I Remember

By Phillip C. Ross

Several years ago, Phillip’s granddaughters, Susan and Julia Jackson, begged him to write down everything he remembered. What tumbled out onto paper was a fascinating story of one member of the Greatest Generation.

Phillip Charles Ross is from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and currently resides in Mishawaka, IN.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Aug 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483435640

Book preview

I REMEMBER

Phillip C. Ross

Copyright © 2015 Phillip C. Ross.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3563-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3562-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3564-0 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 8/7/2015

CONTENTS

Preface to I Remember

I Remember

I Remember The Ballin Story

I Remember Childhood

I Remember Memories of My Grade School Days

I Remember Starting High School

I Remember Entering College

I Remember The White Collar Employment World

I Remember My Social Life (High School to Navy Enlistment)

I Remember My Time in the Navy

I Remember Meeting Ruth and Starting a Post War Civilian Career

I Remember My Goodyear Career

I Remember My Assignment in Paris, IL

I Remember Wisconsin

I Remember Our Chicago Experience

I Remember Iowa

I Remember South Bend, Indiana

I Remember Starting a New Career

I Remember My Family

I Remember Retirement Years and Florida Vacations

About the Author

PREFACE TO I REMEMBER

T he Greatest Grandpap from the Greatest Generation all started several years ago when Julia bought Grandpap and Grandma Ross a book with question prompts in order to document all the memorable things from their lives. Inspired, Grandpap asked Susan to help him fire up the computer and give him a tutorial on Word. Below is the outcome of his hard work and incredible memory. We are both so proud to help him see this through publication. Although there are slight edits, we kept true to the original document. Please forgive us for any and all mistakes.

We are so proud of Grandpap and hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

- Susan and Julia Jackson

I REMEMBER

I REMEMBER reading the following article on the Internet that gave me the incentive to get started answering the requests from my grandchildren and many other members of my extended family to put in writing my story. Everybody would like to find a written history of their ancestors. Most people neglect to record their own history (including their immediate family). The history (the story) of the common person is important. There are many untold stories that should be preserved. I hope to make some of them continue to live. The words that follow in this book are aimed at 50 years from now when my great-great grandchildren might enjoy reading about how times were in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. Also, about the Great Depression and WWII and being able to compare the actual time with the then written history books.

I wish my Father and Mother had the opportunity to write their life’s story like I am about to do. There are many voids in their lives that I am not familiar with. I wish I was able to fill them in.

When writing about oneself, there is always the danger of ego sliding in. I will do my very best to keep this from happening, even though I was fortunate to be blessed with an Alpha Id. So, I consider myself, at 95 years of age, a typical member of what is called the Greatest Generation. Thus, I REMEMBER the Great Depression very vividly and am a veteran of the Navy during WWII. Therefore, any progression of my life from my early teens until my middle 20’s was put into abeyance. I am writing this for my children and their children’s’ children, plus their cousins. (As I note later, my mother’s sister married my father’s brother. Therefore, all the cousins on one side are cousins to cousins on the other side. This becomes very visible during our annual family reunion as both sides come.) I am Uncle Bus to all my first cousins once removed plus all other relatives plus all the living family relatives of my mother’s. I sure am Uncle Bus to a lot of people. You can see the compatibility of this to the whole family on both sides. We are all related to my four Grandparents. As you will see, I am not writing in chronological order, but instead am writing under headings that described what went on during different stages of my life.

My having lived through the almost a century of our History might explain why my generation has been called the Greatest Generation. My life after getting married might be boring to some, but is part of my History. Also, there are probably errors in English and misspelled words, but I am not a professional writer. My name is Phillip Charles Ross and this is what I REMEMBER.

I REMEMBER THE BALLIN STORY

W ho am I? Being a product of my Grandparents, I will start with the story of how they arrived in the USA.

There is a new museum in Hamburg, Germany that contains approx. 5.7 million names of immigrants who sailed to the USA from the adjoining German Ports of Hamburg and Bremen. It is named after Albert Ballin, a German shipping magnate of that time (1880 - 1910). One of the millions of immigrants that came to the USA. Ballin recognized the financial aspects of the mass migration potential of the Eastern and Southern Europe Jewish population plus others. He sought to find a way to reduce the cost of passage and a way for them to pay for it. He recognized that there was going to be huge numbers of men recruited to fill the labor needs of the factories that were being built in the USA. The employers paid for their passage which would be deducted from their pay. Ballin was Jewish and had to figure a way for the millions of Easter and Southern Jewish families to come here, to secure freedom, reducing passage expense and generating the income to pay for it. Also, his method would be available to non-Jewish prospects.

This is the story of how Ballin was able to accomplish his desire and also make him rich. How did he do it? He instituted the steerage system that reduced the cost of the trip, and also how to pay for it. He set up stacks of bunks in the bottom hold of his ships where ballast was usually placed. People became human ballast, where in almost inhuman conditions millions of people got to our shores. He then sent agents throughout Eastern and Southern Europe making deals whereby they would turn over ownership of assets (land, jewelry, etc.) to him in exchange for a ticket. This system kept his ships to capacity and him a very wealthy man. He knew that young men were able to get here due to the new factories needing manpower and willing to pay their new lower priced passage and then deducting this cost from their wages. This got the millions of the Jewish population, plus the families and brides and/or future brides over. His system included passage, railroad passage to Hamburg and free room and board. The large influx of people into Hamburg waiting for passage room caused an enormous problem in the city, e.g. people sleeping in the streets, hold ups, and sanitary conditions. So, Ballin built large dormitories to house and keep them healthy until space was available. He would have to pay their passage back if they did not pass a physical upon going ashore in the USA. His facilities were an investment, not a gift. (Note my mother’s experience with this. The Ballin program answered the questions of how my mother and her siblings got here from the obscure little village of Olsinkov in NE Slovakia to 97 Wilkin St, Allegheny, Pa. This is now the 7th Ward of Pittsburgh, on its north side. The street is now named Westhall St. It is located on the street east of the Western Penitentiary. I want to give my cousin David credit for the research on the Allegheny location, as the ship’s manifest was very hard to read and the street name destination illegible. It is amazing that we drove to Pittsburgh many time in the years I lived at home and the view from the highway across the Ohio River could have pinpointed where Mother landed in the USA, but she never ever mentioned it.)

HOW MY MOTHER WAS ABLE TO GET TO AMERICA IN JUNE, 1907

Knowing the Ballin story answered the questions as to how my Grandmother was able to get her and her three young children to our shores. What a young woman she must have been!

My Mother seemed to live in denial that she was born in Europe. I was 14 before my Aunt Anna informed of the fact. Since she had no accent and most of her friends were native born I never had a reason to ask her about this fact of her life. It was assumed she was born in America. When I confronted her, she acknowledged it and told me not to tell anyone. Thereafter, by bits and pieces, she gave me enough memories of her trip to enable me to put the story of her trip together, and what a story it was. No wonder she wanted to forget all about it. She was almost 10 years old so her memories of the trip were vivid. She took the trip from the little village of Olsincov in NE Slovakia, near the borders of the Ukraine and Poland to 97 Wilkin St in what was then the town of Allegheny, Pa. Now a part of the North Side of Pittsburgh and the street is now named Westhall, located across the street East of what is now the Western Penitentiary.

My grandfather (hereafter I will call Mike) Michael Syka, a former medic in the Austro-Hungarian Empire Army, came to the USA at the expense of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was a part of the labor gangs building tracks to and from Pittsburgh. Like most of the young men who emigrated at that time, he did not intend to stay. Their objective was to save enough money to go back home and buy some land. In Europe you were nobody if you did not own any land and were at the mercy of the landowner as a peasant. But you were somebody if you owned some land and Mike sure must have wanted to be somebody. He saved enough to go back and buy some land. He married my grandmother, who lived in the adjoining village of Vyrova. It must have been an arranged marriage, as she was 15 and he was 29. He worked his small plot and others for some time, came back to the USA and back again to Slovakia and purchased some more land, leaving Anna, pregnant with two young children and my Aunt Helen, with the promise to be back and buy some more land, and give his family a good life.

Anna lived with her in-laws while he was gone, and although they got to use his land, with four mouths to feed and no man to help produce it, she was not treated very well. Anna waited for Mike to return, she prayed for a miracle. Any thought of returning to his poor native country went out the window. Buying land became unimportant as Mike was becoming a very successful business man in his new country. Back in Slovakia, Anna, with her children growing (Helen was now 5 years old) knew that some type of action had to be taken. The correspondence and money was getting fewer and farther between. She began to worry and wonder. She was a very religious person and prayed. The Ballin system had spread all over eastern Europe very rapidly. Along came a Ballin agent. Due to the fact that she had the Power of Attorney to their tract of land, her prayers for a miracle were answered. Thus she was able to make a deal for transportation for her and her children from little Olsincove to Mike’s address, in accordance to the ship’s manifest.

A description of their journey defies imagination. What a movie it would make. This was imprinted in my Mother’s memory, as she was 9 1/2 years old when it took place. This is what she remembered and told to me.

OLSINCOV TO MEDZHI-LABORCE

They had to catch the train at Medzhi-Laborce, which was about 15 miles north of their home. They left in the middle of the night with all that they could carry. Just imagine taking your three children, Uncle Charlie age 11, my mother Mary, age 9, and Aunt Helen age 6 and walking from Beaver Falls to Ambridge to catch a train. How many times did they have to stop, bathroom, fatigue, thirst, etc. over very hilly country in the Western Carpathian Mountains?

MEDZHI-LABORCE TO HAMBURG, GERMANY

This 800-900 mile train ride in a 1907 slow train through three different countries, changing trains over mountainous country on a very crowded train with three little ones who wanted water, food, bathroom, room to move around, etc. must have been grueling. How did Anna, this 27 year old young mother, the first time she was more than 10 miles from home, starting a five day train ride to a strange country do it? (This part of a movie would be a tear-jerker!) My mother said it was a terrible time.

HAMBURG TO BALTIMORE

My mother remembers them living in a very big place with lots of beds for about a week with man with sticks sticking out of his ears punching her all over. She recalled the Ballin dormitory living and exams before departing, then another short train ride and getting on a big ship (in Bremen, about 10 miles from Hamburg) to Baltimore in steerage. Mother told me Anna was sea sick all the way over, in the inhuman crowded conditions of steerage, vomiting, diarrhea, and other sick people and limited bathroom facilities. Torture! Mother told me she stayed with Anna most of the trip trying to take care of her. Not much is said of Uncle Charlie, but she Remembers Aunt Helen roaming all over the ship and being topside most of the trip. The trip took two weeks. Their smaller ship out of Bremen (the DARMSTADT) probably rolled and bounced quite a bit. (You might want to research Steerage to appreciate millions who made it.)

BALTIMORE TO ALLEGHENY, PA.

Mother Remembers another man with sticks out of his ears touching her all over when they landed in Baltimore (medical exam for entrance) and her first experience with a shower when they got off the ship. Then another 300 mile train ride from Baltimore to Pittsburgh. Arriving there, she remembers a man reading their tags and putting them on a street car and changing cars a couple of times. The conductor of the car finally told them to get off, as they were at their destination - Allegheny.

ALLEGHENY

There they were. A woman in different clothes, standing on a busy street corner with her three small children and a bewildered look on her face as she did not know her next move after their long trip. Most of her prayers for a miracle had been answered. Here comes the final miracle. My mother remembered it very vividly. Who comes walking down the street, but Mike! In a state of shock all he said was What are you doing here?. Anna answered him by saying What the hell do you think we are doing here? He then started to hug all of them with tears down his cheeks.

To end this part of Mother’s life, they lived in the back on above what was now a grocery store and Butcher shop. Most merchant’s families lived in the same building as the business.

What was going on with Mike in America? He must have been a cut above the average immigrant, as he was not working in a mill. He was turning into a successful entrepreneur. He had secured employment with a small Meat Packing company and learned the Butcher trade. He made a deal with the company whereby he received part of his wages in meat. He built a two-wheel push cart. He built a customer base of meat buyers and began earning more on his route than his wages. He then opened his own Butcher shop on the above mentioned address. He became very successful.

The geographical area in which he was raised was close to the borders of Ukraine and Poland, thus he learned these languages to converse in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian in addition to his own Slovak dialect. His time in the Austro-Hungarian Army enabled him to learn to converse in German and Hungarian! He learned broken English while in the States. Thus, the foundation of the success pattern of this ambitious young man becomes clear. He was selling a needed product in this area of mass immigration with customers being able to deal with a person in their own language!

Mike opened another store in Leetsdale, Pa. and brought his brother over to run it and took Uncle Charlie out of school to help and learn the business. Mother told me of Saturday nights, when everybody paid their bills, that Anna would go out into the store and empty the money box into her apron, come to the back where she had a small barrel and empty her full apron of money a few times a night. In addition to the business, Mike was the local doctor, as he had experience as a medic in the Army. They had a table set up in back of the store, where he patched up cuts and bruises and pulled teeth of the locals. Anna was a midwife and commanded respect in the community. They were living the good life.

IMMIGRATION STORY OF MY FRATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: A LOVE STORY

It might be hard to understand, but up until WWII, among the wave of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, there was practically no conversation in the immigrants’ homes about the Old Country as Europe was called. The mind set was to completely obliterate pre-American life and make sure their children were American. Although this was par for the course, keep in mind they kept their own cooking styles, churches, weddings, holiday customs, etc. as it was all they knew, and it kept up their comfort levels. That said I learned very little about any of my grandparents as individuals and their lives in Europe. That and another reason which will be explained later. I had four grandfathers. My biological grandfathers were both killed at a young age in accidents. Their widows had to remarry in order to exist. I met only one grandfather, my mother’s step-father when I was four years old. That was in the town of Nesquehoning, a hard coal mining town in NE Pennsylvania, where my mother was visiting her mother. I probably REMEMBER it due to the fact we rode on a train to get there and that became imprinted on my mind. One of the very few stories my Dad was able to tell me about his parents was She ran away from home to come to America to marry my father, with whom she was in love. In fact, he said, her parents put her to work in a convent to keep her away from him.

Her parents greatly disapproved of their very young teenager’s feelings for him. They felt he was below their class. Class was a very important part of the society of that time.

The owners of the Tin Mills that were being built in New Castle, Pa. were greatly in need of manpower to operate them, which was a very common problem in the USA and was the basis for the huge immigration period. These huge numbers of young men were recruited in the area of my grandfather, whom I will refer to as Tony, came to the U.S. at their expense, with the deal to pay for their passage by a wage deduction. As mentioned before, most of these young men came over with the idea of saving enough money to go back and buy some land. That was the message he gave Grandma. He would be a landowner and secure her parent’s favor. New Castle, Pennsylvania is now populated with a majority of people who are decedent from this history of the town.

Mystery #1: Why did My Grandmother’s Parents not approve of Tony? Mystery #2: How in the world could a young female get to America by herself? It was unheard of at the time! I am learning how oral history becomes fact when research uncovers answers.

It is amazing to me how facts completely open the book as they become uncovered. It was a love story that culminated in a marriage in a strange country far away from their homes. Here is how it happened.

Although my Dad was native born, I never knew the area or towns where his parents came from. I was never interested, and that is the way it was. Dad was the oldest at 6 years of age when his father got killed in a factory accident. He was the oldest of three boys, Uncle Fred at four and Uncle Philip, a babe in arms. In order to exist, young widows with children had to remarry, and some of these marriages were very unhappy ones. Anna was fortunate to marry a single man, with whom she had four more children. His last name was Setar, and I believe his first name was John although of that I cannot be sure. He died a young man from Silicosis from the stone dust in the stone quarry in which he worked. He was an expert stone mason and cutter and was a foreman.

You can see that there would not be much conversation about her first marriage, as her boys from her first marriage were too young to REMEMBER their father, plus the fact the conversation would not have been appropriate.

KISMET!

I was transferred to Pennsylvania and was talking to my new neighbor. When he found out who I was, he told me about knowing who my father was; this neighbor had come to this country from Italy after WWII as a teenager with his parents. He was learning the Barber trade in a local shop. Part of his apprenticeship was sweeping up the hair and helping customers on with their coats, brushing them off, etc. He described Dad, (with much respect) how he used to come into the shop getting shaves and haircuts, always well dressed and with his ever present cigar. The young man noticed that when Dad walked in all conversation ceased and he was treated with utmost respect. As a young immigrant from Italy he assumed Dad was a Godfather in the Mafia. He said the one day Dad started talking to him in fluent Italian and in a dialect that was the same as his. He said he started shaking as he now was convinced he was now talking to Mafia. He really got a good laugh with me on this one. Dad proceeded to tell him more about his background than he ever told my brother Bill or me. Here is what I learned, believe it or not.

The neighbor and his wife were born in the town of Bia-Latina, a cross roads town in a fertile valley full of orange groves and rich farm land, situated about 40 miles NE of Naples, and about 20 miles north of Caserta, in the province of Campania. The same town in which my grandmother was born! Tony’s village was about three miles up the mountainside from Bia-Latina, named Statighiano. My double cousin David, was making a trip to Italy (he speaks Italian). I gave him the fruits of my research and as he has the same grandparents as me, was very eager to make his way to these towns, and did. He secured a copy of Grandmother’s birth certificate. She was born there in 1868. Napoleon ruled that area in his time and had instituted record keeping. Her birth certificate is a full page written in beautiful Old Italian, which David had interpreted. He was also able to obtain birth info on Tony. He was born in 1865. VOILA! Mystery #1 is now solved! Why Tony was not accepted. The full page document described Grandmother’s family as being furniture manufacturers, which automatically commanded respect from the populace. Tony was born of humble parents in the poor mountain village. With class status being so important in that day’s society, it is now clear why her parents did not think he was good enough for her. Mystery #1 solved by this document.

Mystery #2: How did she get here? We know that Tony was recruited by the Tin Mill. He vowed to her that they would get married in the U.S. and to wait for him, as he would save his money and come after her. After her mysterious arrival in New Castle, she worked as a domestic for a well-known Italian merchant family by the name of Nocera. How did she get there in first place? Cousin David’s on site research found that Tony’s Mother’s maiden name was Nocera! At last the mystery of how she gained passage was solved. Tony made a deal with his Uncle Nocera, exchanging her passage expense for her serfdom of five years as a household employee for them. This was not an unusual deal in those days. End of Mystery #2.

Tony waited the long six or seven years for her and when she was released from servitude they married. She had her 1st child (my father) at the ripe old age of 29. This was a very late start in those days. They had to wait a long time. They sure must have loved each other very much.

What a story. Tony must have been a sharp young man above the average of his peers, as he became a straw boss in the mill. The term straw boss was given to the man selected to supervise the day to day activities of non-English speaking employees. This was to give them supervision in their own language. The straw boss commanded much respect. In addition, he was paid extra. He received the management orders and carried them out with his men.

The fatal accident’s description. A foundation was being built for some new machinery and Tony was in charge of the crew building it. He was unhappy with the progress of the project and jumped into the excavation to correct the situation and fell into a pick handle and ruptured his spleen. He died that night leaving his wife a young widow with three young boys. Dad age six, Uncle Fred age four and Uncle Philip a babe in arms. The Company gave her $100 for her troubles.

The only picture I ever saw hung on the wall of my Aunt Mary’s house. It was a picture of the day my Dad was baptized. You could tell from the picture that they had a lot of self-pride and must have been getting along good financially, as my Dad had on a very expensive long dress, and his parents were very well dressed. The picture has disappeared. At least I can REMEMBER what Tony looked like and the attractiveness of my young Grandmother. Her 2nd husband also died at a young age, due to silicosis from the stone dust of the quarries he worked in.

Where did the red hair in our family come from? This was a very unusual trait in people from Tony’s area of Europe. Tony had red hair and a ruddy complexion. My Dad had a reddish beard, blue eyes and an auburn streak in his hair. My sister, Shirley, was born with bright red hair which she had for the rest of her life. Brother Bill’s daughter Kathy and son Bill also had a beautiful head of red hair. My brother, Bill, had auburn hair and my whiskers were bright red. Tony’s last name was Russo. This name was in Italy a takeoff of a nickname for people with red hair and ruddy complexions.

I am participating in the National Geographic DNA program. It consists of DNA from my Dad’s side only. My DNA traces back (and most of my matches) to the British Isles, including Ireland! Further research shows my DNA being descended from the Norman Conquest out of England. The Norman’s controlled all of Italy up to Rome for many years. Their conquest system had their young single soldiers marrying into the local population and become citizen types instead of conquerors. This method gave them much success. (I now relate to St. Patrick’s Day! Ha Ha!) In any event, the mystery of red hair in our family is now solved! I wish I could obtain DNA on my mother’s side. Mother’s fraternal grandmother’s maiden name was Jewish.

Enough of how they got here. I think you will agree with me that story of both sides are very interesting ones. It gives me a sense of pride to think of their accomplishments to get here and that I am of their blood. Now, onto a fast resume of my parents’ pre-marriage life and finally onto my Greatest Generation history.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY PARENTS’ LIVES BEFORE THEIR MARRIAGE

Mother: Born in NE Slovakia, village of Olsinkov, November 14, 1897, as Mary Syka (Sojka). Parents: Michael and Anna (Riebe) Syka. Came to America in Steerage - a 2 week voyage from Bremen, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland on the Ship Damstadt. Arrived Baltimore on June 19, 1907. She was 9 years and 8 months old. Following is a condensed treatise of her life until she was 19, rising from a poor illiterate Green Horn (a derogatory term given to recent immigrant) to a position that at that time and place was one of prestige. As noted in the Preface, her first couple of years in this country was all it was supposed to be - good income, community respect, school, etc. However, Mike became addicted to rum, became an alcoholic who caused the downfall of his business and potential. He moved his family to Ambridge, Pennsylvania with the idea of starting over. It did not happen and times were tough for the family. The girls had to leave school and go to work. Mom worked in a cigar factory rolling cigars, and so did Aunt Helen. Mike then moved his family to Koppel, Pennsylvania, a small town of 1,000 that had the Koppel Car Works, a manufacturer of freight cars for the budding railroad industry. This factory, with a countrywide reputation for good products, kept the town a very active community, with representatives from all over the world coming to do business. Once again Mike attempted to start a new business and started a butcher shop/grocery business. Things were tough, but he was trying. Mother obtained a job in the kitchen of the local Hotel. All towns that had a railroad station also had a Hotel close by. All intercity traveling was done by rail. And as mentioned above, Koppel had a very busy station and Hotel, with people from all over the world coming to do business with the Car Works and the local Sandstone Quarries. Mother’s time was spent in the Hotel kitchen under the supervision of the Cook, a black woman named Myrtle. This was the training ground for her lifetime reputation as an expert cook and pastry baker. Myrtle and Mom remained good friends Until Myrtle’s untimely death. I REMEMBER her visiting in our home.

Mother must have been a sharp young lady. In any event, she was promoted to be the waitress in the highly rated dining room of the hotel, probably the best non-professional position in town for a young female. It is my understanding that it was a topic of conversation in town, as there were many native born young ladies who applied for the job when it was given to my mother. Keep in mind that for immigrant females the only jobs available were either in factories or as household domestics. Thus, Mother was in daily contact with professional clientele, and she was exposed to manners, conversation, and knowing her, she did not miss much. She became fluent in English, lost her accent and developed an excellent self-esteem that she maintained for the rest of her life.

She was 19 when she started to date my Dad. On paper it was an ideal situation. He: the town’s best athlete with a good steady job, and she: the well-known young attractive blue eyed blond. It was comparable to a present day cheerleader-quarterback match.

BAD NEWS! On October 11, 1916, (Columbus Day) Dad was looking for Mom to give her the bad news that his brother Uncle Fred had just lost his leg in a factory accident. He was 23. In the meantime, Mom was looking for Dad to inform him that her father had just been killed in an accident. Mike was delivering groceries in his horse and wagon when he was rear-ended by a truck (a scarce item) got knocked to the ground, fractured his skull and he died. Mother said the only mark he had was a black and blue bruise on his forehead. Columbus Day was always a somber day at our house. My Grandmother Syka always called Uncle Fred Columbus.

Flash forward. I have always been proud of Mary’s progress as a Green Horn, orphan of an alcoholic father, in a strange country, in a short nine years. But all was not ideal. This fact will become evident when they decided to get married. (Later, you will see why I stressed the "blue-eyed blond’ description.)

MY FATHER’S FAMILY AND HIS LIFE UNTIL HE MARRIED MY MOTHER

His parents, Sabatino Antonio Russo and Maria Dominica Paglia were married in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1890. His parents were Girolamo Russo and Margarita Nocera, both born in Statigliano, Italy, about 20 miles north of Caserta. (William and Margaret same as my brother William and his wife Margaret!) Her parents were Luigi Paglia (4/10/1835) and Violente Carusone (born 1848). They were from Bia-Latino about three miles from Statigliano. Dad’s parents’ marriage was the culmination of the love story previously described.

Their marriage produced three sons, James Eugene, 7-17-1891, Frederick, 3-19-1893 and Philip Anthony, 7-4-1895. They remained very much in love and were living a nice life in their new country. He, with a good job as a straw boss with above average wages and her, with a lot of self-pride in her home and children. She was used to nice things having worked in a well to do home. The only picture of my grandfather that was in existence was the baptismal picture of my Dad sitting on his mother’s lap and his proud father standing beside her. The reason I am mentioning this was because of the proud way they were dressed and presenting themselves. Grandma with a beautiful dress and large hat, he with a very nice suit shirt and tie and my father dressed in a long laced dress. You could see that they did not spare any cost to make this kind of an appearance. My Aunt Jenny told me of some of Maria’s conversations about her first marriage, saying she always seemed to have a smile and longing look come over her face when talking about Tony. She described