Tombstone Tuesday - Edward & Georgie (Yates) Haines

Edward Arthur Haines, son of George Leander & Grace (Swan) Haines, was born on September 28, 1911 and died May 11, 1977. 

Georgie A. (Yates) Haines, daughter of Estes Gilbert & Eva Delphinia (Hayes) Yates, was born on February 5, 1915 and died March 22, 1968. She was a sister to my grandmother. 

They are buried in the Middle Intervale Cemetery, on Intervale Rd. in Bethel, Maine. This cemetery is located behind a meetinghouse built in 1816. For much of my life, the meetinghouse was in the possession of the Carter family. When the upkeep became too much, the family donated it to the Middle Intervale Meetinghouse Association. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. 

I don't remember Aunt "Becky" as was her nickname. Don't ask me to make sense of it but all my grandmother's siblings were given nicknames that have nothing to do with their birth names. For example, my grandmother, Linona Alice Yates, is called "Peggy" and her brother, Russell Frank Yates was "Joe." 

I do remember Uncle Ed because he lived not too far down the road from me while I was growing up and one of the milestones of independence was becoming old enough to walk or bike to his house and visit. I remember he made really good cookies. We also stopped in every Halloween and for a couple of years after I was too old to trick or treat, my mother insisted that I dress up and at least visit the family members who looked forward to having us stop by. Uncle Ed always had a special Halloween candy package for family.

Ed & Becky had five children. I only really knew one of them very well. That was their son, Gilbert. I went to school with his daughters, his wife worked in the school cafeteria, and for a brief period in my early adult years, Gilbert & his wife were my neighbors. In a small town, there were numerous occasions when we ended up at the same social gatherings. Gilbert had a lot of the same qualities I remember in Uncle Ed. They both loved to have fun and were kind and caring individuals. Two of the children of Ed & Becky are no longer alive - Elyse died in 2000 and Gilbert died in 2001.