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Luke Owen
English 101 #31220
7 Elements of Culture
15 October 2016
Fingerprints
Social Organization
My great grandfathers name was Quentin Crager, who was born in 1915 in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. My great great grandfather, Clarence Crager was born in 1894 and died in 1973. He
was originally married to Mildred Amilia Johansson Lofgren, born in Cambridge, Isanti,
Minnesota on March 17, 1903. After her death he married her sister, Albertina Lofgren in 1916 in
Minnesota. She was born December 24th, 1893. They had four children whose names could not
be recovered. Both my great great grandfather and grandmother were born and raised in
Minnesota. Clarence passes away in November at the age of 79 in Florida.
Clarence Crager was born into the farming life where he inherited it from his parents
before him. Although, when Clarences son, Quentin, was born he ended up manufacturing a
company named Crager Refrigeration. Crager Refrigeration was a company that made huge
refrigerators then sold to a variety of grocery stores. The business later died and he ended up
closing the company down. After this event, my family moved a west into Milwaukee,
Wisconsin where they bought a few acres of land by a lake and built a house on it. In a way, they
went back to the agricultural life that they lived in the past. To this day, some of my relatives still
live out there and I have been able to fly out once in a while and visit them and my great
grandfathers home. They live right on the shoreline of Lake Druid which is located near
Milwaukee in Washington County. They consider it beachfront, which they find very comical for
some reason.
Customs and Traditions
My great great grandfather was a very modest and hardworking man. He had the same
traditions every single day having to wake up and take care of his property. Owning and having
to maintain his own farm created him into a respectable man who put his family before

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everything else. It was passed down through my family that my ancestors had a rough struggle
trying to make a living. The traditions of the farm life were passed down through our
generations. It was not until my father that he moved out of that area and began our lives in
Arizona. My father was not raised in a healthy home environment either. At the age of 8, my
grandfather and grandmother got divorced. A few years after that, my grandfather had a heart
attack and passed away. It changed all the dynamics and customs in my family after that. The
relationship my father had with his mother dissolved, therefore affecting my relationship with
her. We still are in communication but do not interact nearly as much as one should with their
grandmother.
Religion
My ancestors on my fathers side were Lutheran Protestant who followed the traditions of
Martin Luther. They were just Midwest farmers who followed the basic customs and traditions
of everyday people. They were obvious believers of monotheism, which was the belief in one
god, Jesus Christ. This view of religion is still in my family today. I was born and raised in a
Christian household which did not only come from my fathers side but my mothers as well.
Religion was and still is a huge deal in my family. My family will attend church every Sunday
as did our elders before us. My grandparents have the biggest influence on me when it comes to
Christianity. Religion has become a tradition not only because its our belief but because it
brings us together and allows us to realize exactly what is important.
Language
My ancestors were bilingual, speaking both German and English. Although, over the
years, the language in my family has dissolved out and we no longer carry the capacity to speak
it. Becoming more recent, with my father marrying my mother, my Italian side has become
stronger than my German history due to loss of contact between a lot of my family members.
My grandfather on my mothers side is named Michael James Livolsi. He descends from Sicily,

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Italy and is the main link between our Italian heritage. This is the ethnicity I relate to the most
when it comes to physical appearance and personality. Both him and my grandmother speak
fluent Italian and of course cook the best meals you will ever taste.