In the little town of Nenana, Alaska, a little way from Fairbanks, Jeff has some family
history…..
In 1916, Jeff’s paternal grandmother, Miss A. Isabel
Rountree first arrived at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church as a missionary
nurse. They aren’t quite sure of her
age, as it seems she “fudged” her age on her marriage certificate to Jeff’s
grandfather, Hanson Berg, when they married.
She wanted to make herself approximately 10 years younger than she was so
that she’d be younger than him – tee hee!
No one is exactly certain how long she stayed at this
church, but as the family story goes, Hanson sent his bride to be a note to
tell her he was arriving to take her away to be married and live
elsewhere! I guess one does what one
must when one lived in the wilds of Alaska back in the day!
While Jeff was chatting with the current Reverend of the
Church and went to check on the church records to verify the arrival date that
I mentioned above, I wandered in the church and took some really lovely
images. This one was in the far corner
of the church, at the organ. There is a
new church built right next to this one, so I’m not certain if this organ still
plays or not.
This has to be one of my favorite images from the church –
the stained glass window above the alter.
And, the candle on the alter added just the right touch.
Enjoy!
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