IDA WAVE PITCHER
Prepared by her daughter, Georgene Sue Tredup-St.Pierre

Tuesday, June 12th at 8:00 p.m. at the Bay Shore Tabernacle was the Commencement Exercises for the Sebewaing High School Class of 1928. There were twenty-one graduates and Ida Wave Pitcher was one of them, along with classmates, Fred Bach, Ella Clabuesch, Carol Deegan, Richard Denner, Carl Hess,

Gerald Martini and Olin Yackle to name just a few. The Senior Class colors were maize and blue and the

Class flower was a yellow rose. Their Class Motto was: "Tonight We Sail, Our Port - Success."

Born on July 11, 1910 to Susan nee Tarry and George Pitcher, Jr, Ida Wave was named after her aunt, Ida

Elizabeth nee Helyer Weeks. She was the eleventh living child born. (Her mother delivered a stillborn

child in 1908 and again in 1912). There were thirteen siblings, six boys with Grover Cleveland being the

oldest (Charles LeRoy, their first born died at age three in 1894) and Terry Earl the youngest and six

girls with Amy Agnas the oldest and Charlotte Faye the youngest. They made their home on Sebewaing Street, which was bordered by Washington Street to the North and Beck Street to the East in the Village of

Sebewaing. Their yard was a beautiful apple and pear orchard. Their father, George, was a commercial

fisherman and was in partnership with his brother, John. They owned the Pitcher Brothers Fish Company.

In the wintertime, George was a "guide" for individuals who wanted to hunt small game and deer.

Wave (preferred to be called by her middle name) attended Sebewaing Public School. She was a member of the girls basketball squad and in her senior year she had a role in the play "A Full House" where she played Vera Vernon, a showgirl, which probably fit her personality very well as she loved to dance. In the

senior class Last Will and Testimony it says, "Margaret Heckman and Wave Pitcher give their duty as

waitresses to Eldine Kothe and Mayme Brechtel, the latter to handle the toe dancing profession left by

Miss Pitcher." Wave and Chris Bolger won a dance contest in the early thirties and years later, she

taught her daughter, Georgene, several dances including the "Charleston", which was so popular in

the twenties.

Wave lost her beloved mother, Susan nee Tarry Pitcher in 1923, when Wave was only thirteen years old. Her grandmother, Sarah nee Quick Pitcher, who was living with them at the time, died two years later in 1925.

Carl "Charlie" Tredup, Wave's future husband, worked with her brothers, Grover and Ed Pitcher in the

commercial fishing business. On July 11,1935, they were married at the Evangelical United Brethren

Church, by Rev.H.W.Link. Latholah nee Pitcher and Gerald Martini served as their witnesses. They

built a home next to Wave's homestead, in the middle of the apple and pear orchard, on Beck Street, on

property previously owned by Wave's parents. Later Wave's brothers, Grover and Jack Pitcher would also

build homes on Beck Street close to each other.

On June 9, 1939 their daughter was born and they named her Georgene Sue, after her maternal grandparents George and Susan Pitcher. She was to be their only child. Wave lost her second baby early in her pregnancy.

Even though Wave's sisters Amy, Violette, Sadie, Merle, Flores and Faye were no longer living in

Sebewaing, they kept in constant communication with each other. Her brother's Grover, Ed, Owen (Doe),

Jack and Terry remained in the Sebewaing area, as she did, to work and raise a family. Wave's husband,

Charlie, became the village Marshal.

Wave liked to keep busy which was evident by her involvement in her community. She was a member of the Junior Women's Club and she loved to play cards, Bridge and Canasta being her favorite. She also was

an active member of the Order of Eastern Star. She held several offices on the local, county and

tri-county level, among them being President on all three levels. She participated in several of her

daughter's activities as well, such as Girl Scouts. One time in particular comes to mind, when in July of

'51 she, known as "Rusty" for camp purposes, Erma Rummel "Chips", Belle Sharpsteen "Boots", Mrs. Ritsema "Doc" and Mrs. Schobert "Needles", to name a few, volunteered to assist at the Girl Scout Camp, which was held at Sleeper State Park. We had many good times toether, but I'll always remember that week. Wave was also on the Sebewaing Community Council and President of the newly formed Band Boosters Club.

In 1952 Wave entered the work force at the Michigan Sugar Company as a co-worker in the office with

Wilbert Binder, Clarence Gremel and Field Manager and fellow classmate, Carl Hess. The "Pioneer News"

states that "the bulk of clerical work falls on the shoulders of Wave Tredup who dispatches work with

reckless abandon, which might offer a clue to the fact that she is married to the Sebewaing Village Marshall. Her hobbies are Bridge and dancing". Wave retired in 1972 with approximately twenty years of service.

"Mom" enjoyed her retirement years playing Bingo and bowling, traveling with her husband and sharing time with her daughter, Georgene, husband and five grandchildren, Randle Troy, Jeffrey Alan, Jody Lynn,

Joseph Carl and Terry Edward. Unfortunately, this time was cut short by her unexpected death on December 19, 1976. She would never see her grandchildren graduate, marry and have children of their own. Today she would be a great-grandmother with the arrival of Brenna Kaye and Caroline Elizabeth Schroder and Noah Robert and Jamie Lynn McKenzie.

Written by Georgene Sue Tredup-St.Pierre in loving

memory of her mother.