Herman@work

Courtesy of Lesa Pohlman Hill, one of Jack and Lois’ daughters (Debbie and Rick’s sister!):

Bunny’s Birthday Bash, or How I Spent my Weekend:

Missed it completely–or would have, except for some pics and a short video sent to me by my sister Paula.  I heard that everyone had a great time, and that except for a few minor snags, things went off without a hitch.  The view from here was a bit different:

Flat on my back in bed, for two days.  Basically unable to move my head or sit up, due to an inner ear ‘thing’ caused by a raging sinus infection.  Worse than any drunken ‘bed-spin’ I ever had, without all the the hassle of drinking first.

By Saturday morning, things had gone south, and not in a warmer, sunnier way–I couldn’t sit up, stand up or get myself into any other position involving verticality.

Since I was due to leave for Nashville and the Big Event at 9 am, it was time for Plan B.  Plan B involved coaxing my husband into driving my mom and a cousin to Nashville for my mom’s ‘surprise’ 80th birthday party, which had been planned for 2 months.  Unfortunately, since I was the one who planned it, I was also the only one who knew what was going on.  After a quick synopsis of the weekend’s events, they were off and I was left alone to recuperate in relative peace and quiet.

Thanks to the intermittent attention of a great neighbor (who also fed the cat and dog) and the return of my husband and the Nashville entourage on Sunday afternoon, I was able to get back to the doc Monday for another round of meds.  Now, Tuesday, I am back to 3/4 normal, which may or may not be a good thing.  But it was a heck of a way to spend my weekend  

Note From Kim:

I received an email from Kim Tavares (James and Lois’ BABY!!!) with so much info in it I thought I’d just post the whole thing intact.  If anyone has anything to add, or can either refute or prove any of it, let me know:

HI Pam-

This is Kim, youngest of James & Lois. Eric just sent your site to me – so happy that this is started!  Herman and Nell were such a mystery, it will probably take all of us (however many) to figure them out!  I have a few updates from my mom that might help.

The order for our seven is: Don, Scott, Jeff, Alan, Denise, Eric and Kim. Mom & Dad have 14 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

As for the 13, my mom has a list of every one that is probably about 99% accurate. My mom likes to ask questions (a “no no” in the Pohlman family!), so over the years she was able to get a little information out of Nell, Kat, Marie and Pat (she grew up near the family prior to marrying Harry).  Clara was a twin –”Marian” died at birth, and there was another pregnancy at some point that Kat wasn’t sure if Nell carried to term or miscarried. I have used __ where mom didn’t know information on names.

1. Gaynell (Sam McBee) – b. 7/17/14, d.1979
2. Kathleen (Leonard “Crip’ Hutto) -  b.10/13/15, d.3/1/03
3. Harry (Mary Pat Baker) – b. 4/3/17, d.7/2002
4. Marie (Bob Christian) – b.2/24/19, d. 1997
5. Mary Louise (Harold Lee (d.);  Joe Smoak) – b.12/12/21
6. Clara (John Hamilton) – b.6/17/24, d. 1/2010
7. James (Lois Lyons) – b. 5/3/26
8. William “Bill”  (Jean Ballard) – b.7/8/27, d.5/13/86
9. Charles (Wilma Vines) – b.7/7/28
10. Marilyn “Bunny” (Paul Burns) – b.3/20/30
11. Jack “Jupe” (Lois Anderson) – b.2/6/32, d.6/1980
12. Floyd (Edna LaRue) – b. 4/3/33, d. 3/8/03
13. Robert Louis “Robin” (Sherrell Smith) – b. 4/13/35

My dad was one of the first born in Birmingham. The older kids were all born in different locations such as Mississippi, Tennesee…but mom doesn’t know who exactly was born where.

Mom and I also did some searching about 12 years ago at the National Archives. We found a C(K)onrad & Sophia Pohlmann (born in Germany) in Cook County Illinois that had children William, Henry, Hermann and Emma in the 1900 census. It says that at that time Hermann was 15 and born Jan 1885. Again, not sure if it’s the right family but it matches with information my parents had that he was born in Illinois, as well as the fact that he was significantly older than Nell.  

My mom said that Nell’s birthdate was 6/4/1898 and she died 7/30/85. The name of her parents matches what you have, but Nell told my mom that she grew up in Virginia around Portsmouth – but never when she left there, or got there or how she met Herman, or what happened with her parents. 

Herman’s death year is also debated among the kids…it was either 1938 or 1939. Harry told my mom during a funeral a long time ago that the date on the headstone of Herman’s death wasn’t right…but not sure if it was or Harry.

That’s what my mom knows. Hope this helps!!

Kim

Unique relations

We are a very large family, and have lots of relatives who are either outstanding in their fields (please, no farm jokes here) or uniquely talented, or both.  Megan Linville is a rising star in Nashville (apologies if you have completely risen already, Megan!).  Dr. Teresa Robin Pohlman hangs out with some Big Dogs in DC.  Paula Vaughan is THE  lead LEED instructor for the US.  Jessica Smith is a talented and extensively published poet and small press owner.  Kristen Jacks breeds Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (they are SO cute!!!)….

That very small handful comes to mind right off the top of my head.  (Yes, I realize that they are all women.)  I’m sure that you know of others, and there must be some guys who are doing interesting things, too….

Roll Call

Just so we all know who everyone is, let’s have rollcall.  I may have some of The 13 out of order, but I’m not worried about that–I want to make sure that I don’t leave out any of the cousins!  With that in mind, here we go:

GayNell:  Sammy, Tommy, Jerry, Mary Nell, Cheryl

Harry:  Larry, Kay, Ray

Kat:  Patsy

James:  Scott, Don, Eric, Alan, Jeff,  Denise, Kim

Jack:  Rick, Debbie, Lesa

Mary Louise:  Nora/Nody, Linda

Marie:  Bobby, Billy, Betty, Stephen

Clara:  Jackie, Johnny

Floyd:  Debbie, Teresa

Bill:  Billy, Phillip

Charles:  William, Sandra, Kenny, Dale

Marilyn (Bunny):  Pam, Paula, Cindy

Robert Louis:  Bobby, Robin/Teresa, Kristin

Now, if you are reading this, and you have edresses on any of these, PLEASE send them the link to this site!  I’d love to have everyone check in, even if it’s to say “Go away and leave me alone!”  And if you are reading it and I left your name off or got it wrong, I’m sorry!!  If you send me a list of your wife/kids/grandkids names, maybe we can get a complete list.  Thanks!

Pic of the Boys:

Found one:  6 of the 7 brothers, present and accounted for!

Pohlman boys:

I have no idea what was going on, but Robert Louis is pretty mad and two of the others are very upset!  The older boys must have pinched them!

Now we are 5…

It’s more common than many people realize–an older person dies, and then within a short time, the spouse passes away.  It’s tough on the extended family, and overwhelming to the immediate one.  As a senior move manager, I see it more often than I’d like–I move a widow/er into a smaller place, and then within 6 months or so I get a call from one of the kids telling me that they need my help again, this time to pack up the belongings or clear out the estate of the remaining parent, who has also passed away.  I’m always sad to get this sort of ‘repeat business’.

We Pohlmans lost Clara recently.  As the fifth girl, she was the one closest in age to my mom, who was the sixth and  ’littlest’ sister.  Clara was stricken with Alzheimer’s several years ago, and lost her husband John in November 2009.  Although her sons had made the decision not to tell her of his passing, I have no doubt that she knew about it on some level.  There was probably a definite “shift in the universe” of her world.  Having been married to and in love with him for most of her life, I’m sure that she went to join him.

Each loss of a piece diminishes the whole, and what was once a large and interesting family has once again been depleted.  There were, for a few years, six of the Original Thirteen left–three boys and three girls.  And now there are five.