P.J. Gardner – Page 3 – Aunt Esther's Vintage Postcards

August 21: Mount Rainier National Park

**Vintage Postcard:** Tatoosh Range from Timberline Ridge

**Today:** Tatoosh Range from the Sunset Trail

August 20: Washington State

Vintage postcard of the University of Washington — **Vintage Postcard:** University of Washington Campus

**Today:** University of Washington Campus (Mt. Rainier in haze)

Vintage postcard of the Capitol Building in Olympia, Washinton — **Vintage Postcard:** Capitol Building, Olympia, Washington

Olympia Washington Statehouse — **Today:** Capitol Building, Olympia, Washington

Chandelier in Capitol Building, Olympia, Washington — **Vintage Postcard:** Capitol Building Chandelier, Olympia, Washington

Olympia Washington Chandelier — **Today:** Capitol Building Chandelier, Olympia, Washington

**Vintage Postcard:** Mount Rainier Mirrored in Lake Spanaway

**Today:** Mount Rainier (no similar view from Lake Spanaway)

August 9: Idaho and Grand Coulee, Washington

Lake Coeur d'Alene — **Vintage Postcard:** Lake Coeur d’Alene from Beauty Bay Hill, Idaho

Lake Coeur d'Alene Today — **Today:** Lake Coeur d’Alene from Beauty Bay Hill, Idaho (showing I-90 bridge)

Vintage Postcard of Dry Falls — **Vintage Postcard:** Dry Falls, Grand Coulee, Washington

Dry Falls Today — **Today:** Dry Falls, Grand Coulee, Washington

August 2: Lake View Cemetery, Interlaken, NY

On August 2, we stopped in the little village of Interlaken, New York, to locate the graves of my Great Aunt Esther and her immediate family. Interlaken is between Lake Cayuga and Lake Seneca in the Finger Lakes region.

Welcome Sign at Interlaken, New York — Welcome to the Village of Interlaken

The family graves are located in the Lake View Cemetery. I haven’t been there since my college days, so I wasn’t sure where to look. Luckily, after wandering around for a while, we found a map on the back side of the caretaker’s cottage.

Gate at the Lake View Cemetery — Lake View Cemetery in Interlaken, New York

There is one large Gardner stone, with five small marker stones. The family constellation consists of the following people:

My great grandfather, William Elliott Gardner (1861-1957)
My Great Aunt Esther (1896-1989), his oldest daughter, by his first wife (who died in childbirth when Aunt Esther was born)
My great grandfather’s second wife, Emily Covert (1869-1952)
Their daughter, Pauline Palmer (1900-1952)
Their son, Alan Gardner (1902-1963)

Gardner Family Gravestone in Lake View Cemetery

The only one of these people I never met was my Great Aunt Pauline, a Captain in the Women’s Army Corps, who died in a car crash on her 52nd birthday. I barely remember my step-grandmother, Emily. I was only brought to her bedside as she lay dying when I was about 8 years old. But I knew my Great Grandfather, who died at age 96, and my Great Uncle Alan, who lived on Central Park in New York City.

My Aunt Esther was single her whole life and took care of my father as a child and her father in his old age. She is remembered with deep affection by our entire extended family.

Gravestone for Esther P. Gardner — Great Aunt Esther’s Gravestone

This visit to her resting place was a worthwhile part of the pilgrimage I feel I am taking in her memory, so this was a great place to start our trip.

Vintage Postcard Project

This blog pairs the postcard locations we found on our cross-country driving trip during August and September 2012: in each case, the vintage postcard from Aunt Esther’s collection comes first, followed by my matching photograph.

Blogs are generally organized with the most recent post first (in this case, September 27, 2012).

To navigate the postcards in trip order (from August 2 through September 27), use the following link, then use the navigation links at the bottom of each page to move forward or backward in time:

Start at the Beginning