Mavis J. Cluster

Mavis J. Cluster

24 April 1929 – 22 December 2007

“The Star we Followed.”

She was always there. When we were little, she was the one who picked us up when we fell. When we were sick, she took care of us until we got better. She cooked our meals, washed and folded our clothes. She was always there for every game, play and recital. She would drive us to the movies and was always there waiting to drive us home. For our entire life she was always there. The one constant, our North Star. She always guided us home. She was a Wife, Sister, Daughter, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. Now, she’s an angel. Then again, she always was.

Mavis J. Alstrom was born on 24 April 1929 in a small town in Minnesota. Her birth certificate indicated she was born in the Village of Gilbert. The truth is, she came into the world at her parents home in Sparta, Minnesota. Mavis was the first of five children born to Gust and Helen Alstrom, second generation Americans whose parents immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century. Gust, was of Swedish descent. He was born in Minnesota in 1901, but he would speak with a Swedish accent his entire life. Gust was a very kind, hard working man. He loved sports, especially baseball. The Minnesota Twins being his favorite team, which is understandable. When he retired in 1966, he took his wife Helen and moved to Grants Pass Oregon. They wanted to be close to their daughter Mavis and the grand kids. The reunion didn’t end up lasting long. Gust died of a heart attack in 1967. He was 66 years old. Helen was of Slovak descent. Helen’s parents also came to America through Ellis Island. They too, ended up settling in Minnesota. Helen was born in 1913 and is truly an original. She was married at 14 years old to Gust. Not all that uncommon back then. During her adult life Helen worked in different Department stores, but mainly Sears & Roebuck. She was the top hosiery sales person. All the men would wait for Helen to assist them in buying gifts for their wives. The men wouldn’t accept anyone else’s help. It had to be Helen. She later worked in a department store in Hawaii after her second marriage in 1969. Words cannot describe our Grandmother. They not only broke the mold after Grandma they obliterated it!. Helen still resides in Grants Pass and is 94 years young; 95 this February. She say‘s, she is going to live to be one hundred. No one in the family doubts her. We love her dearly.

Mavis was 2 years old when the twins, Robert and Phyllis, were born in 1931. Unfortunately they arrived three months premature and died shortly after their birth. A little boy, Donny, came along the following year. Donny’s life too was tragically cut short. He died at age 11 months due to complications from meningitis. To this day our Grandmother Helen cannot speak about Donny without tears welling up in her eyes. All she can say is that he was beautiful, just a perfect little boy. In 1934 Mavis’s sister Jean was born. The family archives contain picture after picture of old black and white photo’s of Mavis and Jean growing up together in Minnesota. They both knew how to pose for the camera. The entire family enjoys looking at them. Jean moved from California to Grants Pass in 1994. In the end, the entire family from Minnesota had moved to Oregon. I suppose, Mavis was their guiding star too.

Growing up in Minnesota meant you lived by a lake. Mavis was the athlete of the family. In the summer she would swim and ride the wake board behind the power boat. Her mother would always tell her, “if you drown, I am going to spank you when you come home.” In the winter, when the lake was frozen over, she would ice skate. By all accounts Mavis could spend all day on the ice. Those who saw her skate would years later tell her children there was nothing Mavis couldn’t do on a pair of skate’s. She knew all the tricks and technical moves of the day. Sonja Henning, the premier skater of the time, didn’t have anything on Mavis they would say. Mavis was always modest when she spoke to her kids about her ice skating abilit