 1924 - 2020 (95 years)
-
| Name |
Wilda Kathryn Wilhelm |
| Birth |
25 May 1924 |
Lonaconing, Allegany County, Maryland  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Death |
18 Feb 2020 |
Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland |
| Notes |
- I was 6 years old when my mother died, so there was just me, my brother Roy, and my dad, Francis Wilhelm. Daddy was a Lonaconing coal miner. That was a dangerous job for a man whose children did not have a mother. I guess one of my best memories is Daddy coming in to our bedroom early in the morning. He always gave us a kiss before he left for work, because he didn’t know if it would be the last kiss. I can’t remember all the mines he worked in, there were a few. I recall the Koontz Mine, and he worked for Consolidated for a while, but I don’t know where they were. He left early, always walking and carrying a lunch bucket. The bucket was round and had three compartments. The bottom was for his drink, the middle for his sandwich and the top for dessert. His sandwich was made with homemade bread (he wouldn’t eat store-bought bread) and he didn’t take a piece of pie, he took half of a pie every day. I was just a young girl when my aunt taught me how to bake bread and pies to keep his bucket full. He usually got home around 3:30 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon, just when we would be getting out of school. We could hardly wait to look in his bucket to see if he saved us a piece of that pie. He came in the house, got a home-brewed beer and sat at the end of the table. He was as black as the coal mine, but had to have the beer before his bath. The old wooden tub sat in the kitchen and he’d fill it with water and soak the day away.
Daddy never had a lot of time to play with us, but we were always with him. He worked on Grandma’s farm when he wasn’t mining. He did what needed to be done for her, and she repaid him with milk. He also grew a nice vegetable garden, so we had plenty to eat.
On weekends, he gave my brother and me a quarter a piece to go to the theater, and then to Bob Marshall’s for a treat. Daddy was always waiting on the corner to walk us to our home on Douglas Avenue. One time, he walked some of us up the mountain to Koontz Mine and took us into the first gate. That was far enough for me — it was dark in there! There was a brickyard up near Koontz Mine where we would walk when we were kids. Teddy Watson was a guard there after the brickyard closed. He would take us for rides in the cars, which looked like coal cars. Daddy said the cars were pulled by ponies that were in the mines all the time. He said the ponies would go blind from working in the dark. It was a hard life back then, but it was a good life, and the best part was those early morning kisses.
•••
Our committee would like to thank Wilda Wilhelm Walker of Frostburg for her recollections.
Published in Cumberland Times-News, January 29, 2017
FROSTBURG - Wilda K. (Wilhelm) Walker, 95, of Frostburg, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, at WMHS Frostburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Born May 25,1924, in Lonaconing, she was the daughter of the late Francis and Margaret (McKenzie) Wilhelm. She was preceded in death by her husband, Daniel L. Walker in 2004; son-in-law, Rudy Shockey; and brother, Roy Wilhelm. Wilda was a homemaker, attended First English Baptist Church and was a former member of the Classy Chassis Car Club. She thoroughly enjoyed her family and Friday morning breakfast at the Princess Restaurant. Surviving are daughters, Sandy Shockey, Cinda Sue Walker and Crystal Day; grandchildren, Kelly Pennington and husband, Jim, Tammie DeLawder and Michael Shockey and wife, Alison; great-grandchildren, Kaylyn, Krystal, Jarrett, Ryan, Ava and Ella; and numerous special nieces, nephew, cousins and friends. Family and friends will be received at Durst Funeral Home, 57 Frost Ave, Frostburg, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, from 4-7 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at 11 a.m. with Rev. David Sandvick officiating. Interment will follow at Frostburg Memorial Park. Published in Cumberland Times-News on February 19,
2020
|
| Person ID |
I01935 |
McKenzie Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
29 Oct 2021 |
| Father |
Francis Charles Wilhelm, b. 8 Jun 1885, Maryland d. 8 Feb 1962, Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland (Age 76 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Margaret Mary McKenzie, b. 22 Feb 1886, Garrett County, Maryland d. 23 Oct 1930, Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland (Age 44 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
26 Jan 1916 |
| Family ID |
F01148 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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