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Family Stories
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events
My First Home
My first home was either in Ann Arbor, MI or a suburb, Ypsilanti, MI. I know that I was born in St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, but I know Ypsilanti was mentioned in connection with our time there, so it seems logical that we lived in Ypsilanti. [Ken or Keith, do you know?]
My family moved there in September 1956, coming from Jamestown, North Dakota. In that location (and other ND locations before, such as Windsor and Bismarck), my father was employed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. They arrived in the Ann Arbor area because my father was enrolled in graduate school in biology (likely pursuing a doctoral degree, or at least a Masters) at the University of Michigan, whose main campus is in Ann Arbor. Specifically, I believe that he was interested in mammalogy.
I was born in January 1958, and then we left there in about mid-July 1958. We were living in a trailer, which was in a public trailer court (not associated with the university). Keith believes that this trailer was then moved by a hired trucker to St. Cloud when we moved there.
Trailer home used while in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and later moved to MN. Date is 1956-1957. Keith thought this was a 12×38
I indicated when and why we moved here and from where we were before, and I indicated when we left, but not why or to where. I had my own "understanding" of why we left MI for MN (which can be read in the story Leaving Michigan), but I found out shortly before my mother's death the real reason: my paternal grandmother (my dad's mother) was dying, and he wanted his family closer. So we moved to the St. Cloud area.
Published 2026-07-20.
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