Who is Uncle Axel? What happened to his wife on pg.22?

Uncle Axel really isn't David's uncle. He had married his mother's sister Elizabeth. He was the only adult family member that David enjoyed hanging out with. He wasn't as fanatically "looney tunes" religious like many of the other adults. He used to be a sailor. I'm not sure what it says on your pg 22 but I know that she died on one of Uncle Axel's sailing trips to the East.