0.i Teller of Tales,  Family Line

Teller of Tales

This tale is a history, a fable, a prayer
of those gone before me, now gathered with care.
The diaries and pictures and letters enclosed
deciphered my kin and what they supposed.
Those who are living—their stories intact,
Those gone before us—who knows what was fact?

I met not the aunts nor uncles you’ll greet
Met not the grandparents whose waltz is complete.
I presume who they were by looking at me
our blossoms and thorns twining through the same tree.
Our shadows and secrets for so long passed down,
those thistles and thorns now replaced by a crown.

It was back in the thirties my parents did meet,
then married, had children with ten little feet.
I am the youngest, this teller of tales,
unearthing my family, removing our veils.
I’m descended from Clemens, the kin of my dad
who married a Chatfield—a girl some thought bad.
I’ve written of both, their histories and lives,
of Mom’s other husband and Daddy’s three wives.

I know they’ll excuse me—my gaffes and asides,
tis those who are living who might have my hide.
I wrote of my brother, my sisters, and me,
recording our stories with hazed memory.
Some snort, some are angry, some threaten, some rear,
some nights I don’t sleep from the scorn that I fear.
But it’s none of my business what they think of me,
I wrote what I deemed ’bout this family tree.

© 2005. Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau.

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Family Line

Carl John Clemens (my father)
8th of 13 children of Mathew Sylvester Clemens & Barbara Nigon
Born: Sep 25, 1905, Rochester, Olmsted Co., Minnesota
Died: Sep 16, 1986 (age 80), Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., California; prostate/bone cancer
Buried: Cremated; ashes interred at Calvary Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., California
Occupation: Farmer, construction laborer, iceman, record store owner, dime-store manager
Married (1): Feb 4, 1933, Noreen Ellen “Babe” Chatfield, Colusa, Colusa Co., California
Divorced: Dec 1953, Sonora, Tuolumne Co., California
Five children: Gordon Lawrence “Larry” Clemens, Carleen Barbara Clemens, Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Clemens, Claudia Clemens, Catherine Frances “Cathy” Clemens
Married (2): 1956, Irene Venita (Tregear) Whitehed (1886 – 1959)
Married (3): Sep 25, 1961, Marie Lenore (Macdonald) McCartney San Francisco, California (1917 – 2011)

Noreen Ellen “Babe” Chatfield (my mother)
10th of 10 children of Charles Henry Chatfield & Nellie Belle Chamberlin
Born: Sep 29, 1915, Los Molinos, California
Died: Nov 9, 1968 (age 53), Whittier, Los Angeles Co., California; suicide

Buried: Cremated; ashes interred Memory Garden Memorial Park, Brea, Orange Co., California
Occupation: Worked in Sonora family store, seamstress, cook/housekeeper for Catholic priests and in private homes
Married (1): Feb 4, 1933, Carl John Clemens, Colusa, Colusa Co., California
Divorced: Dec 1953, Sonora, Tuolumne Co., California
Five children: Gordon Lawrence “Larry” Clemens, Carleen Barbara Clemens, Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Clemens, Claudia Clemens, Catherine Frances “Cathy” Clemens
Married (2): Jul 31, 1955, Raymond D. “Ray” Haynie, Carson City, Nevada (1912 – 1964)
Divorced: 1956, living in San Jose, California

1. Gordon Lawrence “Larry” Clemens
Born: Jan 14, 1934, Chico, Butte Co., California
Living
Married: Jun 16, 1956, Marian Louise McLellan, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California
Two children

2. Carleen Barbara Clemens
Born: Mar 13, 1935, Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co., California
Died: Nov 12, 2022, (age 87), Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie Co., Iowa; lung cancer, heart attack
Buried: Cremated; ashes interred at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie Co., Iowa
Married: Mar 15, 1953, Charles Evans “Chuck” Albertson, Sonora, Tuolumne Co., California
Three children

3. Elizabeth Ann “Betty/Liz” Clemens
Born: Dec 3, 1939, Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co., California
Died: Oct 8, 2004 (age 64), Sacramento, Sacramento Co., California; lung cancer
Buried: Masonic Cemetery, Fallbrook, San Diego Co., California
Married: Feb 1, 1958, Anthony Leo “Tony” Duchi, Jr., Whittier, Los Angeles Co., California
Four children

4. Claudia Clemens
Born: Mar 28, 1942, Vallejo, Solano Co., California
Died: Aug 21, 2011 (age 69), Escondido, San Diego Co., California; lung cancer
Cremated: Ashes with family; scattered at San Clemente Beach in Southern California
Married: Sep 16, 1956, Bobby Milton McDaniel, Sparks, Washoe Co., Nevada
Divorced: May 17, 1973, Lauderdale Co., Mississippi
Five children

5. Catherine Frances “Cathy” Clemens
Born: Aug 16, 1948, Sonora, Tuolumne Co., California
Living
Married: Oct 7, 1967, Robert Kenneth “Bob” Sevenau, San Francisco, California
Divorced: 1973, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., California
Two children

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© 2023. Catherine Sevenau.
All rights reserved.