In continuing the story of the Paake/Paak/Peek/Pake family, I will share with you what I’ve discovered about George’s family.
Today the subject is my first cousin 3x removed, daughter Theresa Pake, the mother of Professor Edgar Lawrence, the man who shared the photos and stories of this branch of my family.
Theresa was born Tracy Paak, on October 2, 1893, in Oshtemo, Michigan. Oshtemo is very close to Kalamazoo.
Although her birth certificate says her name was Tracy, and her siblings called her Tracy, Theresa always referred to herself as Theresa, so that is how I will refer to her. Her parents were George and Lucy Paak (note that the birth certificate calls the mother Lizzie), who were both born in the Netherlands. Theresa’s mother died on May 28, 1900, when Theresa was only 6.5 years old. Theresa had two older sisters, one younger sister, and her brother George was the youngest of all the children.
According to the article about the fire that destroyed their residence in 1902, Cora, the oldest child, was taking care of the household and the children. That makes sense because she was fourteen, and the other children were far too young. So at a very young age, Theresa had to go from living in a home nurtured by a mother to having a young teen sister “playing” mother to her and her siblings.
In this photo, Theresa is quite young. She is not yet wearing glasses. I took the liberty of altering the photo by using a sepia finish, as well as by adding a frame.
The following might be my favorite photograph of Theresa (also note that she is not wearing glasses). She looks so happy. She also looks like a girl who loves babies. The photograph is from 1912.
For my next Paak post I plan to share photographs and information about Theresa’s education and career plans.
The Children After the Fire, 1902
The Family Kalamazoo 
Interesting that the birth was recorded in Hastings, county seat of Barry County, rather than Kalamazoo, county seat of Kalamazoo County. Lucy’s “usual residence” was Hope Township in Barry County. Why would she be in Oshtemo (Kalamazoo County) when about nine months pregnant? Visiting family who would help with the birth of her child? “Tracy” and “Lizzie” sound a lot like “Theresa” and “Lucy”….filtered, perhaps, through a Dutch accent. If the county clerk took the information orally, he/she could be the source of the name problems. (Similar to Ellis island name distortions.)
I am reminded of a friend of mine born in Jackson about 1928. Her parents named her Georgina, but someone in the hospital or county clerk’s office wrote “Georgianna,” and that’s her name to this day.
I’m thinking of the lyrics from the Grease song, “tell me more, tell me more.” This means more investigation into addresses of all involved at that time. And I think you might be right about Dutch accents and clerks recording names incorrectly. It must be so annoying to have one’s name messed up by the government!
Such wonderful photos. Once again I am so envious that your family had and kept photos from so long ago. Theresa looks like such a sweet person.
I had no idea that these photographs existed or would be available to me. I feel so blessed that Professor Lawrence found this blog and realized we were related and has shared so much with me!
Yes, I remember the moment he posted on the blog—I was excited for you. Maybe someone will someday turn up with old photos of my relatives.
I hope so, Amy. Was there another newspaper where there might have been a photo to go with that description of the wedding party?
I call it serendipity. I just got up one morning and the name Henry Waruf came to mind and I thought ” I wonder if I have that name in my Tree so I brought it up and sure enough, there it was. I remembered of someone telling me about the park that was given to Kalamazoo so by bringing up Kalamazoo I stumbled onto the Kalamazoo blog and as I read it the questions I thought Yes I know who George Joseph Pake was, I have his picture!… the rest is history and I more than glad I could be a part of it.
I am so glad that you got up that morning and thought of Henry Waruf and then acted upon your thoughts, Ed! This is so exciting!
Lovely photos!
Yes, they are! When I found the Paak/Pake branch of the family, I had no idea it would lead to this!
Now that we know my mother was at the Jennings Seminary all those years it solves what happened to her. She was really blessed that Auntie Pick (Una Orline Pickard) was her Sunday School teacher & her husband Oliver took good care of her. We always called her Auntie Pick and her husband Uncle Bob. The clothes in the picture now reinforces the fact they were financially taking care of her too.
This is so fascinating. I can’t help but wonder why she of all the children was selected by the Pickards. There must have been something about her that they responded to.
I love the picture of Theresa with the baby. They both look like they are having an absolutely wonderful time. Their happiness just radiates from the photo.
Sheryl, that’s how I feel! Just love that photo–and I so want to know that girl!
Theresa was very pretty! I like the sepia tint and frame on the first photo. That was a good choice, Luanne. The second photo is very precious. Who was the pretty baby?
I’m very glad that you have all the information about the different names that were used by Theresa’s family. This will help you with any future document searches.
I hope to keep up with this series of postings. I’m getting ready to move in September and life is a mess right now. Too little time for consistent blog reading and too much time required for clearing out and packing up!!
I think she was pretty, too. We don’t know who the baby was. I am going to guess it was a neighbor child. I agree about the different names. There are even more name changes with the Paaks, just to confuse further! Good luck with your move, EmilyAnn! The posts will remain up “forever,” so catch up when you can!