My grandma Lena Bouwman immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands as a child in 1952. She was born in 1947 in Gees, Netherlands, where she lived until age 5. Her father fought in World War II. Her mother died after giving birth to her. She was raised by her stepmother Tjettjet Sipma. In 1952, she and her family boarded a freighter in Rotterdam, seeing the Statue of Liberty upon arrival in New York. They settled in Missouri, then moved to California in 1957. My grandma now lives in Tulare, California with her four children and 13 grandchildren.

1. My Grandmas American Voyage Created by: Randal Vander Tuig

2. Her Father My grandmas father William Bouwman was born in New Amsterdam, Holland. My great grandpa fought the Germans in World War II but he was not a soldier. He lived in the town of Gees.

3. Her Mother My grandmas mother Eppie Blaak was born in Holland. She had 5 other children before she had my grandma. She died not to long after having my grandma.

4. My Grandma My grandma Lena Bouwman was born on October 10, 1947. She was born in a little room in her house. House is on the left. She lived in the little town of Gees all the way up until she came to America. She also went to school in this town little town of Gees.

5. Step Mom My grandmas step mom is the one who raised her because her mother died. My grandmas step mom Tjettjet Sipma was born in Holland. My great grandma was a nurse during. She came into a family that had 6 kids.

6. The Coming To America My grandma came to America in 1952 she was 5 years old They took a freighter from Rotterdam, Holland to the United States. They were able to come to America when they found a man that would sponsor them. They needed a sponsor back then saying that they would have a job in the United States.

7. The Coming To America(continued) They landed in New York at the port of New York in 1952. My grandma said she knew she was in America when she was right next to the Statue of Liberty. So when they docked their sponsor took them all the way to Missouri.

8. Why They Came To America? My great grandpa William Bouwman was a very well known man in the town of Gees he did a lot of things in that town. Some of the things he did were liked and then some of them were not so liked. He was a man that loved his women. So much they he had an affair with his best friends wife and they had a child together. His best friend didn’t know that it wasn’t his child so they let everyone think that it was his but then they found out. So my great grandpa moved to the United States.

9. Why They Came To America?(continued) He would go back and forth between the United States and Holland which he said he was going for work but they think that he was doing that to see his illegitimate child. But by going back and forth he met my grandmas step mom and he brought her back to America to where they would reside in Southern California. But in 2002 they finally met their sister from his affair and now they see each other every other year.

10. On American Soil So they landed in New York and made their way to Missouri. They lived in Missouri because that was where their sponsor lived. They lived there for 5 years working on the Missouri Farm. Once they finished in Missouri they moved to Artesia, California and my grandma was 10 years old.

11. On American Soil(continued) Once they moved to Artesia my great grandpa was going back and forth between Holland and America. Then on one of his trips he brought back my grandmas step mom and she added 3 more kids to the 6 already that were there.

12. Present Time My grandma now lives in Tulare, California. She had 4 kids of her own. She has 13 grandchildren also.