Today is Art Gibietis’ birthday.  He and Janet Handeguand are special to Dan and me because it was through them that we started dating, which ended up pretty well:). I tried to write on his Facebook page, but couldn’t find him any longer.  When I went to search for his name, his mother’s obituary popped up because her service is this weekend.  Upon reading it, I found out that Art died in January this year.  I can’t find an obituary anywhere.  I knew that Art was Latvian but had no idea the history of his family.  Now I know why his heritage was so important to them.  This is from his mother’s obituary.

She married Edmund Gibietis on July 12, 1946, while in a displaced persons camp in Germany. Their first daughter, Andra, was born in Germany, followed by their son, Artis. In April 1950, the Gibietis family secured passage on a U.S. Army transport ship, the General Tyler, heading to the United States, having been sponsored by St. John’s Lutheran Church in Saginaw, Michigan. The church was instrumental in getting the family settled in housing and employment. The twins were born in 1954, after the family arrived in Michigan.

Rest in Peace Art