Hudson relative wishes 'Sparky' well

By Meg Heaton

The departure of Charles Schulz from the newspaper comics has made millions a little melancholy this New Year, but it hit a little closer to home for one North Hudson woman.

Lorraine Swanson Wentlandt is a cousin to Schulz, and she has many pleasant memories of visits he made to Hudson with his family and trips to his home in St. Paul.

Wentlandt, now 78, a year older than her cousin, said her grandfather and Schulz's grandmother were brother and sister. Schulz's parents, Carl and Dena, visited the home of Amanda and Irving Swanson at the corner of Eighth and St. Croix streets often on Sunday afternoons.

She remembers "Sparky," a nickname given to Schulz by his mother, as a "usual sort of kid." She remembers his mother, Dena, as someone very special. "She was so kind and funny and very beautiful. She had beautiful clothes and wore patent leather shoes. And she liked nicknames. She always called him Sparky and she called my sister 'Tekla.' I don't know why. We all just loved getting attention from her," said Wentlandt.

Charles was an only child and Wentlandt was one of six. She remembers that Carl Schulz always gave each child a nickel to spend when they visited. "We didn't have much money and it was a lot to us in those days. I really pinched that nickel."

Dena and Carl Schulz lived for a short time with Wentlandt's parents. When they moved to St. Paul, they left behind their brass bed that is now a prized possession of Wentlandt's daughter, Donna Shafer of Lakewood, Colo.

Wentlandt does recall that Schulz liked to draw as a child. "Sparky was always scribbling on something. And I remember he had this little rolltop desk at his home."

The last time Wentlandt saw Schulz was in 1941 when he came to Hudson for a going away party for her new husband, Quentin, before he went overseas. Schulz's mother died while he was in the service during WWII and he never came back to Hudson.

But they have stayed in touch, if only through the calendars he sends them every year. The Wentlandts are also avid collectors of anything "Peanuts," including a collection of commemorative plates Quentin came across in an auction just down the street. The calendars have been given to their children who have kept them shrink-wrapped in the condition they were received.

Wentlandt said she understands her cousin's decision to stop writing the comic strip. She believes he should concentrate on his recovery from cancer and on spending time with his family. The time they spent together as children, as "Peanuts" themselves, will always be cherished memories.