Chosen Families Project #16: Mother-Daughter Duo From Kalamazoo,Michigan: The Story of Stephanie & Doris Crum - RELATIVES FOUND

Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of the Chosen Families Project. My name is Julian Rebelo. These photographs I recovered in a photograph lot from Ebay. At first, I did not connect that these photographs were that of the same family. All of the photographs I received are framed portraits, some with closed paper backs that would damage the information, such as the photographer labels, on the back of the photographs.

The first photograph is a portrait of a young woman. On the back of the photograph it lists her name and dates the photograph. It reads:

Stephanie Jo Crum, June 1955, graduated from Eighth Grade from Nazareth Academy, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

After some research I was able to find some more information Stephanie and started building out the tree for her family. Meanwhile I decided to look more closely at the other photographs in the lot. One was a photograph in a beautifully decorated frame, with another younger girl pictured, although the front pane of glass of the frame itself had cracked. Carefully I took it apart to see if there was any information written on the back to help identify her.

Prior to that, I noticed similarities to the girl of the smaller frame, and I wondered if they were related. On the back of the photograph itself, it reads “Sweet Sixteen, Dayton, Ohio 1930,” which would mean this girl was not the girl in the other portrait and was born about 1914.

Looking further, there was more information written on the back of photograph backing. It reads “ 5 K 77 C Mrs J. P. Leindecker Marlbourough Apt 5C, Kalamazoo Mich., Order 1-X-S.P.M.” Notice Kalamazoo. This gave a clue to who the girl in the photograph was. After some research, I made the vital connection between the portraits. “Mrs. J.P Leindecker” is Eva A. (Mester) Leindecker, who is the mother of Doris Augusta (Leindecker) Crum. Doris is Stephanie Crum’s mother, Eva being her grandmother. Looking further into the other portraits from the lot, I noticed two more had Kalamazoo, Michigan as their location of the studios. One of the bigger portraits I identified as Stephanie in her 20s, matching a photograph of her college yearbook.

Framing tag for large portrait

The other is a black and white group photograph. It is water damaged and I don’t want to damage the marking on the back to see if there is any identifying information, but I have a feeling it belongs to the family as well.

Unlabelled studio tag

Here is the story of Doris Augusta (Leindecker) Crum and Stephanie Jo (Crum):

Doris Augusta Leindecker was born April 13th, 1914 in Quincy, Illinois to parents John Phillip Leindecker (1890-1958) and Eva A. Mester (1892-1976). In 1920 she lived with her parents in Dayton, Ohio and in 1930 she lived in Van Buren, Ohio. She also lived in Oakwood, Michigan as well before 1930. On Aug 3, 1940 she would marry Leo Josephus “Joe” Crum. The newspaper article about their marriage talks about her education experience before 1940 as well.

The Dayton Herald,Dayton, Ohio,01 Jun 1940, Sat • Page 5

On the 1950 census her husband Joe worked as a Lawyer. They would have 3 children with one another. Stephanie was born on May 1, 1941, a still born daughter in 1942, and Leo Crum Jr. in 1943. As an alumni of Smith College, in the Smith Alumnae Quarterly 1943, I found her name publishing for both of her children’s births.

In June 1955, Stephanie would graduate from Nazareth Academy in Kalamazoo. She would later attend Kalamazoo College with a degree in French and Sorbonne, and would become a teacher. Stephanie would move to California in the early 1960s. She had one son with her first husband, whom they divorced in 1966 and she got remarried to second husband Henry L. Gradillas in 1973, and they would have two children together. Stephanie’s Grandma, Doris Crum’s Mom, Eva would pass in 1976. According to Henry’s wedpage (he is author), Stephanie’s first son would pass in a car accident on Feb 9, 1990 in California. Stephanie during her life would work as a high school teacher.

On October 18, 1995 Stephanie would pass away. Here is her obituary:

The Los Angeles Times,Los Angeles, California, 25 Oct 1995, Wed • Page 20

Memorial Services Held in her hometown in Michigan

Her mother Doris would pass away on Nov 9, 1999 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She is buried with her husband Leo in Ft. Custer National Cemetery.

As of currently, I am looking for close relatives to Stephanie & Doris, and I reached out to her second husband already. If you are related to Stephanie or Doris, please reach out to me at thechosenfamiliesproject@gmail.com

UPDATE 11/5/22 - I was able to send all four of these photographs back to the son!

Update December 2022:

The photos are back with their family for the holidays

I just want to acknowledge all the support of this. Thank you so so much! I was able to be interviewed, and found out these photographs were originally in the relatives grandparents home, before being seperated by chance for over 20 years. They are now reunited, and I am so grateful I decided to buy those photographs on eBay.