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Holy Family Catholic High School Victoria * 952-443-4659 |
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Island View Dining Waconia. 952-442-2956 |
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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Every Day is Valentine’s Day |
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by Sue Orsen When Jayne was a little girl she wanted to grow up to be married and have babies. When she was 14 she met the man who would help carry out her wishes. His name was Stan Hamerski and he was 16. They were married six years later, had babies and grandbabies, and now have 48 wedding anniversaries under the garter belt. They laugh a lot, hold hands, and talk about their life together as though each memory is an absorbing chapter and each day a favorite book. In other words, their life, as they tell it, could never be contained in a set of encyclopedias, much less one little issue of the Victoria Gazette. When asked if they do something special for Valentine’s Day, since that’s the next occasion on the calendar, Jayne replied, “Every day is Valentine’s Day for us.” It was said without feigned sweetness or contrived sentiment as she sat on their sofa next to her man. Stan reveled in the afternoon. “It’s a good life,” he said, and repeated, almost to himself, “It’s a good life.” The couple has resided in Victoria only since 2001, but they’ve had strong connections to Victoria and friends of Victoria for many years. *** Stan was born to Daniel and Evelyn Hamerski in South Minneapolis on August 16th, 1939, the eldest of three. His grandfather was born in Poland and traveled as a youngster with his parents to America, settling in the area of Winona, Minnesota. Stan’s father was plant manager and vice president of Hobart Manufacturing in Minneapolis. His mother was a homemaker. Stan attended Annunciation Catholic Elementary School in South Minneapolis and walked two blocks to school, both ways. “We lived in the area of Bachmann’s,” he said, “and not much was going on south of us at the time. I remember, as a little boy, that they were going to build a city there called Richfield.” Stan wanted to be a forest ranger when he grew up, but first he went through the hoops of becoming a paper boy at the age of 12. “You were supposed to be 13 to have a paper route, but I lied about my age,” he admitted. “I got up every morning at 4:30 to deliver papers and I had another route after school. I collected on Thursdays. Actually, I also collected on Fridays and Saturdays for all those people who didn’t have money and I had to keep going back.” Stan graduated from 8th grade to attend De La Salle Catholic High School in Minneapolis, which was an all-boys school at the time. Today it is coeducational. It was during his busy years of high school -- when he held three jobs simultaneously, at the drug store, the movie theater, and the paper route -- that he met the girl who was to become the love of his life and his forever Valentine. *** Jayne was born on February 3rd, 1941, also in South Minneapolis, to Lawrence and Corrine Eckes, a name that is pronounced with two syllables. She is the second oldest of five siblings.
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February 2010 |
