I've been thinking about this project for nearly a decade and I'm still not sure how to begin. I suppose the logical place is at the beginning.
Melba Leota Lantz ("Nanny") was born on July 27, 1906, in Lake Ramsey, Nova Scotia. Her parents, David Ensley Lantz and Melissa Sarah Ella Gates were 50 and 41 respectively when she arrived. She was the youngest of 10 children, and her eldest brother, Kempton Zabina Lantz, was almost eighteen when she was born. Her siblings included four brothers (the aforementioned Kempton, Elmer, Ivan and Asaph), and five sisters (Alice, Evelyn, Estella, Elvie and Pansy). However, she only ever knew three of her sisters because two died before she was born. Evelyn passed away in 1892 at just 5 years old, and Estella died in 1899 at the age of 4.
On November 23, 1932, Melba married my grandfather, Ralph Wentworth Brown, in New Ross, and they had three children together. The first, a little girl named Gloria Maxine, arrived July 6, 1933. Gloria was followed by two sons - Ralph Arnold, born November 10, 1935, and Bradford David (my dad), born September 28, 1939. It is worth noting that Ralph, who was born in The Forties on February 3, 1910, was nearly 4 years younger than Melba.
In December 1939, Ralph joined the airforce to fight World War II, leaving Melba and their children in New Ross, and didn't come home for six years. He spent the last of those years in England recovering from serious injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. On his return, Melba and Ralph lived for some time in New Ross, before moving to New Germany, then to Kingston, Dartmouth, Charlottetown, Summerside, Kentville, and Coldbrook before settling into a basement apartment in New Minas, Nova Scotia, for the last of their many years together. Ralph passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, in May 1976 after a lengthy illness.
This photo of Melba and Ralph was taken in 1957, when she was 51 years old.
In 1981, Melba was married again, this time to her teenage sweetheart, Douglas Naugler, a widowed barber who'd lived most of his life in Port Williams. Melba and Doug lived together in the same basement apartment until she died of heart failure in March 1988.
Tragically, her daughter Gloria died in a car accident a little more than two years later in July 1990 at the age of just 57, and her son Ralph died of heart failure in March 2000 at the age of 64. Her last child, my father Brad, is alive and well, preparing to celebrate his 80th birthday in September 2019.
* * *
Rereading what I've written so far, I'm struck by two things.
First, that the few facts I've documented already lead to a long list of questions. For instance, why did two of Nanny's sisters die so young? Did Nanny finish high school? What did she do with herself until she was 26 and married Ralph? Why did she marry Ralph instead of Doug? How did she manage on her own during WWII? What sort of life did she and Grampie have together after the war? Was she content with the choices she made?
Second, that there must be almost no one left who has first-hand recollections of Nanny's early years, which makes me wonder whether I've waited too long to begin this project. Will I be able to gather enough information from other sources to draw a reasonably accurate portrait of her? Given how special she was to me and many others, the last thing I want is to get it wrong, but it seems far worse to leave her story untold.
Melba Leota Lantz ("Nanny") was born on July 27, 1906, in Lake Ramsey, Nova Scotia. Her parents, David Ensley Lantz and Melissa Sarah Ella Gates were 50 and 41 respectively when she arrived. She was the youngest of 10 children, and her eldest brother, Kempton Zabina Lantz, was almost eighteen when she was born. Her siblings included four brothers (the aforementioned Kempton, Elmer, Ivan and Asaph), and five sisters (Alice, Evelyn, Estella, Elvie and Pansy). However, she only ever knew three of her sisters because two died before she was born. Evelyn passed away in 1892 at just 5 years old, and Estella died in 1899 at the age of 4.
On November 23, 1932, Melba married my grandfather, Ralph Wentworth Brown, in New Ross, and they had three children together. The first, a little girl named Gloria Maxine, arrived July 6, 1933. Gloria was followed by two sons - Ralph Arnold, born November 10, 1935, and Bradford David (my dad), born September 28, 1939. It is worth noting that Ralph, who was born in The Forties on February 3, 1910, was nearly 4 years younger than Melba.
In December 1939, Ralph joined the airforce to fight World War II, leaving Melba and their children in New Ross, and didn't come home for six years. He spent the last of those years in England recovering from serious injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. On his return, Melba and Ralph lived for some time in New Ross, before moving to New Germany, then to Kingston, Dartmouth, Charlottetown, Summerside, Kentville, and Coldbrook before settling into a basement apartment in New Minas, Nova Scotia, for the last of their many years together. Ralph passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, in May 1976 after a lengthy illness.
This photo of Melba and Ralph was taken in 1957, when she was 51 years old.
In 1981, Melba was married again, this time to her teenage sweetheart, Douglas Naugler, a widowed barber who'd lived most of his life in Port Williams. Melba and Doug lived together in the same basement apartment until she died of heart failure in March 1988.
Tragically, her daughter Gloria died in a car accident a little more than two years later in July 1990 at the age of just 57, and her son Ralph died of heart failure in March 2000 at the age of 64. Her last child, my father Brad, is alive and well, preparing to celebrate his 80th birthday in September 2019.
* * *
Rereading what I've written so far, I'm struck by two things.
First, that the few facts I've documented already lead to a long list of questions. For instance, why did two of Nanny's sisters die so young? Did Nanny finish high school? What did she do with herself until she was 26 and married Ralph? Why did she marry Ralph instead of Doug? How did she manage on her own during WWII? What sort of life did she and Grampie have together after the war? Was she content with the choices she made?
Second, that there must be almost no one left who has first-hand recollections of Nanny's early years, which makes me wonder whether I've waited too long to begin this project. Will I be able to gather enough information from other sources to draw a reasonably accurate portrait of her? Given how special she was to me and many others, the last thing I want is to get it wrong, but it seems far worse to leave her story untold.
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