Life With Boys

Recovered original email from Peter Zeimet. Body preserved verbatim.

There is a big big question about Ara's life.
Jo and I have been talking about it this last hour or so. I was shocked to
hell to see a fancy headstone that frankly looks a bit newer than one from the
1940's............ very very unusual.

Your grandmother was named after
her Aunt Ara and Aunt Belle. AraBelle is a name but hers was
actually Ara and Belle as a second and non connected name. Ara Fuller was
the baby and only a teenager when your grandmother was born. She was
very pretty and lived in Seattle until her death. Mother visited her once
there and she had a beautiful home. Apparently, she was involved in the
fashion industry. Mother had some tattered pages from a magazine that Ara
was involved with. Ara was married to a guy from Sitka, Alaska that owned
the gas company for the island.

Oddly, you met my friend Debbie
at the St. Louis airport in 1999 when I was going to Italy. Debbie is from
Sitka and DID know the Bjornstad family. It is a very small town and
remote. She said the old man indeed had lost his wife years before.
Debbie did not think the family was wealthy, though.

This is where the stories
conflict. Mother adored Aunt Ara. Aunt Thelma could not stand
her. (Thelma lived in South Gate, California) Ara was a sister to Thelma's
mother Laurel. Laurel was involved in the fashion industry as a buyer for
the Gold Store chain headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. (have you heard
of the Gold or Golden Rule stores?), Laurel (lolly) married a fairly
wealthy engineer named Paul Johnston and is buried in Custer. They were
well off. He worked on the Panama Canal and died around 1960 or so.
They had a beautiful log home that was gone by the time you ever saw
Custer.

Anyway, Laurel and Ara fueded a
lot. Laurel said Ara was a tramp and ran prostitutes. Mother said
she was an elegant beautiful gracious lady that lived like a queen in Seattle
having a beautiful home with all the trimmings..... and ran a fashion
magazine. ????????????

The end run is they got a letter
from Bjornstad saying Ara had died in an auto accident. He was in Alaska
and it took days for him to get to Seattle. Ara had refused to live in
Sitka and they only visited each other now and then. I do not know if
their marriage was stable or not. I do not think anyone knew. She
came back to Nebraska without him. Actually, they were surprised she was
actually married. If Bjornstad did meet them, they did not speak of the
guy.

The car had left the road and
crossed a ditch coasting to a stop. There was not a scratch on the car and
Ara was dead inside. The door was open. Bjornstad went to their
house and there were other people living there............. and the gal answered
the door wearing Ara's clothes. All her furs were in the house, etc.
Bjornstad apparently got an attorney but the other people legally owned
everything. Bjornstad had no idea what transpired. He notified the
family, shipped the casket back to Nebraska on the train and returned to Alaska
never corresponding with the Fullers again. They wrote him, but no return
letters arrived. Contacting the Seattle Police did not help.
They only verified she was found dead in a car. Back then cars were metal
inside and someone could have easily struck their head. Still, no cause of
death was ever formally given to the Fuller family. They just picked up
her body and buried her. I guess it was months afterwards.

My friend Debbie said the family was
fine with no sister connections or "history" that would make anyone think
something happened on his end. If you needed heating oil, you called the
Bjornstads. I think they are still in business in Sitka. The island
is only a few miles wide and very isolated. It has 4-5 thousand now but
maybe had 1200 or so in those days. I am sure Debbie was honest with
me. She thought they were just regular ordinary people. He had
brothers in business with him in partnership. I think they did marine
diesel for fishing boats, too

So here is where things get
ugly. Mother thought Bjonstad was likely involved. Aunt Darlene
(Ara's sister) thought that a possiblility. Laurel, Belle, Edna and Avis
did not like Ara. I never heard Cyril Fuller say anything about Ara.
I did see photos of her. She had long dark curly hair, fancy clothes,
great legs, makeup for days and jewelry. Aunt Lolly looked the
same. Lolly may have been jealous of Ara's career having gone further
than her own did. I guess Laurel did well for herself as a buyer.
There were gold stores all over Neb., Mo. Illinois, etc. She
hooked Paul Johnston in that job and they retired in style early.
This was when only money in the bank let you retire. Lolly had dozens of
beautiful fur coats............. floor length and expensive gems hanging
off every arm. There is no reason to suspect Ara was running a string
of prostitutes as Laurel/Thelma portrayed.

It is unusual that she lived in
Seattle and he was in Sitka only occasionally visiting each other,
though.

You have to understand the Fuller
familty had fights and they did not always talk or visit each other. There
was Aunt Ruth, Darlene, Jeanelle, Avis, Edna, Laurel, Ted, Cyril
and Belle Jeanelle may have been a cousin.......... not
sure. Fanny Fuller was the grandmother. She lived in Delaware in a
mansion connected via causeway to dry land and had a driver in her formal car.
Mother met her once and that lady was not hurting for bucks........... nor very
nice. I think jealousy between which sister was the prettiest or married
the richest man was ongoing. Back then, that was a big deal............
sort of like Texas social climbing now.

There is no question Ara's death
was clearly answered............. nor was her lifestyle. Most women did
not live apart from their husbands running a fashion magazine back then.

I do remember a few more things.
Your grandmother called Aunt Avis once when I was in high school. We were
in Broomfield, Colorado where she lived. Avis was (according to mother) a
nasty bitch. I was standing there when mother was talking to her on a pay
phone. The call did not go very well. Avis said she had not heard
from any of the "girls" since that tramp Ara called her begging for a place to
stay and she had nowhere to run/hide. It was shortly afterwards she was
found dead. I realize this is a can of worms that may have been cooked up
with gosspy old ladies. But, there is no question Ara did have a high
lifestyle. Several relatives visited her. The house was
fabulous. Her hair was fabulolus. Her cars were fabululous and the
jewlery, etc. was even more impressive.

The Fullers just picked up her
body at the trainstation in Campbell and buried her. If they ever did know
what really happened, none ever told. It does seem odd Bjornstad just
disappeared back into the northern mist of Sitka and the police had but a few
short facts about her death. The house was indeed gone and she had no
money on her when found. I guess this is perhaps the biggest family
mystery. Perhaps she choked on a ham sandwich and they invented the whole
thing. I somehow doubt it. I was always curious to see if her name
was indeed Bjotnstad. Thelma thought she was not legally married.
Apparently she was. Mother swore she was a realy lady and achieved success
the others only dreamed of. I also know Debbied verified the family did
indeed live in Sitka and one had his wife die in Washington. Debbie is
older now, so I am sure she knew Bjornstad well enough. The town is only a
few blocks wide.

So are you going
to investigate. Do you have some magazine pages with models in pretty
dresses from the WWII era? They did exist. I remembered seeing
them. I also remember Thelma and my mom discussing it................. and
Aunt Darlene in later years, too.

Ara was pretty and lived a fast
lifestyle. Police verified she died under circustances not
investigated. Bjornstad put the body on the train with a note to the
family and went back north. Odd, huh. You should have photos of
Ara. You will know who she is............. the pretty one with gorgeous
hair. I asked mother if she had kids. Mother did not
know. Maybe they lived in Alaska. Debbie said there were lots
of Bjornstads running around. She could not remember who was from which
one as they were 10-15 years older. - pz (do you think the headstone
is 60 years old or it has been added later by one of the Bjornstad
relatives?)

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