Myrtle Barbara Hostetter
1919-1992
Family Overview and Vital Details
Myrtle Barbara Hostetter
Birth Sept 5 1919 • Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey
Death April 11, 1992 • Somerset, New Jersey
Parents: Charlotte Ross Golden and Fred Hostetter
Spouse: Robert Drinkwater Haringa
Married June 28,1941 at St. Stephen's church. Robert's sister Helen was a witness on the church marriage record.
Daughters: Carolyn and Myrtle
Burial: Interred at Woodbridge Memorial Gardens Mausoleum.
Profession: worked for 12 years at Westing House inn Edison, New Jersey, as an electrical assembler, as per her obituary.
Growing Up in Jersey City
September was a busy birthday month in the Hostetter household with three of the six sisters celebrating their special days. Their mother Charlotte might have also been thinking about her own mother this month as it was Anna Tina McGill Golden's birthday too (September 16, 1869). Today we are honoring the fifth daughter of the family, born on this day, September 5, 1919.
Aunt Mertie was living with her mother Charlotte, sisters Anna and Marjorie and nephew Robert Stenten at 434 Pacific Avenue when the 1940 census was taken. Her sister Millie was living in the same apartment building with her young family and sister Charlotte was right next door at 436 Pacific Avenue with her family, so they were still close together when WW2 started. Mertie was 20 years old and her occupation was a 'domestic' in a private home, most likely a cleaner.
Marriage and Wartime Years
Things in her life would change a year later as she got married on June 28,1941 at St. Stephen's Church in Jersey City. The lucky groom was Robert Drinkwater Haringa. She was 21 and Uncle Bob was 25 when they started married life. They had about two years together before the war caused them to be separated for two years. Bob joined the Navy in August of 1943 and came back home in November of 1945. During that time the sisters would often get together with their mother Charlotte and get out the old OUIJA board to ask how their loved ones were fighting away from home. Apparently, Gram also used to read the tea leaves too!
Raising a Family
After the war, Mertie and Bob had two daughters. In 1946, Carolyn Helen was born. Her middle name Helen came from her father's sister Helen. In 1948, Myrtle Barbara joined the family. She was named after her mother and goes by the name of Barbara. Their middle name of Barbara came from Fred Hostetter Jr's half sister, Barbara Bergmann.
Building a Home in Edison
In 1950, the family of four were living at 726 Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. Bob was a wholesale electronics shop keeper. This year Bob and Mertie bought a parcel of land in Edison to build their own home. They hired a company to lay the foundation and the rest of the work they did themselves. They would live and work during the week in Jersey City and then on the weekends they would go to the house and do some work. According to property records, the house at 24 Parker Road in Edison was completed in 1952. Mertie and Bob had apple, pear and peach trees along with a vegetable garden and an above ground pool too! Mertie spent a lot of time canning her surplus vegetables. Gram, Aunt Margie and cousin Charlotte would visit regularly and Gram would always make lots of peach cobbler with the fruit from the trees.
Work at Westinghouse
Things get a little fuzzy now and unfortunately, I do not know much else about Aunt Mertie, except that she worked for Westinghouse for 12 years and was able to buy 'seconds' from them at discounted prices. She persuaded Aunt Margie to buy a stereo, and it never worked properly, but cousin Charlotte said that she still has the stereo 'somewhere'!
Children, Grandchildren, and Descendants
Mertie's daughters both married and each had two children and I know there are at least four great-grandchildren for her and Bob. If anyone knows any of Aunt Mertie's descendants, please tell them about this group as we would love to know how this branch of the family are!
Final Years
Uncle Bob passed away on May 28,1987 and Aunt Mertie passed away on April 11,1992 in Edison. They are both in a mausoleum in Woodbridge, NJ, and just a few feet away from Mertie's sister Gertie.
A Birthday Memory
One last memory that I have of Aunt Mertie is that she shared her birthday with my father and every year without fail she would send Dad a 'On Our Mutual Birthday' card! Today, Aunt Mertie, Happy Birthday to YOU!
(Written by Kerri Corby Fawcett)
