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Nina lost her mother when she was 4.
At that time she slept in the attic in their house in Gorton, England.
Her father came up to tell her that her mother had passed from Rhumatic fever.
He then was upset as grandma was still sleeping, and he yelled at her, and said "you don't care".
But as she was telling me this story, she said that she did care. She washed her families clothes in the basement by hand, and had her tonsols out in the kitchen, while banging on the table. This was before the days where everyone just went to the hospital for everything. She had two brothers, Roger Dean, and Basil Dean - who was in the Royal Navy. (Basil passed in 1988, but had a daughter, Tricia, who had a daughter, Emily - who lives with her two boys in Philadelphia, PA.) Here is Nina in the middle with two friends in 1933 at age 17. |
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Her father, Allen Dean, lost money in cotton in the 1920s. His family had made a fortune in cotton. Nina's parents eloped because he didn't like her parents. She grew up in Chesser City in England and met John Almond when she was working at a restaurant in 1935 when she was 19. He asked her out to dinner, and later, a picnic. They were married in 1936. |
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Here with her son Antony, born in 1937, in England.
She also bore two more sons, John Roger, in 1939, and Chris in 1940.
My grandma and her three sons left on a secret ship, as they had to avoid Germans during world war two.
My grandfather had gone ahead to Brazil.
The year was 1945, and my grandfather, a paymaster general (accountant) in the royal navy,
managed to set up work in South America - and to get his family out of England.
He had asthma, and the doctors said that he needed to live in a warmer climate.
The ships in the convoy were attacked the second day at sea, and one English ship was hit.
One thousand men died. They made their way down the coast of Europe to North Africa, where some of the passangers got off, including some nuns, and another Mr. Almond, a coal miner (which some had mistaken for my grandmother's husband!) |
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Some of the african people swam out to the ship with fruit, as some people on board would throw money down into the water. When they went over the equator, they had a big party. When they arrived in Buenas Aires, they had been given up for lost. Remember, this was during World War Two. Grandma was on the cover of the newpaper with her kids, Antony, Roger, and Chris when they arrived. Here with her 3rd boy, Chris |
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Here are my grandparent's passport photos from 1945.
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And here are his grandparents.
His father, William Edmonson Almond died during WWI in 1918 after Amestas day and is is buried in a church graveyard in Windmeer.
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In 1949, the whole family moved to Orinda, CA. Bottom row L to R:
Chris, Antony, John.
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John Almond in the living room in Orinda, CA.
He died from colon cancer in 1967.
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Nina in the living room in Orinda, CA.
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At the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
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She did have a good sense of humor.
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Grandma at the park
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In 1978 she had her first of three hip surgery replacements. She even called herself a "professional patient",
telling the nurses what to do. She worked for Kasier hospital in Oakland for many years.
But all in all, her dog, Dee Dee was there. I remember the dog eating sand when me and
my brother would swim at Grandma's apartment in Orinda in the 70s -
Or if we'd go to the beach with her - Dee Dee would kinda flip out.
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Grandma and I at her house in Carmel, May 1998
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Some of the current Almond Family, From L to R: Antony, Jere (John's Son) and Sasha Besse, Patricia (Antony's Daughter),
Shellei(Chris's Daughter), Josh (John's Son), John
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Chris Almond, Yellowstone (1980s?)
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