G2F - Galama - Tiel-Groenstege Family

  Galama - Tiel-Groenstege Family

After the death of his Jetske Wybenga, Ysbrand Haye Galama decides to look for another wife. He has six children and a farm to run. He needs someone to take care of his children. And he does so quite quickly. 

On October 13, 1923, he marries Anna Tiel-Groenestege. She is 36, he is 33. We do not know how they meet, but she works at the milk factory of her brother in Roermond. Her parents are also farmers, in Steenwijkerwold.

He has changed farms as well. From Landlust in Dedgum, the family moved to Halfweg Tjerwerk I, on the Bolswarderweg 5 in Tjerkwerd. His 2 oldest sons now go to school in Bolsward instead of Blauwhuis. It is unclear when this move accurs. The Family Hettema, who are now living on Landlust, state that they moved to that farm in May of 2022.

Left to right: Gatske, Haye, Hugo, Marty and Evert at the new farm (Halfweg Tjerkwerd I)

They seem  to be doing well at first. He buys a car, the first one in town, and they have 4 children.
Johan (Joannes Engelbertus) Galama,  28 Oct 1924 - 6 Feb 2001 , Maastricht 
Jetske (Julia Francisca Maria) Galama, 7 Jan 1926 - 18 Sep 1998 , Utrecht 
Joke (Johanna Sebastia Anna) Galama, 16 Dec 1926, 14 Aug 2003, Utrecht
Betty (Elisabeth Barbara Maria) Galama, 20 May 1929 - 17 July 2018, Bilthoven   

We now get a picture of life on the farm.

1923 on the farm at the back door. 
Evert, Michiel, Hugo, Gatske Martha, and Haye
Evert, Gatske, Mrs. van Geldrop with Johan on her  arm, Haye (seated), Hugo and Martha (sitting on a chair)1924 - in the garden at the farm

1925 on the farm - Ysbrand with his sons Evert and Hugo (in his arms)

1926 - Evert does his Holy Communion

Ysbrand on the right. Hugo, Haye, Gatske, Evert and Hugo on the ice

1929. Ice skating on the canal in front of the farm.

Here two younger siblings join, probably Johan and Jetske
September 17, 1931 - Evert with his father milking cows

Evert, Johan and Joke (seated on the fence), Betty (standing with doll), Marty and Gatske (in uniform), Jetske (with ball) and Hugo (seated on the fence). 

Haye, the oldest son, is not in the picture because he is attending a teachers college in Venlo, and Michiel, a child with down syndrome, is not in the picture either, although he did live at home. There are no clear photos of him at all.

But then the thirties start. The stock market crash in 1929 in the US slowly permeates the world and the financial world crisis reaches Europe. On top of that, the region suffers from repeated outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, which makes milking near impossible and their income drops significantly. And although Ysbrand's brothers all continue farming, and eventually manage to get back on track, he decides in 1932 to sell the farm and begin a hotel in Montfoort, The Golden Lion (De Gouden Leeuw). The family moves again.

Hotel The Golden Lion in Montfoort (not sure who are the people standing at the door)

Anna and Ysbrand with their 3 daughters, Betty, Joke, and Jetske, in Montfoort.
The little girl all the way right is from the neighbors.

Gatske, Jetske, Hugo, Betty, Johan, Marty and Joke. Both Haye and Evert are at this point not living at home anymore, and Michiel, as always, is absent from the picture.

But according to his son, “he had no idea about the hotel business.” And after only 3 years, in 1935, he sells the hotel, and the whole family is moved to Utrecht, where he eventually becomes a sales representative in animal feed for the SOL. First with a motorcycle, and later with a car, he visits all the farmers in the region. It is a job he greatly enjoys, although his 3 oldest sons, and later on the two oldest girls, all have to work and bring home money to make ends meet.

In 1939, the family is again struck by bad luck. As a life-long smoker,  Ysbrand unfortunately develops lung cancer. The many letters he writes to his eldest sons show that he is seriously concerned about what the family will do without him. The youngest is just 11. And although he does visit doctors, he eventually does not go for radiation therapy.

And in June 1940 he dies, in the presence of his family, in Utrecht.

He is taken by car to Blauwhuis and placed in the grave with his first wife. The funeral costs, including funeral cards, prayer cards, coffin, masses, transportation, advertisements in newspapers and clothing for the children, amount to Fl. 280.77.

When her husband dies of lung cancer, Anna is 54, has moved 6 times, has 10 children under her care, no pension, no income, she lives far away from her family and the Second World War has just begun. These are sober times.

She moves the family to the Oudegracht 345 in Utrecht and rents out rooms to make ends meet, while the elder children help the family financially as well. 

Anna and her children. Left to right Jetske, unknown lady, Betty, Johan, Anna, Hug0 (But maybe Evert?) , Marty, Jetske and Gatske. Missing: Haye, Michiel and Evert

The Galama sisters: Joke, Betty, Marty, Jetske and Gatske

Michiel is at one point moved to an institution in Oss. As was explained by my father, during the war it was difficult to take care off him, as he wetted his bed each night, and doing the laundry was an issue. He was also rather big now, 22 years, and the care apparently became an issue. There may have been the issue that now they have boarders now.

Two sons end up in Germany during the war, for the Arbeidseinsatz,  but all the children survive the war, except for Michiel, who dies of pneumonia in 1944.

 

Little by little, her children marry and leave the house. In 1956 she moves for the last time, with two of her daughters, Joke and Jetske) and her youngest son, Johan, to the Rubenslaan 51-1 in Utrecht, where she lives until 1978. On December 9, 1985,  she dies. She is 99 years old. 

The children, who call her moeke, remember her as a quiet but fair woman. She treats all of them - whether they are her stepchildren or her own children - equally, and manages to keep the family together. For years, a 'coffee Sunday' on the first Sunday of the month is organized at her place, and everyone comes. These are very noisy meetings, because they all have strong characters and outspoken opinions. The only one who never says anything is Moeke. The family bond has always remained strong.

About Anna: “Moeke was very quiet. She observed and had her thoughts. She had a certain sense of status, she had style, she was a lady. And she was a beautiful woman. People called her: black Anna (link). No one ever heard her complain. Not even in the last seven years of her life, which she spent in a nursing home. She could no longer walk and was deaf. Her ten children took turns visiting every day. And the grandchildren brought young kittens and rabbits under their blouses, which were allowed to walk on her bed.”

Standing: Chef (Husband of) Gatske, Marty, Betty, Johan, Joke and Haye

Seated: Hugo, Jetske and Evert

She is buried in the same grave as her husband, in Blauwhuis.