Seldom blog, too old school and too much effort to sit and log in, etc, compared to Facebook where I can post, and share simultaneously with friends and family who are interested. Too bad for those hold outs who just cannot get on board with social media, but their loss. Anyway I have been clearing out old photos, mostly left from Jerry's mother, scanning a few, posting some to our Ancestry pages, and tossing. I do offer them to extended family, cousins, etc, but when they do not respond with interest, I toss the things. I am not going to be the central repository for the ages, what for? 
One article I found was the newspaper clippings about the retirement of and the death of Dr. Reay, the LaCrosse doctor who delivered Jerry, my husband in 1937. I always thought it odd that his mother would give him the middle name, Reay, after this doctor, but since we have lived here, I have learned that was quite a common practice in this region. Seems many were given middle names for the doctor who delivered them. In February a new restaurant, "David Reay's" opened locally by a young man, successful restraunteer, Matt Boshcka. I read the information with interest. He named it David Reay's after a local philanthropist, grocer, businessman, Dave Skogen, founder of Festival Foods, well known around here and across Wisconsin. Dave Skogen's middle name is also Reay, after this same doctor who delivered him in a snowstorm. Here is the link to the newspaper article about the restaurant
https://lacrossetribune.com/business/local/construction-to-begin-on-david-reay-s-restaurant-next-to/article_62e22e55-1abe-547f-96ff-98cdb987b6e4.html
I sent a Matt a text via Facebook and he remarked that he just might have to have a gathering of middle named Reay's. We have been to the restaurant which is quite modern, in Onalaska, good food, sports bar style and a bit noisier than we prefer while eating dinner. But all Matt's restaurants do well, he has the touch and knows customers. Here is a link to the restaurant, David Reay's https://davidreays.com/
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| Jerry waiting for me at Viterbo University, to attend a performance of the symphony |
So back to Dr. Reay and why I am bothering to write this blog post, besides trying to keep the blog for posterity by writing maybe once or twice a year, well for one, someday someone in my husband's family might be interested. Right now neither Jerry's adult children nor adult grands show the least bit of interest in any family history. But maybe someday when we are gone they will wake up and realize there are many many things about their father and ancestry that they did not take time to learn about. Maybe not, maybe it will be some very extended shirt tail cousin. Who knows if this blog will even be around then, but here is just another place to share what I have almost a year ago in Facebook, to responses from many. Dr. George Reay retired in 1969 and then he and his wife moved to Scottsdale, AZ. He passed away a year later, they had one daughter who lived in Omaha, NB. Apparently he was highly regarded as a local doctor and coroner in La Crosse, WI and must have had a great sense of humor. In the article about his retirement, due to failing health, he said how much he admired and learned from his father, also a physician,...."I have tried to pattern my life after his precepts as closely as I could."...."I close this medical chapter of my life and retire because of health. It is not due to laziness because had I been lazy I would have become a specialist." So this is one interesting facet about my hubby and how he got his middle name. His son thought he had the same middle name, but his is misspelled as Ray, not the same and not keeping the tradition. Still have to get with Matt and get that gathering of Reay's going.
