My Parents

Frederick Charles Boethling II (1917-2006)

Beatrice Pearl Hedlund Boethling (1922-2002)

Both were born in small towns in the Midwest (Fred in Oakes , ND and Biddy in Sandstone, MN), the offspring of hard-working first generation Swedish-German-French immigrant parents.

They met and married while Fred was attending the University of Minnesota . The US entered WW II and Fred joined the Merchant Marine. During the War, he was based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Biddy worked at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City . I was born near the end of the War and shortly after Armistice my father was discharged and the young family returned to Minnesota , where my brother and sister were born.

Fred pursued a career in accounting and finance, working at Heinz 57 Varieties, M & O Paper (Boise Cascade), Lockheed Aircraft, Theodore Johnson Carpet, National Connector, Prestige Mills and LA Times. Like most women of her time, my mother tended the family. After I graduated from the University of Minnesota and went off to my first full-time job (in Texas ), my parents, brother and sister moved to Southern California .

Fred and Biddy were part of the Great Generation, of which Tom Brokaw so eloquently wrote in his similarly titled book. Living through the Great Depression and World War II had a profound and lasting effect on their lives.

Thank you for bringing me into this world and instilling in me the qualities essential to success – intellectual curiosity; the quest for experience, knowledge and understanding; perseverance; drive; organizational skill; self-confidence; compassion; and a strong sense of right and wrong.

I hope I've measured up to your expectations.