Conner, Ceo, Boswell A Distant Cousin?
I met a Master Sergeant named Wilkie yesterday. He was from the 3rd Infantry Division, and said he was born and raised in Michigan.
My mother’s maiden name is Wilke. It’s a german name, which my grandfather tells us is actually 3 syllables, and prounounced “Vill-i-kie”.
My brothers and I are Whongs, and my cousins are Breens and Collins’, but we use the term “Wilke Cousins” to describe our generation.
I asked this MSG if he had any distant relatives in or around Baltimore, but he said there were none that he knew of. He did say there was a lot of his family in Kentucky.
I wonder if we are related, through some long list of fourth cousins twice removed and remarried, etc. Maybe we share the same ancestor in Europe ten generations back… how funny that we would come face to face in Kuwait, waiting for Pizza.
In other small world type goings-on, I was in the Movement Control Center at a FOB in Iraq, and saw a picture on someone’s laptop of someone who looked extremely familiar. I think it was someone who went to the University of Maryland with me, but I still couldn’t figure out who it was. I asked the troops where they were from.
As it turns out, the unit running the MCT was a reserve unit, and they drill in the Armory off Ordnance Road in Gen Burnie. I drive by there just about every day on my lunch breaks, and I have even gone in there to ask a soldier if there were any good dry cleaners nearby for pressing military uniforms. Two of them were from Glen Burnie, and one was from Urbana, but grew up in Montgomery County! (That’s where I grew up)
It’s one of those things about the Army… for better or worse, you never know where you’ll end up or who you’ll run into.
-LT
January 26th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
I went to high school with a girl named Christine Wilke. As far as we could tell we were not related. I was summoned to the office once when she cut class. The name change thing when you become a citizen could mess up your cousin theory. There was a married coulple named Wilke in Peace Corps Korea when I was there. (who would’ve thought? not all that many PCV’s there to start with) Anyway that name had been changed to Wilke from a much longer Polish name when their ancestors came to America. Also consider the commonness of names. Are all Bakers’s, Nguyen’s, or Rodriquez’s related to their namesakes? A name like Scarpulla on the other side of our family translates to shoemaker.
January 26th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
ran into sveral AIT buddies, come kids from Basic and a guy I grew up with all over there…. it is kind of neat, you realize how small the world is.
Your family name rings a bell and my dad says hew knew some in Kansas- who knows, I am a speed-1.
January 26th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
I never knew that Scarpulla translated to shoemaker. I was told that Breen is actually an older version of Brian which later became O’Brien. All I know is that teachers never pronounced Wilke correctly they would say Wilk or always put an “i” before the “e” such as the soldier you met spelled his name. I thought Breen would be easier but I am Mrs. Green, Mrs. Brun or Mrs. Bream-ahhh ” a rose by any other name shall smell as sweet”.
January 26th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
for the official internet record… and speaking of names… my name never has and never will be “michelle”. =) that’s for all the teachers i’ve had in my life who thought shelly was a nickname.
eh, we’re all related somehow, whether by blood or by circumstance.
January 27th, 2006 at 3:47 am
Shelly and all. We are all related by blood period. Even those people out there planting bombs. If you go back far enough say to Julius Ceasar or Mary we all would be related to both of them in some way. So we all have Jewish, Asian, Native American, and most of all African genetic ancestors. Now “Can we all just get along?”
January 27th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Right on, Ray.
January 27th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Well, if I may add . . . I never met a Wilke, Collins, Whong or Edwards that I didn’t like! And, I like all the Duhs I’ve met too!
January 27th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
now if only everyone could have the same attitude as uncle ray above… especially the part about all having the same ancestors… on a completely selfish and personal level, it would make my life a helluva lot easier. =)
January 28th, 2006 at 9:42 am
My aunt is Margaret Wilke and she is from Michigan. There is a whole clan of Wilke’s up there. I think they are either in Grand Rapids or Lansing. Or spread out all over the state by now. If you want any Wilke info, I have plenty of my relatives’ phone numbers.