Family of Donald Maurice STJOHN and Carrie Thickstun RENO

Husband:	Donald Maurice STJOHN (1908-1986)
Wife:	Carrie Thickstun RENO (1905-1992)
Children:	Living STJOHN ( - )
	Living STJOHN ( - )
	Living STJOHN ( - )
	Living STJOHN ( - )
	Living STJOHN ( - )
Marriage	31 Mar 1929	EDINBORO, PA 1

Husband: Donald Maurice STJOHN

Name:	Donald Maurice STJOHN
Sex:	Male
Father:	-
Mother:	-
Birth	3 Aug 1908	PALATINE BRIDGE, NY 2
Occupation		SURVEYER; MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR
Residence		CANAJOHARIE, PALATINE BR & FALCONER, NY
Personality/Intrst		bowling, hunting, fishing, reading
Ethnicity/Relig.		METHODIST, THEN BAPTIST
Death	29 Aug 1986 (age 78)	FALCONER, NY 1

Additional Information

Death

Cause: PARKINSON'S DESEASE

Wife: Carrie Thickstun RENO

Name:	Carrie Thickstun RENO
Sex:	Female
Father:	Martin John RENO (1875-1942)
Mother:	Alice Adelia THICKSTUN (1877-1946)
Birth	15 Jun 1905	EDINBORO, PA 2
Occupation		TEACHER, LIBRARIAN
Residence		CANAJOHARIE & FALCONER, NY; PORTLAND, TN
Baptised	31 Mar 1929 (age 23)	MARRIED BY IVAN ROSSELL
Personality/Intrst		CHURCHWORK, CHILDRENS' BIBLE CLASSES
Ethnicity/Relig.		BAPTIST
Death	7 Oct 1992 (age 87)	PORTLAND, TN 3

Child 1: Living STJOHN

Name:	Living STJOHN
Sex:	Female
Spouse:	Living MAZANEC ( - )

Child 2: Living STJOHN

Name:	Living STJOHN
Sex:	Male
Spouse:	Living PUGH ( - )

Child 3: Living STJOHN

Name:	Living STJOHN
Sex:	Male
Spouse:	Living GRAGERT ( - )

Child 4: Living STJOHN

Name:	Living STJOHN
Sex:	Female
Spouse:	Living MERRITT ( - )

Child 5: Living STJOHN

Name:	Living STJOHN
Sex:	Male
Spouse:	Living SOULES ( - )

Note on Husband: Donald Maurice STJOHN - shared note

RETIRED 1972 AS MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AT BEECH-NUT PACKING CO, CANAJOHARIE, NY

OWNED FOR A TIME FREY HOUSE, PALATINE BRIDGE, NY.

Note on Wife: Carrie Thickstun RENO - shared note

MY GIFT

I PARTED TODAY WITH A BEAUTIFUL BOWL,

A BEAUTIFUL DEEP BLUE BOWL.

IT'S LIGHTS AND IT'S COLORS SPOKE TO MY HEART

AS THOUGH IT HAD A SOUL.

 

'TWAS A FANCIFUL THING - THOUGH VERY PLAIN GLASS

TO ONE WITH A COLORLESS MIND,

BUT I LOVED THE BLUE BOWL, AND HATED TO PART

WITH WHAT I CONSIDERED "A FIND".

 

LIFE FOR ME IS RICH WITH LAUGHTER AND LOVE

SO I SENT THE BOWL TO A FRIEND.

FOR THE KIND OF THINGS THAT I LIKE TO KEEP

ARE THE KIND THAT I LIKE TO SEND.

 

MRS. CAROLYN ST.JOHN

25 ORCHARD ST.

CANAJOHARIE, NY

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Following written 1/8/1941 by Carrie St.John:

AS WE FORGIVE

Trudge, tridge, trudge. Weary and sore are the backs and feet. Weary from many days of trudging. And what an incredibly short distance one step takes a person when toes are sticking through the shoes and when muscles are tired and backs breaking from long hours on the road and short hours of sleeping on the damp ground without cover.

 

Dozens of feet- - - hundreds of feet- - - thousands of feet. All going back.

 

Back to what? No one seems to know. That is, no one but the big bombers that droned overhead with their heavy loads, and the quick little fighting planes that darted around like dragon flies clearing the way for the bombers. They knew - - - but didn't care.

 

Once this country was HOME with open fields planted by their own hands. HOME, with cottages paid for with much toil and much living. HOME, with a light in the window at night. HOME, a place of deep content and rest from care. Humble but sufficient.

 

So back they come, too weary to remember - - only strong enough to drag those heavy feet - and feet shouldn't be heavy for Jon and Margot. They are five and seven- - and alone! No one knows where home is, no one knows where Mother is, no one seems to know or care where anything is. They just trudge, trudge, trudge. Strangers all around, who like themselves are too tired to think or feel. All going the same way because there is no other way to go.

 

Silence of many hours is broken by Margo's voice. . . she is older. . . just seven. "This was our town. Our house should be there"., Only a little more dragging of those heavy feet and they are by the ruin that was once HOME.

 

No words between. No words to describe them. Just two folorn [sic] ragged forms standing by a pile of debris, feeling things that we have never felt. As if with common desire they knelt and started the prayer our Lord taught so long ago:

Our Father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses - - - the little voices halted and could not go on. Again they said the prayer but could not finish- - - thinking of the trespasses of the invader.

 

Behind them a deep trembling voice went on- - - "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us" And the children whispered "Amen".

 

They never knew that the king of their country stood behind them that day- - - an exile, homeless and in disguise, but with a heart big and true: full of pity and love for his own, full of pity and love for the foe.

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Obituary: Portland, TN.

A service will be held for Mrs. Carrie Reno St.John, 87, of Highway 31 West, formerly of Canajoharie and Palatine Bridge, NY, who died Wednesday at Highland Hospital.

Born and educated in Edinboro, Pa., Mrs. St.John was a graduate of the former Edinboro Normal School with a bachelor's degree. She later was a graduate of the Library School of the former Geneseo Normal School of New York with a master's degree in library science.

She lived in the Canajoharie and Palatine Bridge area for more than 40 years.

Mrs. St.John was a librarian for the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery from 1926 to 1930.

She was a former member of the Ames Baptist Church and a current member of the Bethel Baptist Church in Jamestown, N.Y.

Her husband, Donald St.John, whom she married March 31, 1929, died in 1986.

Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Cora Helen Mazanec of Portland and Mrs. Mary Alice Merritt of Lutz, Fla.; three sons, Martin St.John of Schenectady, Leslie St.John of Arlington, Texas, and Richard St.John of Culpepper, Va.; a sister, Cora Reno of Scottsdale, Ariz.; 27 grandchildren; and 26 great-grandchildren.

The service will be 2 p.m. Saturday in the chapel of the Houghtaling & Smith Funeral Home, 20 Otsego St., Canajoharie.

Burial will be in Canajoharie Falls Cemetery.

A calling hour will precede the service at the chapel.

Memorial contributions may be made to Cornerstone Baptist Church, P.O. Box 703, Route 10, Ames, N.Y. 13317.

Sources

1	Footnote: CARRIE ST.JOHN

2	Footnote: SELF

3	Footnote: CORA HELEN MAZANEC