Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
June 1, 1942
Dear Mother,
I had a liberty from 4 A.M. Sat to midnight Sunday so I went down and visited Aunt Ruth. Julius was there too, and I had a nice weekend, and Ruth said that Esther and Ingrid were both gone up north that week and so I didn’t see them. But it looks like I will have every weekend off except if I happen to be on guard duty so I will probably be able to see the rest of them yet too.
Julius and I went and saw a great big museum in the heart of Chicago. I forget the name of it but it seriously was a wonderful exhibition in it. I believe you could spend a week in it and not see it all. They had airplanes, great big guns, locomotives, old antiques, and everything you can think of. Last Saturday we went to the trade school building and got two books on machine work. One of them is of the Ford Motor Car Comp. and one from the South Bend Lathe Comp. There is some pretty deep stuff in that one from Ford.
According to the officer we are going to be here for one month and at Dearborn (Ford’s trade school) in Detroit for four months. So I will probably have a chance to come home some weekend from there. I understand we will have every other weekend down there. We will have trade school from 4:25 in the afternoon to twelve at night and we will get up at eight in the morning. That starts tonight.
Well I think I will close off now so so long.
With love,
Erwin Holmquist
P.S. Ruth is going up north for about 3 weeks she said.
Erwin Holmquist A.S.
USN Service School Group III Sec. C
Barracks 501
Great Lakes ILL
Note: Ruth, Esther, and Ingrid are Erwin’s three aunts, sisters of his dad. They left the farm in Tustin, Michigan (“up north”) to find work in Chicago. Erwin’s dad Elmer and Uncle Randolph left the farm and headed to Grand Rapids. Randolph moved to Chicago sometime in the 1930s and his son Julius, Erwin’s cousin, graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in mechanical engineering. Julius’ nickname was Pete. He was two years older than Erwin. His obituary from 2014 states:
Julius “Pete” Holmquist in later years.
Ancestors Across the Ages 