I am the oldest granddaughter of Charles Frederick Helander, Jr. and Ruth Anna Johnson. My grandfather was born September 19, 1885, and immigrated from Alfan Road, Auckland, N.Z. to the United States; he was a Marine Engineer. His father was Charles Frederick Helander, Sr. and he was born January 23, 1839 in Sollentuna, Stockholm, Sweden. His profession was a Marine Captain. Reportedly, he washed overboard at latitude 32.32 south, longitude 153.47 east from the ship Welcome near Sydney Leads, Australia on January 29, 1892. He was married to Ellen Crosbie and they had nine children:
Alice Annette who married Harry Bunkers
Mabel Emma who did not marry
Ethel Fredrika Elizabeth who married Hugh Norman McKenzie
Nellie May who did not marry
Wenifred Agnes who did not marry
Elfreda Jennette who married Arthur J. Mueller
Charles Frederick, Jr. who married Ruth Anna Johnson (second marriage)
Keith Ervid who married Mary Ada Barker
Vera Kathleen who married Victor H. Hatrick
My great great grandfather's name was Grader Jonas Helander and he was married to Catharina Lundberg.
I am attempting to locate my relatives. If you have any information regarding any of the people listed above, please contact me. I know that some Helanders still reside in New Zealand, and there are some in other parts of the world.
This is very important to me, since I only have a maternal side of the family that is available to me. And, this is more important than anything else, I was raised by my grandmother and grandfather. We had afternoon teas and my grandfather ate ("et") his peas lined up on a knife. His ship, the Karen, was split in half when he was 72 years of age and he swam a 1/2 mile to an island in the Pacific Ocean. When I was a child, he told me I could never call him "Papa", so I called him "Popeye" and the name stuck with the rest of the grandchildren.
If you can help, please do.