelyn, her father always called her "Faithy" (he always put a "y" on everyone's names, from what I was told). Mum's naturalization papers have her registered as Faith Muriel.