quiet strength – Someone Peed In My Gene Pool!

August 5, 2025

Introducing Mary Belle Blake

🌸 Introduction to Mary Belle Blake

Factory Matriarch | Faithful Heart | The Quiet Backbone of a Family

She was born on a winter afternoon in 1908, in a modest home on East Georgia Street, and by all accounts, she lived a life that didn’t ask for attention—but deserved it. Mary Belle Blake, later known as Mary McNally, didn’t blaze across the sky. She glowed steadily, like the soft porch light left on for her boys, night after night.

She raised three sons in the steel-clad shadows of Kokomo’s factories, kept a marriage strong through Depression and war, and stepped into the workforce when America called on its women to rise. She inspected radios and raised boys, stitched faith into each Sunday, and held fast when the world tilted. Her fingers bore the calluses of labor and love in equal measure.

🔍 Want to explore Mary Belle’s full timeline?
From her birth on Georgia Street to her final days in Kokomo, her family page includes census records, marriage details, obituary excerpts, and more. You can find it all there—neatly documented and gently told.

👉 Visit Mary Belle Blake’s Family Page to view the full story.

We don’t know all the details—yet. There’s no photograph of her laughing in the kitchen, no diary left behind. But maybe you remember her. Or maybe someone you loved did.

This page is for that:
To remember her voice, her habits, her little phrases.
To uncover her favorite recipes, her stern warnings, or her secret indulgences.
To fill in the spaces history left blank.

If you have a memory of Mary Belle, or even just a whisper of one, I invite you to leave it in the comments below. Your voice may be the missing note in her song.

She earned remembrance. Let’s give it to her.

With gratitude,
~Kris

July 31, 2025

Introducing Mary Lou Beyl

Mary Lou Beyl: The Quiet Bloom

Born as the youngest in a bustling household, Mary Lou Beyl’s life quietly spanned the peaks and valleys of the 20th century, offering a steadying presence through times of war, change, and family milestones. From her early years in Indianapolis to the subtle way she shaped her family’s legacy, Mary Lou’s story is one of quiet resilience, unspoken love, and the simple joys of life.

Let’s take a moment to step into her world—where big events were woven into the fabric of everyday life, and where her strength was most felt not in loud gestures, but in the steady rhythm of her days.

Now, to make this page truly shine, I’d suggest we close it with a call to action. Something inviting folks to share their memories or connections to Mary Lou. How about this?

Want to know more?

Head over to Mary Lou’s full family page to explore the milestones, memories, and quiet moments that made her who she was. From her childhood home to her days as a postal clerk, there’s more to discover in the rich tapestry of her life. 🌸

Did you know Mary Lou?

If you have stories, memories, or insights about Mary Lou Beyl, we’d love for you to share them here in the comments. Let’s keep her story blooming, one tale at a time. 🌸

July 29, 2025

Introducing Lillian Francis Beyl

🕊️ Meet: Lillian Francis Beyl Mobley (1890–1953)

Matriarch. Homemaker. Quiet Architect of Legacy.

Lillian Francis Beyl was born in the chill of January 1890 in Columbus, Indiana—so quietly, in fact, that the earliest record of her birth didn’t even list her name. Yet the life she built would ring louder than any document.

Known lovingly as Lillie, she was the daughter of Jacob Beyl, a French-born carpenter with calloused hands, and Margaret Kern, a strong-willed daughter of German immigrants. From the start, Lillie lived in a house that spoke the language of hard work, faith, and resilience.

She married James Everett Mobley at nineteen and bore at least ten children—some she raised to adulthood, some she mourned too soon. Through every move, every era, every ache and joy, Lillie was the constant: the woman behind the meals, the mending, the music of daily life. She lived through wars and depressions, through the rise of modern Indianapolis and the fading of horse-drawn wagons, all while nurturing a home filled with life and noise and need.

Lillie died in 1953, leaving behind a family tree that still blooms with her strength. She’s buried beside Everett in New Crown Cemetery—a woman not remembered for headlines, but for holding a family together in a world that rarely paused to thank women like her.

Want to know more?
Her full story—including census clues, family mysteries, and quiet triumphs—awaits on her family page.

This page is dedicated to her memory—and to the memories still waiting to be shared.

Have a photo? A story? A pie crust recipe with her handwriting in the margins? Share it below. Because Lillie Beyl Mobley didn’t live to be famous. She lived to be family—and that’s the kind of story that deserves to be told.

July 27, 2025

Introducing Edna Mae Applegate

🕯️ Introduction Page: Edna Mae Applegate
Gathered in memory, shared in love.

She was born in a wintery corner of Crothersville, Indiana, and passed on in the springtime hush of Indianapolis—but the life of Edna Mae Applegate was lived in the warmth between those seasons. A daughter, a sister, a mother of six, and the steady center of a home that shifted through the decades, she is the kind of ancestor whose story is stitched into quiet gestures—the iron still warm, the front door left unlocked, the hum of someone cooking at dusk.

Married at sixteen, widowed too soon, and remembered by grandchildren who knew her simply as Mom, Mama, or Grandma, Edna’s legacy is one of everyday courage. She didn’t ask to be remarkable. But in the way she raised a family, weathered illness, and rooted herself in love through every move, she became just that.

This space is for you, fellow memory keeper.
If you knew Edna, have photos of her, or carry tales told by someone who did, please share them in the comments below. Even the smallest recollection—a favorite recipe, a holiday ritual, a sound to her laughter—adds texture to her tapestry.

Want to explore the full timeline of her life? You’ll find it here:
📜 Read Edna’s Family Page

Thank you for helping keep her story alive. After all, family history isn’t just about the past—it’s about finding our way back to one another, one memory at a time.

Warmly,
Kris

(and occasionally, Bones, when the dirt under the fingernails calls for it)

Tag

🌸 Introduction to Mary Belle Blake

🕊️ Meet: Lillian Francis Beyl Mobley (1890–1953)