Michelle Cox's Blog, page 8

“No One Ever Helped Me”

Jacek Sadowski was born on July 4, 1914 in a small village in Poland.  His parents, Gustaw Sadowski and Hania Nowak, were farmers, and Jacek was the youngest of eight children.  Unfortunately, Jacek’s mother died when he was just a year old, so his five older sisters raised him.  He attended the village school until the equivalent of eighth grade and then quit to help his father on the farm full-time.

Jacek and his father did not have much time together, however, before Gustaw died suddenly in his forties of a heart attack.  The farm then passed to Jacek’s oldest sister, Maria, and her husband, Alfons, whom Jacek describes as a “mean, terrible man.”  One by one, the siblings left the farm to find their own way, as no one could stand Alfons, until only Jacek was left.  At that point, Jacek’s situation went from bad to worse.  Alfons began locking him out of the house, forcing him to sleep in the barn with the pigs.  He was not even allowed any bedding and was told to sleep in the straw.

Jacek soon followed his siblings’ footsteps and left the farm as well.  He set off for the neighboring farms, hoping to get hired as an extra hand.  He eventually managed to find a place, but he was still required to sleep in the barn, though he was at least given a cot and bedding.  Things continued this way for a couple of years, during which time Jacek’s hatred for Alfons grew.  Before he could think of a way to get back at Alfons, however, Germany invaded Poland, and Jacek was capture and sent to work on a farm in Germany.  He was thankful for this, however, as he initially feared he would be sent to a concentration camp, or worse, conscripted into the German army.

Despite the fact that he was technically a prisoner, Jacek didn’t mind his time in Germany and says that he had better living conditions there than any he had ever enjoyed in Poland.  When the Allies arrived to liberate them, he was reluctant to go back to Poland.  He was eventually sent to various camps run by the Allies, and in one of them, he met a young woman by the name of Rozalia Salomon.  The two of them married while still living in the camp, and for their honeymoon, they took a train ride through the German countryside because Jacek thought the scenery so beautiful.

When they returned to the camp, Jacek and Rozalia decided to apply for immigration to the United States with the help of the Allies.  A sponsor in America came forward and vouched for them, saying that an apartment and a job awaited them in Chicago.  When they eventually arrived, however, there was no job or apartment for them at all.  They were found wandering on Milwaukee Avenue by an old Polish woman who offered them an “apartment.”  Desperate, Jacek and Rozalia took it and were shocked to discover that it was really just one room with a bed frame but no mattress.

Jacek quickly set out to find a job and was hired to make cabinets for a company at Milwaukee and Belmont.  At the time, he was 36 years old, and he stayed at that job for 34 years, retiring when he was 70.  Jacek and Rozalia were eventually able to find a series of better apartments until they moved to one on Greenview, where they stayed for over twenty years.

Jacek and Rozalia had two daughters, Maggie and Ruth.  Rozalia stayed home with them and never worked outside the home, as she was always in very poor health.  In fact, Jacek says bitterly, he had to do everything inside the house and out, including caring for the girls, because Rozalia was always so sick.

Jacek says that he never had any hobbies because he never had time.  His favorite thing used to be drinking a cold beer on a hot day.  He says that people have no choice in their lives, that “things or fate just happen to you.”  He says that “I’ve had a bad life,” and he can’t seem to shake his bitterness, which Maggie and Ruth say he has had all his life.  He blames what he calls his “bad fortune” on the fact that his parents died so young and on his brother-in-law, Alfons, whom, he says, ruined his life.  “No one ever helped me,” is his constant mantra.

Jacek has been living alone until very recently when he began falling frequently and then had a heart attack, which hospitalized him.  His daughters, both of whom have families and work full-time, brought him to a nursing home to recuperate from surgery, though they want this to be a permanent placement for their father.  They have tried discussing this with him, but claim he is not interested in listening.  Both Maggie and Ruth report that their father is extremely stubborn and that he has always had a negative attitude, which has made it difficult for them to care for him as the years have gone on.  As expected, Jacek is not adjusting well to his new surroundings and says that he can’t enjoy himself because “it’s not my home.”

(Originally written: December 1995)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

 

The post “No One Ever Helped Me” appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

Three Husbands, a Deceitful Son, and the Pigeon Club

Marie Bosko was born on July 4, 1912 in Chicago to Dusan Cizek and Alena Holub.  Both Dusan and Alena were immigrants from Czechoslovakia, but they met and married in Chicago.  Dusan worked as a cabinet maker for John M. Smythe, and Alena cared for their eight children, though two of them died.  Their first baby, Alice, lived only one month, and their fourth child, Joseph, died as an infant as well.  Alena joined them in their graves just two days before Christmas in 1924.  She was only fifty years old, and no one seems to remember what she died of.

Dusan eventually remarried, and his new wife, Olga, had three children of her own.  Marie says that Olga was “alright” as a stepmother, but that she “had her moments” and favored her own children over the six of them.  There was never enough to eat, Marie says, though Olga somehow managed to remain obese.  Marie was not surprised when Olga died young of a heart attack.  Dusan, on the other hand, lived to be 86 and died, Marie believes, of “a broken heart.”  She doesn’t think her father ever really got over her mother’s death.  Marie’s theory is that he never really loved Olga, but married her so that he would have someone to take care of the kids.

Marie went to school at St. John’s until seventh grade and then quit to get a job.  At thirteen, she began working in a factory that made hairpins.  Olga insisted that a portion of Marie’s paycheck go to her, which Marie thought very unfair, and thus Marie began to try to save up to move out on her own.  At some point, Marie met Lester Soat, though she can’t remember exactly how.  She thinks it may have been through friends.  She eventually married Lester, who worked as a file clerk at GM.  Marie continued working at the hairpin factory for a time before quitting to work at Arco, a factory that made playing cards.  In all, Marie worked in factories for over thirty-nine years, even after her son, Morris, was born in 1931.

Marie and Lester seemed to have a relatively quiet life.  Marie says she loved Lester, but explains that they were not overly expressive of their feelings for each other.  “We didn’t need to show it,” she says.  Marie and Lester only had one child, Morris, whom Marie describes as “troubled” and who was often bullied.  When he was nineteen, Morris left home and traveled around the country.  Marie tried very hard to stay in contact with him over the years, but it was difficult.  Even after Lester died of heart disease at age forth-three in 1950, Morris did not come home for the funeral.

Two years later after Lester’s death, Marie married Victor Lange, who had been a cook in the service.  Marie claims that he drank too much, but she insists he wasn’t an alcoholic.  Marie and Lester had a somewhat rocky relationship, and after only five years of marriage, he died of cirrhosis of the liver.  That was in February of 1957, and by November of that same year, Marie was married again, this time to Charlie Bosko, who worked in a paint factory.  With Charlie, Marie seemed to have finally found her soul mate, and the two of them very much enjoyed each other’s company.  Charlie belonged to a pigeon club, and he introduced the hobby to Marie.  Intrigued, Marie eventually joined the club as well, and the couple often spent their vacations traveling with their pigeons to different competitions.  Marie is very proud of the fact that they even won some medals over the years.  Her other pastimes were baking and crossword puzzles.

Charlie and Marie were together the longest—twenty-seven years—until Charlie finally died at age sixty-seven of congestive heart failure in 1984.  After Charlie’s death, Marie remained alone.  She had retired from factory work in 1976, and she struggled to find something to occupy her time, the pigeon club having disbanded years before.  With Charlie gone, she seemed lost and unable to find a new hobby.  She suffered a stroke in 1987 and another in 1988.  At this point, her son, Morris, who had been absent from her life all these years, reappeared on the scene.

Morris managed to convince Marie to sell everything, including the house, and to turn over all the assets to him.  Once all of the transactions were completed, Morris then proposed they move to Las Vegas and live together there.  Marie was lonely and hoping to renew her relationship with her son, so she agreed.  Not surprisingly, it only took a couple years for Morris to gamble it all away.

Impoverished, Marie was hospitalized in the early 1990’s with pneumonia.  By a weird twist of fate, it was while she was in the hospital that Morris also contracted pneumonia and died of it at home.  Marie was utterly crushed by his death.  Although he had swindled everything from her and reduced her to poverty, she loved him anyway and clung to him as the only thing she had left in the world.  Marie managed to attend Morris’s funeral, though she was very weak, and then went to stay with her sister, Gladys, who was still living in Chicago.  Gladys has tried her best to care for Marie, but the strain has recently become too much for her, forcing her to put Marie in a nursing home.

Marie seems to be adjusting relatively well to her new home, though she says she is lonely and often still cries for Morris.   She is reluctant to form any new relationships and spends most of her day reading large-print books and watching “Days of Our Lives.”

(Originally written: June 1994 / Photo: Marie and Charlie Bosko)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

 

The post Three Husbands, a Deceitful Son, and the Pigeon Club appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

She Sold Her Paintings From Village to Village

Jadwiga Sokal was born on February 26, 1914 in Poland to Wladek and Kasia Majewski.  Jadwiga went to grammar school and then found a job in a pastry shop, where she often waited on a young man, Kasper Sokal, who came in to the shop quite often.  Kasper was a widower with two older children and was 14 years Jadwiga’s senior.  The two eventually fell in love, however, and married on July 25, 1935.  Jadwiga was 21 by this point, and Kasper was 35.

Kasper worked for the railroads, and in the first years of their marriage, the young couple moved around a lot to avoid the Germans and the war in general.  Kasper had served in WWI and had been wounded, for which he had received Poland’s highest medal.  When the second World War started, he was again “drafted” because of his job with the railroad, but he somehow managed to escape it.  Kasper and Jadwiga moved to Dubno for a time, and there had their first child, Tomasz. After the war, however, Dubno became Russian territory, so they moved to Sanok and then later to Nysa, where their second son, Radek, was born in 1952.

Kasper continued working for the railroads his whole life.  Jadwiga, besides caring for their two sons and Kasper’s two older children, made extra money by painting pictures and selling them from village to village.  She was quite a talented artist, apparently, and became quite well known in the area for her artwork.

Jadwiga’s other passion in life was cooking.  Radek relates that their house was perpetually full of friends and neighbors, with Jadwiga in the center of it all, cooking for them.  She also loved to crotchet.  Jadwiga, according to her sons, was a very active, cheerful, pleasant woman who continually had to be doing something.  She was always up for new things, and in her 60’s, she got her first paying job since her pastry shop days, working in a daycare—a job she loved.

In 1964, Tomasz decided to take a bold step and immigrate to America, eventually settling in Chicago.  After a number of years, he returned to Poland, intending to stay, but eventually decided to go back to America.  In 1974, Radek joined him.  Tomasz’s stories of America excited him, and he didn’t feel that Poland had much left to offer.  Radek was reluctant to leave Jadwiga and Kasper on their own, however, but at that time they were still in good health and seemed happy, so he decided to go.  Jadwiga was still working in the daycare, and though retired, Kasper continued to show up at the train yard every morning, unable to pull himself away.

In January 1975, however, Kasper died suddenly of heart and lung problems.  Jadwiga mourned the loss of him, as they had truly been in love and had had a happy marriage.  She continued to live on her own in Poland for another three years until Radek and his wife convinced her to move in with them in Chicago.

Jadwiga seemed happy living with Radek’s family and soon continued the tradition of cooking big meals and desserts and constantly inviting friends and neighbors to come and eat.  Radek tried to persuade her to continue painting, but she always responded by saying “that part of my life is done now.”  She still did her crocheting, though, and also loved music, singing, and pets of any kind.  And much to everyone’s surprise, she got a job for a number of years caring for elderly people, a job she especially enjoyed because she could bake and bring them pastries.

Jadwiga has remained in good health until very recently when she required heart surgery at age 80.  After her time in the hospital, she was transferred to a nursing home to recover.  At first, Radek assumed this would be a temporary placement, but Jadwiga is significantly weaker now than she was and may require permanent help and placement.  Jadwiga , however, is choosing to believe she is going back to Radek’s house at some point, and is therefore very content with her surroundings at the moment.  She is happy to talk with the other Polish residents and very much enjoys bingo.

(Originally written: October 1994)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

The post She Sold Her Paintings From Village to Village appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

Baseball and Extra-Marital Affairs – The Odd Life of Herman Neumacher

Herman Neumacher was born on February 2, 1903 in Chicago.  The names of his parents are unknown, but he is thought to be of Irish and German descent.  He was the youngest of ten children, and his childhood seems to have been very chaotic, as his family moved constantly from apartment to apartment.  He spent the majority of his youth on the streets playing baseball with his brothers.  He attended St. Hedwig’s until 8th grade and then quit to get a job in a radio factory making the cabinets that housed the radios.

When he was about twenty, Herman met a young woman, Pearl Ferguson, at a party that her sister was hosting.  Pearl was from an even bigger family than Herman and had fifteen siblings.  Her parents were very strict Catholics and were scandalized to the core when Pearl had just a few years before married a man who wasn’t Catholic without their approval.  Fearing for her soul, they hounded Pearl until she finally bowed to their unrelenting pressure and divorced her first husband.  When she met Herman several years later, she was eager to be married again.  Herman eventually proposed, to the delight of Pearl’s parents, who were thrilled that her new man was Catholic.  Pearl, however, regretted her decision forever.

Herman, it seems, made a very unsatisfactory husband, and Pearl often referred to him over the years as “disturbed” or “unnatural.”  Almost from the first moment of their marriage, Herman showed no interest in her, never had any affection for her, and never seemed to even want to be with her.  But it wasn’t just her; he also did not want to be with her family or any of her friends and refused to go to any social events, including holiday parties.  Likewise, he refused to let Pearl have anyone over, so Pearl never once got to host a birthday party, a dinner party, or a holiday in her own home.

According to Pearl’s niece, Dee, who helped provide the information for this story, Herman was indeed completely anti-social.  The only people her uncle ever socialized with, she says, were his brothers.  Herman, it seems, spent every free minute away from work attending baseball games with his brothers, drinking beer and eating hot dogs.

More than once, miserable and depressed, Pearl confronted Herman and questioned him about why he had ever married her in the first place, as it was obvious that he had never really loved her, even in the beginning.  She often accused him of marrying her as a way of staying out of the war—an accusation that he apparently never refuted.

The situation grew worse, if possible, when Pearl accidentally discovered that Herman had secretly been having affairs all their married life, even taking some of his paramours to Las Vegas, all the while telling Pearl that he was going to Milwaukee with his brothers to see the Cubs play. Furious, Pearl left him and went to stay with her sister, Ann, who was Dee’s mother.  After about six months, Herman begged Pearl to come back to him, though Pearl couldn’t understand why, as he hadn’t seemed the slightest bit interested in her before.  He even offered to give her spending money, which he had never done before.  From the very first days of their marriage, Herman had refused to give Pearl any money from his paycheck besides a few dollars a week, forcing Pearl to earn all the household money herself.

Pearl eventually caved in, not only to Herman, but again to her parents, who were upset that she seemed on the brink of divorcing yet another man.  Reluctantly, she returned to live with Herman, but it proved a terrible mistake, as he treated her worse than he had before.  Pearl says it was no use leaving him again and instead tried to make the best of it.

Pearl suspects that over the years Herman continued with his extra-marital affairs.  Likewise, she began to wonder if he was really at the ball games with his brothers, as he always claimed, or if he was instead there with his lovers.   In his later years, Herman apparently gave up drinking beer at the games, as he heard somewhere that drinking caused cancer.  Pearl also thought it odd that despite the nature of his job in a radio factory and his predilection for going to ball games, Herman was always well-dressed in a suit and tie and loved being “dapper,” as he liked to call it.  She says that he had no other real hobbies.  When he retired, he took a job as a security guard at the Merchandise Mart and worked there for five years, a job of which he was very proud.

When Herman turned ninety, Pearl began noticing a change in Herman.  His health declined, and he became more confused and even dangerous.  He started carrying knives or sharp tools around, saying “I’m going to use this on ‘Whino’,” referring to Pearl, though this did not make sense, as Pearl was never a drinker.  Pearl grew increasingly afraid, especially as her own health began to decline as well.  Her niece, Dee, decided to intervene when Herman became violent.

At that point, Dee took her aunt and uncle to view various nursing homes, though Herman did not seem to understand the meaning of the visits at all.  Pearl, her own confusion increasing as well, at first assumed they were looking for a place for her to live and seemed happy about it.  Dee had to then explain numerous times that they were actually looking for a place for Herman, but suggested that perhaps Dee should move into a nursing home as well.  Pearl reacted very negatively to the suggestion, however, and claimed to be perfectly capable of living independently.  This, of course, is not true, as Dee has been helping her at least weekly with shopping, cleaning, hygiene, and some cooking.  Dee does not wish to force her aunt, however, and says she will continue with the routine of stopping over at the house until Pearl gets more used to the idea of going into a home.

Herman, meanwhile, has adjusted relatively well to his new surroundings, though he never seems to completely grasp where he was.  It is regrettable that he is not able to tell his own version of his story, though Dee has confirmed that everything Pearl related is true.  Herman does not get any comfort from Pearl’s visits and actually believes another woman on his floor to be his wife, a source of great sorrow to Pearl.  He remains calm and un-agitated and spends most of his days watching baseball on television.  Pearl seems reluctant to move, but ironically is struggling at home on her own without him.

(Originally written: March 1995)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

 

The post Baseball and Extra-Marital Affairs – The Odd Life of Herman Neumacher appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

From Leather Cutter to Sears Inspector – The Colorful Life of Eugenia Boyd

Eugenia Boyd was born on June 20, 1906 in Austria-Hungary to Anton Herzog and Marie Beran and was one of nine children.  When Eugenia was very little, the family immigrated to America and made their way to Chicago, where they stayed for about a year before moving to a farm in Michigan.  Thus, Eugenia spent most of her childhood in Michigan and completed the eighth grade there.

When she was about fourteen, one of Eugenia’s brothers told her about a job he knew of at a leather factory in the town nearest their farm.  Eugenia agreed to go with him in his old Ford to apply for it, but was soon disgusted by the stench emanating from the factory as they drove up.  Having come this far, however, she decided to go in anyway.  The story goes that when Eugenia timidly approached the receptionist and asked about the job, the receptionist just looked at her and said, “What job?”

Apparently, Eugenia then looked so forlorn and confused that the receptionist took pity on her and arranged for her to try her luck as a cutter.  This involved cutting the leather trim around a pattern with a very sharp knife.  She did so well that she was immediately offered a job, which she accepted.  Despite the smell of the factory and the fact that she was often teased by the men that worked there because she was so young, Eugenia was enjoyed her new job and was quite good at it.

After three years of working at the leather factory, Eugenia had to quit because the family decided to move back to Chicago.  They had been renting the farm and  had finally saved enough to buy a small house in Chicago.  Anton got a job in a piano factory.  It took him years and years to save up the money to buy one of the pianos he helped to build, but he was very proud of the fact that he was eventually able to do so.

Six years after the Herzog’s moved to Chicago, the Great Depression hit, and Eugenia was out of a job, though no one remembers where she originally worked when they first got to Chicago.  The family story is that she “paid for” a job in a factory that made razors, though no one is exactly sure what was meant by that.  At the razor factory, Eugenia inspected the razors for quality and also handled customer complaints.  From there she took a job at Western Electric and then went on to Sears, Roebuck, where she worked as a type of inspector, a job she held for many years.

Though Eugenia had her share of “beaux” over the years, she never seemed to fall in love.  One night, however, at a party at a girlfriend’s house, she met a man by the name of Sherman Boyd.  Sherman worked in a lumberyard and also made deliveries for various companies on the side.  The two hit it off right away and began dating.  After only a short amount of time, Sherman proposed, and Eugenia happily accepted.  Sherman already owned his own home, one which Eugenia thought very nice, so when they were married, she moved in rather than them getting a new place.

Sadly, the couple could not have any children, though they very much wanted them.  Instead, they continued working and enjoyed entertaining and having people over for dinner.  Eugenia loved to garden in her free time and was very active at their church, Immaculate Conception.

According to family members, Eugenia and Sherman had a lovely life together until Sherman passed away at age 83.  Shortly afterward, Eugenia went to live with her younger sister, Cecile, in Naperville.  Though Cecile was only three years younger than Eugenia, she began waiting on Eugenia constantly and prepared elaborate meals and “fancy baked goods” for her every day.

This behavior went on for eight years until Cecile’s daughter, Linda, decided to intervene.  According to Linda, Cecile was becoming “obsessed” with caring for Eugenia, which Linda felt was ridiculous, considering her mother was quite elderly as well.  Cecile became more and more worried that something was going to happen to Eugenia, that she would fall or get sick or have some sort of accident.  Cecile became so preoccupied with worry that she began waking up in the middle of the night to check on Eugenia.  It is interesting to note that in all of this time, Eugenia seems to have been completely unaware, or pretended to be unaware, of the stress she was causing her sister.

Not wanting to break the sisters up, but wanting to give Cecile a break, Linda and other family members came up with a plan for Eugenia to spend part of the day at a nearby senior center, which she willing went to and enjoyed.  It wasn’t enough, however, to stop Cecile’s obsession.  Finally, the family decided that something more drastic would have to be done.  Tentatively, they approached Eugenia with the idea of going to live in a nursing home and were shocked when she was very accepting of it.  In fact, Eugenia now claims that it was her idea all along, that she made the decision because of “poor Cecile’s health problems.”

Obviously, then, Eugenia has made an excellent transition to the nursing home and especially enjoys the meals and all of the offered.  She especially likes bingo, watching gameshows with other residents, “old movie” night, and listening to big band music.

(Originally written: October 1994)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

The post From Leather Cutter to Sears Inspector – The Colorful Life of Eugenia Boyd appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

Proud to Have “Opened the Books”

Ruth Hughes was born on June 4, 1906 in Chicago to Virginia Ward and Raymond Oveson. She had three brothers: Walter, Raymond, Jr., and Albert, though both Raymond, Jr. and Albert died as infants.  Ruth attended two years at Cathedral High School before quitting to begin working at the telephone company.  She then moved into bookkeeping and was always extremely proud that she “opened the books” for Little Company of Mary Hospital when it was newly built.

When Ruth was around twenty years old, the couple that lived in the apartment above her family introduced her to a young man they knew by the name of Kelly Hughes, who was five years her senior.  Kelly, it seems, was orphaned at age 15 in Ireland.  His father was killed in the Great War, and his mother died of an illness a year later, leaving him alone.  Not wanting to be a burden to his relatives, he made his way to England and then to America, where he found a job as an electrician, a job he kept for over 40 years.

Ruth and Kelly dated for three years, during which time they fell in love and then married.  During their courtship, their favorite date was either “going to the pictures” or walking in Humboldt Park.  After they were married, Ruth continued working as a bookkeeper until their first child, Kenneth, was born.  She stayed home with him and their daughter, Sally, when she “came along” a couple of years later.  Sally says that Ruth loved being a housewife and was devoted to them and their father.  She loved baking and sewing, movies and dancing, but she especially enjoyed any kind of family gathering or celebration, such as birthdays, weddings or showers.  She was also very active in her parish of Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Sally says that Ruth and Kelly had a very calm, loving relationship and describes both of them as being very gentle, compassionate people.  They mostly enjoyed being at home, but they did take a few family vacations to Wisconsin, Missouri, New York and even once traveled all the way to Ireland to see Kelly’s birthplace.

As the years progressed, both Ruth and Kelly’s health began to deteriorate, Ruth especially when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  Not long after that, Kenneth had them move in with his family and cared for them for six years, at which point Sally took a turn and brought them into her home for another four.  After ten combined years of trying to care for them at home, however, both Kenneth and Sally decided that the best place for their parents would be a nursing home.  Ruth and Kelly were admitted together and shared a room until Kelly passed away after only a year in the home.

Ruth is very disoriented now and rarely speaks.  She does not recognize Kenneth, who visits every weekend, or Sally, who visits daily, and can no longer communicate with them except for holding their hand while they watch TV together.  Kenneth and Sally do not seem to feel any guilt or anxiety about their mother’s placement, and both only want Ruth’s last bit of time to be full of the gentle love and comfort she gave to them for so many years.

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

 

The post Proud to Have “Opened the Books” appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

It Was Her Job to Care for the “Waterhead Babies”

Rose Ackermann was born in Chicago on August 22, 1926 to Emil Ackermann and Hanna Raskop, both of whom emigrated from Germany.  Emil found work as a coal and ice man, but he also worked as a handyman on the side sometimes as well.  Hanna cared for their three children—Leo, Judith and Rose—and worked at the Baby Ruth candy bar factory at night.

When Rose was just three years old, she came down with either diphtheria or scarlet fever, which left her with brain damage.  Judith, her older sister, says she was never the same after that.  Rose never learned to read or write, except her name, and never learned to even make change.

More tragedy then followed for the Ackermann’s.  When Rose was nine and Judith just ten, Hanna died, leaving them in the care of Emil, who, according to Judith, was an “abusive drunk.”  As the oldest girl, Judith was expected to fill her mother’s shoes and struggled to learn to cook, clean and do the laundry.  She says she was routinely beaten by her father for not doing things correctly, and she often took Rose’s beatings as well, as Rose could never remember to do her chores.

The authorities somehow got wind of the situation and eventually came in and broke up the family.  Judith was sent to a foster home to live.  Leo was also slated to go to a foster home, but he ran way instead and raised himself on the streets from the age of twelve.

Meanwhile, poor Rose got sent to a home for “deformed children” in Dixon, Illinois.  At the home, it was Rose’s job to wash and feed the “waterhead babies” every morning before she received her own breakfast.  Rose often tells about the “scary room” at the institution with rows and rows of shelves upon which sat jars filled with the brains of the waterhead babies who had died.  Needless to say, Rose was perpetually terrified there.  As she grew older, she had to look after more and more children, including children whose only problem was epilepsy.  It was a difficult task considering her limited mental ability, and she found it hard to keep after them.

Rose remained at the home until she turned eighteen and was finally free to go, at which point Judith came and got her.  It was 1944, and Judith had just gotten married.  She brought Rose to live with her and her new husband, Michael Reading, on Kolmar Avenue in Chicago.

Rose spent the next fifty years living with Judith and Michael.  She never married and has always been a very calm, even-keeled person, says Judith.  She loves dogs, solitaire, doing hook rugs, cleaning the house, listening to ball games on the radio, and watching soap operas.  Judith and Michael never had any children, so when Michael died a few years ago, Judith and Rose were left alone.  They have always been extremely close, as if perpetually trying to make up for the lost years of their childhood, and they did everything together.

Recently, though, Rose began experiencing stomach pain and was having difficulty breathing, so Judith took her to the hospital.  Her diagnosis is still not clear, but the doctors recommended that she be admitted to a nursing home.  Judith agreed, but with much guilt and a heavy heart.  Ironically, Rose seems content with her placement.  It is Judith, who visits often, that seems to be having a harder time adjusting and is very critical of the facility as a result.  Rose is alert and can communicate well, but has difficulty answering questions.  She does not interact with the other residents, as her conversation skills are limited, but seems to enjoy sitting among them  and listening.

(Originally written: July 1996)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

The post It Was Her Job to Care for the “Waterhead Babies” appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

A Child Prodigy and the Life That Followed

Valentine Conrad was born on February 26, 1910 in Chicago to Wilma Sheppard and Frank Knauz.  Valentine’s early life was rather convoluted, as her mother was married three times.  Wilma’s first marriage apparently only lasted three months before she divorced her husband.  She then married another man by the name of Frank Knauz with whom she had two children: Valentine and, six years later, Edmund.  Eventually, however, Wilma and Frank divorced as well.  Wilma next married a man by the name of Oscar Strumsky.  Oscar legally adopted Valentine and Edmund, but they kept Wilma’s maiden name of Sheppard.

Valentine, it seems, was an extremely intelligent child—a prodigy, in fact.  At age four, Wilma made her practice the piano for eight hours a day, and by age twelve, Valentine played Carnegie Hall.  She went to Northwestern University in Evanston at an early age and graduated from the college’s music school.

In her early twenties, Valentine found herself working in a music store and there met a man by the name of Lyndsey Conrad through her friend, Helen, whom Lyndsey had once dated.  Lyndsey Conrad was originally from Duluth, Minnesota, where he attended a junior college and, upon graduation, got a job with the railroad.  When he got laid off shortly thereafter, he decided to move to Chicago and start a lumberyard business.  When Helen introduced him to her friend, Valentine, the two hit it off and began dating.  They eventually married when she was 25, and he was thirty.

With the Depression and the then the War, during which the government rationed lumber, Lyndsey’s lumberyard eventually failed.  The young couple decided to move back to Minnesota, where Lyndsey was able to get another job with the railroad.  It was in Duluth that they had their son, Gerald.  The family lived in apartments until Lyndsey and Valentine finally saved enough to build their own home.  It is interesting to note that Lyndsey remained in this house until he died in 1983.

When Gerald was ten years old, Valentine decided she could no longer take the life she had created with Lyndsey, and returned to Chicago to live with her mother and her brother, Edmund.  She severed all communication with Lyndsey and even Gerald and started her life over.  Gerald says he knows little of her life in Chicago except that she loved the piano, theater, and playing bridge.

Valentine apparently became very close to Edmund’s fiancé, Ida, whom he was engaged to for over 25 years.  Ida and Valentine became almost like sisters.  At some point, it seems that Edmund had a stroke and spent 12 years in a nursing home before he eventually died.  He left all of his assets to Ida, though he had created a trust fund for Valentine as well.  After Edmund’s death, Valentine, Ida, and another friend, Lorraine, became very close and spent all of their time together, including holidays.  Besides piano and bridge, Valentine loved pottery, painting, music, movies, museums, swimming, and gardening.  She did not like to travel and never once left Chicago except for the short time she lived in Duluth with Lyndsey.

In 1983, Valentine got word that Lyndsey had died in Duluth, and three years later, she gathered her courage and decided to seek out Gerald.  Despite the fact that they hadn’t communicated for over thirty years, Gerald welcomed her with open arms and forgave her for being so absent in his life.  Valentine discovered that she had a daughter-in-law, Carol, and four grandchildren as well.  After that, Gerald and his family came to visit Valentine in Chicago from time to time, Valentine delighting in being able to take her grandchildren sight-seeing and to various plays.

Valentine, as she grew older, maintained an independent life style and stuck to a daily routine, which consisted of leaving her apartment by nine am, taking a bus to the Levy Center to play the piano and bridge, and returning to her apartment with a bag of groceries to cook dinner with.  Gerald describes her as a very opinionated, determined woman who hated men and the medical industry both.  She could be extremely generous and kind, however, with those she knew well and trusted.

When she was eighty-three, Valentine suffered a stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak, hence her admission to a nursing home.  Gerald and Carol visit infrequently, as they live in Minnesota, but they did not think Valentine would want to be moved from Chicago.  Valentine seems depressed and withdrawn and is not able to communicate at this time, which, Gerald says, is probably torture for her.  In the past, he says, his mother dealt with stress by pacing or by turning to music, neither of which she can do now.  At times she is agitated and even tried to strike Carol when they last visited.  She seems happiest when music is played for her on a phonograph in her room or when she sits listening to classical music or jazz on the radio.

(Originally written: June 1996)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

 

The post A Child Prodigy and the Life That Followed appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

The Little Girl She Always Wanted

Opal Payne was born on October 18, 1913 in Chicago to Martin Vogt and Eileen O’Rourke.  Martin emigrated from Germany and worked as a stenographer in Chicago, while Eileen, who was of Irish descent, cared for their three children: Opal, Norman and Lee.

Opal went to John Marshall High School for a year and a half before quitting to get a job at the Martin Case Company running a machine that made decorative boxes.  After only about seven months on the job, Opal was involved in an accident at work and lost part of her right index finger as a result.  She continued working there, however, for another fifteen years before the company was bought out by Tailor Trunk Company.  The new owners kept Opal on as an employee, but instead gave her the job of putting the lining inside of trunks.

Opal was a very shy girl and rarely went out because she was self-conscious about her missing finger tip.  Her friends at work, however, were always asking her to come out with them to The Merry Gardens, which was a popular nearby dance hall, but Opal always declined.  Finally, one night, however, they were able to persuade Opal to come with them.  She was surprised and flustered when a young man by the name of Gilbert Payne asked her to dance almost immediately.  The girls pushed her to dance with him, so she nervously accepted.  She was delighted that he did not seem to mind her missing fingertip.

Opal and Gilbert began dating for a short time, but the relationship eventually fizzled out.  No one is sure why.  Gilbert went on to marry someone else, a woman named Evelyn Uthe, and Opal remained single, never venturing out much after her relationship with Gilbert ended.  Some people say she was pining for him, even after he married.

Gilbert and Evelyn had a little girl, Emily, but Evelyn died when Emily was just two years old.  Several years passed before Opal and Gilbert happened to run into each other again.  Gilbert asked her on a date, and Opal tentatively accepted.  She was twenty-nine by this point.  Something sparked this time between the two of them, and they eventually fell in love and got married.  Emily was about five at the time, and Opal adored her.  Gilbert worked in a factory that made airplane parts, and Opal quit working to stay home with Emily.  Opal got pregnant quickly, but sadly had two miscarriages.  She was eventually able to carry a baby full term and delivered a girl, whom they named Rose Eileen, but she died within a half hour of her birth.

Gilbert and Opal never had any children between them, but Opal was always grateful that she had Emily, whom she raised as if she were her own and to whom she was completely devoted.  Opal often said that Gilbert was meant to marry Evelyn first, as it allowed Opal to have the little girl she always wanted since she could not carry her own.

Opal and Gilbert seem to have had a happy life together until, after twenty-seven years of marriage, Gilbert died of eye cancer in 1969.  Opal was devastated, and relied heavily on Emily to help her through her grief.  She eventually got a job working in the St. Edward’s rectory as a way to distract herself.  After that, she became very involved with the Church, often going to bingo, and began a group that said novenas to Our Lady of Sorrows.  Later she joined the Ministry of Prayer and Praise, which asked all members to pray daily in their homes for special intentions.

Opal was always a very nervous, anxious person, Emily says, and dealt with her stress by being organized and by decorating the house, one of her favorite pastimes.  She loved to paint as a child and continued to do so as a young wife and mother, frequently painting the walls of the house different colors.  She also enjoyed doing crafts and loved to study history and to listen to music.

Opal has been able to live alone until very recently when she began to fall repeatedly.  Emily has been in the habit of stopping in to help her over the years, though she has had her own family—five sons!—to raise and her own declining health to deal with as well.  Emily arranged for a nurse to visit Opal once a day, which helped for a time, but it was eventually not enough, either.  Opal then made the decision on her own to go to a nursing home.  She seems relatively happy with her choice, though at times she becomes teary when spoken to.  Emily, on the other hand, seems very guilt-ridden and, at times, is critical of the facility.  She continues to visit her mother, sometimes bringing her two little granddaughters, Opal’s great-granddaughters, which cheers Opal immensely.

(Originally written: May 1995)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

The post The Little Girl She Always Wanted appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.

A Penchant for Choosing the Wrong Man

Irene Bailey was born on October 7, 1906 in Letts, Iowa to Andrew and Gertrude Roth.  Andrew farmed about 150 acres of land, and Gertie cared for their seven children: Roland, Molly, Bert, Kathleen, Irene, Sophie, and Emmet.  Irene was raised Methodist and was able to attend high school.  After she graduated, her dream was to go to college, so Andrew and Gertie allowed her to go seventy miles away to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, where she took “general coursework.”  She lived in the dorms there, but spent most of her weekends at the home of an aunt and uncle who also lived in Cedar Rapids.

While at Coe, Irene met a fellow student, Archie Bailey, and eventually fell in love with him.  No one really knows what happened between them, but after two years of dating, Irene abruptly broke off her relationship with Archie, quit school and returned home.  Dismayed by her sudden change of plans, Irene’s parents tried to question her, of course, but Irene refused to talk about it, simply saying that she had “changed her mind.”  To this day, what happened remains a mystery, though Irene’s sister, Sophie, has several theories.

Irene was not home long before she decided to move to the nearby town of Muscatine with a girlfriend.  They rented an apartment, and Irene got a job at a department store.  While there, she met a traveling salesman, James Splinter, who, after a very short period of time, convinced her to marry him.

Once they were married, the young couple moved to Chicago where James had been raised.  It was an unhappy marriage, however, as James proved to be an alcoholic and physically abusive to Irene.  After only a couple of years, she divorced him and moved back to Iowa, this time to Davenport.

In Davenport, she got a job in a candy shop and met Orville Mentz, a carpenter who owned a few acres on the outskirts of town.  They married, and Irene says that they enjoyed a quiet life together for many years.  Their favorite thing to do together was fish, and Irene also spent a lot of time gardening and reading avidly.  As it happened, Orville turned out to be an alcoholic, too.  He was not physically abusive, though, so Irene stayed with him.

The years passed by, and one day Irene saw an ad in the local paper from none other than Archie Bailey, her old college sweetheart, asking for her whereabouts.  Irene was 68 at the time.  After many weeks of debate, Irene decided she would leave Orville and seek out Archie, perhaps hoping to rekindle the lost days of their youth.  She was sadly disappointed, however, as, after reuniting with him in Des Moines, he, too, proved to be an alcoholic.  Tragically, he was also the most abusive of the three men Irene had chosen to be with throughout her life, and she suffered several serious injuries.

Finally, Irene’s sister, Sophie, whom Irene still kept in contact with over the years, decided to get involved in what seemed to her to be a very dangerous, potentially fatal relationship.  She hired an off-duty policeman to go to Des Moines to get Irene out of the situation.  Irene then divorced Archie and went to live with Sophie in Chicago.

Irene spent the next twenty years with Sophie, still spending most of her time gardening and reading.  She also liked to listen to the radio, especially to Cubs games.  In the time that she lived with Sophie, Irene had several strokes, most of them occurring in recent years.  She has also had two eye transplants and two hip replacements.  While in the hospital recovering from one of her hip operations, however, she suffered another mini-stroke.  At that point it became clear that Sophie was not going to be able to take care of Irene at home, so she reluctantly made the arrangements for Irene to be transferred to a nursing home.

Irene is trying her best to adjust to her new life here in the home.  She is a very mild-mannered, sweet woman who is anxious not to “cause any problems.”  She reports being in a lot of pain, however, which seems to preoccupy her and prevents her from joining in various activities or making any new relationships.  When asked about her life, Irene says that she tried her best, but that she somehow always picked the wrong man.  She thought Archie was something special, but he turned out to be “the worst of them all.”  “Sometimes,” she says, “life doesn’t turn out how you think it will.”

(Originally written: January 1995)

If you liked this true story about the past, check out Michelle’s historical fiction/mystery series, set in the 1930s in Chicago:

The post A Penchant for Choosing the Wrong Man appeared first on Michelle Cox Author.