Name: Mary
"May" Dunlop Park
Called by Grandkids:
Granny
Birth: 1891,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Death: 1982, Des
Moines, Washington, USA
Spouse: Bjarne
Bordewick
Marriage: 1917,
Vancouver, BC, USA
Children: George
& Henry
Parents: Robert
James Park and Elizabeth Curran
Siblings: Jennie
(unconfirmed), Helen (unconfirmed), Robert Curran, Elizabeth, Rhoda, Margaret,
George, Florence
About: May Park
was the fifth child of Robert and Elizabeth Park, born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as all of her siblings were. Her parents had immigrated to the US
shortly after their marriage in Northern Ireland (somewhere around the county
of Antrim, possibly Belfast), and settled there in 1883 or so. She grew up
there for the first ten years of her life, before things became too difficult
for her father to continue do business as a cabinet maker, so they returned to
Ireland. They lived there for five or so more years before one of their eldest
children moved to Canada, and wrote back glowing letters about the country, so
the family moved again, this time settling in Vancouver, BC.
In Vancouver, May met the man who became her husband, Bjarne
Bordewick. He was a recent immigrant himself, having made several stops between
Norway and Vancouver, and soon the couple married. Their eldest son was born a
year later. They settled in Vancouver and raised two boys there before the war
broke out in Europe. Both sons went to war. Only one returned. But George,
their eldest, had married before heading off to the front, and they had a new
grandson to console them while he was away. After his return, the Bordewick
clan grew again, two daughters born to George and his wife. May doted on them
all.
Unfortunately, after a move in 1950, Bjarne was struck by a
car, and died, and May was left alone. Her younger sister Marge moved in with
her, and the two kept house together until both grew too frail to live on their
own. By this time, George's family had expanded by another son, a daughter-in-law,
and two sons-in-law, not to mention May's first great-grandchild. George and
his family had moved to Washington state in 1960 when he'd needed a new job,
and so he moved her down to be closer to the family, and so that he could keep
a closer eye on her. He got a place for her in a Masonic Home, and she lived
there until her death.
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| Merle, May, and May's granddaughter and great-grandaughters ca 1977 |
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