A few days ago, my second cousin Elizabeth (Liz) Smith emailed relatives telling us of the 2 Feb 2018 death of Portia Mary (Mollard) Imle, widow of Ernest Paul Imle Sr. The internet obituary (http://www.borgwardtfuneralhome.com/notices/Portia-Imle) tells a lot about Portia's life—her interest in anthroposophy (look it up),
her travels, her scholarly activities, the tragic death of her son. [While bicycling,
Bill was killed by a drunk driver, who had killed another bicyclist two years
earlier.] But her marriage to “Ernesto” is worthy of a few more details,
details that Portia provided me by telephone a few years ago.
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| El Buen Pastor Anglican Church, San Jose |
Following the death by cancer of
her stepmother, Olga, Portia traveled to Puerto Rico, where she met Ernest. In
that country Ernest was known as “Don Ernesto” to friends and colleagues and Portia
called him “Ernesto” throughout their lives together. After she returned home Ernesto was sent to the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center of the USDA,
where they continued to see each other. In 1947 they were married in Costa Rica,
a location selected because it was the home of most of their close friends. In Costa Rica a marriage in a Catholic Church would have simultaneously given them a civil
marriage, but since they were married in an Anglican Church, they had to also
be married in a Civil Ceremony. Thus, they had marriage dates of both 24
November (church) and 27 November (civil), which was Thanksgiving. Throughout
their married lives, Ernesto and Portia celebrated their anniversary on Thanksgiving, regardless of the date on which it fell. They were married on the 27th by the
mayor of San Jose. There were insufficient people at the civil ceremony to
provide the necessary witnesses. From off the street, they pulled in two
people, neither of whom could write, to act as witnesses. The witnesses signed
the document with a mark.
