Aunt Tessie

      

     My second great-grandmother, Teresa had two daughters that I know of.  My great-grandmother Josephine was born in 1894 and her younger sister Theresa was born in 1902.  There was another child born between these two sisters who I haven't found yet.  Theresa was born in Manhattan, NY then the family eventually moved to Brooklyn, NY.

     When Tessie was 20 years old, she married Robert Engstrom.  They lived in New Jersey with their two young children before relocating south to Miami, FL where she spent the rest of her life.  Tessie's daughter, Violet was a swimsuit model in Miami who appeared in magazines and I don't know anything about her son.  Tessie and her husband divorced in 1947.

     I have Tessie's birth certificate which shows an older sibling who I never knew about.  I tried ordering the death certificate but was denied because I am not a direct descendant.  The state of Florida has two types of death certificates - one with and one without the cause of death.  I was denied because I tried ordering the type with the cause of death which is not released earlier than 50 years from date of death unless the person ordering is a direct descendant.  Theresa Engstrom was 93 years old when she died so do I really need a cause of death?  I was a bit doubtful when I mailed in the form but thought I'd try anyway.  I really don't need the death certificate.  I have Tessie's date and place of death and her name appears on the Social Security Death Index.

     I wanted the death certificate to see who was listed as the informant.  Was it her daughter, Violet?  I was curious to know what became of Violet when her modeling career was over.  I know that Violet, who used the name Pat had three children.  I thought if she were the informant on her mother's death certificate and used a married last name then I could try to track down her children.  I'm trying to connect with cousins since the older generation is already gone.  While waiting for Theresa's death certificate I tracked down her son Robert's children.  I drafted a letter to Robert's daughter but hadn't mailed it yet because I'm making a few copies of family photos to share.

     I wonder if I will ever locate Tessie's other grandchildren and if any of them, Robert's children or Violet's children know about their grandmother's older sibling who died between August of 1902 and June of 1905.

                                           ♥ Theresa Duper Engstrom ♥

                                                    2 August 1902

                                                16 November 1995