I started researching my family in 1998, and has been my passion ever since. I hope you can find some information to connect my family to yours. It's always nice to meet new cousins!
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A Geneology Collection by Debbie Mills
Joan Carol Veldboom
Born: December 25th, 1945; Sheboygan, WI
Parents: Ellsworth Veldboom and Joyce Marthenze
Death: April 15th, 1967; Buried Milton Lawns Memorial Park, Janesville, WI.
Joan was born on Christmas day, 1945 in Sheboygan. When Joan began to crawl and then later walk at around age one, she seemed to trip and fall over what should have been easy obstacles, like rugs. As she grew, the tendons in one of her legs began to shorten, causing her toes to point. No clear diagnosis was ever made, and was felt to have an unusual form of Muscular Dystrophy by area doctors who really didn’t know what to make of it. She had to undergo many surgeries to try and correct the tendon lengths in her leg so she could walk normally. When Joan was about 17 or 18, she suddenly developed dizziness, vomiting and headache and was unable to walk without falling over. She had in fact been having headaches for some time, but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. She was eventually diagnosed with a brain tumor. This very well having been a slow-growing tumor that caused some of her childhood symptoms. She underwent brain surgery in Madison, but the tumor could not be removed entirely without damaging surrounding structures. Joan lived about 3 more years after the diagnosis was made and died suddenly at age 21 while visiting a friend in Milwaukee. Despite all of the trials and tribulations she faced, she always appeared to be such a happy, upbeat person. It’s hard to imagine being 18 years of age and being told you have a short time to live. Her boyfriend, whom she was very close to, was drafted into the Viet Nam war and had to go to training camp around this time as well. Mom always said she seemed to be living as if each day were her last and tried to squeeze every bit of fun out of every situation.
Joan and Debbie circa 1963
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