mean old stepmother

Does anybody know if Peggy's mean old stepmother, Min, lived to learn of Peggy's great success? If so, how did she react to the knowledge? Can't help but wonder.

Mary

Mary,

I too, have wondered about Peggy's step-mother's reaction to her success. From her autobiography, it seems that Min was alive after she had become successful because she talks about a visit with her father who had come to California but who had to return I assume to North Dakota lest Min become even more wretched and make life miserable for him. Does anyone have info on this?

Bobbie

Maybe Wes and Kate will read these posts and inquire of the local folks in North Dakota -- and some still remember Peggy as a young girl -- I'll bet they could shed some light on this.

Mary

Hi, I am no authority on this subject but I am certain that Min had to have known about Peggy's success... remember all of the 1940's articles I've been posting to this site... I don't know when she died, but I think she outlived Peggy's dad by a number of years. I have heard a couple stories about this topic, how when Peggy Lee came "home" to Valley City in 1950 to sing at the North Dakota Winter Show, despite a howling snow storm she borrowed the car of the local hotel owner she used to work for and drove it the 45 miles up to Wimbledon on iffy roads to see people/friends up there... her husband at the time didn't have a whole lot of respect for the people around here so he stayed locked in his room while she went alone.

In talking with someone else from Jamestown, they said that Min was more Jamestown oriented in her circles and she worked hard on spreading nasty rumors about Peggy there... which might be part of the reason that they seem so "cool" towards her memory. Having said this, this was a side conversation and I can't substantiate anything about it other than it isn't the first time I've heard this said... So there might be something to it and there might not be. (I remember attending a Peggy Lee impersonator concert in Jamestown a few years ago and the singer was talking to the audience about how excited she was to be in Peggy Lee's home town and wanted to hear by applause how many remembered her and there was nothing but awkward silence.)

Myrna Bultema, the Wimbledon Peggy Lee historian, said that yes of course the stepmother knew of Peggy's success. She doesn't know for sure but Myrna says it seems that the stepmother wanted to get in on the act and take as much credit for Peggy's success as she could. The stepmother did give money to purchase a rug for the Pioneer Village Church in Jamestown, I'm not exactly sure why that connection.

Thank you, Wes and Linda!!

Mary

I echo the thanks to Wes and Linda about the state of Min.

And here's my three cents worth on the subject --

George Spangler is from the same area south and west of Jamestown where Min lived and where the Wieses are from, which is the first family that Min married into. He remembers her as a big scary woman with a ready temper who was sweet to people until she was crossed. She seemed to wear two faces; one for the world and one for the family. It was common knowledge in Nortonville that Min was abusive and that Norma had "a hard time at home," as they used to say about abusive homes.

The Egstroms lived in Jamestown in the late 1930s and even before that there was a Jamestown connection; apparently Min's mother lived there and her house was where the family would visit when they would come to town. Bud Murphy of Jamestown used to talk about living next door to that house and knowing Norma Egstrom as a young girl who would come to town from Nortonville. It was this connection that brought Norma to St. John's Lutheran in Jamestown, where she was confirmed. She would also sing at the Methodist Church in Nortonville when she was a girl, but the family would also worship in Jamestown with Min's mother. The family could travel easily from place to place because they all had free access to the Midland Continental routes -- and discounted access to the trains on other lines.

I find the most telling fact about Min to be in her final resting place in the Highland Home Cemetery in Jamestown (north on Hwy 281). Her first husband, the Wiese man, died in the early 1920s and is buried in a plot with a large headstone that looks like a trimmed log and bears the name WIESE engraved on it. For a long time, he was the only one in the spot, but when Peggy Lee's father (M.O. Egstrom) died in 1950, Min had him buried in the Wiese plot (Peggy's mother had been sent to the home cemetery in Volga, SD, for burial -- a sister of Peggy's is also buried there) with one blank resting spot left between Min's first husband and the second. When Min died in the 1970s, she was buried between her two husbands.

In the meantime, there is a solitary unmarked spot about two lanes away that is recorded in the cemetery book as an unnamed Egstrom infant: the youngest of the Egstrom children, the childbirth that led to the death of Norma's mother Selma. Thus there is an infant younger sister of Peggy Lee buried in an unmarked spot on a windswept hill overlooking the Pipestem River valley not too far away from the father who never knew her. He, in turn, is eternally resting next to the woman who broke Peggy Lee's jaw with a frying pan.

One of these summers I plan to make a pilgrimage to Volga, SD, to find the other Egstroms. If anyone knows more about how to find Selma Egstrom's final resting place, I would be glad to know about it.

That's the Min story from my perspective. I have an old Midland Continental b/w photo of her waiting for a train. She's a sturdy big woman with a tight little bun on the top of her head.

Kate

Thanks to everyone who provided information. I really appreciate it.

Bobbie

Ah, there's more. I spoke this evening to Mary Young, Jamestown's resident history expert. She told me that there will be an article in this week's Jamestown Sun about the fire in the Nortonville Midland Continental depot where Min broke her leg escaping and had to be taken to the doctor in Edgeley to be treated. The family was living in the depot at the time. The fire started from a cookstove fire, I think Mary said.

So that was in 1930 when Norma was ten and still living in Nortonville under the thumb of Min. I wonder how that memory resonated each time Peggy Lee performed the first verse of "Is That All There Is."

Kate

Thanks also to Kate. Does anyone know if Min had a son? I believe I read somewhere that she did. If so, how did he fit into the family dynamics?

Peggy's family is almost as interesting as she is. It's to her credit that she rose to such great heights in spite of mean old Min!

Mary

Dear Mary --

Yes, she did. Now for the life of me I can't remember the name, but I'll find it out for you. The Nortonville centennial book is an interesting document for all that it says about Min's family and all that is not praised about Peggy Lee. I guess it's because the people who stayed behind were the ones who got to create their own stories about how things were. There are a couple of entries about the Wieses -- which would be the stepbrother (his name may have been Ed, but this is only a guess) and not as much about Norma Egstrom. As I learn more, I will post.

Kate

Dear Kate,

Do you suppose the three Wiese graves were originally intended for Min's first husband, herself, and their son? I wonder what happened to crowd the son out of being buried there. Other than the fact that Min chose to bury Marvin Egstrom, Peggy's father, there. It would be interesting to know what became of Min's son.

Good luck on your trip to Volga, SD in search of other Egstrom and Anderson (wasn't that the maiden name of Peggy's mother?) grave sites.

Mary

Dear Mary --

I'll look into this -- I'll check out the Nortonville book entries when I see it again.

Thanks for the maiden name hint!

Kate

Hi,

The sad thing about child abuse is that it goes on every day. Like the days when Peggy was abused, no one interfered and no help was forthcoming. Peggy's stepmother was a WITCH WITH A CAPITAL 'B'.

Ruth

Ha Ha! On your excellent spelling that is.

Yes, child abuse goes on and on. And on and on. BUT once in a while a child has an inner grit and overcomes all odds. Such a one was Peggy. One wonders if she'd have been just a normal, ordinary person had she had a normal and ordinary childhood.

Mary

Mary,

With a voice like that!! I don't think so. Surely talent like Peggy Lee will always eventually emerge, don't you think?

Bob Wallace

Hello Kate,

Have you been able to find any information about mean old Mim's son, whose last name was Wiese?

GiGi

Dear GiGi --

I'm on vacation in Georgia until next week. I need to remember to talk to my friend Jodi (also a FoPL -- Friend of Peggy Lee -- from our Jamestown group) about the Nortonville Centennial book. That's the source for info on the Wieses that I am referring to.

I will check it out...

Kate

Dear Bob,

I'm sure Peggy's talent would have emerged and taken her far and to great successes no matter what... BUT... as Peggy herself said, her childhood was her "bootcamp".

It was her ability to show vulnerability while at the same time having the fierce drive to continue on and on in the face of great odds until her stroke made it impossible to continue which makes Peg such a rare gem. Lessons she may well have learned in "bootcamp".

Mary

Lest this thread's sudden appearance confuses everybody, let me point out that it is an old one, dating back to 2005. I am currently reading some old threads about Peggy's early days, and I am particularly fascinated by this one, with all its details about Min and Kate's specifics about burial sites. Hence I decided to "bump" it to the first page.

I too would love to learn more about Min, and particularly about her reaction to Peggy's success. (If she died in the 1970s, then the woman lived through all of Peggy's years of mainstream success.) Curious to see the photo of Min, mentioned by Kate, as well.

I don't believe that Peggy ever saw Min again after she started on her road to fame with Goodman, but if I'm wrong and they did see one another, that would yet another intriguing story to learn about ....

Ivan