Mother’s Day has a special significance for those of us whose mothers have passed away. For local folks old enough to have grandchildren, the special day brings up fond memories of women who raised families in a very different era.

They tell stories of women who, in the days of World War II and before, took care of numerous kids, sewed and canned, cooked and gardened, and simply worked their fingers to the bone. They were hard-working and they could be tough, but they were also remembered as good-hearted moms.

Jim and Ardis Ronhaar are one of the rare couples who were both born and raised on Whidbey Island. They both also have fond memories of their mothers, who were born in the same year, 1899, but were two distinct individuals.

Jim’s mother, Elizabeth Abrahamse Ronhaar, was born in Big Timber, Mont. and moved to Whidbey Island, and lived on what is now Navy base property, in 1905. Jim was one of six children and remembers well all the work his mother did. She was especially proficient at canning. She canned as much as 25 quarts at a time of fruits, vegetables and even meat.

“It was horrible, hard work that women did in those days, “ Jim said.

But the work didn’t dampen his mother’s spirits. Jim said he and his siblings loved to tease their mother. “We teased her a lot,” he said. “She teased so well.” One time, he said, his mother turned a camera around backwards when taking photos.

“All she got was nose,” he said. “We never let her forget about that.”

Ardis said her mother, Lucille Ensminger Vogt, “had kind of a hard life.” She lost both her mother and sister in the same week when she was just 13 years old. Ardis’ parents had five children, but her father often worked away from home. The responsibility of raising the children and running the home fell largely on her mother and Ardis, who was the oldest child.

Ardis remembers her mom as a “hard worker who loved to be outside and garden.” Her worst days were when it was raining or blowing and she couldn’t go outdoors to work.

“She wasn’t an arsonist or anything like that,” Ardis said with a laugh, “but a few times she tried to clean up the outdoors and started brush fires that got away from her.”

Jim’s mother lived to be 93. Ardis’ mom passed away when she was three months shy of 100.

Bert Letrondo knows details of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines better than most people. Sadly, Bert was only 16 when his mother Macrina Campos Letrondo passed away from pneumonia during the occupation.

“I remember we held the funeral when the town was evacuated and everyone was scared to attend,” Letrondo said.

Despite losing her at a young age, his memories of the kindhearted woman are still vivid in his mind.

“Everytime she went to the marketplace she’d always come home with something special for her children. When she came back from the market she didn’t have a favorite and always brought something for everyone,” Letrondo said.

But Letrondo will confess that if Macrina did have a favorite it was probably her “Little Bert,” who was the youngest of six children.

“I was the baby so she always spoiled me” Letrondo said.

Letrondo said his kindhearted mother who loved everybody was beautiful inside and out. “She was a very humble woman, but when it came to her children she was very proud,” Letrondo said.

Macrina was Filipino, but also had Spanish bloodlines which gave her a striking appearance.

“My mother was the most beautiful person to have ever lived in this world,” Letrondo said.

Oak Harbor resident John Rientjes remembers his mother, Wehelmenia, as a very kind woman and a mother who knew how to keep her six children in line.

“She was a pretty strict mom,” he said. “She didn’t fool around with you, but she had a big heart.”

Rientjes explained that his mother was born in The Netherlands. She and her husband, and four children, left their homeland to homestead in Canada in 1910. The couple eventually had six children. They moved to Whidbey Island in 1923, back when living in the undeveloped island meant being largely self-sufficient.

Rientjes’ wife, Alice, remembers Wehelmenia in her “retirement years.” She had to take care of her husband, who went blind late in life, and loved to have people visit. “She was a lovely, lovely lady,” she said. “She was very social. She loved having people over for coffee.”

Greenbank resident Tom Coupe, whose grandfather is the namesake for Coupeville, said his mother probably didn’t even realize she was marrying into a historically significant family. He said his father “didn’t give a hoot about Whidbey Island history,” but his mother, Ruth Maurer Coupe, grew to love the island and its rich past. She loved to participate and dress up for such events as the Greening of Coupeville.

Ruth was a tiny women who was almost childlike in her sweetness. One of her favorite expressions was “shoot a pickle.”

“She was a wonderful mother,” Coupe said.

Coupe said his mother lived her entire life in Seattle. She was studying music at the University of Washington, and was a Chi Omega, when she met her husband-to-be. But Coupe said his mother loved to visit the island and help out at his family business, the Greenbank Store.

“One thing brushed off on me and my children,” he said. “She loved yard work.”

Ruth Maurer Coupe passed away three years ago at age 89. She’s buried at Sunnyside Cemetery in the family plot Capt. Thomas Coupe bought in the 1850s.

Louise Ellis Maker, mother of long-time Oak Harbor resident Dr. Ray “Doc” Ellis, came to Oak Harbor while she was in her 70s. Ellis remembers his mother as a very proper English lady who delighted in referring to herself as the “Happy Hooker.”

“She liked to hook rugs,” Ellis explains.

Louise gave the rugs away as gifts to friends and family. And even now, after she’s passed, Ray and Jan still have 46 of these beautifully crafted rugs in various stages of completion.

Every Mother’s Day she would “regal the family with her tales of growing up in England,” Ellis said.

Jan Ellis’ mother Anna van Slageren lived in Mount Vernon, but loved coming to Oak Harbor to stay with Jan, an Oak Harbor resident since 1958.

“She always enjoyed the view of the Cascades from our house, and the family benefited because she loved to clean my house and be with her grandkids,” Jan Ellis said.

Ellis remembers her mother as a jolly woman who was Dutch through and through, and said, “Gatherings were always filled with laughter because she never lost her Dutch accent.”

ak Harbor resident Nida Paggao fondly remembers her mother, Gaudencia Quejas Berbano, as a woman of great character who was always very loving and caring.

“It has been five years since she died, but the memories of her will forever remain fresh in my mind and heart. I owe her my life and what I am today,” Paggao said.

Paggao is the youngest child of Gaudencia and Trinidad Acheta Berbano. Paggao’s father was a high school teacher who served as an officer for the Philippine Army during World War II. Her mother was forced to raise Nida and her six other siblings alone after her father died during the war.

“My mother experienced a hard life, but was never bitter about the war,” Paggao said. “She held onto her faith in God, and I admire my mother for her courage and determination.”

While in her mid-50s Gaudencia came to live in Oak Harbor with Nida and her husband Danny. The woman who Nida describes as “petite, but strong willed,” was a Whidbey until she passed at the age of 87.

“I could never forget her. I salute my mother for her hard work and perseverance. How can I ever forget a woman who set the footprints for me to follow?” Paggao said.

other’s Day is especially emotional for North Whidbey resident Beverly Lane, who lost her mother on the day of the holiday back in 1946. Mary Beck was born and died in the small town of Winona, Minn. While Lane said she and her six siblings — one brother died young — were raised in poverty, her mother made do with the little money they had.

Lane remembers cutting long strips of rug which her mother crotched into rugs, blankets and afghans. Mary made dresses, canned fruits and vegetables from the yard. She showed her daughters how to sew, a skill Lane used to make her own children’s clothes.

“She always loved to hear my sister and I sing,” Lane said.

But as poor as the family was, Lane said her mother never hesitated to help people in need.

Her mother always shared with homeless people who rode the rails during the Great Depression and ca

me to their door for help.

“If your mother is still living,” Lane said, “spend time with her. Take her some flowers, visit, give her some cheer. You will never forget it when she is gone. You will know that you cared and helped her along.”