OLGA VICTOROVNA LIGDA		Born:
Father: VICTOR NICHOLAS LIGDA		Mother: EMILIE CRAMER
Children: OLGA ALEXINE
Siblings: VALENTINA LIGDA, MARY LIGDA, ELIZABETH LIGDA, SIMEON LIGDA, ALEXANDER LIGDA, PIERRE LIGDA , PAUL VICTOROVITCH LIGDA, VLADIMIR LIGDA

Olga was the oldest daughter of Victor and Emilie Ligda to survive infancy. There were no family accounts of her early years. She would have been three when her family moved to Italy in 1874, eight or nine when her family moved to Paris in 1879 and 18 when the family left for the United States. In that period, she probably completed her education. ¹ Her Sister Val remembers Olga as having many friends and wanting to stay in Paris when the family moved. She waited until the last possible moment before agreeing to go along.

Olga did not adjust easily to California. She had few acquaintenences and missed all the friends she knew in Paris. She was active in church, attending Holy Trinity at the corner of Van Ness & Green Streets with the rest of her family. There she met Fr. Ephrim  P. Alexine, a Disciplinarian in the Theological School. Although he was almost 21 years her senior, a romance developed and they were married on February 11/23, 1890 at the Church.  The ceremony ceremony was performed by the Bishop for the Aleutians & Alaska.  On February 14, 1892, they had their only child: Olga Alexine. Sometime thereafter, Fr. Alexine was assigned to a church in Alaska and the family moved to Belkofski (on the Alaskan Peninsula) where they were living when the 1900 census was taken.  Olga did not feel Alaska was a good place to raise their daughter, then eight and not yet able to read or write.  She and her husband agreed that Olga would take Ollie to Paris where she would be educated.

I was unable to find a record of when Olga and Ollie left Alaska, but they were living in Paris at the time of her father’s death in 1902. In 1905, they returned to Alaska.  She mailed a postcard from London on 7/1/05. On August 4, she and her daughter arrived in San Francisco from Victoria aboard the City of Pueblo, prompting Vic to write Alec, “Greetings to Olga.”

In 1906, Olga rejoined her husband in Alaska. She was living there in 1907 when she returned to Oakland for final settlement of her father’s estate. She received $2,217.41 in cash and a 1/7 interest in the real property. During her stay, she visited her brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Edith, in San Rafael. She would have been present for the birth of her nephew, Victor, the second grandchild, who was born in September. In November, there was a dispute about the distribution of the estate and Olga left with some bitterness toward the family in general and toward her sister, Val, in particular.

From postcards, we know Olga was in Washington D.C. on 1/14/08 and back in Paris on 2/14 & 3/31/08. On 7/8/08, there’s a card from Berlin, “on a trip.” Val says Fr. Alexine inherited an estate from relatives in Russia. He resigned his position with the Church so he could return to Russia and manage the estate.  He rejoined Olga and his daughter in Paris and the family moved to Ceiro Ckonube or Ceiro Okonybe which Olga described as: “in the country far from roads with no dust in the air.”

Olga liked the estate.  On 11/22/09, she wrote: It’s such a pleasure to live in the country.  I enjoy it more and more and don’t want to live in the city any more.  Of course I can not keep Ollie here all the time but as long as she is satisfied we shall stay where we are.  We are all well and happy.”  The Alexines were very well off. On 2/2/10, Olga wrote from Kiev, “on a spree,” but the most telling evidence of her station and feelings is in a letter of 8/1/10 in which she reports: “The harvest is very good this year so that the peasants are quite happy they will have enough to eat this coming year.”

In the winter, when her health suffered, she left the country for milder climates. For example, on January 5, 1912, she wrote from Odessa:

“I left home a month ago and came to stay for the winter . . . I am most of the time sick in bed . . . I was very sorry to leave my husband for all the winter again; you remember that I spent last winter in Warthava, Poland, but it is impossible for me to stay in the country in winter; it’s too cold and lonely for me and Ollie there, so Papa lets us kindly go where we want and we have all the money we can spend.”

Olga goes on to describe her plans to go to operas and on a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg, saying: “. . . traveling was always my pleasure.”

Her outlook brightened as the weather improved.  On May 9, she wrote:

“We came home last week from Odessa . . . My health is improving . . . I hope to be well this summer and take long walks . . . I always liked you [Edith] and took your part against the whole family who tried from the first to set me against you, but I knew them too well to pay any attention to what they were saying.”

On November 24, 1912, Olga expressed sorrow on hearing some news (probably the failure of her brothers’ business). ” . . . we always expected something of that kind for it is impossible to do business the way you did everyone pulling his way.” She also referred to the argument she had with her Sister Val 10 years ago (when their father died?): ” . . . but you all sided with her against me and my Ollie, that I thought the best way for me was to leave you all to yourself and decided that I had no more brothers or mother any more . . .” Olga also mentioned that Edith was the only one who kept her posted of family news.

During the winter of 1912-13, Olga’s health suffered. On March 7, 1913, she wrote:

“I was so sick for several month that I could do nothing but moan and suffer . . . the doctor says I cannot hope to be better before the summer comes . . . Ollie is going to be married in the last part of August . . . she will move to Odessa and of course we follow her there. The climate is much milder there and I like the sea so much.”

On April 4, 1913, she wrote her nephew, Vic (then 5) from Kiev in a tone which indicated she realized she did not have long to live: “You must be a big boy by this time. How I would like to see you. Be noble brave boy. Respect your parents and think sometimes of your poor aunt Olga that is far, far away from you all.”

Three days later, she wrote: “I am back in the hospital and my health is recovering very slowly if at all. No appetite and am so nervous and weak and don’t sleep for whole nights.” In the same letter was a note from Ollie: “The doctor told me that she will only live till fall. Oh how she suffers what pains no one can imagine.”

We know Olga died in 1913, but the date is uncertain. Ollie wrote on 3/26/14: “Sunday was just a year that I lost my own darling mama.” That date would not be accurate as it would have the deat predate Olga’s last two cards.  Ollie included a picture of a church in Kiev, saying her mother was buried there.

Fr. Alexine survived his wife by less than a year.  He was sick on June 25, 1913, when his daughter wrote: “I am afraid to leave my father alone he gets so old & you would never know him.” She was still caring for him in December, but the tone of her correspondence indicated he did not have long to live.

OLGA ALEXINE		Born: 1892-02-14	Died: 1923
Father: EPHRIM ALEXINE		Mother: OLGA VICTOROVNA LIGDA
Children: none
Siblings: none

Olga (or Ollie as she came to be called) was the only child of Fr. Ephrim Alexine and Olga. She was born in San Francisco. There are no accounts of her early years. She was living with her parents in Belkofski, Alaska when the 1900 census was taken.  She was reported as eight years old and unable to read or write. ¹  About 1902, her mother took her to Paris to be formally educated. Mother and daughter returned to Alaska in 1905 and came to visit family in California in August, arriving on the City of Pueblo from Victoria.  At the end of the visit, they returned to Alaska.  We do not know if Ollie was with her mother when Olga returned to California in 1907 to settle her father’s estate, but almost certainly she was with her mother when she returned to Paris in 1908.  In 1909, when she was seventeen, her father inherited an estate in Russia. The family moved to Russia to live on that estate.

The Alexins were very well off, spending summers on their estate and winters in the cities where the weather was better. In one picture we have of her as a young lady, Ollie looks every bit the daughter of a well-to-do land owner. The years 1909 thru 1912 were happy for her. But in the next few years both her parents became ill and Ollie assumed the respojsibility of caring for them for the remainder of their lives.

On April 17, 1913, she wrote from the family country home that her mother was heavily sedated on opium and not expected to live. She also announced that she was engaged to Alexander Donsky, a medical student, ² who she planned to marry when he became a doctor. Her mother had described him as: “a strong, healthy boy and very studious . . . I think Ollie is in luck to have such a promising man . . . He has a very good disposition.”

Ollie and Alexander were married shortly after her mother died in 1913. Edith Ligda has the date in her book at June 16. Ollie’s Aunt Val said that the ceremony was in Kiev. The couple then went on a trip from which she sent a series of post cards:

6/9-22/13 – “I am feeling much calmer and not so lonesome.”

6/20/13, Gilfis – “We are well and don’t feel tired from the travel.”

6/21,22,24/13, Kiev – She writes of a steamship trip.

On June 25, Ollie was back at the family country home caring for her father.  “I am afraid to leave my father alone he gets so old and you would never know him.” Alexander returned to Odessa to complete his studies and prepare for his final medical examinations which were to be given in August. Ollie planned to join him in September. She wrote: “I cannot tell if I love my husband very much or maybe it is because I am not used to him. Well, life will show what will be farther.”

Perhaps her father’s declining health prevented Ollie from rejoining her husband. On December 4, 1913, she wrote from Kiev that she was living with her father, adding: “Please don’t forget me because I am very unhappy.”

Shortly thereafter her father died and Ollie joined her husband in Odessa. On March 26, 1914, she wrote from Odessa: “I lost my son, Vladimer. Was 5 month old. You see I fell down. How I did cry noone knows.” ³ The Donskys were together through the summer and Ollie was again pregnant. The War began to impact their lives. ⁴

Russia entered the war on August 1, 1914. The winter of 1914-15 involved terrible fighting on the plains of Poland. Russia suffered terrible losses, but Ollie was not yet touched directly. On December 2, 1914, she wrote from Odessa: “Write me how the Americans look on the War.” Twelve days later, she complained: “I wrote you many times but did not get answer. I suppose it’s because we have war. I am well.” There was likely a breakdown in the Russian postal service. On March 15, 1915, Ollie seemed to acknowledge this: “A letter I can’t send now for you will not receive it just the same. All is quiet now don’t know how it will be farther.”

Ollie’s second child, Olga Donsky, was born on March 9/22, 1915 in Odessa. She wrote that: “When Olga begins to walk, I will come to my native land.” She makes no mention of her husband.

By delaying her departure, Olga was to become caught up in the events of a tumultuous period of Russian history: Revolution; Withdrawal from the World War: Foreign Invasion; Civil War; and Uprisings. There is no indication in anything she wrote that Ollie was the least bit political, but she was a member of the ruling class and presumably inherited the estate from her father. That would classify her as a class enemy. Without family to help, she was likely overwhelmed.

By 1916, Russia had lost hundreds of thousands of troops at the front. The war was draining the nation. In March, 1917, with no special provocation, workers and peasants revolted against the Czar. The revolt was leaderless, but Lenin, returned from exile with the help of the Germans, gained control of the Bolsheviks, then about 240,000 strong, and began the struggle to take control of Russia from the provisional government. This struggle was concentrated in Northern Russia near St. Petersburg. To consolidate power, it was essential that Russia withdraw from the war. In 1917, the Poles drove to Kiev; and the Russian Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Brusilou, joined the Red Army, giving control of the region in which Ollie was living to the Bolsheviks.

Between 1918 and 1922, there was a struggle for control of Russia between the Bolsheviks and the Whites. In the same period, there was no end to peasant uprisings and revolts, some of which are described as crowds attacking machine guns with clubs, pitchforks, and axes, and later lined up for execution with their arms tied behind their backs – ten for one! ⁵

Much of the fighting between Reds and Whites centered around Kiev. The Reds took the city on February 15, 1919. In the summer and autumn of 1919, the Whites launched an offensive under Gen. Anton Deniken which led to the capture of Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev, and Orel. The Crimean became the major area for the White buildup. The Reds counterattacked and on October 20, 1919, they recaptured Orel and the tide turned.

In April of 1920, the Poles, with the help of a Ukrainian Army, invaded the Ukraine. On May 8, they captured Kiev and drove the Communists out of Eastern Europe. The Red Army counterattacked from the North and drove the invaders back to Warsaw and, when the Poles stiffened, returned to engage the Whites driving them to the Crimea ending White resistance in the area. We do not know how much of the fighting Ollie witnessed or was caught up in. We do know that sometime in this period she moved to Vinogradvain St., No. 1, Yalta.

To compound the difficulties created by the civil war, there was a major famine in 1921 in the principle grain areas of Russia. The Russians took what food was available and allowed 10 million people to starve in the Ukraine. In 1921, the government announced 2,000 cases of cannibalism in Southern Russia. The United States tried to help with the American Relief Administration (ARA), which, during 1921-22 shipped enough food into Russia to save those lives had it been distributed in the area.

While all this was going on, the Ligdas and the Heuers were making every effort to get Ollie out of Russia. There were a series of letters, telegrams, and notes reflecting the difficulties encountered. For example, in a letter of January 18, 1922 from Albert Stall to Phil Heuer, Mr. Stall says that he had attempted to smuggle a letter to Olga early in 1921. He says he received a letter she had mailed on November 2, 1921. He added:

“Mrs. Donskey told me a lot of things in regards two the troubled country of Russia. But I couldent get her consent two leave Yalta Crema at that time our ship was laying ther. Here only hope was two leave there two gow two Odessa and see her father. My last wish while being in her company was two gow with her two purchase a past port from Russia to Constantnople Turkey and gave here my word of honer two provide fore here in a Respectial Hotel in which I would do my best in asisting here; untill such time as could be aranged fore here two leave for the United States but she wouldent execpeted it and we visited Yalta once after that but I was sick . . . and couldn’t go ashore . . . she was on the dock at Yalta when our small boat taking pasangers fore Constantnople but I wasant in the small boat two come out two the ship. I even sent some red cross workers two the last address in Yalta and they couldent find here . . .”

On Jan. 23, 1922, there is a telegram from A. E. Hall c/o the USS St. Louis, still in Philadelphia, to Phil Heuer:

“Received letter from . . . Donskey, Odessa University Laboratory of Professor Varonin, Ollgieveky Volitsa No. 4 . . . Have sent birth papers to the . . . address. If desire to send money must go through the United States Express Co.”

On February 10, 1922, Phil sent a registered letter to Ollie at the address he was given. He had computed that it would cost $346.20 to get Ollie to San Francisco ($175 for the ship from Odessa to the East Coast and $111.70 rail fare to San Francisco). The letter came back undelivered with Odessa postmarks of March 15, 17, and 26, 1922 and a New York postmark of July 14, 1922. Phil assumed Ollie was dead and gave up. Edith Ligda continued efforts to locate Ollie by writing the ARA with some initial success. On Oct. 28, 1922, the ARA wrote:

“Ask Mrs. E. Ligda . . . arrange . . . repatriation widowed granddaughter Helen Domskey and deposit funds relief and transportation she is on verge starvation.”

This response indicated that Alexander was dead, but Ollie was still alive. Edith wrote her brother, Col. Coleman, for help in arranging the transfer of funds thru the State Department. He replied that he would need affidavits that Helen Domskey was born or naturalized an American and that her husband was dead. There were difficulties. Her San Francisco birth certificate had been destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. Her parents’ deaths prevented her from getting their affidavits. She was using the name Helen and had been married to a Russian. These obstacles were overcome and on November 29, 1922, Edith said that the State Department ordered the ARA to issue an emergency passport on getting proof Alexander’s death. On December 20, 1922, there was a telegram that the steamship Acropolis was under way and that possibly Donskey was on board. She was not.

The last indication Ollie was alive was in a April 11, 1923 letter from the State Department stating that they have: “ . . . been advised by parties interested in Mrs. Donskey that she has in her possession sufficient funds for her needs, and that necessary relief is being extended to her . . .”

This letter was followed by a letter of May 31, 1923 from the ARA stating that it was unfortunate that the steamship company which originally handled the matter went bankrupt and the money was tied up: ” . . . while Mrs. Donskey is so much in need . . .” Family in the United States had done everything possible for Ollie. She is presumed to have died in Russia in 1923, one of the millions of victims of the terrible upheaval in which the Bolsheviks came to power.

Nicholai LIGDA		Born:
Father: Unspecified		Mother: Unspecified
Children: VICTOR NICHOLAS LIGDA, VLADIMIR LIGDA
Siblings: none

The earliest record we have is of his marriage to Ekaterina (family name not shown) in Odessa on November 26, 1820. It was his second marriage, his first having ended on April 5, 1820 when his 40 year old wife, Ekaterina, died of dropsy. His marriage certificate lists him as a “merchant from Odessa.” Family recollections ¹ and records ² conflict on whether Nicholai was originally Greek or Russian, but all accounts are that he was a sea captain operating a privateer ³ under Greek authority during their war of independence from the Turkey. ⁴

If family recollections are correct, Nicholai would have interrupted whaever he was doing as a merchant to take advantage of the opportunities privateering presented after war broke out between Greece and Turkey in 1821. There is ample historical evidence that Greek authorities licensed privateers to attack the shipping of Turkey and her allies, ⁵ rewarding them with a percentage of their booty. In fact, the crews of these ships were largely undisciplined and little of the government’s share was turned over. ⁶ Until 1827, privateering against Turkish shipping proved highly profitable. In that year English and French fleets destroyed a Turkish fleet at Navarino. That victory reduced the number of potential prize ships and some privateers then began attacking ships under other flags. The Russians, English, and French could not tolerate this risk to merchant shipping and retaliated by attacking the privateers and privateering was far more risky. The increased risk may have prompted Nicholai to abandon privateering. Family accounts are that he sold his ship, paid off his crew and left for Moscow with his wife and the booty he had seized.

Nicholi and Ekaterina had two children, an older son named Vladimer (according to Alexander) or Nicholas (according to Paul) possibly born in 1828 and Viktor, born in Moscow on Jan. 31, 1832. We have no accounts of what Nicholai did in Moscow. When his sons were born, Russia was ruled by Czar Nicholas I who was described as:

” . . . absolute in power; under him were great officials and numerous unimportant nobles; there were a few merchants and artisans in the widely scattered cities; but the vast number of the inhabitants were debased and ignorant peasants living in their lonely little villages on the plain or in the forests: dirty, stolid, ignorant, and dreamy.” ⁷

By all accounts, Nicholas and Ekaterina were well off. Despite living under a regime in which education was discouraged, both of their sons were educated. As there were strict measures prohibiting teaching by private instructors, ⁸ they were probably sent to the Gymnesia (higher schools) open to the children of nobles and officials where they could earn a diploma which would allow them to enter State service. ⁹

If Nicholas was Greek, his family would have lived subject to the control of Czar Nicholas’ secret police, one branch of which had the power to arrest, deport, exile, or get rid of any foreigner. ¹⁰ However, if he was as wealthy as family accounts indicate, he could afford to bribe officials – a system which was condoned in a country where government officials were paid no salary. ¹¹ By no family account did Nicholai suffer any hardships in Russia. Most probably he died there.

MARY BARBARA LIGDA		Born: 1909-08-12	Died: 1993-01-31
Father: PAUL VICTOROVITCH LIGDA		Mother: EDITH F. LIGDA
Children: none
Siblings: THEODORE PAUL LIGDA, MYRON GEORGE HERBERT LIGDA, VICTOR WORTHINGTON LIGDA

Barbara was the only daughter born to Paul and Edith Ligda. Her early years were spent primarily in her mother’s care because her father worked away from home much of the time. She did not recall missing him. Barbara spent the summer of 1915 with her Aunt Cora in Stockton near where her father was then working. She saw him frequently. Her aunt reported that Barbara was: “a good little girl – quite contented,” and wrote for her:

“Sunday I went with Father after dinner to the shop . . . Father has a kind of crane in the shop where he is working. He put me in it and told me which one to pull down and which way they go and which way I would go, so I went up and right and then down and left. We went to the picture show Saturday night and after the show, we had ice cream . . .”

Some of her childhood is captured from her mother’s letters describing normal activity, e.g.,

“Barbara [is] 7 . . . She is getting lanky and is getting her second teeth, so that she doesn’t look very beautiful! She is as athletic as ever, can do all the tricks of the boys her age on the trapeze and horizontal bars. She is Paul’s favorite – he is always buying her impractical fancy clothes instead of the substantial things a tomboy like that needs.”

In 1920, when she was 11, Barbara, along with her brothers, Vic and Ted, visited Myron and Mabel Bailey, family friends who lived on a farm near Alcampo, California. The visit was probably to provide her mother with some time to adjust to Herb, the youngest brother, born that year. The Baileys were impressed with Barbara: “She loves praise – she has great intelligence – she has exhibited no nervousness and no desire to cry.”

Barbara was an average student, good in some subjects like math; not so good in others like spelling. On March 13, 1921, her mother wrote: “Barbara [is not a] shining light in scholarship . . . [She] is not good at either reasoning or memory work.” She did seem to distinguish herself in high school sports, winning recognition for her participation in archery, baseball, basketball, and swimming. She also, at her parents’ insistence, attended Trinity Episcopal Church and was active, “as I was forced,” in some church activities.

Barbara’s high school work was good enough to earn entrance to the University of California, Berkeley in 1926. There she met Frances Todd who was to become a lifetime friend. ¹ She continued living at home, ² but says she was never very close to the family after entering college. She was on her freshman hockey team. Her mother observed: “She will make a good P. E. teacher if we can get her through college. She is interested in Psychology and Zoology . . .”

Barbara worked to help pay her college expenses. One Christmas, with the help of a friend, she brought a truck load of Christmas trees from Oregon and, over her mother’s objections, peddled them from door to door. In the summer of 1927, her mother reported:

“[Barbara] has been trying to find work to earn some money this vacation, but without success so far, except that she worked as a saleswoman one day at a special sale at Capwell’s. She liked it and did very well and was told to come around again next Christmas as a special saleswoman. There is so little a girl like her can do. I am not willing to have her do housework and she is not capable of office work, as she can’t spell, nor write legibly.”

Barbara got the job at Capwell’s over two weeks of the Christmas holidays and on special sales earning $3/day. Her mother reported: “She is a very sweet and unexacting child, not a bit ‘grand,’” but added that she got most of her clothes as presents from wealthy friends. “She is clever at fixing them up tho not at all a good sewer.” During the summer of 1928, she worked at the Berkeley Tuolumne Camp as a dining room hostess. In her letters, she wrote of swimming, rowing, and canoeing: “I paddle my own canoe . . . I can swim acrost the river about 300 yards against the current.” Her strength in swimming helped her save the life of a 4 year old boy who otherwise would have drowned in the river.

In her junior year, Barbara worked as an after-school playground director for the Berkeley Recreation Department.

Barbara did C work in her early college years. She pledged and was initiated into Sigma Kappa, a social sorority, in her sophomore year. She later developed stronger academic interests and began earning A’s during her senior and graduate years.

In 1930, Barbara borrowed Henrietta, the family car, to take Frances and another friend on a weekend trip to Monterey. While teaching Frances how to drive, Frances totaled the car. Because she wasn’t supposed to let anyone else drive, Barbara took the blame. Her mother reported it this way:

“We . . . have lost Henrietta. Barbara drove her to Monterey last weekend and on the way back the machine was wrecked beyond salvaging. An elderly woman turned in front of B without signaling and as there was another machine beside B, she had no choice but to hit the woman’s car in the rear, or overturn in the ditch. She had two girl friends with her and none of them were hurt, fortunately.”

Barbara graduated with the Class of 1930, but did not leave school. She immediately entered post graduate school to earn an unrestricted teaching credential. She split a job teaching P. E. at a Catholic Elementary School in Berkeley with Frances. She did not report the job to her mother who disapproved of the Catholic Religion. She continued working special events at Capwell’s. Her mother noted on 12/19/30: “Barbara is through with her finals and is selling hosiery in Capwell’s. She gets $3 a day; is pretty tired when she finishes the days work.”

After earning her credential in 1931, Barbara began a distinguished teaching career. Her first job was at Clovis High School, Clovis, California. She was living in Clovis in 1932 when her father died. ³ Thereafter Barbara, who was making $1,250/year, sent her mother $35 monthly.

In 1935, Barbara left Clovis to accept an offer from Balboa High School in San Francisco. She moved to an apartment on Filbert Street she shared with Frances Todd. Caroline, her sister-in-law, envied Barbara’s independence and considered her a “swinger.”

With the exception of a single term of teaching at Commerce High School, Barbara taught at Balboa High School until 1943. ⁴ While living and working in San Francisco, she met Harold Drummond. ⁵

Barbara and Harold married on October 11, 1940. Their first home was at 727 Bay Street near Hyde in San Francisco. However, they began building a home in Campbell where they moved in 1941. Because the Board of Education required that all teachers live in the city, Barbara maintained a city address for her school mail. ⁶

In December of 1942, Harold enlisted in the Army. He was initially assigned to Hamilton Field as a recreation leader. He served in the European Theatre and was in Belguim on VE Day. He remained in the service until after the Japanese surrender in 1945. He rose to the rank of Captain and received the bronze star for meritorious service. He later attained the rank of Major in the Reserves.

Barbara resigned her position in 1943. She stayed home to raise their two sons: Harold Jr., born April 6, 1944; and James Root, born October 6, 1947. In 1948, while Herb and his family were visiting from their home in Massachusetts, the Drummonds hosted a Ligda Family Picnic at their Campbell home. It was to be the only time she and her three brothers were together with all their children.

In 1951, Barbara resumed her teaching career at Campbell High School. In 1953, the family moved to Adin in Modoc County, California where Harold had been appointed Superintendent and Principal of the local high school. Two years later, he was appointed to a similar position in Angels Camp, Calavaras County, where the family remained for five years. In 1958, during that period, Barbara taught eighth grade at San Andreas Elementary School. She was the first English teacher to appear on Station KVIE TV in Sacramento.

In 1960, Harold was appointed Principal of Tahoe Truckee High School. The family moved to Truckee. Barbara taught seventh and eighth grade English, French, and Government at Truckee Elementary School. In 1969, when he was 63 and she 58, they both retired. They remained in Truckee for three more years. Then, to escape the cold winters, they returned to the Bay Area, buying a home at 2209 Golden Rain Drive in Walnut Creek. Barbara was near her mother at the time of her death in 1974. She served as Executrix of her the will.

In 1982, Harold suffered the first of a series of mini-strokes. Those strokes became more frequent over the next few years. Barbara cared for him at home until May, 1987, when he had to be moved to a nursing home. Harold’s condition continued to deteriorate until his death on September 25, 1989. Barbara survived her husband by over three years. She died at age 83 on January 31, 1993.

VLADIMIR LIGDA		Born: 1828-01-01
Father: Nicholai LIGDA		Mother: EKATERINA
Children: none
Siblings: VICTOR NICHOLAS LIGDA

By all family accounts, Vladimir was the eldest child born to Nicholas and Ekatrina Ligda. The only evidence we have of him is an undated photograph taken in Russia.

Vladimir was probably born in 1828 in or near Moscow (the year of Leo Tolstoy’s birth) and grew up during the reign of Czar Nicholas I. His niece, Valentine, says he was trained by a private teacher, but this is unlikely, as laws banning private instruction were not eased until after Nicholas’ death in 1855. By that time, Vladimir would have been beyond his years of formal education. There is no indication he served during the Crimean War (1853-56). His nephew, Alec, said he owned a bookstore in Kharkoff. ¹

Vladimir lived in changing political times. Czar Alexander II (1855-81), Nicholas’ successor, initially eased political repression which included censorship of books and regulation of sales. Yet, in 1861-62, the government promoted the arrest of publishers and writers. ² Vladimir would have been subject to considerable scrutiny. Most probably he would have had to bribe police and other officials to remain in business. Ironically, the same period witnessed the development of some of Russia’s great composers: Alexander Borodin (1833-87), Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93), and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).

Between 1863 and 1873, Poland was in active revolt against Russian rule. In combating that revolt, Alexander’s regime hardened and became more reactionary. In 1866, after an attempt on his life, Alexander declared martial law in St. Petersburg. A great many people were sent to Siberia. ³

Family accounts indicate that Victor, Vladimir’s brother, became disenchanted with the political climate in Russia, openly criticized the Czar, and left the country in 1874. Vladimir and Victor were very close, but Vladimir remained and continued to operate his store. He would later join his brother’s family in Paris. The reasons are not clear.

In 1881, Alexander II was killed by a bomb thrown as he passed through the streets. The new Czar, Alexander III, was determined to avenge his father’s death and turned Russia into a police state with “Reinforced Safeguards.” Those safeguards included the right to imprison anyone for up to three years, to close enterprises, and to declare anyone “untrustworthy” making them ineligible for civil service. ⁴ There was also stern regulation of the press and many newspapers were stopped. ⁵ Vladimir might have found operating a bookstore in this environment too uncomfortable or risky and sought escape in France. On the other hand, as Vladimir never married and had no children, it is possible he left Russia after his parents died and his brother was his only remaining family.

We have no indication of what work Vladimir did in France, but he liked the country and remained there when Victor moved with his family to the United States in 1889. Altho I was unable to find a record of his death in Paris, there is a notation in my baby book (1934), that he died in there in 1900. As there was no indication that his niece, Olga, saw him on her return to Paris in 1902, the report of his death two years earlier seems likely. His niece, Valentine, says he left his property to his nephews, but they did not return to France to claim it in the belief they would not be allowed to remove it from the country. If so, the property probably escheated to the State.

VLADIMIR LIGDA		Born: 1881-10-11	Died: 1940-09-18
Father: VICTOR NICHOLAS LIGDA		Mother: EMILIE CRAMER
Children: none
Siblings: VALENTINA LIGDA, MARY LIGDA, ELIZABETH LIGDA, SIMEON LIGDA, ALEXANDER LIGDA, PIERRE LIGDA , PAUL VICTOROVITCH LIGDA, OLGA VICTOROVNA LIGDA

Victor was born in Paris at the family house on 4 Rue Halle (1st Dist.). There is no record of his schooling in France, but as there was compulsory education for all children 6 – 13, it is likely he attended school in France before his family emigrated to the United States in 1889 when he was 7 years old. He received a public education in the United States. He earned his diploma from Clawson Grammar School in Oakland in 1896 (age 14) and graduated from Oakland High School in 1900 (age 18). He attended the University of California at Berkeley in 1900, graduating in 1904 with a degree in agriculture.

Victor developed an early interest in athletics. He is pictured with the 1895 Oakland “Y” Track Team. While in high school, he was on the track team competing in the 440, shot put, and relay. In college, he was on the wrestling team and was vice president of the wrestling club. He was on the track team all four years, lettering in at least two years: 1901 and 1904. He won the 440 in a dual meet with Stanford on 4/20/01 in 52:8. He also competed in the shot put, placing second in that event on College Championship Field Day on 3/30/01 (he was third in the 100 and 440 on the same day); and third in the same event on University Championship Field Day on 4/8/03. His interest and participation in athletics continued after his graduation. On 8/5/05, he wrote from Portland, Oregon: “Am having a fine time. Have won two medals.”

Victor was in school when his father died in 1902. He helped with the sale of property and his mother’s move to 675 33rd St., Oakland where he too lived from time to time.  ¹

After leaving school, Victor apparently went into a partnership with his brothers, Paul, Alec, and Pete, in the manufacturing of a boiler compound from eucalyptus oils. The plant was in San Rafael, near several groves of eucalyptus trees. By all accounts, the compound worked, but there was not enough demand so that profits would support all four brothers. Apparently some ill feeling developed between Victor and Paul, who characterized his brother as “disagreeable.” Both left the business in 1906. Paul left to take a job in Las Vegas, Nevada. Victor left to do post graduate work at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona Territory, where he also began his teaching career at a salary of $1,000/year. He wrote on 11/12/06 that he was playing trombone in an orchestra and speaking Spanish.

In 1907, his father’s estate was distributed equally among his widow and each of the six children. Each share was worth over $2,200 – over two years salary. Victor gave his share to his mother. He was the only child to do so.

In 1908, Victor returned to teach at the University of California at a salary of $1,500/year. He lived with his mother, contributing to her support. He was listed as an Asst. Professor of Physical Culture and coach of the wrestling team. His successor, Richard Lee, called Victor’s 1911 team the fastest on the coast. He characterized Victor as: ” . . . a strong wrestler and an excellent teacher.” Nothing indicates Victor had any interest in the family business when it failed in 1912; or that the failure had anything to do with his decision to leave the University in 1913.

From a series of post cards, it seems Victor then spent about a year as a member of a traveling theater company. He had some acting experience while in college. He wrote from Reno on March 30, 1913, from San Diego on 4/2, from Tulare on 4/3 saying: ” . . . sleep on the Pullmans the next 4 days.” and from San Jose on 4/15.

In 1914, he took a teaching position at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles at a salary of $1,640/year. With the exception of the WW I years, when he taught French at a War School, he continued teaching at the secondary school level the rest of his professional life. The high school manuals of 1914 and 1915 show him as a member of the Physical Training Department. In 1915, he was coach of the swimming team. His addresses in Los Angeles were 905 Grand Avenue, 1347 So. Hill Street, and 133 W. 21st Street.

In 1920 and 1921, he taught physical training at San Diego High School at a salary of $2,100/year. In the summer of 1921, he moved to 1414B 10th Street, Honolulu. His reason for the move is unknown. ² He immediately earned a teaching credential and secured a position at McKinley High School where he remained until 1932. School records show that he was criticized in 1931 for failing to do move to promote McKinley High. This may have had something to do with his transfer to Roosevelt High School where he taught from 1932 to 1934. During the Great Depression, he joined other teachers in authorizing a 10% cut in teacher salaries in an effort to retain all teaching positions. He is shown as living at 1641 Kapuni Road in 1924 and at 1931 Young Street in 1930 and 1931.

While in Honolulu, Victor worked toward his MA at the University of Hawaii, earning 26 units in history, education, and sugar technology. These courses are indicative of his varied interests. He felt French and History were his best subjects, but he taught all the social sciences, algebra, and coached swimming and diving. He was regarded an excellent speaker. He was also an avid stamp collector.

Throughout his life, Victor maintained his interest in athletics. He played tennis and was an excellent swimmer and diver. He was Secretary of the AAU (for which he received $25/month). He refereed boxing once a week at the Scofield Army Barracks. One of his few extravagances was a large car which he used to transport athletes to sporting events. He often loaned money to athletes who might otherwise have to give up competition. He was highly commended by school authorities for his contributions to the community coaching sports.

Victor had a prodigious appetite. He would sometimes buy 3 pounds of hamburger and eat it at a single setting. His eating habits dictated a portly shape even his active life could not keep under control.

Altho his nephew, Ted, recalls that Victor married his “housekeeper,” there is no evidence he ever married. His friend, Mrs. Fullard-Leo, says he was friendly and cordial, but simply didn’t have a romantic interest in women. Ted felt his Uncle Victor was a “real loner.”

To supplement his teaching income, Victor purchased land in Oahu’s Paua Valley where he built some rental units. In 1934, he transferred to Hilo High School on the Big Island. He remained three years, living at the Hilo Boarding School. He requested a transfer back to Honolulu in 1937 because his rental units needed supervision. On his return, he taught at Farrington High School. He lived at 1641 Young Street and then 1509 Young Street.

In February, 1940, Victor requested retirement. It was to be effective August 31, after which he planned a six month tour of the Orient. When he returned, he said he would move to some small island where he could read the many books he found no time to read during his active life. He postponed the trip for an operation at Queens Hospital, Honolulu. The operation was successful. While recuperating, he had his good friends, Lee Orwig and Mrs. E. Fullard-Leo, ³ bring him food to supplement what he considered an inadequate hospital diet. On September 18, he got out of bed against his doctor’s advice, collapsed, and died unexpectedly before help could arrive.

Victor’s holographic will left his entire estate, valued at $32,265, to his sister, Valentine. The estate included his stamp collection valued at $4,200, stocks valued at $3,400, notes valued at $2,500, real estate at Bolina Ranch, Kaimuki valued at $11,265, and $10,300 in cash.

VICTOR WORTHINGTON LIGDA		Born: 1907-09-17	Died: 1955-08-18
Father: PAUL VICTOROVITCH LIGDA		Mother: EDITH F. LIGDA
Children: VICTORIA ROSE LIGDA, SUSAN MILA LIGDA, PAUL CHARLES LIGDA
Siblings: THEODORE PAUL LIGDA, MYRON GEORGE HERBERT LIGDA, MARY BARBARA LIGDA

Victor was the first of four children born to Paul and Edith Ligda. We know a little about his youth from his Mother’s letters. When he was 11, she observed: “He does well in school, not brilliant, but works hard and learns thoroughly.” When he was 13, a relative with whom he spent the summer on a ranch told his mother: “[Victor] is much more generous by nature than either of the others [his Sister Barbara and Brother Ted].” Victor enjoyed his experience and announced his intention to save so he could buy a ranch when he grew up. His mother commented: “He may acquire the savings habit which he lacks.” She also noted: “. . . He is very particular about his appearance.”

In June, 1922, he joined the Boy Scouts. Scouting became a great love of his youth. By November, despite the distraction of his first job distributing programs at the Piedmont Theatre in Oakland, he was advanced to second class Scout. In 1924, while at summer camp with his Brother Ted, he became an Eagle Scout. He wrote his mother that, at one time, he was required to sing in front of the group which he found very embarrassing. In June, 1925, he was ranked 6th among all scouts in Oakland. At that time, he had a job at the Athens Athletic Club for $3/day, yet he led a troop out of St. Peters Church. He started a stamp collection which remained a lifelong hobby. There was literally no part of the Boy Scout Program which didn’t interest him. He earned fifty-one merit badges, each of which he sewed to a sash to be worn with his uniform. His many skills served him well in life. There was rarely a project or task Victor couldn’t handle himself.

Victor entered the University of California, Berkeley in 1924. He started in the School of Music, transferred to Commerce, and earned his degree in 1928. He did not distinguish himself as a scholar, but was active in school activities. He tried out for the basketball team.  He was in the Chess Club and the Mens’ PE Major Club.  He taught some P. E. classes and was a member of the Life Saving Corp.  He was on the gymnastic team for three years and vice president of the Gymnastic Club for two years.  He played in the Marching Band, serving as Drum Major in his Junior and Senior years.

After his graduation, Victor, encouraged by his father’s example, applied for positions as a teacher. Unfortunately, after the Stock Market crash, openings were limited. There were no offers. His mother wrote:

“I am sorry you did not get a teaching position, but you must not be discouraged. These things usually come unexpectedly. In the meantime, I’d suggest you try most anything to earn so me money for expenses. I hope you go back to college eventually.”

Victor took his mother’s advice. He returned to school to earn a teachers certificate. His first teaching position was in Vacaville, California for the 1929-30 school year. The principal conditioned his return for the 1930-31 school year on his attendance at summer school. His mother observed:

“Vic is very tired of college and I think some other kind of vacation would be better for him. But, of course, he does need more training to be a first class teacher . . .”

Victor was back at his parents’ home on Chabot Road at the time of the automobile accident in which his mother was injured and his father died. According to some, his father asked Victor to complete the technical writings on which he was working.  He did not do so. He either lacked the experience or had no interest.

Victor took a teaching position in Dorris, California for the 1932-33 school year. In addition to his classes, he coached track and basketball. During the summer of 1933, he took an automobile trip East. He stopped in Chicago to visit the Brashavitz, his Brother Ted’s in-laws. During that visit, he met Caroline Wagner. After a whirlwind courtship, they married on August 22. Victor and Caroline came to California, stayed briefly at his mother’s home at 6165 Chabot Rd., and then returned to Dorris for the 1933-34 school year. Caroline enrolled as a student in the school where Victor was teaching.

Caroline did not like life in rural California. After she became pregnant, she grew terribly lonely for her family in Chicago. Victor arranged a visit at the end of the school year. He then resigned his position and returned to his mother’s home to look for work in the Bay Area. Caroline rejoined him early in the summer. Their first child, Paul Charles, was born July 13, 1934. Victor did not get a teaching position for the 1934-35 school year. He did play in the Cal Band and took part time work when he could find it.

Victor got an offer from the San Francisco School Board for the 1935-36 school year. The next year, he was assigned to Everett Junior High School where he remained six years. Victor kept the family at his mother’s home on Chabot Road the first few years and endured the 40 minute commute into the City by ferry. His second child, Susan Mila, was born in Oakland on October 7, 1936.

Living conditions at Chabot Road were uncomfortable.  Edith felt Caroline did not do a fair share of the housework and imposed upon her to watch the children.  In letters to Herb, she was critical of both Victor and Caroline in the way they disciplined the children. Victor was said to yell at his children. She also commented that Victor was drinking to excess. ¹

By the 1940-41 school year, Victor was earning $2,184/year and felt his tenure was secured. He move his family out of his mother’s home to San Francisco where he rented an apartment at 5415 California Street.  By 1942, he overcame his concern he could not make the $40 monthly payments, and bought his first home at 559 44th Avenue in the Richmond District of San Francisco. He poured considerable energy into his home, expanding it and rebuilding much of the foundation that had been damaged by termites.

Despite the War, Victor was relatively certain not to be drafted as a 34 year old father of two.  However, he longed to do his part and eventually volunteered.  He was inducted into the Army in 1943 and sent to Officers Candidate School in Miami Beach. He completed the work and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. On April 28, 1943, he wrote:

“In the Army everything is uncertain, but as I am assigned to the technical training command for which the purpose is the training of others, I should be assigned to teaching and Santa Ana is the place for which I am scheduled.”

The scheduling held.  Victor was assigned to Santa Ana Army Air Base to teach mathematics to prospective pilots.  The family joined him in June, 1943, first renting a home at the corner of 4th and Acacia Streets in Garden Grove and later moving to a rented home on Van Ness Avenue in Santa Ana.

Whlle in Garden Grove, the family became good friends with Dorothy Mills. Dorothy was married to Floyd Mills whose work on the Alcan Highway kept him in Alaska and Canada for extended periods. The Mills had two children: Leslie Lea, born December 13, 1934, and Jerry Robin, born July 2, 1938. As the Mills children and the Ligda children were about the same ages, the families did much together, usually in Floyd’s absence. Victor and Dorothy would become romantically involved.  Dorothy later wrote: “Neither of us had enough sense to realize the danger.  I was hopelessly in love with the wrong man, and he with me.”

That romance was placed on hold when Victor was first transferred to Carlsbad Army Air Base In September 1944 and, three months later, to San Antonio, Texas. He continued to be given teaching assignments despite his expressed desire to, ” . . . get in the fight.”

Victor took his family with him to New Mexico and Texas, but after a futile attempt to find adequate housing in San Antonio, he sent his family to stay with in-laws in Chicago until something turned up.  It took him four months before he found an upstairs flat at 215 East Craig Place. The family was reunited there in March 1945. Two months later, Victor was to Maxwell Air Base in Alabama. With the end of the War in sight, the need to train pilots was declining.  Victor guessed he would not be in Alabama long.  He returned his family to San Francisco while he awaited his discharge.

Victor was honorably discharged as a Captain. He returned to San Francisco. As a veteran, he was able to buy a surplus army jeep as a second car to the 1938 Pontiac which had served the family through the war. He designed and built a canvas and wood top for the jeep which attracted considerable attention. Many suggested he start a business manufacturing similar tops for other new jeep owners. He was not interested. His first interest was teaching. He took a position as a mathematics teacher at Everett Jr. High in San Francisco teaching mathematics. He also took advantage of the G. I. Bill to earn an administrative credential and his masters degree at Stanford University.

Thruout his teaching career, Victor took part time work to supplement his income. Each summer, he would find a temporary job. He sometimes worked for the Post Office during the Christmas Holidays. For years, he worked on weekends for his brother-in-law, Wayne Wooster, who owned and operated a 9 minute auto wash on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. He also worked as a ticket taker at local sporting events.

Victor took a passive interest in his children, neither pushing them or criticizing them. He helped his son get a part time job selling programs at football games at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco when he worked as a ticket taker. After the game started, he’d let his son in free and then join him to watch the game. At that time, St. Marys, Santa Clara, and U. S. F. played their home games at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park, but Vic was a Cal fan and taught his son to be one too.

In 1949, Victor filed for divorce from Caroline. He moved out of the family home to live with his mother in Berkeley. His divorce was final in 1951. Victor and Dorothy ² married on June 16, 1951. Victor moved into Dorothy’s home at 401 Taurus  Avenue in the Montclair District of Oakland that was shared with Dorothy’s daughter, Leslie. ³ Victor did not exercise visitation with his children after the separation, ⁴ although he did attend his son’s Junior High School graduation in 1949. His daughter, Susan, expressed no interest in seeing him.

In 1951, for the first time in years, Victor did not take a summer job, opting in favor of devoting his time to enjoy and develop his many other interests: his extensive precancelled stamp collection, fishing in the delta, gardening, masonry, ⁵ He and Dorothy took camping trips exploring the coast in Oregon and California. He continued teaching, eventually getting a position at Balboa High School in San Francisco where he taught music (violin) and mathematics.

During the 1953-54 school year, Victor and Dorothy both qualified as Fulbright Exchange Teachers.  They exchanged jobs and homes with a teaching family from Winnipeg, Canada.  They made a vacation of the trip to Winnipeg, driving his mother to her childhood home in Worthington, Ohio for a family visit, then going on to visit some of Dorothy’s family in Washington D.C, and Herb and Evelyn in Massachusetts.  At the end of the school year, his daughter, Susan, joined them for the trip home. They explored part of Manitoba, then camped across Canada, visiting Banff, Lake Louise, and Glacier National Park.

Victor returned to Balboa High for the 1954-55 school year. In the summer of 1955, he and his wife took his son, Paul, then a senior at San Jose State College, to San Miguel Allende, Mexico for a five week teachers institute. It was the last time he was to have with his children.

Dorothy and Victor returned from Mexico in August. On August 18, after spending the morning in the basement preparing boxes for mushrooms, he complained of being too tired for lunch and laid down to rest. His condition seemed to worsen, so Dorothy called an ambulance. Victor died of cardiac failure en route to the hospital. Despite being a heavy smoker his entire adult life, he had an excellent health record, never having missed a day of school for illness in 23 years. His death was totally unexpected. ⁶ After a farewell service at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Berkeley, he was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.

On February 7, 1956, Dorothy gave birth to Victor’s third child, Victoria Rose.