Jeanette M. Gilge 

1924 – 2002

Never Miss a Sunset – Pioneer Family Series

This series written by Jeanette Gilge is about her family who lived in Spirit, Wisconsin, Al and Emma and their children.

Albert and Emma [Marheine] Meier were married in 1886 and set up housekeeping in a small house on their homestead near the Spirit River some twenty miles west of Tomahawk and approximately 13 miles east of Ogema, Wisconsin. (About one half mile from the current location of “Our Yesterday House” on the German Settlement History/Liberty School site.) Between 1887 and 1910 Al and Emma had 14 children, 13 of whom survived into adulthood. The Never Miss a Sunset Pioneer Family Series is a chronicle of this family. In this series, the surnames have been changed, but all the Christian names and all the events are historical.

The author, Jeanette, was the daughter of one of the thirteen children. When her mother died she was raised by her grandmother, Emma. When her own children were grown Jeanette wrote this series relying on her memories and her interviews with the extended family. Her story is an accurate and fascinating account of the life of an ordinary family living in northern Wisconsin during the end of the 19^th and first half of the 20^th centuries.

A Winter’s Promise – #1 in the Series
Previously published as All The Days After Sunday

The stove needs wood, the baby’s crying wakes the children, and the livestock must be fed. For Emma it’s a time of struggle, a time of waiting, waiting for the bitter winter to finally pass, for her husband Al to return from the lumber camp, for God to answer her prayers for help.

Amid the hardships, this mother of four finds strength in her faith in God and experiences the richness of His blessings when help finally comes and a young school teacher moves in with her family.

Never Miss a Sunset – #2 in the Series

Ellen enters adolescents and dreams of a life of freedom from her responsibilities as the oldest daughter. But a new baby is about to be born to her Mom and she knows it will bring still more work. Her Mom is weak and sick and Ellen prays that the baby will die. But when the baby dies, Ellen blames herself. It seems that her guilt is too heavy to bear, but then she finds the forgiveness of her family and her God.

All Things Heal In Time – #3 in the Series
Previously published as Call Her Blessed

Puzzling over a new machine called a telephone. Curious about the new automobile. Watching the boys leave the farm and head for the factories. Emma’s world is changing. Her children are grown and have their own families. And now, at a different stage of her life, her strength is less. But there are responsibilities: her children still turn to her for help, and when a daughter dies in childbirth she must raise her new granddaughter alone. Although hers is a world of change, she finds comfort in God’s unchanging love and reflects on a life of joy and love.

 

Best of Intentions – #4 in the Series

Emma is raising her orphaned granddaughter, Jeanie, the best she knows how. But changes beyond their control are putting their love and understanding to the test. Now in her seventies, Emma turns to her grown children for advice while guiding Jeanie through high school. Facing a world of new friends, first love, and growing responsibilities, Jeanie must decide whether to make her grandmother’s values her own. Emma’s frustration with change and Jeanie’s impatience to grow up threaten their relationship. But a late night car crash and the beginning of World War II help Emma and Jeanie mend their differences and find the true meaning of love.

 

Satin In The Snow – #5 in the Series

In 1942, the spring after Pear Harbor, the term “instant gratification” was not in Kenny and Jeanie’s vocabulary. They had been taught that a worthy goal was worth sacrifice. Their goal: To be married before Kenny had to go into service – with Jeanie in a white satin gown and all that it symbolized. Satin In The Snow is the story of this couple’s struggles the summer before they were married.

 

As Long As I Have You – #6 in the Series

As Long As I Have You is a true story of a love that endured through World War II when letters were lifelines. Interwoven with the chronological events of the war are the depths of emotion this couple, and thousands like them, experienced during those years.

From somewhere in Europe Kenny wrote: “Our captain brought a radio and hooked it up with loudspeakers. Sure sounds good to hear a radio again. Last night I heard Dick Haymes singing, ‘I’ll Get By As Long As I Have You.’ That’s my song!”

 

City-Kid Farmer

In the city he’d had his friends and knew his way around. But here in the country, Mark kept asking stupid questions about farming. That was just what Kurt Gorman waited for … so he could call him a “dumb city-kid”. But Mark’s biggest question was about God. Dad always said a man had to stand on his own two feet, but now Mark had found men that he admired- Uncle Ruben and cousin Jeff – who depended on God for everything. Who was right?