Passing Down a Name: 52 Ancestors Prompt “Handed Down”

Edward Clarence Jandy’s Nephew Shares His Name in Reverse

Edward Clarence Jandy: 1899-1980 (Maternal Grandfather)
Clarence Edward Hedstrom: 1906-1992 (Maternal First Cousin 1x Removed)
 

Edward Jandy’s eldest sister, Theresa “Tessie” Jandejsek, honored him by naming her second son after Ed. Perhaps to avoid confusion among the family, she reversed the order of the first and middle names, so Edward Clarence’s nephew was named Clarence Edward Hedstrom.

Clarence Edward Hedstrom was born August 20, 1906 in Chicago Illinois to parents Axel Hedstrom and Theresa Jandejsek Hedstrom. Clarence had one older brother, Benjamin, and three younger sisters, Florence, Mable and Leona. While Axel Hedstrom and Tessie’s siblings were all blue collar workers, Clarence and some of his siblings turned to white collar work. Clarence, Benjamin and Florence all worked in insurance offices in Chicago after they left school.

Clarence married Rose Drnec of Chicago in the late 1920s. I have been unable to find their marriage record to determine the exact date. By the 1930 census, they were married and living with Rose’s parents and two brothers. Their first child, a son named Donald Clarence Hedstrom, was born November 28, 1930. Their second child, a daughter named Nancy Lee Hedstrom, was born August 14, 1932.

Clarence's WWII Draft card showing he is working for the Hartford Ins. Co.

Clarence spent forty years working for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, moving from their Chicago office to their Omaha location. He moved up from clerical positions to the position of Special Agent, which meant he specialized in the company’s line of fire insurance. 

Clarence's Omaha House

Following retirement, he moved to California to be near his daughter’s family. He died in Murrieta, California on May 15, 1992 at the age of eighty-five. His wife Rose had died a decade earlier.

                                  

Clarence’s name was handed down to him by his mother, who was honoring her baby brother, Edward Clarence Jandejsek. Like Ed, Clarence left behind the blue-collar world of his father and cousins, and moved into white collar work where he built a successful career.