Thomas Howard and Dee Shuman Wickenden Family

Thomas Howard and Dee Shuman Wickenden Family

THOMAS HOWARD WICKENDEN FAMILY  The chapter in the Memoirs authored by Thomas Howard Wickenden mentions his two children, Mary Dee Schmonsees and Thomas Clinton Wickenden, as well as his grandchildren. So, we, the grandchildren, tell here the story of our two families.

FIRST GENERATION

FAMILY TREE: This is Thomas Howard Wickenden's basic pedigree chart. There is also a dynamic tree view and many additional tools for Thomas's genealogy below. https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Wickenden-Family-Tree-384  

Thomas Howard Wickenden (26 May 1888) married Dee Shuman (abt 1888) on 9 Mar 1916 and is the father of 2 children and the grandfather of 6 grandchildren. Listed below are details on up to five generations of descendants. Also see Thomas's DNA Descendants and Family Tree & Genealogy Tools for more views.

  1. Mary Dee (Wickenden) Schmonseesancestorsdescendants (05 Jan 1917) m. Vincent Scofield (abt 1915) on 17 Feb 1940. m. Charles Schmonsees (abt 1915) on 13 May 1960.
  3. Thomas Clinton Wickendenancestorsdescendants (23 Oct 1920 - abt 29 Dec 2015) m. Jean Elizabeth Dunn (abt 1923 - 24 Nov 2011) on 2 Jan 1943.
    1. Thomas Howard Wickenden IIancestorsdescendants (14 Sep 1944) m. Beth Helene Friedman (21 Feb 1951).
      1. Thomas Aaron Wickendenancestors (05 Aug 1979)
      2. Anna Wickendenancestors (17 Feb 1985)
    3. Michael James Wickendenancestorsdescendants (20 May 1947)
    5. Elizabeth (Wickenden) McMahonancestorsdescendants (12 May 1950) m. Kevin McMahon (abt 04 Sep 1948).
      1. Ian McMahonancestors (abt 1980)
      2. Brendan Cory McMahonancestors (abt 1985)

The story of our grandparents, Granddad and Nana, is told in the chapter of the Memoirs and in the Supplement found below.

Memoir - Thomas wrote a memoir of his liDee and Tom in Short Hills, NJfe as Chapter V of the Memoirs book:  Memoir, Thomas Howard Wickenden.pdf                  

One Twin Oaks Road, Short Hills, NJThis is the Wickenden house at One Twin Oaks Road in Short Hills, NJ.  Thomas commuted to his office in Manhattan by walking several blocks to the Lackawanna Railroad station each morning, taking the train to Hoboken and from there crossing the Hudson on the ferry boat. Mary Dee and Tommy grew up in this house, going to Vail Dean in Summit and Pingry in Elizabeth by bus each day. I spend many Thursday nights after school having dinner with my grandparents and sleeping in my dad's old room as well as family visits, sometimes with our cousins mostly on holidays. My memories include (1) my grandfather tucking me in bed by letting me hear the ticking of his pocket watch, (2) seeing TV in his room with my grandmother - mostly Ed Sullivan and Dinah Shore, (4) admiring his roll-top desk (5) showering in his bathroom the next morning where there were two shower heads (one on top and another on the side), (6) asking my grandmother for 3, then 4, then 5 scrambled eggs when she would cook breakfast on, the "colored" maid (Gertrude's) day off Friday, (7)admiring all the sailing trophies in his library off of the dining room, setting a cotton snowman on  fire and (8) digging dandelions out of the lawn on the hill for 1 cent a piece, and (9) hearing stories of how, during the depression, transients would mark his house by the street, come to the back door and get an egg sandwich from Gertrude and (10) how I was in the kitchen in a high chair, slipped down and choked on the tray, was taken to the hospital until my dad hid me under his coat to leave after I had recovered.

Memoir Supplement - We have written a brief supplement summarizing the movement of the family from Ohio to New Jersey and completing our grandfather's memoir: THW Family.pdf

Pictures - Included here is a Powerpoint slide show of eight pictures of Thomas from childhood, through his career to retirement.   THW Photos 2.pptx  Pictures of Tom's work in making car springs at the Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indiana, are included here: STUDEBAKER #3.pdf 

First car in Covington:  Dee getting in Tom's car 

Star boats on Greenwood Lake, where they had a summer cottage in Awosting, NJ: Star boats on Greenwood Lake.pdf

Round the World Trip after retiring: Around the world.pdf Carriage rides.pdf Cards for Tommy.pdf

Visit to Alfred's Cabin in Canada: Invitation - Alfred from Montreal, April 10, 1933.pdf  The visit - 

Alfred, Tom and Buddy.pdf Alfred and Gracie.pdfGracie and Buddy.pdf Tom with fish.pdf

House at 1 Twin Oaks Rd, Short Hills. The notes on the back of this picture, which was probably kept in his wallet as a reminder, include addresses for:

Family - Mary Dee; Dr. T.C.Wickenden in Alexandria, LA, then in Paterson; Homer, with directions by train

Friends - Robt. E. Wolfe, a close friend from Awosting

Restaurants - White's Clam house, Pierre's, Drury Lane (Popovers), Crillon (Rum Coke., Sweets)

i found a similar card with jokes and punchlines, for Granddad's meetings with The Old Guard.

Letters - A great deal of correspondence between Tom and his spouse, siblings, children and friends, from the 1920's through the 1970's is included here from a separate website:  https://app.site123.com/versions/2/wizard/dashboard.php?w=2393393

Letter from his mother with family news but especially about his father's recovery from a stroke: Letter from Ida (April 17, 1922).pdf

Love letter to Dee on the day before their wedding: Love Letter.pdf

Letters from his father: 

TRW letter to THW, Cleveland, 1918.pdf

Note from father to son, with mention of their pony Dolly and ending with 8 x's:

Promotions and Honors -    FIRST CONTRACT IN 1919: CONTRACT.pdfTO MANAGER IN 1943: News Release of THW Appointment as Manager at INCO.pdf News of promotion.pdfTO VP in 1947: THW Inco VP Promo.pdf  THW VP Promo in NY Papers.pdfEarned and honorary degrees: THW Education Honors.pdf Paper coverage.pdf Denison Alumni Citation.pdf Resolution of Appreciation from Associates Corp..pdf

Miscellanious Presentations - by the brothers Wickenden: The Wickenden Special.pdf 

Wartime and Post-war Presentations - 1941 Presentation.pdf Nickel presentation .pdf Post-war expansion (1946) Peacetime Dividends from War Time Research Conference Q&A on Research.pdf

Retirement: Farewell Remarks at INCO The Old Guard.pdf

Patents - THW Patents.pdf 8_58_18_scan205740503.jpg 8_56_54_scan205623827.jpg 8_55_51_scan205514992.jpg

Resumes - THW Resume (1948) Resume (1949).pdf  Resume (1966) Who's Who Editing (1966) Formal Resume (1967).pdf

Toast at 50th Anniversary - Mary Dee Toast at THW and Dee's 50th Anniversary.pdf

  

+DEE SHUMAN WICKENDENLittle Dee with Mother and BrotherDee Shuman was born and raised in Covington, Ohio.  She had three brothers, Clinton, Roy (Roscoe) and William.  She and Tom were in the same class at Denison College in Granville, Ohio.  Stories of how they met are included in a letter from Tom to his niece Elizabeth Wickenden Goldschmidt in 1961 (see Letters, URL attached above) and in Tom's Memoir (also attached above).

Young Dee Shuman

Pictures of Dee : I think she is on the far left in the front of this picture - Elementary school angels.pdfHigh School Dee.pdf

Roscoe Shuman business bio

Shuman Hardware Store.pdf This picture was taken about the year 1895. The staff include, from the left, Old Philip Smith, Cripple John Hay, Bashorn (an assistant or E.E. Shedd, Jobbing Grocers, Columbus Ohio), W.C.Shuman (the present Shuman who was 82 in 1930, so 47 in the picture), R.W.Shuman, clerk, and W.M.Shuman for free delivery.

Engagement - Announcement

Wedding - Happy Event/Brilliant Affair 

Father - Grandpa Shuman picking peas 

Reunions at Denison - 

Vacation Trips

Feb of 1935 - Dee spends an evening in the Beekman Tower hotel in Manhattan with Tom before he heads off on business to Canada. Dee in Manhattan.pdf 

April of 1945 - Dee writes every day from Clearwater Beach Hotel and Cottages where she is vacationing. An early letter sets the tone and describes hotel life: Dee from Florida in 1945.pdf 

February of 1947 - Dee writes from Coral Gables, Florida on Cloisters, Sea Island, Georgia stationary to send Tom "oceans of love." Dee from FL in 1947.pdf

Dee travelled alone to Covington in Sept of 1947 to visit family, take care of her father who fell into a coma after eating too many plumbs but recovered, and to arrange for cleaning his house.  No mention of her mother (who must have passed) but she sees both brothers Roscoe and Clinton. Dee visit to Covington 1947.pdf 

Her sense of humor - 

Dee Shuman Gravestone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139096581

Tom and Dee hadDancing at Tom and Beth's wedding, 1970

 two children:  Mary Dee Wickenden and Thomas Clinton Wickenden.

Note on back of photo reads: "Nov 15, 1962 - Beginning of the new sugar bush [Sugar Maple tree] grove near the house.  [Probably Tom's newly acquired farmhouse in Cavendish, VT.]

Granddad and Nana with grandchildren: Top - Barbara and Sally; Bottom - Cindy, Tom and MichaelCousins

Nana was a good musician, skillful at the piano and, in later life, at the accordion!  Granddad always loved singing, even singing in the Meadowlarks, a group at Medford Lees, in his late 80's.

Since they and their children, Mary Dee and Tom, all lived with their families in Short Hills through the 1950's and 1960's, there were numerous opportunities for family celebrations at holidays, birthdays and other special occasions.   





Family Obituaries - Clinton Shuman (Dee's brother), Marion Lamb Wickenden (William, Aug 26, 1981), Justin Nixon (Ida, July 12, 1958))Clinton Shuman Obituary.pdfFamily Obituaries.pdf 







SECOND GENERATION

This next section will be developed by the children of Mary Dee.]

MARY DEE WICKENDEN  married Vincent Scofield.  

They had three children:  Barbara, Sally and Cindy.  They divorced and she married Charles Schmonsees.

Pictures of Mary Dee: Mary Dee and the guys.jpg Young Mary Dee 2 (2).jpg  Mary Dee Engagement.pdfMary Dee Wedding plans.pdf  Mary Dee Wedding (2).jpg


Mary Dee with Baby Barbara

Obituary from Tampa Bay Times:

Schmonsees, Mary Dee, 90, of Clearwater, died Thursday (Jan. 11, 2007) at the Oaks of Clearwater. She was born in South Bend, Ind., and came here in 1998 from Sandwich, Mass. She attended the nondenominational church at the Oaks and sang in the choir. In New Jersey, she was a volunteer for Overlook Hospital, Summit, and other local organizations. Survivors include three sisters, Cynthia Steinmann, Clearwater, and Dr. Barbara Field and Sally Dee Wanner, both of Mayo; a brother, Dr. Thomas C. Wickenden, Dryden, N.Y.; nine grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. International Cremation Society, Clearwater. 


Barbara with Baby Sally

THOMAS CLINTON WICKENDEN married Jean Elizabeth Dunn. 

Tom and Jean first met at Awosting NJ on Greenwood Lake, where both their parents had summer cottages. Jean was thirteen years old and Tom was seventeen. During the school year, he would drive to Paterson and then, when at Amherst College, to Skidmore on weekends to see her until they were married.  

Tom's mother gave him her car, which may be the one below.


However, one semester when Tom was sick with the flu at Amherst and only got a "B" in Biology, his father threatened to take the car back unless he improved his grades so he could get into a good medical school.

Tom and Jean had three children and six grandchildren.

Education - Tom graduated from Pingry School, as did his son Tommy.  Report Card: Report Card.pdf

Tom was class president and gave an address at graduation: Class Speech: Tom's Class Speech & Cum Laude_NEW_0001.pdf 

Editorial about the Nazis in America in 1938: Throw the Nazis Out.pdf

This was in spring 1938, before WWII which started Sept 1, 1939 and ended Sept 2, 1945.  In between Tom went to Amherst, graduating in 1942, studied medicine at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC, marrying Jean in Jan 1943, enlisting as a doctor in the Army in 1943, finished training in Louisianna and then Texas as an anesthesiologist in 1945, moved back to Awosting for the summer around 1946 . Then to Paterson, NJ for his residency and on to Hyde Park, NY for two years and then to Short Hills where he and family joined his sister Mary Dee and her family and their parents, Tom and Dee, around 1948.  

Love Letters - Tom must have saved two letters from Jean that ended up in his father's file of family letters that I received after his death. Jean wrote to Tom in November of 1940, when she was just 16, but had begun her freshman year at Skidmore, having skipped a year because of her superior academic performance in high school (Montclair College High). Tom was 20 years old and in a fraternity at Amherst. She wrote the letter while on the train heading back to college, probably after a Thanksgiving break at her home in Paterson.  Tom must have gone back to Short Hills so he could borrow his mother's car and drive over to see her.  He may also have had a Thanksgiving break, but she mentions that he had to miss some classes in order to see her before returning to Amherst. All their friends and relatives have mentioned how inseparable Tom and Jean were ever since they met three years earlier at Awosting on Greenwood Lake in northern New Jersey, where both families had vacation homes. Her love for him is so very evident from this letter that it is no wonder than they were married for nearly 70 years. Interestingly, they had begun to discuss their future, and she may have suggested that they get married right away, which would have required him to drop out of college and get a job.  In the letter she tells him that she was just being silly and that of course he should stay in school, that she'll see him again at Christmas and that their plans were wonderful and she wouldn't want to change them for anything.

Tom saved another letter that Jean wrote to him in January of 1941, when she was just 17 and now a sophomore at Skidmore. He was 20 and in the infirmary at Amherst recovering from what may have been the flu. She recounts her activities seeing some teachers at her high school, having an "awful awful" (an awfully big, awfully good milkshake)with lunch, seeing a movie and buying Aladdin to read to her much younger brother Jay. At home she asks her parents about getting a (drivers) license now that she is 17, but they think she means a marriage license, and there is much laughter at her expense.  The previous fall Tom's mother has lent him her car so he could drive to Skidmore to see Jean on weekends, but when his biology grade drops to a B because of his illness, his father advises him that he won't be able to get into medical school and threatens to take away the car (see another letter from him to Tom in his father's file). 

Jean to Tom at Amherst Frat, Nov 1940, p. 1  Jean's letter written on train at age 16 p.2

Jean to Tom (Jan 1941) p.1  Jean to Tom in Infirmary p.2  Jean, p. 3 Jean p. 4

Seeing Jean while at Amherst - Tom's mother let him take her car to Amherst so that he could drive to Skidmore to see her. This letter to his Mother was written in the fall of 1941 (?) on a Monday after Tom had returned from his first trip to see Jean (who had been elected president of her dorm house) the previous Saturday: Letter to his mom about Skidmore.pdf

Tom graduated Amherst in 1942, entered the medical school at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and enrolled in the Army.  Jean and Tom were married in Paterson, NJ, in January, 1943. Jean left Skidmore to join Tom in an apartment in NYC and took a job at a local bookstore.

Marriage - Tom and Jean took a train to Sea Island, GA, for a honeymoon after their marriage on January 2nd, 1943. They enjoyed telling how the soldiers on the train would bang on the door when going by their compartment on the train at night, knowing that the couple inside had just been married.  

Announcement and Letter from Sea Island, GA.pdf. Jean's thank you from Awosting for baby clothes and carriage on August 30 before Tommy's birth on September 14, 1944: Jean's thanks for baby things for Tommy (1944).pdf

Tommy (called Tucker) was born in September of 1944 during a hurricane. His grandfather walked to the hospital from the subway and arrived soaked to his shoes, except for his arms which were covered by his raincoat and umbrella. After graduating with an MD, Tom signed up for additional training in the Army as an anesthesiologist. He was first sent to Louisiana and then to Mckinney, Texas and finally to Dallas. The Army did not have quarters for trainees and the towns had few rentals, so during the two years in which Jean was pregnant and then gave birth to Michael, they moved several times, bought a trailer and lived there for a while, until finally getting an empty hospital ward to live in. The temperatures were often above 100 degrees and even hotter in their quarters since there was no air conditioning.  When it rained, their dirt yard turned to mud. Tom build a brick patio and fixed up an outdoor shower hose so Tommy (Tucker) could keep somewhat cool, as the kids had nowhere else to play. In addition, they were lonely without any family nearby and with few friends. They wrote their parents almost every week asking for news of home. Tom and Dee may have made one trip out to visit them. This letter was written in the spring of 1947 as they were expecting to be discharged, at which point they spent the summer in Awosting and the next year or so in Paterson while Tom worked at a hospital nearby as an intern.

Letters to his Father: 

      Fall 1938 - First semester of classes. Typical freshman concerns, although the Biology exam has a strange question, Tom teases his son about minor errors, and the back of the article relating to the exam question has interesting information about antisemitism in Germany and Roosevelt's denunciation of Germany and the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors. First Courses.pdf

     Fall 1940 - Thinking ahead :Career Discussion with his father.pdf

In the Army - Louisianna must have been ok, but Dallas was a very trying time. The Army did not provide housing and there was none to rent in local towns. They bought a trailer and fitted in out to live. Jean had her hands full raising two babies under those conditions. In 1947, they decide to take their one-week vacation by flying back to New Jersey to spend the time with both sets of parents. The Dunn's don't realize the babysitting job they're being set up for! Quick trip to NJ.pdf

Tom and Jean plan their final return to New Jersey after a harrowing time in the Army: Army Life.pdf As the end nears, they first decide to drive and then to fly. Temps in Dallas hit 10 degrees, freezing the car and house water pipes. This, after temps over 100 during the summer - without airconditioning! Plans for afterward (March, 1948).pdf 

With the kids, probably in Paterson: 


Tommy and Michael

Family Life - After interning in Paterson, the family moved to a beautiful old Victorian house in Hyde Park, NY with a barn and ice house (converted to a swimming pool) out back.  They were lonely, so far from family in New Jersey, so they moved to Short Hills, and Tom had both his own general practice and a job at Overlook Hospital, where he eventually was appointed head of the Anesthesia Department.  Here he is at Overlook - Overlook Hospital.pdf

Homes - Besides their first house in Hyde Park, NY, a summer house in Mantoloking at the Jersey shore, and later a vacation farmhouse in Vermont, Tom and Jean had houses in Short Hills, in Gainsville, Fl, and in Dryden, NY.

On Hobart Avenue in Short Hills

"Stonewick," on Minisink Road, Short Hills

On the Golf Course in Gainsville, FL


Family Memoir - The children have written a short memoir of their family, describing their meeting in Awosting and courtship through college, their marriage and first homes, life in Short Hills, NJ, vacations in Mantoloking, NJ and Cavendish, VT, their life in Florida, and their retirement in Dryden, NY. TCW Family.pdf

Pictures - Pictures and albums of their family life can be found here.

Off to Europe in Summer of 1966

Picture taken on Elizabeth's porch in Dryden, NY in about 1985. Top Row: Kevin McMahon, Michael Wickenden; Second Row: Linda Seitz Wickenden, Elizabeth Wickenden McMahon, Tom Wickenden, Dr. Thomas Wickenden; Third Row: Jean Wickenden,  Ian McMahon, Beth Helene Wickenden, Michael Thomas Wickenden; Lower Row: Anna Wickenden, Thomas Aaron Wickenden, Maggie Wickenden, Brendan Cory McMahon 

Jean on shore during a trip on the Half-Time.  Elizabeth and Mary Dee also sailed the Inland Waterway with her.  
















When he first moved to Short Hills, Tom practiced general medicine from an office attached to our first house, and anesthesia at Overlook Hospital in nearby Summit, NJ.  After moving to Minnisink Road, he dropped his general practice and added one day a week of anesthesia at a tuberculosis hospital in Glen Gardener, NJ.  He returned from the operating room to his garden behind the house every afternoon, but he also loved driving past farms and fields on his way to Glen Gardener.  He would often bring back horse manure in peach baskets in the back of the car to work into the soil of his garden.

Tom pursued two other medical specialities.  He worked in the College Health Center and then in the Community Medicine Department, both at the University of Florida in Gainsville, FL.

Before leaving for Gainsville, Tom and Jean  bought a 42-foot, two-masted Ketch, named it "Half-Time," and enjoyed sailing it along the Inland Waterway as well as the St. John's River.  They also had quite an adventure sailing to the Bahamas and through the Caribbean (see Thomas Howard Wickenden letters.  Jean did most of the navigation while Tom skippered the ship.  Beth and I visited Tom and Jean several times down in Florida. Once on the Half-Time we found our dog, Mocha, had fallen into the water and pulled her out.  A minute later we saw her jump back in.  Apparently, she was a water dog.

   Tom and Jean also took up bird watching and enjoyed spending time in the woods and water holes watching and cataloging various species of birds, in Florida and later in New York State.

Here's their house in Gainsville, FL:



+Jean Dunn Wickenden

In Laws - Jean's parents were Jim and Lilian (Green) Dunn. They lived in Paterson, NJ. Jim went to Princeton in the class of 1915, as did some relatives including his father and uncle. Jim Wickenden, class of 1962 and Thomas Howard Wickenden II, class of 1966, also attended Princeton University.




Family was always important to Tom and Jean.  They moved back East after the war to be close to both parents.  Tom took an medical internship in Paterson, NJ, to finish his medical degree.  Their first home was a few blocks from Jean's parents.  Tom's first job was at a hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY, but after a few years, they moved to Short Hills, N.J.  Tom's parents and his sister's family were both living there and it was also closer to Jean's family in Paterson.

                                                                                                                    

Thomas Howard Wickenden holding Elizabeth and Thomas Clinton Wickenden behind sons Michael and Thomas Howard Wickenden II

 All of these pictures show multiple generations.  From left to right is Jim, Lillian, their daughter Jean, and her grandmother (Lillian's mother), Great Grandma Greene. Lillian's Sister Aunt Sally is next on the right.

Grandfather's Memorial.pdf

On the left is a picture with three generations of Tom Wickendens.  On the right below is pictured Uncle Clinton, Grandfather Shuman, his grandson Tom (whose middle name was "Clinton") and great-grandson Thomas Howard II.July 1946.  Uncle Clint, and Grandfather Shuman with Thomas Clinton and son Thomas Howard II    

As a boy, Tom would spend summers in Covington, Ohio, with Grandfather Shuman.  He learned his love for organic gardening from working his grandfather's garden behind the house.  Tom was an organic gardener before organic food became fashionable.  He would bring peach baskets full of horse manure home from his trips to Glen Gardener and work it into the soil to improve the garden. He subscribed to "Organic Gardening" magazine and would raise all kinds of vegetables for our table.

Memoir by Tom Wickenden - This memoir was written as a paper by Tom for his Freshman English class at Amherst (probably an assignment over the summer before enrolling). It is titled "Plants and Animals," but it is mostly a description of time spent with his grandfather Shuman and what he learned from his grandfather about gardening: Plants and Animals.pdf


THIRD GENERATION

CHILDREN OF MARY DEE WICKENDEN SCHMONSEES

BARBARA SCOFIELD _____.  Barbara married and had three children

SALLY SCOFIELD____  Sally married and had three children.

CYNTHIA SCOFIELD STEINMANN. Cindy married and had children.

CHILDREN OF THOMAS CLINTON WICKENDEN

THOMAS HOWARD WICKENDEN II married Beth Helene Friedman

From the left: Michael Wickenden (brother), Linda Wickenden (financee), Mary Dee Schmonsees (aunt), Tom and Beth, Jean Wickenden (mother) Elizabeth Wickenden (sister) and Tom Wickenden (father)

Memoir -Tom wrote a memoir for this website describing his life in Short Hills, meeting and courting Beth in L.A., their lives in Brentwood, CA, their move to Philadelphia, PA, then to Ithaca, NY, Flagstaff, AZ, Washington, DC. and finally back to Arizona.  Mention is also made of their two children, Aaron and Anna. THWII Memoir.pdf


                                                                                         


 Pictures - Pictures of Tom and albums including his boyhood, school years, life with Beth, their wedding, their family and their retirement can be found on this website:  THW Family Pictures, film and video

+BETH HELENE WICKENDEN

Beth and I met in 1969.  We were both living in Weyburn Hall, a private student dorm in Westwood Village by U.C.L.A.  She was dating the student protest leader and I was dating Beth's roommate, who suggested that I meet Beth. So the three of us had dinner one night.  I learned later that her roommate wanted to date the protest leader and thought that if she could interest Beth in dating me, and vise-versa, she might be able to date the protest leader (i.e., that she and Beth would switch boyfriends).  It worked. I couldn't take my eyes off Beth all during the dinner, although I did go back to the cafeteria for seconds on desert.

The protest leader moved into their dorm room, along with his dog, who would sleep on Beth's bed.  I figured I had to move in as well to help Beth defend her territory.  We all became close friends.

A year or so earlier, Beth had been arrested at a student sit-in, but when we started dating, she went to rock concerts with me instead of going to protests.  I was against the ill-conceived war in Vietnam and went to graduate school in part to get a student deferment.  However, I had little time for protesting, and the closest I came to a protest was after joining a lacrosse club at U.C.L.A. (Go Bruins!) for exercise.  When we played a game up north on the Berkley campus, I had to run past a line of police and through some tear gas on the way to the Lacrosse field.   

Every week Beth and I would walk by a jewelry store on our way to the tennis courts to play tennis.  Beth would stop to admire the engagement rings, so one day I suggested we buy one.  She agreed, so we stopped by to select a diamond ring and matching wedding rings.  The jeweler asked when the wedding was to be, and we replied that we had no idea, since we hadn't yet set a date to get engaged.  

We were married the following September at the beautiful Hotel Bel Air. My family came out a week early, which gave us time to hit the beach, take in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl and for my brother and sister to get to know Beth.  My aunt and my grandparents also attended the wedding, along with my grandfather's sister Ida and sister-in-law Myra.  

When Beth and I married she had long hair. After we moved to Philadelphia, she went to Europe with a friend one summer and  came back with a very short razor cut.  I thought she looked even cuter.

In 1971 we moved from California east to Philadelphia, where I enrolled in the Annenberg School of Communications and Beth enrolled at Beaver College, later known as Arcadia University.  After she graduated with a double major in painting and print making, Beth got a job as an assistant for Sam Maitin, a local artist of some renown.  

As I finished my coursework for a doctorate, we moved to Ithaca, NY.  My sister Elizabeth McMahon and her family lived nearby, and a year or two later, our parents, Tom and Jean, moved to the vicinity and built a house with a farm pond for swimming, a tennis court, a barn for keeping their two horses, and several perennial and vegetable gardens.  Both our children were born there, Thomas Aaron in 1978 and Anna Wickenden in 1983.

Letters: 

Mariposa Food Co-operative - Mariposa Food Co-op.pdf

From Jean Wickenden - Jean.pdf

From Beth's Uncle, Arnold Shevitz - Arnold Shevitz.pdf

From Tom's Cousin Sally Wanner - Letter to Cousins from Sally Warner.pdf

MICHAEL JAMES WICKENDEN

[Text, photos and links to be developed by Michael will be inserted here]

Michael married Linda Seitz Wickenden and they had two children.  They divorced and Michael married Debbie Wheeler.


ELIZABETH WICKENDEN MCMAHON

Kevin and I met in Ithaca NY at a party celebrating the end of the school year. I was about to set out on an adventure, but Kevin made me laugh and knew how to cook artichokes so I stayed in town. That summer we played tennis and took a sailing trip with friends through the locks to Lake Ontario. The night Nixon resigned we were docked at the Gananoque Yacht Club. Breaking with tradition, the women on board were invited to watch theKevin and Elizabeth at Taughannock Farms Inn, 1975 moment on TV, in the men’s bar. This was the start of an exciting life together. Kevin had arrived in Ithaca to attend Cornell and following graduation took a job teaching Math at Ithaca High School. A year after our first encounter, on the first day of summer in 1975 we got married at the Taughannock Farms Inn overlooking Cayuga Lake. With an art studio downtown, I continued my path as an artist while Kevin became a treasured teacher. We share a love of art and the outdoors and that has fueled a lifetime of adventures. 

With some traveling in Europe and a year spent in NYC, painting and joining a gallery, it was time to start our family. Kevin was now teaching Math and Biology and would soon add his favorite course, Botany.

First Ian and then Cory arrived, and we moved out of Ithaca to be in the country near my parent’s farm, a good hike up through the fields and woods. It was an old fashioned childhood with grandparents nearby and nature for our inspiration.Tom and Jean playing with grandchildren Michael Thomas,                  Ian and Cory, Anna and Aaron The boys loved the swimming and then skating on the pond, the garden, the wildlife, our chickens, and the beauty of the outdoors.  With Elizabeth alongside "A Sparkling Night"everyone in school, I began a different focus for my art, from painting to performing, writing songs and making puppets. I became Mrs. McPuppet. My family life and favorite folk tales provided the inspiration for the music and stories.

Elizabeth's paintings can be found on her website: www.elizabethwickendenmcmahon.com.




As the boys matured, we began taking them on adventures to Costa Rica, Europe, Hawaii and Australia.

The young lads, 1991The young men, 2013













These times were full of fun, learning, and many fond memories like camping near Mont St. Michel and meeting gypsies.

Elizabeth and Kevin - Tikal, Guatemala











                  The boys grew up and their interests have led them to careers in the arts, Ian as a sculptor and Brendan Cory as an Art Historian. 


Our country home is still the love of our lives and we all continue to gather here with the addition of spouses and a grandchild to enjoy family and the old farmstead. 

 

FAMILY GROUP PICTURES : Family Gatherings.pdf  


FOURTH GENERATION


CHILDREN OF THOMAS HOWARD WICKENDEN II

THOMAS AARON WICKENDEN (called Aaron by family and friends) married +JENNIFER BRANDEL.  They met in a banjo class in Chicago.  Their wedding was on December 21, ___, the day that the Mayan Calendar ended, for which reason they called it the "Wedpocalypse." Fortunately the weather that day was not too snowy, cold, or windy and the universe survived the end of time - a good sign, although I'm not sure there are any Mayans left.

Websites - Since graduation from the University of Arizona and following several internships in New York City, L.A. and Chicago, Aaron has worked as a film editor. He learned a dramatic form of documentary from working at Kartemquin and from his mentor, Steve James (Hoop Dreams), and he has worked primarily as an editor on a growing number of fascinating films.  Aaron has a website describing his professional work:  www.AaronWickenden.com.

Aaron's wife, Jennifer, graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and has pursued a career primarily in radio journalism.  She initiated and hosted the show "Curious City" at WBEZ, Chicago's NPR affiliate, and she has been working for several years as a co-founder and CEO of a journalism start-up to promote public-powered audience engagement, with clients across the country and around the world. The website is: https://medium.com/we-are-hearken. 

ANNA WICKENDEN

After finishing classes at Arizona State University West and Phoenix College, Anna moved west and lives and works in NELA (North East L.A).  She has had success in various endeavors, including fashion design (at American Apparel), fashion styling (Celebrity and Advertising), graphic arts (as a co-founder of Dead Ex's), and fitness training (Yoga, Spin, and Cross-training).  Her passion, however, is music (singing, song-writing, DJ'ing, recording and mixing).  

Website:   Anna is currently working on an album out of a small studio in the house in Highland Park that  she shares with her two cats, Chicken and Speck, and, occasionally, a visiting feline (Guy) or a racoon family. 







CHILDREN OF MICHAEL JAMES WICKENDEN

MICHAEL THOMAS WICKENDEN married Megan Wickenden.  They have three children:  Sunny Wickenden, ____, and _____.


MAGGIE WICKENDEN ____

CHILDREN OF ELIZABETH WICKENDEN MCMAHON

IAN MCMAHON and ASHLEY now have a daughter, VIVIAN.

The new parentsFirst Christmas with baby Vivian 

Easter time, 2019

















BRENDAN CORY MCMAHON


Mark, Ian and Brendan at Mark and Brendan's wedding, 2016