Julius (Juke) Bartels - Part 1

Julius (Juke) Bartels - my dad (Introduction)

I have thought about my father much more often in the last 6 years than I did, let's say, in the previous 20 years. The primary reason for this is when I turned 57 years old in October of 2010, I became the same age my father was when he died. The fact that this was all the days that he was given here on earth made a big impact on me. I started to reflect on my dad's life much more often that year and since. So, I thought I'd try to capture some facts, thoughts and memories regarding him.

First, some background facts about my dad prior to my arrival here on earth:

He was born on June 24, 1919. His father Charles had been recently discharged from the army following the WWI Armistice. The family lived in Muskegon for the first 2 years of his life and then moved to West Olive, Michigan. Julius graduated from the 8th grade in 1932 which was the end of his formal education as a young man. He is standing on the right in back row of his graduation photo.

I do not know all that much about the years between 1932 and when he married my mother in 1940. I understand that as a young man and the oldest son on a farm during this depression era, he would have been working hard to help the family make it through that difficult time. However, when he was almost 17 years old he was hired as a farm hand at a farm in Overisel (about 15 miles from home).  His duties there included milking the cows twice a day as well as other farm chores. This was in exchange for room and board and meager wages.

I know that in his teen years, he also had time to learn how to play the guitar.  He was in some type of band that wore very snazzy apparel.

About 1935

About 1936

Although he kept a guitar around the house for most of his life I never heard him play it. I believe my sister Joyce has this stringed instrument now. I also have a photo of about 100 youth, all holding some type of musical instrument, in a large meeting room with dad standing in the back row with his guitar. He must have enjoyed playing, but my thought today is that with the demands on his time to provide for 10 kids, playing guitar is something he just did not have time for.

My dad met my mom at a Christian Endeavor meeting (the youth group of the day) at Ottawa Reformed church. This was a quiet and proper place to meet. However, based on the stories shared by my Uncle Dave Vander Kooi (see previous blog post regarding this interview) my dad also had a bit of a wild side. This is also confirmed by comments my mother made in her latter years in life. As teens, dad was a good friend of mom's brothers Egbert and Dave. At first her opinion was that she would never date him, but obviously that viewpoint changed with time. By 1958, at just 38 years old, my dad had fathered 11 children.

First date photo

I cannot help but marvel at dad's hair at this point in his life. The "first date" photo, the head shot below and the family photo all demonstrate what I mean..... I am jealous. I wish I had even a small portion of that thick hair today.

Left to right: Tony, Bell, Roger, Kay and Juke

Not long after their marriage, they moved from a house with indoor plumbing to the farmhouse that I grew up in. The "new" house had no indoor plumbing, and would not for several more years, just a few years before I was born. Dad worked at Western Foundry in Holland during the day and toiled on the farm the rest of the day and often into the night. As I sit here on the couch tonight and I think about how long and hard he work, I am awed by his perseverance.

To be continued.................................