Martha Julia (Palczewski Martin) Stuber

Nickname: Myrt

Date of Birth: January 8, 1929 in Goldfield Township, Haley, ND

Address: 8510 144th Ave. SW, Bowman, ND 58623

Spouse:
Robert Duane Stuber born March 19, 1928. Married November 3, 1971. Died January 16, 1981.
Erie Alexander Martin, Jr. born January 6, 1925. Married February 23, 1952. Killed in Vietnam July 20, 1965.

Children:
Dianne Therese Martin born August 21, 1953 in Camp Stoneman, California
Dorothy Lee Martin born February 21, 1955 in San Francisco, California
Dennis Patrick Martin born May 19, 1956 in Fort Lewis, Washington
Donna Elizabeth Martin born April 9, 1959 in Fairbanks, Alaska

Step Children:
Dudley John Stuber born March 11, 1952 in Bowman, ND
Jackie Lynn Stuber born January 25, 1954 in Dickinson, ND

Family Information:
Father: Joseph Vincent Palczewski born March 19, 1887
Mother: Ella Elizabeth (Weska? Weiz? or Weise?) Palczewski born November 19, 1888
Siblings: Frank, Mary, Carl, Isabelle, Richard, and Stanley

Education:
Scranton Public High School 1942-46
Presentation School of Nursing 1946-49

Places Lived:
Farm south of Scranton, ND
Miles City, Montana during 3 years of nursing training
San Jose, Seaside, and Oakland, California
Fort Lewis, Washington
Ladd Air Force Base, Fairbanks, Alaska
Fort Riley, Kansas
Scranton and Bowman, North Dakota

Careers:
Nursing: Medical Floor, OB, Clinic, Home Health, Nursing Home

Interests, Social & Civic Positions, Hobbies, Sports, etc.:
My family, dancing, playing cards, bowling, golf, gardening, baking.
Volunteer work: Nursing Home, Hospital, Catholic Church, Catholic Daughters, Home Makers, Saint Anne’s Circle, Hospital Board, American Legion Auxillary

Major Vacations:
Hawaii (twice)
Spain
Alaska
Norway and England
Australia, New Zealand
Phoenix, Arizona
Frisco, Denver, Westminster, and Arvada, Colorado
Dousman, Wisconsin
Faribault, Minnesota
Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Washington, DC
Cruise to Mexico
Cruise to Bahamas, Epcot, and Kennedy Space Center
New York City, New England Coast, Cape Cod, and Martha’s Vineyard
Oakland, Oregon and Oregon Coast
I’ve been in every state except Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Erie Alexander Martin, Jr.
and Martha J. Palczewski
Wedding portrait (1952)

Martha with her Mother, Elizabeth (1965)

Palczewski Memories
by Martha Stuber (1997)

   I was born January 8, 1929 on the farm? There are mixed stories about Mom’s illness. She shouldn’t have any children after Stanley. She spent time in the Dickinson Hospital. How she got there, I don’t know - 85 miles - maybe by train?
   My earliest memories of childhood are playing with Stanley. We had to weed a big garden and used to play in the creek. When we were called for a meal, we didn't dare have wet clothing as dad would switch us with a leather belt. We made an old wagon from some wheels we found and boards. I pushed Stanley down a hill. He fell and hit his head on a rock and was knocked out. I thought he was dead and went racing home to get Ma but of course, he was sitting up and OK.
   Stanley and I used to make farms in the dirt. We used tops of tin cans for plows, hitched grasshoppers with strings to pull match boxes for wagons. Our pretend animals were fruit pits. Plums were sheep, peaches pigs, dates horses, and cows were various rocks. We make large farms and played for hours.
   We had church in Haley at noon and would fast from the midnight. It was such a treat to go to Ellingsons store and have a bottle of pop after church. I helped Mom prepare Sunday dinner before church-left the chicken in the oven. Neighbors usually came over. Us kids ate last and did the dishes.
   I went to Hammond School and didn't have anyone in my class until high school. we walked or rode horse back, double with me hanging on to Stanley. It was about 4 miles and we'd get very cold. I can remember Mom having fried bread and baked beans for supper.
   We had barn dances. Mary and Izzy would get very upset with me for jumping around the house as their cakes would fall. Mom made coffee in a copper wash boiler. They took this lunch to the barn at midnight. We kids danced around the edge and played tag outside. I ran into a barb wire fence and cut my leg and arm and still have scars. Dad whipped me for tearing my new jacket and wasn't concerned about my wounds. Must have been hardy that we didn't get tetanus. The first immunizations I had was when I went into nurses training.
   We lived 13 miles south of Scranton in a house near the sod house my Dad’s family had homesteaded in 1908. Our home had 3 rooms and an attic. I remember sleeping crossways in the bed with my brothers and sister. We had a couch that opened into a bed in the dining room. Later I slept in the attic which had a ladder up the wall to get to. It was so low one couldn't stand but I played up there for hours as a child. That was my domain. I remember playing with dolls and sleeping up there - my privacy. We also slept outside on old quilts in the summer.
   I had an Arabian horse named "Pinky." I remember riding out to take things to Carl in the sheep wagon and read his “True Confessions" magazines he had hidden. We didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing. Mary sewed clothes for me, also my mother. 100 pound flour sacks came in printed material. She made bloomers and shirts from them.
   Electricity didn’t come in until about 1950. I sent Mom an iron when I was working in California and Dad didn’t think she needed it. We had flat irons that were heated on the cook stove. Believe me, it was hot in the summer when the stove was going to cook etc. We had a pump in front of the house for water. Washing was done outside. The machine had a stick on the side that you pushed and pulled to make the agitator go. It had a wringer with a handle you cranked and of course, the clothes were hung on the line to dry. Monday was wash day with heating the water in a copper boiler on the stove to dump in the washer. No indoor plumbing. Sears Roebuck catalog made good toilet paper but not the colored pages!
   Mom played cards - canasta and rummy with us and taught me to embroider. We listened to the radio. Dad liked the fights, news, and shows like “Amos and Andy” and “Fibber McGee and Molly.” That’s where I got my nick name - the telephone operator would say, “Is that you Myrt?” and Dad thought it was hilarious. I always felt loved and thank God for all the hardships my parents endured for me.
   I stayed in Scranton in a girls dorm during my high school years. I worked for the lady next door earning 25 cents to scrub and wash her floors. My Dad took me to school in his truck. I remember him whistling as he drove.
   My Mom had a great sense of humor and waited on my Dad. They walked to the Grand River and went fishing. Dad never shot a gun. He would make a cone trap shaped from chicken wire and put corn in it. Pheasants would go into eat and he'd catch them and ring their necks. They raised chickens, geese, ducks, and turkeys. We dressed those birds and shipped them to Minnesota and Wisconsin to Dad's relatives. How we hated those pin feathers!
   Threshing was a busy time. I got to stay home from school to help Mom cook. The men were fed 3 meals plus 2 lunches. One of Mom's favorites were cream puffs filled with whipped cream and prunes. A carload of fruit came to the Equity in Scranton and they purchased crates of each variety to can. What a treat to eat all the fruit we wanted. We ended up with diarrhea and trips to the outdoor john!
   I loved school and enjoyed being in the class plays. I loved movies and dreamed of being an army nurse during the war years. I entered nurses training at age 17. It was the first time I’d been out of North Dakota and was terribly home sick. Everyone told me I'd never make it and it was shear pride that made me continue. We started working in the hospital after our days spent in classes-3 hours in the evenings and then we'd have to study. It was very difficult the first year.
   We were sent to Warm Springs for Psychiatric training. I was 18 years old and in charge of 200 mental patients. I was terrified! I made lasting friends who I still enjoy today. When we had time off, we visited each others homes and had a lot of fun to keep our sanity!!
   Four of us rode the milk train to Conrad, MT for our first job when we finished nurses training. They paid $220 a month in a 60 bed hospital. We stayed in private homes until we got our first pay check to have an apartment of our own. We worked and played hard. Some of the girls were married there.
   I ended up going to California to work and loved it. there I met Erie Martin and was married in 1952. He was in the Army. I spent 13 years as a military wife. We moved many times, 5 times in one year! We had 4 children who have been the loves of my life. We came to North Dakota when he was sent to Vietnam where he died July 20, 1965. We stayed on the farm until I found a house in Scranton. I worked at the clinic and nursing home in Bowman. I met Bob Stuber and was married in 1971. I gained 2 step children, Dudley and Jackie. Bob died in 1981. I'm still in the home we built near Bowman. Our children were from age 11-17 when we got married. Needless to say, it was an interesting household!

Special Memories
by Martha J. Stuber (January 2003)

   Dianne was born in an Army Base hospital 75 miles from Oakland, CA. Camp Stoneman was in the process of closing so we received very little care. When I was in nurses training, I dreamed of being waited on when I had my own children. Not so in the Army! Dianne was a good baby. I wasn’t working. We lived in Oakland. I enjoyed spoiling her. Junior and I had a big collie dog named “Lady” who slept under Dianne’s crib.
   Dianne received awards with her horses in 4H when we lived in Scranton. She gave a speech at her high school graduation. Dianne helped me raise the other three children. I opened a package of photographs that I’d received in the mail and found out that Dianne had led a horse into my kitchen and taken a photograph. I said that if an elephant walked through my house, I’d just pet it!
   Our dog Lucy, a member of our family for 12 years, was run over by a car in December. The ground was too frozen so we couldn’t bury Lucy on the hills overlooking Stanley and Marlene’s farm. Dianne put Lucy in a rabbit pen. A blizzard covered the pen with snow until spring.
   The Martins in Virginia were appalled by Dianne’s stories of North Dakota. Grandma Edna thought her grandchildren might be taken hostage by the Indians. I remember being so embarrassed by Dianne’s account of her Martin family’s boot leggin history for a school recitation. Dianne raised rabbits. She dyed her rabbits colors for Easter. Everyone in Scranton thought the Easter bunny lived at the Martins.
   Dianne got her drivers license when she was 13 years old so she could go out to the farm and pick up Grandma and Grandpa when I took them to doctors appointments in Bowman. I was working in Bowman at the nursing home. Every minute was full on my days off.
   Dorothy was born in San Francisco when Dianne was 18 months old. Dorothy was premature. She only weighed 4lbs, 11oz when I brought her home. Dorothy was very colicky but sweet. I remember being busy ironing fatigues for Junior and feeding babies. The girls played well as they grew. I enjoyed dressing them up in frills. Dorothy was the only white girl in her kindergarten when we lived in Moss Landing, CA.
   Dorothy was burned very badly when she was 8 years old. We were living in Army quarters in Fort Riley, Kansas. Dianne, Dorothy, and Dennis were surprising Junior and me by baking us an anniversary cake. Dorothy’s pajamas caught on fire from the gas stove. Dianne rolled Dorothy on the floor to put out the fire when she tried to run up the stairs to our bedroom. Dorothy was hospitalized with third degree burns to her back and left arm. She was such a brave girl through all the pain and healing. I remember that we played lots of cribbage. Dorothy underwent surgeries for keloid scarring in Rapid City after we moved to Scranton.
   Dorothy played in the band in high school. Her horn was bigger than she was! Dorothy was my helper around the house. She drove a VW Beetle to Scranton to school after Bob and I were married.
   Dennis was born in Ft Lewis, Washington, 13 months after Dorothy. My Mom and Dad surprised us with a visit. They didn’t know that I was pregnant. I didn’t want to worry them as we were on our way to Alaska. Mom said, “You’re not going to Alaska that way!” I delivered the same night they arrived. We were so excited to have a boy!    Army orientation was in Seattle prior to us traveling by ship for our move to Alaska. Junior went ahead to Seattle. I followed him by bus with three children. The Army ran out of room on the base so stuck us on the 16^th floor of a downtown hotel. Dennis was six weeks old. I made a bed for him in a dresser drawer to sleep.
   On the boat trip from Seattle to Alaska, we shared a bathroom with another couple and their four children. Our family was the last to depart the ship. I had Dorothy all dressed in frills. She painted herself with black shoe polish. I scrubbed the polish off with Ajax. Junior was so mad.
   Dennis would rather be outside than in school. When we lived in Scranton, Dennis had a pet raccoon named Clyde. Clyde loved everyone but me! I’d come home from work to take a bath. Clyde was almost always sitting in our bathtub and would bite me if I tried to get him out. I was in tears.
   Dennis started trapping muskrats in grade school. He caught a mink and we took the pelt to Bowman to sell. I had the station wagon full of kids taking them to a movie. We stopped at the fur buyer. I told the kids to stay put. The fur buyer and several buddies were sitting around a pot bellied stove and quite drunk. Of course, all the kids came in. The fur buyer offered Dennis $20 for the mink and he was so excited! I’m sure that all of my kid’s friends told their parents about our trip!
   I gave away all my baby stuff and then along came Donna during the last year that we lived in Alaska. Donna was a good baby. Her first word was “kids.” I baby sat and had a house full of children. The kids teased Donna so she was my shadow especially after her Dad died.
   During Donna’s high school years, I remember many a night sitting in the green chair waiting for her to come home in “Howard,” her car. Donna was very active in high school Theater in Bowman. She also played clarinet in the marching band.
   We lived in Scranton on the hill close to school. My groceries were gone as the kids came and ate lunch when I was at work. I baked cookies for Christmas and found empty containers in the freezer! Jim and Bimbo would forget to tell their Moms that we were supposed to bring pies for lunch after basketball games. I remember frantic calls from Marlene and Franny. I’d run to the store and buy “Mrs. Smiths.”
   I don’t know what I would have done without the support of my family after Junior died. How blest I was to move back to North Dakota. Of course, the girls said if I’d moved to Virginia they’d be “southern belles.”
   I’m convinced that when I turned 70 that it was time to reconstruct body parts. First bunion and hammer toe surgery, root canals, extractions and partial plate, back surgery, and then cataracts. Thanks to Dianne and Dorothy for being there. I’m glad that I’m able to work in my yard and flowers. The Bowman Hospital and Nursing Home staff honored me with a beautiful painting and picnic for my volunteer work. I loved being dubbed “The Flower Lady.” My life is good. I enjoy being an Oblate member of the Benidictine Order of Nuns. My monthly visits to their Monastery  in Richardton are very rewarding. Their friendship has given me a beautiful insight to my spiritual life. I’m thankful that I feel God’s presence in my daily life.
   I have great memories of Stuber and Palczewski family gatherings – lots of card playing and laughter. More early memories are how hard my Mom cried when Junior died. My brother Stanley gathered us all and to lead the Rosary. I remember singing with Frank and Franny at a friend’s funeral. I remember Carl and Frank fighting in the house when they were in their teens. Furniture would get broken. Mom would get upset and be wringing her hands in her apron. Mom would scratch her stomach and say, “I think I’ll turn around and bake something.”
   A trip to Italy over Christmas in 1999 with Tim and Dorothy and Dianne was beyond all my dreams. Mass at Saint Peters Square on Christmas Eve as awesome. I’m probably the only person that was a block from the Sistine Chapel and couldn’t go to see it as my back gave out. I loved Assisi. The history is so beautiful in all Italy.
   I enjoyed all the times spent with my kids – A trip to San Diego with Mark, Donna, and Gabby, Fishing on Lake Tahoe with Dennis and Dylan, Enjoying the beauty of Oregon with Alex and Dianne plus attending the ice skating event, Stars on Ice, Tim and Dorothy’s hospitality. Who else but Tim and Dorothy would take her mother to a Bette Midler concert and Rockies game!
   I enjoy my grandchildren. I have a dress up closet in my house in Bowman. My grandchildren spend hours playing there even embarrassing the boys. I recall all the pinochle games, mud wrestling in the back yard, decorating cookies, and laughter. I’m thankful for my Polish heritage. My Dad used to say, “We had good stock.” We thought he was talking about his cattle but he meant us kids!     

Dianne Therese (Martin) Morley

Date of Birth: August 21, 1953, Camp Stoneman, CA
Address: P.O. Box 369, Creswell, OR 97426

Spouse:
Alexander Kelly Morley, born May 11, 1951, Cheyenne, WY. Married September 14, 1985
Craig Grimes Shaver, born April 13, 1948. Married June 6, 1975. Died April 4, 1977.

Pets: 12 Labrador Retrievers

Alex and Dianne skiing,
Whistler/Blackcomb, BC, Canada (2000)

Dorothy Lee (Martin) Gilmore

Date of Birth: February 21, 1955 in San Francisco, California
Address: 5482 West Colorado Ave., Lakewood, CO 80232
Spouse: Timothy Gilmore born February 26, 1950. Married September 3, 1999.

Children:
Mirriah Jo Cusker born September 5, 1977 in Denver, CO
Kit Terese Cusker born August 20, 1979 in Hettinger, ND
Devin Julia Cusker born July 8, 1983 in Bowman, ND

Step-Children:
Jeremy Gilmore born July 18, 1974

Mirriah Jo Cusker

Date of Birth: September 5, 1977 in Denver, CO
Address: 2012 South Wolcott Court, Denver, Co 80219, e-mail: mirriahcusker@hotmail..com
Spouse To Be: Andrew Charles Elliott born May 8, 1975 in Denver, CO
To Be Married on August 2, 2003

Children: Not yet

Family Information:
We just bought our first home. We are busy landscaping and are enjoying decorating.

Education:
Mirriah and Andy both graduated from South High School in Denver.
Mirriah - Bachelor's Degree in Speech Communication with an emphasis in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado
Mirriah is currently obtaining a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Literacy from the University of Colorado - will graduate in 2004.
Andy - Bachelor's Degree in Human Performance in Sport with an emphasis in Kinesiology from Metropolitan State College

Places Lived and Careers:
2000 to present: Fifth grade teacher
1992 to present: Denver, CO
1978-1992: Bowman, ND
1977: Denver, CO

Interests, Social and civic Positions, Hobbies, Sports, etc.:
Hiking, biking, conquering fourteeners, camping, interested in art, traveling, skiing, cooking (Andy, not Mirriah), playing board games and cards, cheering on Denver sports teams (excluding the Nuggets).

Travel and Vacations:
Yearly trips to good 'ole ND
Yearly Christmas trip to Arizona to see my Dad
Biking in Oregon while visiting Dianne and Alex
Lots of weekend getaways to the mountains
Taos, NM - mountain biking
San Francisco, CA
Bellingham, WA
Disney World

Family Memories:
Vivid memories of Easter egg hunts at Stanley and Marlene's farm. I recall finding a previous year's rotten egg in a hole in a tree.
Annual Easter Circus at Grandma Martha's with the Stubers. We would have balancing acts on saw horses, baton twirling, target shots, juggling acts, and somersaults and flips off of saw horses and onto old mattresses. Of course, our Red Rider wagon rides and infamous rollercoaster ride, the inside drum of an old clothes dryer were the hit of every year's show.
Ron and Sheila's wedding - That's when I decided I am not getting married in ND. I saw all those girls (cousins of course) all over Ron!!!
Stinky coyote pelts sitting in the sun to dry out all over Grandma's yard.
Kenzie at the dam.
Endless amounts of pinochle - everyone with different rules.
Grandma's dress up closet - all of our aunts' and uncles' actual wardrobe from the 60's and 70's - I'm now wishing I would have taken better care of our play clothes - they're back in style!

Kit & Mirriah Cusker with Grandma Martha, 2002

Kit Terese Cusker

Date of Birth: August 20, 1979 in Hettinger, ND
Address: 2570 S. Dayton Way H311, Denver, CO 80231, e-mail kitkitter@hotmail.com

Education:
B.A. Speech Communication (2001), Metropolitan State College of Denver
Emporia State University

Career:
Employed by Denver Public Library

Interests: Reading, Biking

Dennis Patrick Martin

Date of Birth: May 19, 1956 in Tacoma, WA
Address: 1928 Molly Drive, Carson City, NV 89706
Spouse: Barbara Jean Lockert born May 11, 1960 in Lemmon, SD. Married June 18, 1982.

Children:
Dylan Riley Martin born December 9, 1992 in Carson City, NV

Rachel Renee (Kitzan) Smith

Date of Birth: June 28, 1975 in Bowman, ND
Address:
Spouse: Mark Smith

Family Information:
Parents - Val and Jackie Kitzan
Brother - Shane Kitzan