I have struggled with the Edmonds and Massie names in my family. I sometimes think they don’t want to be found.

My great-grandfather Edmonds, George Wiley, married Mary Jurisha Massie. I was struggling with finding her parents. I knew I had an Uncle Harlow, but it took me a while to figure out that he was my grandfather’s half brother and that Mary had been married before. Her first marriage was to Robert Goff.

With that information, I was able to find her first marriage and from there find her parents, Newton and Catherine (Hoffman) Massie. I was shocked to learn that they had lived in Michigan and had passed here. 

Now our family was staunch supporters of Memorial Day. Each year flowers were taken to each grave, including that of my Great-Grandparents. We never visited Newton and Catherine’s graves. Shockingly they are buried two rows below Mary!

They had come to Michigan to live with George and Mary. In 1944, Catherine passed from nephritis, myocarditis, hypertension. In 1948 Newton passed from an accidental fall. They both are buried in Grace Lawn Cemetery in Flint, Michigan.

Roy Richard
August 2023