Email From Gary Aden to Gary Aden
Email Dated 8/18/2001     

     On the way to the spout on our imaginary  tea pot in Montana, I
might stop in on the John W. Aden legacy in Saratoga,Wyoming. The
surname has changed to Berger, but doubtless represents the brain trust
of the Aden legacy.  Marian ADEN Berger has ranching knowledge that any
man would envy, having been tutored by her father, Lloyd. What they have
built and what it will become is a blessing in its magnificence, but a
curse insofar as  the Aden surname has been lost. One pauses to reflect
on whether all this social mobility is healthy for families. Wouldn't it
have been better if the Adens had stayed put in Illinois where no doubt
their sweat equity would at least have made them owner-participants in
the renaissance of marshland turned to gold? 

      Our last designated stop is the Custer Battlefield, Montana where
there is a plaque honoring Henry W. B. Mechling for his participation as
a sharpshooter for the water party in the Little Bighorn River fight
wherein with three comrades, he courageously held a position that
secured water for his command. He was a Blacksmith with Company H of the
70th U.S. Cavalry. The attached pages give an autobiographical account
of the combat as he viewed it. 

      Haven't had enough? How 'bout a quick trip to Buenos Aires,
Argentina where one of Mimke's children, Fred Aden, raised in Nebraska
became Director-General of Colegio Ward, Ramos Mejia, Buenos Aires, a
private, coeducational residential school for children 6-16. He received
an honorary doctorate in pedagogy from his alma mater, University of
Southern California in 1946 and an honorary L.L.D. at Occidental College
in Los Angeles. In 1954, The Americas Foundation awarded him its coveted
annual award for furthering understandings among all nations of the
Americas. In his capacity as an educator and community leader, he often
was in the eye of the storm in Argentine politics which was dominated in
those times by Juan Peron. He and his wife, Meda,  raised five talented
children- all musical and multilingual. His grandson is Jay O. Sanders,
a movie star. A visit to Colegio Ward, or Ward College, as it is known
in English requires about a 45 minute taxi ride from downtown Buenos
Aires to the suburb of Ramos  Mejia. Once inside the administration
building, the bust of Dr. Fred Aden(1890-1965) will likely be
encountered. 

      Gary Carl Aden 8/10/2001