Elsie Lehr Grisham
June 12, 1896 - October 6, 1975
by Mary Grisham
Elsie Lehr Grisham, was born on June 12, 1896 in Augusta, Maine .Elsie had a sister, named Minnie.
Elsie's father was a French-Canadian trapper, and her mother a homemaker. Elsie's father's work took him away most of the time into the Canadian wilderness leaving the two girls home with their mother.
Tragically, on one of his outings, a fire engulfed the family home. Miraculously the girls were saved but their mother was lost in the fire. Since their father could not mind the children as he was always traveling, the girls, Elsie and Minnie, were then separated. Elsie went to live in New York City with their mother's brother a Christian. Minnie went to live with a Jewish relative or friend.
Minnie later married Horowitz and had two children: Ephraim and ?
Elsie's wealthy Uncle was high on the ladder at Tammany Hall. Quite a "big whig" in New York political circles. But he didn't have time for Elsie, so he sent her off to a posh Women's Boarding School in New York. There she learned all the proper etiquette, but had little real world education.
It is assumed that Elsie and James Lionel Grisham met while he was stationed at Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY. They were married sometime between 1915 - 1920.
Elsie and Jimmy had the following two children:
James Lionel Grisham Jr.
William Howard Grisham
Elsie, never having really had a mother or father's nurturing, and having been separated from her only sibling after the fire, was very fragile and much like a kid most of her life. She was dependent on Jim, who gave her the nickname "Kiddie" for that reason. Jim loved Elsie. She was a good mother and wife. No matter where the Air Corps moved the Grishams they always knew somebody, as in those days the Air Corps was a very small tight knit group of officers.
When Jimmy died in 1953, Elsie remained in their home in California until she needed to move to a retirement community. In the early 1970's she moved to Melbourne, Florida to be near her youngest son, Bill and his family. Bill saw her several times a week, stopping in to have lunch with her. Bill's wife Velma and their children would also visit and take her to her favorite local restaurant, Pete's Casbar, in Melbourne, or bring her to their home in Satellite Beach, FL.
One day when Bill stopped in to see her, he found her lying on her couch deceased. She had told Billy that she'd noticed when she napped that she sometimes felt she could not wake up and it scared her. But she died peacefully in sleep right there on her couch in Melbourne, FL on October 6, 1975.
"Kiddie" was buried next to her husband, James Lionel Grisham, at Point Loma in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, on October 9, 1975.
A dear woman, who survived childhood tragedy, but found the love of her life in Jimmy Grisham and her two wonderful boys.
Elsie's father was a French-Canadian trapper, and her mother a homemaker. Elsie's father's work took him away most of the time into the Canadian wilderness leaving the two girls home with their mother.
Tragically, on one of his outings, a fire engulfed the family home. Miraculously the girls were saved but their mother was lost in the fire. Since their father could not mind the children as he was always traveling, the girls, Elsie and Minnie, were then separated. Elsie went to live in New York City with their mother's brother a Christian. Minnie went to live with a Jewish relative or friend.
Minnie later married Horowitz and had two children: Ephraim and ?
Elsie's wealthy Uncle was high on the ladder at Tammany Hall. Quite a "big whig" in New York political circles. But he didn't have time for Elsie, so he sent her off to a posh Women's Boarding School in New York. There she learned all the proper etiquette, but had little real world education.
It is assumed that Elsie and James Lionel Grisham met while he was stationed at Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY. They were married sometime between 1915 - 1920.
Elsie and Jimmy had the following two children:
James Lionel Grisham Jr.
William Howard Grisham
Elsie, never having really had a mother or father's nurturing, and having been separated from her only sibling after the fire, was very fragile and much like a kid most of her life. She was dependent on Jim, who gave her the nickname "Kiddie" for that reason. Jim loved Elsie. She was a good mother and wife. No matter where the Air Corps moved the Grishams they always knew somebody, as in those days the Air Corps was a very small tight knit group of officers.
When Jimmy died in 1953, Elsie remained in their home in California until she needed to move to a retirement community. In the early 1970's she moved to Melbourne, Florida to be near her youngest son, Bill and his family. Bill saw her several times a week, stopping in to have lunch with her. Bill's wife Velma and their children would also visit and take her to her favorite local restaurant, Pete's Casbar, in Melbourne, or bring her to their home in Satellite Beach, FL.
One day when Bill stopped in to see her, he found her lying on her couch deceased. She had told Billy that she'd noticed when she napped that she sometimes felt she could not wake up and it scared her. But she died peacefully in sleep right there on her couch in Melbourne, FL on October 6, 1975.
"Kiddie" was buried next to her husband, James Lionel Grisham, at Point Loma in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, on October 9, 1975.
A dear woman, who survived childhood tragedy, but found the love of her life in Jimmy Grisham and her two wonderful boys.