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This is my Mom, Gladys Fletcher Brake, during a visit to Hawaii, a place she loved dearly. Mom was born, raised, and lived her entire earthly life in Washington. She passed away in early 1997. 
This is Mom and Dad on the occasion of their 60th Wedding Anniversary. Mom spent most of her adult life raising her children who included not only Jan, Sal, Jack and me, but also a multitude of foster children. Nobody seems to have kept track of the exact number, but all agree that it was more than 20, and probably less than 40. After her brood had left the nest, Mom went back to school, got her teaching degree, and taught school for several years in the Toutle Lake School District. |  |
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This is my Dad, James W. Brake, or "Jim," in his 90th year. Dad was born in Rock Cave, West Virginia in 1910, lived most of his life in Toutle, Washington, and last resided in Tacoma, WA. Dad worked for Weyerhaeuser for 37 years, most of which were as the foreman of crews building logging roads in the Mount Saint Helens area of Cowlitz County, WA. Below is Dad on January 19, 2001...his 91st Birthday!
The four "kids"...Sally, Jan, Buzz, and Jack. We adopted four miles of SR 504 just below our childhood home in memory of our Mom and Dad. This photo was taken after our first litter picking session in May 2003.
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This photo of Mom and Dad, and from left to right in back, Jack, Sal, Jan and me, was taken in late 1996. Mom and Dad moved into this house in Winlock after the mountain had so rudely kicked them out of their beloved home at "502." Just days before this photo was taken, Dad had suffered a heart attack...it was touch and go for a while. 
Mom and Dad had both passed on by the time this photo was taken which was the 4th of July, 2002. We anchored the bronze plaque to the cliff at our swimmin' hole on the Toutle River where the whole family spent so many enjoyable hours. To see what the swimmin' hole looked like before Mt. St. Helens erupted, see the first photo in sister Jan's "Paradise Remembered." Just click on the bullet for Jan's page at the bottom of the home page.
This is my son, Curtis. Curtis works for Hewlett Packard and lives in the city where it all started for the high tech instruments giant, San Jose, California. Being an Army brat, Curtis was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but grew up in Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, and Germany, finally settling down in Washington where he finished high school at Foss High in Tacoma. He received his Masters of Business Administration at Washington State University, worked for Airborne Express for a short spell, and has been with Hewlett Packard since. He's a fine son and makes his Pop very proud!
Like most little boys, Curtis always liked playing in the mud...but THIS is ridiculous! Actually, we were digging clams on Puget Sound. He is a good digger...but a squeamish eater! 
This is my sister, Jan, her husband, Bill Bearse, and part of their family. On the left is son, Gordon and his wife, Debbie, and on the right is daughter Jennifer. Jen's attack dog, Bronco, actually is smiling for the photo op! The rest of Jan and Bill's family is in the next photo. 
...and here is the rest of Jan and Bill's family. Daughter Betsy and her husband, Joel Eyestone, and clockwise from Logan in the red shirt, are Jay, Tobin, and Bradley. The Eyestones are missionaries in Agoo, La Union, The Philippines. I am waiting for photos to post for the family of my younger brother, Jack, and his wife, Joann. In the meantime, I will post a couple I already have. Below is son Robert, or Rob as we normally call him, and his good friend, Liz. Liz and Rob live in New Hampshire of all places, and have decided to tie the knot in July (2003)!! A super addition to the family!
Rob's older brother, Brandon, and his wife, Bonnie live in Rhode Island, not that far from Jack and Joanne, much to the delight of the latter because they get to see there grandchildren often. Below is Alexander Brake, born in 1996. I'm guessing he's about three here. Does anybody notice a clue that Jack and Joann and their family spent some time in Germany? 
...and this is Brandon and Bonnie's little girl, MacKenzie, who was born in 1997. I'm thinking she's about 17 months old here (OK...I cheated...that's written on the back of the photo). I have a notion we'll see some big changes in Alexander and MacKenzie when I get some recent photos. 
...and here are Alexander and Mackenzie in early 2002.
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This is Sherri Brake-Recco, my third cousin, once removed in the family tree, but far removed geographically. Sherri, her husband Frank, and her two kids, Sage and Mason, live in Ohio. Sherri is much more than "just a cousin"...she is a wonderful friend. She is also my mentor when it comes to photography, building web pages, doing research on the family tree, and probably a number of other things I haven't fully appreciated yet. You can tell by the gleam in the eyes of her kids below that she is also a super mommy. 
These are my very special cousins, Sage and Mason Recco. They send me letters, e-mails, papers from school, and photos to keep me up to date in between our very infrequent in-person visits. Both are budding artists, smart as a whip, and a handful for their Mom and Dad as kids their age should be. But it's worth the effort...they'll both continue to make Mom and Dad very proud as they grow.
Quick learners? You bet! This is Sage after two minutes of instruction from her champion fisherman cousin! Mason will soon follow!
...and just to prove I know what I'm talking about when I say the kids are budding artists, here is a photo of Sherri taken by none other that her daughter, Sage. Pretty good work, I would say...it's my favorite picture of Sher. And by the way, she was born a century or so too late! 
This is sister Sally's family including husband, Larry, daughter, Stacy, her husband, William, and two sons, Joshua and newborn Jordan, and the newlywed son, Joel and his bride, Jennifer. Sal's oldest son, Mark, was not able to make it to the wedding in Canada.
Here are newlyweds Joel and Jenn Neufeld. Joel and Jenn live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (More photos of Sal and Larry Neufeld's family will be added soon.) 
Here is Josh holding his first fish...actually, three of them...ten-inch eastern brook. He outfished the guide, his old Uncle Buzz, four to nothing! Lake Tahklahk and Mount Adams are in the background. July 2, 2001. 
This is Lucy Perry Brake, my grandmother. Her husband, Arthur Brake, died before I was born and I have not been able to locate a photograph. 
...and this is Lucy Perry's Mom and Dad, and my great grandparents, Mary Victoria Riggleman (b. Dec 25, 1860) and Charles Lee Perry (b. Apr 1, 1861, d. 1937). 
...and here is my Great Great Grandfather John Wesley Riggleman (b. Dec 2, 1830, d. Oct 11, 1926), father of Mary Victoria Riggleman pictured above. This photo is the earliest photo I have of any ancestor in my direct line. The little girl is undoubtedly his granddaughter, but which one, I do not know. |
