Last time we looked at the health history of the Henrickson family. This time we're looking at the health history of the Strand and Bellinger families.
Viola Strand Henrickson passed away in 1999 at the age of 77 years old. It is thought she suffered a stroke, with diabetes as a contributing factor. She was the second of Carl and Mildred Strand's children to pass away. The first child of theirs to pass away was Yvonne who died when she was 11 years old in 1942. Yvonne suffered from Hirschsprung's disease. It's a genetic condition of the colon that leaves a person chronically constipated. It's genetic and sometimes occurs with other conditions, such as Down's syndrome. At the time of her death there was no cure or treatment. Today, surgery often brings relief of symptoms.
2 more of Carl and Mildred's children also suffered from a genetic disease. Marylane and Milton both suffered from Friedrich's Ataxia. Symptoms can start in a person's late teens or adult years. They lose motor coordination and loss of balance. There is no cure or treatment for it but there are drugs available to help alleviate some of the symptoms. The disease is carried by recessive genes and both parents have to pass along the gene. It is odd that 3 of Carl and Mildred's children, in a row, were all born with a genetic disease. After giving birth to Viola, Mildred suffered from post-partum depression and was hospitalized for a month. Could she have been given drugs that later affected her next 3 children? Carl and Mildred also lived in Kalamazoo which had high pollution levels in and near the river then. Could environmental pollution have played a part? Those are questions we'll never really know the answers to. Despite suffering from ataxia, Marylane lived to 78 and Milton lived to 87. Oldest Strand child, Howard, lived to 95 and died following complications from an ear infection. Youngest Strand children Joyce and Fred are still going strong. They have been VERY helpful in piecing together family history.
Going back a generation, we find that Carl Strand passed away at the age of 95. He was the longest lived of his siblings. His oldest sister, Eva, passed away at 81 of natural causes. His younger brother, Howard died at the age of 88. Carl had another sister, Ruth. Ruth's death is a bit of a mystery. The obituary in the newspaper said she died of an infection after a ruptured appendix and surgery. The death certificate says she died of a "ruptured tubal abscess" with "double salpingectomy(sp)" as a contributory factor. The ruptured tubal abscess was 2 days in length, but the double salpingectomy had been 5 months before. It almost sounds as if she had an ectopic pregnancy. Either way, it sounds as if she was in a lot of pain when she passed away. She was only 23. I believe there is a note in the family Bible about Ruth having had a miscarriage before her death too.
Carl's parents were William and Mary Strand. William passed away at 86 and Mary passed away at 84. William Strand's father, Carl F.T. Strand passed away at 79 from bronchial pneumonia and his mother, Minnie, passed away at 69 from chronic bronchitis.
Heading over to the Bellinger family, Mildred was the longest-lived sibling in her family too. Mildred passed away at the age of 90 after suffering a stroke and having surgery for colon cancer. Her parents were Charles and Elnora Bellinger. Elnora passed away at the age of 79, and Charles passed a few weeks later at the age of 82. Charles's cause of death was heart disease, but Joyce says the family thought it was really a broken heart. Mildred's oldest brother, Ray, died at age 87. Younger brother, Lynn, died at 74, and sister, Helen died at age 76. All appeared to suffer from heart disease.
Charles's father, David, died at age 81. He survived the Civil War and growing up in a log cabin where he had snow blowing in on him through cracks in the winter. David's father, Oliver, though, passed away at the age of 50, from an "abscess".
Charles had an older sister, Ellen, who died in 1928. Her death certificate says cause of death was probably a stroke, with diabetes listed as contributing. Very similar to Viola's passing.
On the Strand and Bellinger side, the major cause of death has been heart disease. Pneumonia is the second leading cause, followed by infection and disease.
On a side note, I greatly simplified Hirschsprung's Disease and Friedrich's Ataxia. For more information on either disease follow these links
That concludes the health history I have access to. Our family pretty much is in line with the national statistics that place heart disease as the number 1 cause of death in the U.S. Cancer is number 2, and Covid-19 is number 3. Leading causes of death in the U.S.
Questions, comments, observations? Leave them below or email me: susanmichele83@gmail.com
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| Death certificate for Ruth Bessie Strand Carlisle |
I remember when mom died, Marylane reportedly said, " It should have been me".
ReplyDeleteThat's sad. The Ataxia doesn't affect you mentally, only physically. It must've been very difficult for her.
DeleteI thought Marylaine died at 82? And the Bellingars were in their mid 80s. ?Interesting that dads sister Ruth may have had an ectopic pregnancy as I had one too. Uncle Ray B had a stroke years before he died and uncle Lynn suffered from bladder cancer years before his heart failed. Aunt Helen had some sort of “female cancer” per my mother.
ReplyDeleteMarylaine was 78. She died on Dec. 31, 2002. She was born in 1924. Elnora was born March 2, 1873 and died Feb. 28, 1953. She was just 2 days away from her 80th birthday. Charles was born March 27, 1871 and died April 7, 1953. Making him 82.
DeleteWhile researching Helen's husband, I found an article where he was volunteering at a hospital, where his wife had been treated for cancer. I could never find out what kind of cancer. Or if that was her ultimate cause of death. Sometimes if the person is of a certain age the death certificate will just say, "old age." or "natural causes." Even if they had suffered from other diseases. It all depends on the doctor filling it out. Some are more detailed than others. Sometimes I might find a newspaper article too that'll mention someone may have died after being sick for several months, weeks, days. But that could be anything too.
Thank you for this. Very informative
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how long people lived. Especially since health care was basically nonexistent in the past. Well, not as good as it is today. It really was survival of the fittest.
DeleteI know Helen had female cancer as she showed me the colonoscopy bag she had to have after her cancer surgery she said it was terrible to have to live this way---with a bag
ReplyDeleteThat makes it sound like she had colon cancer, if she had a colonoscopy bag. Would be interesting to know for sure. Lifestyle choices, such as diet, alcohol and tobacco use, exercise, and exposure to pollution are the biggest triggers for cancer. More than genetics.
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