I chose Adrian Zuidweg, Jr., my maternal grandfather, as the starting point for this project of filling in the information/document gaps of my direct ancestors. His family inspired the blog because of the photograph collection that Grandpa had owned, which included glass negatives from the photography of his uncle, Joseph DeKorn.
I’ve always known that Grandpa was born on 31 October 1908 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. What I didn’t realize was that I had no record or documentation of that birth! So that was the first gap I set out to fill.
I wrote Wayne Loney, the genealogist in Kalamazoo who has helped me in the past. He found Grandpa’s birth recorded on the county record birth book: book 6, page 146, record 10294. Adrian Zuidweg, white male, was born in the City of Kalamazoo to father Adrian Zuidweg and mother Cora DeKorn. Adrian Sr’s place of birth was listed as Holland, and Cora’s was not listed. The residence was Kalamazoo. Adrian Sr.’s occupation was “Fish Dealer.” Yes, he owned a fish market.
Wayne shared a tip with me: not to order a birth certificate from county because they would just type up the same info that the record shows, affix their seal, and charge me for it. I took his advice, so I am just posting the following (he’s second to last):
As I continued down my list of the most basic documents for genealogy, I realized that I also did not have a record of the 21 May 1932 marriage of my grandparents. They were married in Indiana, not Michigan, and I had not been able to find the record before. This time, I found enough information online to order the marriage record and certificate from St. Joseph County. They have my request, and I am awaiting the documents.
I had 3 of the 4 census records that would be available. I had a copy of 1910, 1920, and 1930, but did not have 1940. His name didn’t come up in a search for that one, but knowing how often his name was mangled, I decided to search by address instead. And there I found Grandpa with Grandma, mom, and my uncle. See lines 6-9 below.
There is a military record for Grandpa, although he was too young for WWI and too old for WWII. He registered for WW2, though.
At one time I made a Findagrave profile for him, and I have a photograph of the headstone he shares with Grandma.
I also have Grandpa’s death certificate because when I undertook the project of searching specifically for death records of my direct ancestors I located it.
Question for researchers: what is the best way to find out a burial date? I can assume in many cases that it is the date of the funeral, which I can get from most obituaries. Are there other ways to make sure?
With this new emphasis on filling in the gaps, I saw that I did not have Grandpa’s obituary. So I contacted the Kalamazoo Public Library and they found two obituaries in the Kalamazoo Gazette, published one day apart. I will post them here. Here is the first one:
With this information, I would say that Grandpa’s burial occurred on Saturday, April 15, 2000.
The next one mentions a brave and scary time in my grandfather’s life when he stood up against other people.
Here is a transcription of the second obit.
Adrian Zuidweg’s work ethic, friendliness, and reputation for honesty probably would have been enough by themselves to ensure his success as the owner of a gas station.
But Zuidweg added to that a desire to give his customers the absolute lowest price he could on gasline, which endeared him to the gas-buying public, but didn’t win him friends among other gas station owners.
“He always wanted to try to give his customers the lowest possible price he could provide them and still make money,” said his son, Donald Zuidweg. “He got a lot of static from the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association, but he did his own thing.”
Zuidweg’s Sunoco station on South Burdick at Balch Street was front-page news in 1965 when other service station operators and employees, upset that he was charging 31 cents a gallon to their 34 cents, formed a gas-pump blockade, lining up for a nickel or dime’s worth of gas each and insisting that Zuidweg check their oil and water and wash their windshields as part of the bargain.
Zuidweg said he made about $1 during the three-hour blockade.
The ploy backfired, however, when customers who read about his lower prices in the newspaper showed up the next day to fill their tanks.
Zuidweg, a lifelong Kalamazoo area resident who died Thursday at his Portage residence at the age of 91, was a hard-worker who always mnaged to find time for his family, said Donald Zuidweg, who began helping his father when he was 4 and continued working at the station until he was through with graduate studies.
“I think I learned as much about business and people (by) working with him as I did in school.” Donald Zuidweg said.
“He worked very hard six days a week, but never worked on Sunday,” the son said. “We always had family time on Sunday.”
Although Adrian Zuidweg tried to give his customers the best deal he could, he also made sure his family had all they needed.
“He always provided for his family and put three kids through college,” his son said.
Zuidweg, who was born Oct. 31, 1908, in Kalamazoo, left school in his teens because his parents became ill and he had to take care of them.
His first job was working in the fish market his family owned. When they sold it, he started a garden and would walk north on Burdick, peddling his produce to neighbors.
After that, he worked at a confectionary owned by his father, which he eventually razed and replaced with the service station he ran until his retirement in 1972.
Zuidweg retired before self-service gasoline stations came into vogue, but understood the reasons for the changes in the business, his son said.
“It bothered him at first to see women have to fill up their own cars, but he knew that . . . (times were) changing,” Donald Zuidweg said.
Adrian Zuidweg and his wife, Edna, loved to travel and ventured farther and farther from home as time went on.
“After all of us (children) were through college, he and my mother went around the world several times,” Donald Zuidweg said.
Adrian Zuidweg was a member of First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo for more than 60 years and served as Sunday school treasurer for nearly half that time.
Surviving are Edna, his wife of 67 years, two daughters and a son, Janet and Rudy Hanson and Donald and Jean Zuidweg of Kalamazoo and Alice Carpentier of Portage, six grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. today at First United Methodist Church, 212 S. Park, with burial in Mount Ever Rest Cemetery.
I remember when the gas war happened because my father was there at the station and came home telling my mother about it. Although the obituary doesn’t mention it, my father said that the men threatened violence against Grandpa.
Grandpa stood up for what he thought was right.
The Family Kalamazoo 
An encouraging start, Luanne
It is! Thank you, Derrick.
The two obituary write ups are pure gold Luanne- I am so glad you decided to back track and found the obits. What a treasure! Can you check with the funeral home for a record on the date Luanne? What is the date of the publishing of the obits? If the 14th then I would say 15th for sure. The obits seem very lengthy though, would they be written that quickly to be in the paper next day or was it during the proceeding week they were written so the visitation of Friday and then burial would be the following of the next week. Long answer for a quick question 🙂
Yes, what a treasure! I feel like they are saying the 15th, but how was it all pulled together that quickly?! I think the funeral home is a good idea in this case. Thanks, Sharon.
Congratulations, you found quite a bit of additional information by seeking additional records. It was great that there were actual obituaries and not just brief death notices. These were very interesting.
In answer to your question, place of burial is usually listed on the death certificate, when there is one. However, be sure to confirm the information when possible. I know first hand it can be incorrect for various reasons.
A nice read! I enjoyed it.
Good idea. Start with death certificate and maybe confirm with obituary or funeral home, I’m guessing. Thanks, Margo!
Excellent work filling in the blanks and finding a great personal story. Cemeteries can typically tell you when a burial occurred.
Do you usually have good luck with cemeteries? I have not—until today. A lady was so kind!
It all depends on the cemetery and whether they have a record keeper. It’s always worth a try.
Yes, what I’ve found is so many don’t have the old records. Or are sort of defunct, if that makes sense.
Luanne, the death record is a great place to check for burial date and location. It’s usually at the bottom on the right. Good luck!
Thank you! A little while ago I messaged you on Facebook by the way.
My grandparents traveled from Flint to Angola, Indiana, to get married in 1934. I wonder what about Indiana made our grandparents travel down there? Maybe it was cheaper or easier to get a license quickly?
I wonder if my uncle knows why Grandma and Grandpa went there. Maybe no waiting after the license? I hope he knows!
You can try contacting the funeral home of the cemetery for their records. The burial date should be there. Cemetery records can be informative. They sometimes say who bought the plots and when, and you can find out who else is buried in the family plot- sometimes the stones are gone.
Should say funeral home OR the cemetery
I am guessing in most cases the records are better or easier to locate at a funeral home. I really like that idea. Thank you!!!
What an amazing story. What rats those other gas station owners were—they were engaging in anti-competitive behavior, and your grandfather could have sued them for their conduct. A conspiracy in restraint of trade! He sounds like quite an honorable and decent and hard-working man. (And I can’t believe all those Z names!)
Oh, we need to put you on that case, Counsellor! Yes. I remember being frightened for my grandfather. He was an honorable person and a real character. In the beginning poem of Kin Types there is a piece of advice that reminds me so much of Grandpa: “If they come to your door, feed them. Then send
them on their way.”
I once taught antitrust law, but alas, I’ve taken down the shingle and retired from the bar… Yay! I love that bit of advice. There’s something both soft and tough in it, probably like your Grandpa.
Yes, that’s well put. I love that!
And the Z names LOL! Very Dutch!
What a wonderful testimony for your grandfather, Luanne. He must have been really special.
You know what’s cool? I feel like I know the Kalamazoo people in your family now. Your hard work has paid huge dividends for all of us.
Oh wow. I LOVE that! Thank you, Sheila!
I greatly enjoyed reading your grandfather’s story, as well as the comments that followed. He sounds like a remarkable man.
Thank you so much, Liz. It’s true. he really was a special person and a product of the time he grew up in as well.
I think it’s so great that blogging enables the memory and the legacy of these special people in our family to live on.
I agree. Other writing projects, as well!
I don’t always look within our obits,but they are another way to find obscure family members mentioned in the mourners.
I agree. it’s very rare, for instance, that a child wouldn’t be mentioned. And sometimes it’s a way to discover a child who passed away and has been forgotten by the descendants.
I love these real-life stories when people stand up for their beliefs, values. Hooray for your grandfather, an honorable man.
Thank you so much for saying that, Patti! I think so too!
In the UK burials are listed by law in parish/church registers. Is it different across the pond?
Yes it is. For the most part, there is no connection between parish and church registers and what is usually done by the government. It’s that separation of church and state thing. Although I haven’t done any British searching that is how the German records are. Church records. My cousin says the Italian ones are done also that way. That said it is possible that some churches may cross reference the information. For instance there are Dutch reformed records for births and marriages in the US.
I like the “Filling in the gaps” theme. Last year, I did a history of my father-in-law’s family for him and my husband’s aunties. They live in England and France, and we were going to visit. I thought it would be a nice gift. I think they liked it, though I may have enjoyed the process more than they enjoyed the book! 😉 Still, I learned a lot about organizing files on my Heredis program and decided I needed to go back and do the same for my own family.
I was shocked at the number of blanks I’d left, so now have a (big) project similar to yours.
Isn’t it amazing how we leave the blanks on those closest to us?! I think I have erred on getting “enough” info to figure out a person’s storyline and then stopped researching him/her when I had “enough.” Not a good idea!
Me too!