Grandma Eva

4 Generations

1979

Eva Anderson, Brandy Spitzer, Gayle Ulrich, Nellie Ulrich, Robyn Spitzer

Written for my blog by my Grandma, Gayle Ulrich...

Thought you might like to know these little things about Grandma Eva. She was actually the third child born to her mother. Unfortunately the first two died of illness. When Grandma Eva was finally born, she was beyond special to her mother. Unfortunately that was not all a good news thing. Throughout her childhood she was not allowed to do so many things to protect her from the possibility of getting injured. Probably some of this may have also stemmed from no money for injuries etc. I was told she was not allowed to skate, ride a bike, or similar types of activities. When Grandma started school she was not even able to speak English. I believe she spoke Ukrainian. By the end of the first semester she could not only speak English but was advanced to the second grade and by the end of her first year of school she was in the third grade.


The house Grandma grew up in was in Wilton and was built by her father, Joseph Baranyk.  Her father died when Eva, Mike, Margaret, DuWayne, and Marlin were all young children.  Her mother, Anastacia Baranyk,  did whatever she possibly could to support them. I know she painted and worked in the harvest fields. Grandma Eva started working in Garrison when she was about 16 as a linotype operator and went by train every week to work and then helped support her younger siblings with her meager paycheck when she returned home every weekend.


Grandma Eva worked all her life, from a young girl until illness forced her to quit. Her very severe rheumatoid arthritis hit her, I believe, about the age of 43-45. I clearly remember her telling me around 50 she did not want to live to much longer, the pain was too severe.  She said she could not imagine living another 20 years in so much pain. She did not get her wish, however. God did not take her for another 32+ years.


Grandma Eva knitted and crocheted most of her life. At one time she knit a sweet little sweater for you! I got an afghan. She told me to choose any pattern I liked. Well unbenounced to me, the pattern I chose was a fisherman's pattern where no two rows were the same. She never said a word but went right to work on it. About three fourths of the way thru the pattern she found a stitch back about 30 rows that was not right. She tore out all thirty rows to correct that one stitch!!


When the stitching finally just got too hard for her and those poor crippled fingers could no longer hold the projects, she finally had to give it up. It was at that time she discovered painting. She was not a natural artist, by that I mean she could not draw. Her first efforts at painting showed she was an amateur. That however, did not last for long. I think this must have started around the time you were born. Painting became something that grabbed her attention and she loved it. Soon she was taking lessons to learn more about mixing paint and all the other things a new artist must learn. She learned to appreciate form and color. She and I would go for drives and she would always point out to me all the shades of green in trees and all the different shades of nature. It did not take long for her to get some nice work showing up on blank canvas.


Friends would stop by to visit and see her work, many making comments how they would love to be able to paint like her. It was not long before Grandma Eva was having small little classes in her kitchen. A few of her students completed much of their own work but in some cases the finished paintings were probably more of Grandmas touches than the students', but that was ok too. She loved teaching something she loved so much and the company was certainly good for her.


Probably, Grandma's biggest accomplishment in the painting was winning first place in an artists showing in Bismarck.  She also painted for so many family and friends.  That was something that was important to each of them. A painting of a house, a farm, a hunting memory or whatever they wanted, Grandma managed to seem to be able to get a special painting to those dearest to her, including most of her grandchildren. And that reminds me of her idea before it was fashionable to paint our Christmas stockings!! That was her idea and while I have seen it since, I never saw it done before your great-grandmother painted for us!!


All of this is wonderful. She was a very nice strong lady who did a job normally done by men most of her life and then when she got so sick and crippled up those poor hands whose fingers turned completely sideways produced some beautiful pieces of art work for us.