Waldemar & Nellie Holmquist

Waldemar Trovid Holmquist (September 11, 1889 - January 11, 1974) who went by the nicknames 'Val' and 'Valmar' was for many years a typesetter for a newspaper in Chicago, but he eventually had to up his trade for health reasons. He was being slowly poisoned by the lead used in the type.

The family then moved to Ross, Indiana, where Nellie's mother lived. They bought a small farm and raised chickens, a cow and had a huge garden. A city boy, Val became a small farmer, raising and selling vegitables and eggs. However the small farm could not bring in enough money so he later worked as a painter in a sheet and tin mill in Gary until his retirement. On the side he did house painting, and had a wood floor sanding business. ¹ Eventually Val had to quit his job at the mill because he refused to join the union.

Val was full of fun. He enjoyed joking, teasing and practical jokes. For instance besides his normal business card he had business cards printed with the words My Card which he handed out to people as a joke.

He was an active an involved type of person. He would give a potted petunia to each child in a sunday school class on Children's Day, tell them to bring it home and take good care of the plant, and to bring the plant back after a certain period of time. The kid whose plant had the most flowers was given a prize, which was usually a Bible. At home when a family member had a birthday or when Christmas was approaching he enjoyed decorating the room or house for the occassion. For his kids he made toys of wood, one being a '"plukken de hand" ' which in Dutch would be 'plucking the hand.' When you pulled the string a group of chickens standing in a circle would bend over and pluck at the wood board on which they were standing.²

Though fun-loving Val was also a perfectionist and had a temper, but not a temper directed toward people. Rather he had a temper directed toward things that were frustrating him or he couldn't get quite right.

His car driving style worried some. While driving with him Nellie could sometimes be heard saying, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

Nellie's personality was more serious. She was also a devoted mother, often prayed for others and was an excellent Bible teacher. She used her Swedish Bible with which she was more comfortable when giving her Bible studies at Central Baptist church. During World War II she lead a Servicemen's Wives Class, which provided moral support to wives of servicemen involved in the war/ Naturally, they often prayed for the safe return of their husbands.

Nellie graduated from a business school in Chicago in the early days. Years later she worked as buyer and dietician for Ross School in Ross Indiana.

Their children's spiritual lives were very important to both Val and Nellie, which left the children with a priceless legacy, their daughter Jeanne says. Val made sure the kids went to sunday school even when the family was on vacation. One Sunday when the snow was deep and the weather cold, the family started out for church, but couldn't make it because of the heavy snowfall. They stopped at the home of a Dutch family they knew, Val explained the situation to them, and asked if they could hold sunday school there. Their friends were happy to do so, and joined in.

Waldemar was a wonderful father who took his children to very interesting places such as museums, zoos, ball games, concerts, camping trips and trips to distant places such as Connecticut and Florida.

To his credit he always let the children know that he was proud of them.³

NOTES

¹ Val's brother-in-law, Carl, worked in the steel mill US Steel. According to Caryl Holmquist, Carl laid out the street names for Gary, Indiana and was also the secretary for the local YMCA, a position that was much respected in those days. He was very well-known.