Bernard John Holmquist

California Again

Bud needed a job again. He applied to his old company, Bendix and was hired as an Experimental Machinist. The family drove down to southern California and lived for four or five weeks in the home of family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Harms in Reseda, part of the urban sprawl of the San Fernando Valley. The Harms were on vacation. Bud started work at Bendix on July 18, 1962. Bud never really liked the work, but it did provide an decent living for his family while Bud was going after more education. Bud's pay per hour at this time was $3.34, which was a good living in 1962.

Doris went out during the hot California days to find a house or apartment to rent. She had to take the four kids because there was no one to look after them. When she knocked on the door of a rental office or house the owner or manager would say the unit was rented or would more or less shut the door in her face after seeing the for kids standing with her. The did not want to rent to a young family with four small children.

One day Doris got up, fixed dinner for herself and the kids, sat down and passed out, falling to the floor. Apparently, she had become dehydrated from the day of house searching in the California sun. Eventually, instead of renting a house they were able to put a down payment on a house. The whole family moved into 17118 Index Street in Granada Hills roughly two miles where Lennie went to kindergarten and first grade and about the same distance from their old house on Los Alimos Street. But now he was of junior high age and was enrolled in Patrick Henry Junior High School while Meimei and Carey attend Rinaldi Street School, a grammar or also known as a middle school.

For most or all of this time at Bendix Bud worked the second shift beginning at 3:30 PM which meant his four kids, the oldest being twelve and the youngest three years old, had to be very quite in the mornings when he was sleeping - not easy for small children. While at Bendix he continued his Christian work by putting up a "tract rack" in the factory, containing Christian literature. He also held office as Vice-President of the Union. Besides interest in this work no doubt, it also meant that he could not be laid off when work at the factory was slow. When President Kennedy was shot Bud gave a memorial service at Bendix.

While working at Bendix he went to school to get his teaching credential. In 1964 he taught Engineering Machine Shop at Valley College while the professor was on a leave of absence. In 1965 he taught Comprehensive General Shop and Reading at Mesa Robles Junior High in Hacienda Heights. He gave the commencement address at that school. From 1966 to 1967 he taught Metal Shop at William S. Hart High School. During this time Bud and Doris thought it would be best to leave the San Fernando Valley for a variety of reasons perhaps, one of which was for health reasons. During these five years in Granada Hills the smog in The Valley was getting worse and on some days the kids were having difficulty breathing. Lennie often complained of pain when breathing. On especially smoggy days he took short, shallow breaths of air to minimize discomfort.

Bud got a job at Rio Mesa High School in Ventura County. It took some time before Bud and Doris were able to find a house, so Bud and the kids got up early on school days and drove the hour or more to Ventura where Bud dropped the kids off at their schools before going to Rio Mesa. This went on for several months until the family bought a home at 8270 Denver Street in Ventura. Bud worked at Rio Mesa from 1967 to 1970 where he taught Metal Shop, Social Studies, Psychology, World History, Government and Sociology.

During his years teaching he worked on another degree, this one in Education Administration.

From 1970 to 1973 Bud worked as a counselor at Thousand Oaks High School. Beside counseling he was also in charge of all testing in school including P.S.A.T. (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) required for college admissions.

Bud afterward taught at Heueneme High School in Ventura County for four years beginning in 1973, teaching English and Reading. The high school was 'messed up' and divided. Either you were for the principal or against or against him. The staff were in one or two camps. To further the problem the Principal did not get along with the Superintendent of Schools. Bud decided to take a one year job as Superintendant at Central Christian Schools in Kansas where he was Superintendant of Schools and Principle of the High School.

1974 Sweden

Doris and Bud traveled to Sweden in 1974, Bud for the first time. Besides seeing Doris' family, Bud also met his Holmquist family in or near the town of Älmhult. One family member gave Bud letters that his grandfather and father in American had written their family in Sweden.

Holmquist Family Letters

The United Scandinavians itinerary

1980 Travels in Europe and North Africa

Bud and his two sons, Carey and Len started in Amsterdam and traveled from Sweden to Morocco in North Africa.

In Sweden they visited the grave of Carey and Len's great-great-grandparents Jan and Johanna Ersson at the Tensta churchyard. Åke Hermansson, a lecturer in history at the Stockholm University and the husband of their cousin, Lally (Rinell) Hermansson, showed them around a Tensta and Uppsala, providing excellent historical background to what they were seeing. For part of their time in Sweden they stayed at Sulatorp, the family cabin.

In Europe they took trains from country to country, and a ferry from the south of Spain to Morocco. They stayed for free at the home of an American woman, a contact they had been provided before arriving in Morroco.

Kansas: Central Christian Schools

In Hutchinson, Kansas Bud was the principal of Central Christian High School. Reporting to him was the principle of the Jr. High and Elementary school. For all this responsibility Bud earned only $12,000 a year.

When Bud was about to leave he offered the board suggestions so that they could sign on a good, competent school administrator. First Bud suggested they raise the salary $18,000, and not provide the house that they were providing him and Doris. Secondly the position at the time was called administrator. Bud suggested that this had no prestige; they should up the title to "Superintendant of Schools". Changing the title would also look good on Bud's resume if he wanted to do similar work later. He was making tentative plans for this before he died. He thought of retiring first from teaching and then finding a Christian school somewhere that he could manage. His cancer foiled these plans.

Bud knew the person who the board was hoping to get was rather proud, so that he would take the job without it even being $18,000 a year even though he had a doctors degree. He was a cold and distant personality which was partly why he lost his former position in another school district. But Bud knew certain things about this individual: that the person he worked with before was himself difficult to work with and so this prospective school administrator was not necessarily all at fault. Also, this potential new hire had stayed probably six years, built an elementary school building, got a pre-school going well, brought in business manager from his previous school. He would probably be a good administrator and would probably take the position because he didn't have much of a chance of getting a job anywhere else.

And, Bud was right. The man took the job after Bud left.

Bud also suggested starting a pre-school. This would channel kids to kindergarten where it was difficult to get kids. They did.

Bud would have like to have stayed on very much and they would have liked him to do so too. They dined him, put pressure on for him to stay, called his supervisor in California to extend his leave of absence, but this was impossible for him to do under his sabbatical agreement - Bud was still getting half pay from school district in California. If he would have extended his leave this would have been cut off. Bud still had commitments in California to worry about including a house mortgage. They couldn't survive they felt on Hutchinson pay.

In 1974 Bud and Doris visited Sweden which was Bud's first visit to the land of his family. He met many of the descendants of his great-grandfather's brothers and sisters. Departure date was July 28, 1974 and return date to California was August 23, 1974.

Note: Bud and Doris met Holmquists during their stay in Smalan, Kansas near Hutchinson. Found out that these people's forefather's were buried in the same graveyard in Sweden where Bud's family was buried. Bud and Doris took a picture of this man because he looked so much like a Holmquist.

After Hutchinson Bud did not want to go back to Hueneme High because of all the problems there. He managed to arrange with Tom Rosser who gave him the sabbatical leave in the first place that he go to Camarillo High School instead. At Camarillo he taught social studies.

Final Days

Bud saw his cancer as perhaps his final trial. If he passed the test then the Lord might want him to continue in something else. Perhaps it would be a ministry right from his bed. It was note that it was not that he had any special merit that God would extend his days to do a particular work.For Bud everything was grace - grace of a loving God to sinful mankind.

He mentioned how grateful he was for the love and devotion his family had given during his illness. He thought that everyone had been very "cute" about it. It really touched him deeply he said and he really appreciated it. (He really felt that everyone really did care for him.)

Bernard John Holmquist Certificate of Death

Told to: Lennart Holmquist

Told by: Bernard (Bud) Holmquist

OTHER NOTES ON BJ HOLMQUIST

Ordained into Baptist ministry and served for five and a half years as a United States navy officer and chaplain. Also has an M.A. in secondary school administration from UCLA.

Chuck Holmquist, a cousin of Bud's write of Bud, "I always had a high regard of him - he always seemed so stable - seemed to have everything pretty well under control. 32

Silas Moote was known as "Uncle Si" to Bud.

Bud said he moved a lot when he was a boy and it ffected him emotionally, and physically he thinks because he was often 'sickly.'

[1] Badge number 9029.

Edith Nieubuurt mentioned that her great-grandson, Jonathan Schutt died after only 3 days. Do you know anything of this and who's son was Jonathan? No.

NOTES