Marie Magnuson with a picture of her Aunt Nora
This week Liz Forrer interviewed her friend Marie Magnuson in Wenatchee to learn a little bit more about her friend, and her timing couldn’t have been better. It turns out that Marie’s Aunt Nora was the founder of Father’s Day! Marie’s father’s father, William Jackson Smart, and his wife lived in Eastern Washington with their 11 children. When his wife died suddenly, William was left to care for his children alone. Marie remembers him as a doting grandfather, who even gifted her a horse. Marie’s Aunt Nora was so grateful for her father who had raised her and her siblings so tirelessly, she thought that he deserved a day as much as mothers. And so she fought and advocated to honor all father’s with a day.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:28 am
wow! I never the knew there was a story like this behind Father’s Day.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:25 am
That’s amazing. Now I am left wondering, who invented Mother’s Day?
June 24th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I had never wondered why Father’s Day was created. Thanks for sharing Whitney.
Nina, According to wikipedia, “The modern Mother’s Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, as a day to honor mothers and motherhood; especially within the context of families, and family relationships.” She created mother’s day to recognize her mother who had recently passed away.