TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Pasadena Daughter: Merwyn McKay Bergquist

Monday, February 27, 2017

Pasadena Daughter: Merwyn McKay Bergquist

Merwyn Joyce McKay, when she was around 20 years old

Dear Readers,

I have a lot of catching up to do, but on top of my to-do-list is to prepare a Power Point presentation about my mother-in-law, Merwyn Joyce McKay Bergquist, who passed away last Feb. 8, 2017. She was 92 years old and had been in good health -- driving still --- until around six months before she died. She had colon cancer, underwent an operation, but unfortunately did not rally. I mention this to encourage all to have a colonoscopy when recommended by doctors, and even to ask for one if you have a family history of this disease.

Merwyn and older sister, Eileen Lorraine, with their father Lawrence Charles McKay

I loved my mother-in-law. When I first met her, I was around 22 years old and she was 44. Looking back I realize she was a young woman, with a husband and six children, a very busy person, who was involved with her church and community.

She was always kind and fair to me and she has become a role model of how I should behave as a mother-in-law.

As a gesture of my love for her, I offered to make a Power Point presentation at a family gathering later in March. I will be sharing pictures in this blog that will go into that presentation. I am not sure exactly how the Power Point presentation will go, and if you have suggestions, feel free to email me at cbrainard@aol.com.

The pictures in today's blog focus on when she was young.

l-r: Merwyn with her mother Blanche

Merwyn's father, Lawrence Charles McKay, taken circa WWI

Stay tuned for more family pictures featuring Merwyn McKay Bergquist.

Tags: family, Pasadena, California, Merwyn Bergquist #MerwynBergquist

Read also:
McKay Family History (courtesy of Julii Brainard Swinny)

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.