Person:Lydia Opperman (1)

[V105T0022ake.FTW]

   When her surviving children were grown, she left MI to live with her daughter in NY - just before WWII

Article from Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 10, 1942. "Sugar Rationing Old Stuff to Woman of 81" - N. Bloomfield - Mrs. Jacob VonThurn, 81 year old N. Bloomfield housewife and former Alma, MI, resident, isn't a bit worried about putting up the usual amount of fruit this coming sjummer, with lessened quantities of sugar obtainable for canning. "This is not different from other wartime periods," Mrs. VonThurn declared - she has lived through four wars and resultant sugar curtailments necessitating an economy program in the use of sugar. Mrs. VonThurn who resides with her daughter, Mrs. Richard Martin, on a N. Bloomfield farm is confident that what she has done before she can do again, and cheerfully. Insisting that "women should be willing to make a small sacrifice," Mrs. VonThurn gave a son in the last World War.

    As a child during the close of the Civil War this silver-haired housewife recalls hearing her "elders' talk of soaring prices and food scarcities, "Folks went without sugar in their coffee and tea," she said.  Her parents resided on an OH farm and she remembers hearing her father talk of the possibility of "southern mules wading in the OH River" before a decisive battle between the North and South took place.  "The proximity of southern soldiers was more to be feared than rationed foods" Mrs. VonThurn smiled.  A picture of the financial slump that followed the Civil War remains clear in her mind.  Her mother paid high prices for common commodities.  A bolt of unbleached factory cotton goods for household use cost $40 she recalled.  Later in her youth, sugar was high and consequently used sparingly, she said.  Fruit often was canned unsweetened, the sugar being added later at the table when the fruit was opened in the winter.  Sugar was scarce in the Spanish-American War, she recalled.  Mrs. VonThurn married in 1879 and became a busy farmer's wife on an OH farm, until subsequent removal to a farm in the state of Michigan (1901). Bringing up a large family of seven children, and later, two small grandsons, Mrs. VonThurn preserved large quantities of fruit, vegetables and meat for her growing family.  Although some fruits canned without sugar may not be as firm, with sharp, well-curbed edges, the sugar solidifying the fruit, most varieties preserve well without the customary amounts, she explained."
   Lydia was in quite good health until a fall, and broke her hip.  She was recovering well from what her daughter Ruth said, so everyone was surprised to hear of her death.  She was buried at Riverside Cemetery, Alma, MI.