Hyder women

My grandmother, Frances Marie Hyder (1904-1975), has been gone for just over half a century. But I still have vivid memories of our lengthy visits with her during my childhood. One of these memories is of two lovely photographs sitting on the bureau in her dining room in Milan, Michigan, those of her deceased mother and her eldest sister.

This is Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder, who was born on 2 October 1875, Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and died on 7 November 1948, Adrian, Michigan. As I studied this portrait as a boy, I thought my great grandmother, whom I would never know in this life, looked kind, compassionate, and somewhat careworn. I wished that our lives had indeed overlapped so that I could have known her personally.

 

This is my great aunt Elizabeth, who was born Mary Elizabeth Hyder on 2 December 1896, Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and died on 23 March 1968, Adrian, Michigan. I remember seeing her only once during the early 1960s. Our family was either at her home or at one of her daughters' homes. I am reasonably certain that at least some of her grandchildren were there as well, although too many years have passed for me to trust my memory fully. As I looked at this photograph, I saw once again kindness and compassion, but also grace, dignity, and steady determination. My mother had great respect for her and viewed her as something of a role model. Elizabeth lost her husband Richard at age 34 and remained a widow for the rest of her life. I don't recall my grandmother having portraits of her other siblings on that bureau. That must say something about her relationship with her eldest sister.

Lucy Jane, Elizabeth, and Marie all died in their early seventies. As I post this, I myself have just surpassed my grandmother's lifespan by three days. Of course, I grew up in very different circumstances and in different times than she did.