This month is a very important with two very special birthdays. January 10th is number 101 for my mother, Elsa Jean Polasek Freeman, who I’ll be writing about in this letter. Also, it’s the 78th birthday for my wife, lover, and best friend, Sandra Kay Catt Freeman. Congratulations to both amazing ladies.
This letter is about some of Wayne and Elsa Freeman’s story; truly a genuine love story that defied the odds.
Wayne’s father was Harry Freeman, born June 5, 1876. His family came from England. Can you imagine that 1876 is only 100 years after our country was founded. Wayne’s mother was Sarah Ann Kurrle born May 9, 1878, whose family came from Germany. Glen was their first child, but he drowned when he was two years old. Oliver was born in 1903, and Wayne came along on March 21, 1918. They were farmers in Shiawassee County.
Wayne started school in 1924 and got through eight grades in six years. He started high school in 1930 but had to drop out for two years to help rebuild the family barn lost by fire. Wayne still graduated with his class in 1937.
Frank Polasek, Elsa’s father, was born in Czechoslovakia in 1890. Agnes Malik, was Elsa’s mother, born in Czechoslovakia in 1895. Frank came to America in 1910 and eventually met Agnes in Indiana. They married in 1914 and settled in Shiawassee County. They also were farmers.
Agnes gave birth to their first child, Rose, on June 15, 1915. They had their only son, Tony, on May 11, 1916. They had another girl Anastasia on November 11, 1918. Then they had Elsa Jean on January 10, 1921.
Elsa went to a one-room schoolhouse for eight years. At fourteen years old, she worked as a nanny for various families. When she was sixteen, she moved away from home to live in Owosso and to work at a restaurant called CandyLand. Then at eighteen, she worked at Fedders, a radiator factory, for .50 cents an hour.
During this time, Wayne and Elsa were engaged to other people. Wayne’s fiancé was friends of his family, and Elsa’s fiancé was Czech and friends of her family. But Wayne and Elsa’s paths would change because of “love.”
Elsa’s sister Anastasia married in Owosso in 1940. Wayne and his buddy crashed the wedding reception, looking for a good time. When Wayne saw this cute blonde, he asked her to dance. She accepted. Later, he asked to take her home, but she showed him her ring and said, I’m already engaged.
Later that year, Wayne started working at Fedders and realized that cute blonde he had met earlier was working there too. By this time, Wayne and Elsa were no longer engaged. Wayne started asking Elsa out on a date, but she refused. But he was persistent, as he kept sending her notes on the conveyor asking her out. Finally, they had their first date on January 22, 1941. They went to a show in Owosso, and from there, they continued dating throughout the summer. They got married on November 20, 1941.
But their path to marriage wasn’t a smooth one. Their parents and family were not excited for them to marry. Wayne was a German-Welch Protestant, and Elsa was a Bohemian Catholic. It was customary to marry within your ethnic group. To make matters worse, the Catholic priest wouldn’t marry them because Wayne wasn’t Catholic. Finally, both parents gave in, and they married in Owosso at the Church of Christ. They held the reception at Elsa’s parents’ farm.
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and it was clear Wayne would be drafted. So, on March 2, 1942, he left for basic training, and Elsa stayed with her parents. Before Wayne was shipped overseas, Elsa spent a few months with him in Oakland, California. There, they realized Elsa was expecting, but eventually she had to return home when Wayne was shipped overseas. Denny was born on April 22, 1943, and Wayne discovered on May 15th that he had a son.
Like many couples, Wayne and Elsa’s marriage relationship was put on hold because of the war. Throughout the two years of military service, Wayne kept a diary and faithfully wrote letters to Elsa. (She still has these letters.) He was very faithful to journal in his diary about his experience. Finally, in 1943, the war was over, and Wayne was a free man again.
Wayne and Elsa bought a home in Corunna, Michigan where they settled down. They had Carol Ann on April 26, 1946, and Nancy Jean on July 17, 1950. In 1969, they sold their Corunna home and moved to Owosso. In 1990, they sold their Owosso home and lived in Gaylord in the summers and Florida in the winters.
I’m forever grateful for the love and commitment they had for each other. Dad truly loved Mom and that really sold Mom on him. They had many obstacles, but they overcame them and were married for over sixty-one years. Dad died of lung cancer on January 3, 2003.
Wow Mom! One hundred and one years! You’re amazing, and still active and growing.
Think about these facts, in 1921:
- A stamp was 2 cents.
- A gallon of gas 26 cents.
- A movie ticket 25 cents.
- A new house $5200.00.
- The average yearly income was $1330.00.
- Cars were starting to be massed produced.
- Prohibition was still in effect until 1933, but this decade was called the roaring ’20s!
To Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Great-Great-Grandmother, we all say is, Congratulations!
May God continue to give you good health and many more blessings.