On November 8th, 1924, in North Prairie, Minnesota, Henry Janish and his wife Anna Popp had a baby boy they named Edmund. He was their 7th kid, of an eventual 9. When Eddie grew up, he was lucky enough to marry a Hesch, my dad's sister Rose.
This pic was probably taken before they were married (thats Rosie and Eddie on the right, with Irene Janish and Tony Hesch on the left). The picture below was probably their wedding day, June 19th, 1948. That's Eddie in the middle, between his new brothers-in-law, Henry and Mike Hesch.
Pretty soon, Uncle Eddie and Aunt Rosie had 5 kids--Jerry, Judy, Timmy, Patty and Danny. They were our "Cities" cousins and our cohorts in mischief at gramma and grandpa's farm in Royalton.
Another obvious highlight of Uncle Eddie's life was being asked to be my godfather, and Aunt Rosie, my godmother. Mostly, that meant being there for occassions, like my first communion in 1956.
We always looked foreward to visits with them. When I worked in the floral in Sauk Rapids and they were retired 'by the river' in Royalton, they regularly stopped in to say hi, which I loved. Usually, I'd see Uncle Eddies smile first, among the displays and customers, and then I'd look for Aunt Rosie, poking him to quit laughing. Good times. Precious times.
Aunt Rosie died in 2004, and Uncle Eddie still lives by the river in the house they built...and tomorrow, we'll celebrate his 85th birthday there.
Happy Birthday, Uncle Eddie, and thanks for being my godfather, one of my favorite uncles, and my friend.
