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Churchill * Foerst
* Wyman * McKindley * McLean Contact the genealogist PHOTOS Last Name Index Home page Wilfred Laurier Churchill SEE PHOTO Born June 17, 1897 in Nova Scotia, Canada. His original name was "Wilfrid" but he later changed his name to Wilfred. He was named after a former prime minister of Canada. His parents were Nelson Churchill and Margaret Lamont. Wilfred grew up in Nova Scotia where he became a lobster fisherman, owning his own boat when he was just a teenager. He learned from his father to memorize poetry. SEE CHILDHOOD PHOTO Wilfred had a brother, Nathan, who died as a teenager fighting in the Canadian army in World War I. His other siblings were Randolph, Malcolm, and Jean. A local hero, Aaron Churchill, was responsible for saving a boat in the Atlantic. Aaron had an "Octant" which he used to navigate, in the days before electronic navigational instruments. Wilfred was honored when Aaron gave him his Octant. (That Octant was passed down in the family to Wilfred's son Donald, and now belongs to the Yarmouth County Museum in Nova Scoita.) Wilfred served in the Canadian Army in World War I, which left him with shrapnel in his arm and a severe head injury at age 18. A piece of sheep’s bone was placed in his skull to repair a war injury. He also lost a finger. He was awarded a medal for bravery. Click here to read more about his military history as recorded by his father in a handwritten ledger. After his military career, he graduated from Mt. Allison College in Nova Scotia, then received his civil engineering degree from the University of Detroit. He went to Detroit following his cousin, Chester K. Churchill He received a monthly check from the Canadian government due to his military service, and he always sent that to his mother while she was alive. While working for Consumer’s Power company, he was introduced to his wife through "Cousin," (Louise?). "Cousin" was a friend of Chester and she worked at the Ford plant alongside Marie Forest. Wilfred and Chester both rented rooms from "Cousin." Wilfred married Marie L. Forest on September 17, 1925. They were living in Kalamazoo, where Wilfred was building a dam, when their son Donald was born in July 1926. The couple lost their home in Lincoln Park due to the depression, when Donald was 5 1/2 years old. It was a house on Winchester. Wilfred took a job working as a foreman on the W.P.A. installing water and sewer lines, and then worked as a laborer at Chevrolet. Wilfred proudly joined the U.A.W. in 1936. Meanwhile, at age 6, their son Donald developed a life-threatening ear infection. He could have died. Antibiotics were not available in those days; surgery was the only treatment, and Wilfred could not afford the cost. Marie’s sister Emma generously signed her name as guarantor for the cost of the surgery, and probably saved Donald’s life. Despite the ear surgery, Donald’s infection reappeared so that he was forced to undergo surgery three times over a period of two years. Each time he had surgery, he had to stay in the hospital for months. Marie in essence became Donald’s teacher for the next couple of years, instructing Donald how to read, write, and do math until he was well enough to go back to the regular schools. He started the third grade with the other kids his age, and Donald was up to speed academically. On December 22, 1935, while living in Lincoln Park, Michigan, they had their second child, Marilyn. With the start of World War II, Wilfred was called into management by General Motors because engineers were in such short supply. He helped with a plant in St. Louis, MO, which produced shell casings for the war effort. Wilfred was able to afford a very small house on Greenlawn in Detroit. Later, Wilfred found a home in Walled Lake, along Upper Straits Lake. He built it himself. He dug the basement with a horse and scoop. He finished the knotty pine paneling at the Greenlawn house. His son Don helped lay the block for the chimney. In about 1962, Wilfred retired from General Motors, where he had been in charge of buildings and facilities for the entire Chevrolet operation. He and Marie moved to North Port Charlotte, Florida, where he supervised construction of the yacht club and served on the board of directors of a bank. A civic hall in North Port is named after him. He died May 14, 1978 and is interred next to his wife at a mausoleum in Englewood, Florida. SEE PHOTO OF DONALD AS A CHILD. SEE PHOTO OF MARILYN AS A CHILD. SEE PHOTO OF WILFRED IN ABOUT 1950
Marie Louise Forest (Churchill) Born November 2, 1897 in New Baltimore, Michigan. Her original name was "Foerst," but she changed the spelling to Forest. Her parents were Julius Franz Foerst (who went by the name "Frank") and Caroline Lange of Germany. Marie was the 14th of 15 children. Her older brother Gus, a violin maker, ran away to California when he was 16, and so Marie never met him. The 15 siblings were August Gottlieb Foerst, born December 21, 1875; Louise Mary Foerst, born April 18, 1877; Frank Foerst, born July 31, 1878; Rosa Foerst, born February 20, 1880; Emma F. Foerst, born March 15, 1881; Anna Myra Foerst, born April 25, 1883; Susan Foerst, born October 20, 1884; Carrie Foerst, born February 20, 1886; John G. Foerst, born January 16, 1888; Laura Foerst, born October 21, 1889; Minnie J. Foerst, born February 15, 1891; Louis Foerst, born June 9, 1892; Martha R. Foerst, born June 28, 1894; Marie L. Foerst, born November 2, 1897; and Arthur T. Foerst, born March 26, 1899. When Marie was a child, her father gambled away the family home and farm in Mt. Pleasant. She remembers him as a tyrant. He had red hair and a red beard. Marie graduated from high school in New Baltimore, then had six months of "Normal" training to be a teacher. Her college later became known as Eastern Michigan University. The teacher training was paid for by Marie’s sister Emma, who was a nurse. (Note: Emma eventually died of tuberculosis.) In 1918, when the influenza outbreak caused so many people to die, Marie caught the illness and quickly took the trolley back home from Detroit to New Baltimore. She fell into a coma and almost died, but in the care of her mother, she managed to survive the illness. Marie may have worked as a teacher in New Baltimore, Michigan, but teaching jobs were hard to come by. She found work at a Ford plant, where she became friends with a woman by the name of "Cousin." Cousin introduced her to Wilfred Churchill, whom she married on September 17, 1925. They had two children, Donald and Marilyn. SEE FAMILY PHOTO Marie was always self-conscious about her height. She was about 5’ 11" tall as an adult. When she was a young woman, that was considered quite tall for a female. Her husband was about 5’ 8" tall. When Marie had her picture taken, she took every opportunity to be shown in a seated position, or to avoid standing up straight. Marie was an excellent cook. She could make cookies without measuring any of the ingredients. Near the end of her life, she suffered from Parkinsons Disease, probably a result of her earlier brush with influenza. She lived with her daughter Marilyn for six years, and then three years in a nursing home, before she died. She died on March 25, 1990 at age 93. She is entombed next to her husband at Gulf Pines Memorial Park in Englewood, Florida. ======================= ======1896 Nathan Churchill ["Nathan II"] SEE PHOTO Nathan Churchill "II" was born March 25, 1896, the son of Nelson Churchill. Nathan "II" was the third of five children. The young Nathan enlisted in the military service in 1916 and went to England. He came home an "invalid" in 1918, and died of tuberculosis in 1919. Home page Last Name Index PHOTOS Churchill * Foerst
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