We Are a Family

By Bob Traley

This book covers the years 1873 - 1975 and the factual family history, (not a geneology), of a family from Germany, the Straleys, and a family from Ireland, the Kellys. Actual letters from within the family make up a large part of the book. Abundant comical and heart touching anecdotes make this book relative to YOUR OWN family.

It is hoped that the book will inspire the reader to collect, draft, or record a similar collection of successes and failures from your own family members as a LEGACY for future generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 2, 2004
• ISBN: 9781462835560

Bob Traley

This book essentially IS about the author. Bob was raised in Kingston, NY. The U.S. Navy provided him with a college education at the University of Notre Dame. Corporate employment with Shell Oil Co., AT&T, and ITT, allowed Bob to spend much of his adult life outside of the U.S. Bob and his wife retired in 1997 to Hutchinson Island, Florida where they continue to enjoy their family, currently scattered across six States. Also, they continue to find new relationships at Windmill Village, a quiet commuinity on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Come see us now, heah?

Book preview

Copyright © 2004 by Bob Straley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

24555

Contents

Foreword

Index

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

About the Author

Foreword

This book is about two words and one concept. The words are LEGACY and MENTORING. The concept is COMMUNICATING WITH GOD.

This book is dedicated primarily to my family, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, and to all my relatives who share part of the TRALEY—KELLY Family Tree.

The word LEGACY refers to something handed down from one generation to another. In earliest times legacies were handed down by word of mouth. It seems fitting that in our times a legacy serves a useful purpose to be written down. I hope that my family members will enjoy this written legacy as they each pursue their goal of eternal life, earned for each of us by Jesus Christ.

The word MENTORING refers to one who gives wise advice or provides counsel through good example. Everyone is a mentor, sometimes intentionally, more often unintentionally. A primary role of parents is setting example for their children and advising their children how to make choices in their lives. Some parents give little or no advise to their children. Others give too much advise. However, the daily actions of the parent are readily observed by the children and thus are a constant source of mentoring. Each person is probably primarily a result of the intentional or unintentional mentoring by the parent. Mentoring is truly the skill foundation of being a parent. Of

course, teachers, relatives, friends, bosses, coaches, famous people, and many others also become mentors for each individual. There is not a day that each of us does not say to ourselves, Gee, I wish I could be more like that person, or Gee, I hope I never become like that person.

COMMUNICATING WITH GOD is usually a mysterious concept, and for many people a totally absurd concept in their life. Fortunately for me, this has been a concept imbedded in my life since about age five. As you will see in this book, this concept was cultivated generously throughout my entire life. However, it has not been until recently, I’m currently sixty-eight years old, that I feel that I have just begun to understand the concept. You see, most of my life I considered the practice of communicating with God as a one-way street, that is me to Him, mostly through my prayer habit. I now see it as a two-way street. He is CONSTANTLY talking to me through everything and everyone in what I see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. He is EVERYWHERE, the supreme MENTOR, showing me what is good and bad, right and wrong, worthwhile and worthless, uplifting and degrading. He indicates what foods to eat and not eat, what TV shows to watch and not watch, what to say and not to say. Oh, this is not to say that I am perfectly tuned in. By no means! I said above, I have just begun to learn how to SEE, HEAR, LOOK, TASTE, and LISTEN.

You may read this book for pleasure, you may read it for information, but if you read this book and can sit in Kindergarten class with me learning the LEGACY, MENTORING, and COMMUNICATION skills put on this earth by our Creator, THAT IS MY GOAL.

From Adam to Noah to you and I, We Are A Family.

Index

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 There is a right time for everything;

A time to be born;

A time to die;

A time to plant;

A time to harvest;

A time to kill;

A time to heal;

A time to destroy;

A time to rebuild;

A time to cry;

A time to laugh;

A time to grieve;

A time to dance;

A time for scattering stones;

A time for gathering stones;

A time to hug;

A time not to hug;

A time to find;

A time to lose;

A time for keeping;

A time for throwing away;

A time to tear;

A time to repair;

A time to be quiet;

A time to speak up;

A time for loving;

A time for hating;

A time for war;

A time for peace.

And I know this, that whatever God does is final—nothing can be added or taken from it. God’s purpose in this is that man should fear the all-powerful God.

Chapter 1: Traley/Kelly Ancestors 1873-1929The Perfect Gift

The Traleys arrived in the U.S. from Austria in the mid 1800’s as did the Kellys from Ireland. Henry Traley spent his early years on the towpath of the Erie Canal, living on a barge with his family, later settling in Kingston, NY as the New York State Barge Canal and the use of tug boats made the mule obsolete.

The Kellys, from where else, Ireland, originally settled in Bloomfield, NJ. Son Thomas, after becoming a Master Plumber, relocated to Kingston, NY as the official Plumbing Inspector for the City. Shortly after fathering five children, his young wife became a victim of the flu epidemic of 1918. Daughter Beatrice, at age thirteen, stepped in to provide household services for the family. Her best friend schoolmate at the time was Henry Traley’s sister Mary. Inevitably, Henry and Beatrice married in 1929.

The Crash of ’29, a mortgage on a new house, unemployment, and Bea’s pregnancy in 1930, helped to burst their bubble. Henry’s diabetic health problem, The Great Depression, and a second pregnancy in 1931, caused the light at the end of the tunnel to barely flicker.

The discovery of insulin in dogs in 1925 and the successful adaptation of its use for humans by Canadian doctor James Collip in 1930, and FDR’s economic reforms for the country in 1932, gave new hope to this struggling family. Henry returned to his career path on the water becoming a tug boat Captain and New York Harbor Pilot. Life was on track again!

The Perfect Gift is Bob’s first professional written document. It provides a unique method for evaluating the worth of a gift.

Chapter 2: My Early Years 1929-1944

Memories and Mentors of PS #5

While Bob was in 7th Heaven spending his summer vacations with his Dad on the tug boats, like most kids, he was faced with running away from home at age 10. His absence only lasted a few hours with his buddy Freddy Bickert, as a result of setting a woods fire.

By age 12 he found himself at the Police Station for shooting BB’s at semi-trucks, fingered by his cousins! Fortunately, Dad saved the day.

WW-II had a major influence on Bob’s life, mainly due to his father and cousins Lou and Rose who became War Heroes for Bob. Life was exciting!

Memories and Mentors of PS #5 is a letter that Bob wrote to the local Kingston newspaper after he returned to Kingston for his 50th High School Reunion, having been absent from the city for 50-years.

Chapter 3: High School Years 1944-1949

Thank God for the Boy Scouts

The teenage years open the door to one’s exercise of free choice as you gradually spend more time away from family and neighborhood. Bob joined the Boy Scouts which started the entry of new mentors into his life. High school brought new teachers, athletic coaches, peer competition, new friends, and opportunities to develop new skills and responsibilities. Among those choices for Bob were developing musical talent on piano, clarinet and saxophone, after school activities in sports, school plays, officer positions in student clubs, part time jobs, spending money, and girlfriends! His first full time job came during a summer vacation at age 16 as a cook on a tug boat. Life suddenly became VERY EXCITING.

Of course, one also learns that life has it’s ups and downs. When a downer occurs amidst one’s peers, they often have lasting effects. Bob has memories of a few of these that we all can relate to.

Thank God for the Boy Scouts will be seen as a comical spoof by any parent who took the risk of allowing their 12-tear old son to have his first week-long experience at camp.

Chapter 4: College Years 1949-1953

The Unhappy Monk

In his senior year in high school Bob joined the Navy Reserve, attending meetings one-night a week in Poughkeepsie, NY, a town twenty miles from Kingston. This was his sure fire plan to fulfill his dream of pursuing a career at sea. His acceptance by Notre Dame University and the NROTC only made life sweeter after graduation.

Life at Notre Dame brought new mentors into his life, including Frank Leahy, the head football coach, as well as clergy, college roommates, and negative-mentors such as Annapolis Midshipman during his summer cruises with the NROTC.

Bob uses the writing technique of incorporating personal letters to his family to describe his college years, including his curriculum, his part-time job experiences including amateur boxing bouts at Elkhart, IN, his summer cruises with the NROTC, his religious experiences which resulted in his entry into a monastic monastery, and his dating of several girlfriends, one of which appeared to be leading to a serious lifetime relationship.

A touching thank-you letter to his family concludes his graduation and entry as Ensign into the U.S. Navy.

The Unhappy Monk is another comical spoof, based on reality, of life in a monastery.

Chapter 5: Navy Years 1953-1956

Duty, Honor, Country

Ensign Traley spent the summer of 1953 at the U.S. Navy Hydrographic-Oceanographic Headquarters in Suitland, MD learning the special skills he would need once aboard the U.S.S. Maury, a Hydrographic Survey vessel in the Atlantic. Once aboard in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Bob learned that Sea Duty meant lots of sea duty! The Maury rarely ever went into port, and when a hurricane was in the Atlantic, the Maury’s job was to get to the eye and stay there!

Bob was assigned duties as Bridge Officer, Ship’s Chaplain, Ship’s Band Director, and Happy Hour Coordinator! Life became BUSY, EXCITING, and ROUTINE.

An engagement to Barbara Weber at Christmas 1953 led to a Notre Dame Military Wedding in May 1954. A shipyard overhaul in Brooklyn, NY in January 1955 led to the birth of Tom, the first child in October of that year.

An unfortunate helicopter crash in May 1956 of Bob’s shipboard roommate led to the body escort by Bob to Lt. Pinkey’s family, a burial in Arlington Cemetary, and an early discharge for Bob in May 1956.

Duty, Honor, Country is a heart-touching, real-life story of how service in the military instills values into its members.

Chapter 6: Really Married 1956-1959

Cats Have 9-Lives, Humans Have 10!

Civilian life brought about many adjustments to the young Traley family. Bob had developed three promising job opportunities before he left the Navy. The selected one was with Shell Oil Company as a Geophysicist with the Exploration Department in the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The initial assignment was in Lafayette, LA with a Seismic Crew. Cajun lifestyle was definitely a shock to the family. Barbara found herself still alone as Bob plied the bowels of the earth exploding dynamite and recording the shock waves in the Gulf, the Louisiana marshes, and bayous.

Daughter Donna was born in December 1956, and the family relocated to Houston, TX in January 1957 for Bob’s formal training at the Shell Research facility in Houston for six-months. (An interesting crisis regarding Tom, while in Houston is included in Cats have 9-lives, Humans have 10!)

Graduation from Houston, and promotion to a Seismic Crew in Baton Rouge, LA brought forth an exciting career for Bob, climaxed by the discovery of Mississippi’s largest oil field, but not before the birth of David in 1959 and a stint in Vicksburg and McComb, MS.

Cats Have 9-lives, Humans Have 10 is a true story that anyone can relate to which describes how close to death each of us come to during our lifetime.

Chapter 7: How Lucky Can One Be? 1959-1966

A Special Tribute to Burl Kupicki

Bob resigned from Shell in 1959 to pursue a Ph.D. in Geophysics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA with a teaching fellowship. Relocation of the family of five to Bethlehem proved to be a good decision. Although promised a technical position at Bethlehem Steel Works, Bob took a position at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Allentown, PA and accidentally became involved in the initial production of semiconductors at the Western Electric factory there. Pursuing his degree at Lehigh, teaching at Lehigh, and working at Bell Labs paid off major dividends for the family economically, socially, educationally, and experientially. In 1964 Bob received an MBA Degree from Lehigh, a fourth child, Matthew, was born, Bob became a Cub Scout Pack Leader, the President of the local Notre Dame Alumni Club, a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, a volunteer teacher in the Allentown High School for gifted students, and an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Township Road Supervisor.

In 1965 Bob’s father, Henry, died.

A Special Tribute to Burl Kupicki describes Bob’s friendship with a Holocast survivor. This is a MUST READ.

Chapter 8: Welcome to the Real World 1966-1973

Community Participation

The experience gained at Western Electric in the ground floor development of semiconductors provided Bob, and many of his peers, with an enticing resume for the developing manufacturers of semiconductor devices. Consequently, Bob took a position with International Telephone & Telegraph in 1966 requiring a relocation to Palo Alto, CA and then to West Palm Beach, FL as part of their international Semiconductor Manufacturing Division.

ITT had purchased Shockley Laboratories, a manufacturer of diodes and transistors in Palo Alto, CA. Bob’s first assignment was to move the factory to West Palm Beach, FL, the Division Headquarters. By September 1966, the family had spent the summer in California in a motel, purchased a house in West Palm Beach, and had the children start at St. Ann’s School in Florida by September.

Bob subsequently became the Division Quality and Reliability Assurance Manager. This duty required the visitation of the many customers around the U.S. and the assistance in purchasing or constructing additional factories ouside of the U.S. as the demand for semiconductor devices skyrocketed by computer and military equipment manufacturers. Consequently, Bob spent much time on airplanes, in strange hotel rooms, and eating on the fly.

The first overseas facility was a new construction in Cascais, Portugal. This was followed by purchases and contract agreements of existing factories in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the Philipines.

Barbara became involved at home with the usual children’s activities mostly related with the school and church affiliation and the addition to the family of Brian in 1969. Bob managed to remain involved in family matters as Chairman of the Annual St. Ann’s Fall Festival for several years, BINGO caller at St. Ann’s and Cardinal Newman High School, an 8th Grade CCD teacher, a Boy Scout Troop Leader, and a Little League baseball coach as the family matured into the high school and college years.

Community Participation describes how the typical U.S. family becomes driven by forces outside of their employment as children enter school. In fact, the older they get, the worse it gets!

Chapter 9: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! 1973-1974

A Lesson in Motivation

The speed of life continued to increase for the Florida based Traley family in the 70’s. Brian was pre-school, Matt and David were in Grade school, Donna was in High School, and Tom entered College; Barbara became employed as a Montessori teacher, and Bob discovered how large the world really was with trips to Europe and the Far East as new semiconductor factories were built or purchased by ITT

The Traley children were developing their own individual talents and creating their own schedules including school group affiliations in sports and civic clubs, after school work, and musical interests. The busyness and stress was taking a toll on the marriage bonds of Bob and Barbara and marriage counselling was sought through clergy and professional counselling.

A major event in Bob’s life was the complete renovation of a factory and dormitory building in Hsin Chu, Taiwan where the 1600 employees were mainly 12-18 year old children of the local rice farmers who were contracted in 1-year periods to receive employment, room and board, education, and medical attention.

A Lesson in Motivation shows how self initiative is a worldwide force. Except for language barriers, we truly are A Family.

Chapter 10: A Time for Planes, Motels,

and More Planes 1974-1975

The Lunar New Year

The Traley family was now spread from Grade School, to High School, to College. Bob’s life was equally spread from Europe, to Florida, to the Far East. Starting up new factories to manufacture microcircuits to supply the world demand was the main order of business. Forty-hour plane rides from West Palm Beach to the Far East became routine with visits to Mom and Joan in Kingston and Tom and Donna in Cincinnati interspersed along his itinerary.

The Lunar New Year is a short explanation of this most important holiday for the Chinese people, which Bob participated in during the 1974 year.

Chapter 11: Works vs. Good Works 1975

A Special Tribute to Janette Cole

Bob and Barbara slide deeper into a rocky marriage. A treehouse constructed by Bob and son David for Matthew and Brian provides a comical family experience. David finds that High School athletic programs become his priority. Bob is required to spend more time in Taiwan due to the recession impact on ITT. The temporary Production Manager position at Unitron provides Bob with a stressful test of his physical, emotional, and managerial limits.

A Special Tribute to Janette Cole is a touching story of a unique American couple from Quakertown, PA who chose to raise their family of seven children in Kaohsuing, Taiwan. The husband, Bill, managed a factory of 1200 employees. His wife, Janette, converted their house into an orphanage for discarded infants. Her compassion to help others led her to collect and deliver 500-pounds of food for the famine ravaged people of Bangladesh in 1974

Chapter 12: A Search for Answers 1976

Have you had an AH-HA experience lately?

Bob’s married years have been much too busy. His worldwide travels have generated more questions than answers. He appears to to be awakened to the Big Picture of life and the world around him. His two older children are now in college which has added another stop, (Cincinnati), on his continuing travels.

Have you had an AH-HA experience lately is an interesting perspective of one’s learning experiences. You will enjoy it.

Chapter 13: Have You Had a

Religious Experience Lately? 1976

The Anatomy of Mystical Phenomena

Bob relates some very personal details of several of his past and present religious experiences. If you’ve never had one, this Chapter may seem a little weird to you. Active participation in a local Prayer Group develops, along with some resulting additional participation in other community groups. You will undouubtedly ask,What is wrong with this guy?

The Anatomy of Mystical Phenomena is a must read, whether or not you have ever had a religious experience. Like the AH-HA experience concept, you will find this thought provoking, and perhaps argumentative. In any case, you will enjoy it.

Chapter 14: Treasures From Heaven 1976

The God Memorandum

This Chapter contains a sample of personal letters that Bob carried with him on his ITT worldwide travels. Letters from his father, mother, wife, children, and friends are included.

The God Memorandum is a general letter published by the famous author, Og Mandino. Required reading for anyone over 40!

About the Author

Chapter 1

Traley/Kelly Ancestors

(The Perfect Gift)

Matthew 1:1-16 These are the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David and Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah; Judah was the father of Perez (Tamar was his mother); Perez was the father of Hezron; Hezron was the father of Aram; Aram was the father of Amminadah; Amminadah was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon; Salmon was the father of Boaz (Rahab was his mother); Boaz was the father of Obed (Ruth was his mother); Obed was the father of Jesse; Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon (his mother was the widow of Uriah); Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa; Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram; Joram was the father of Uzziah; Uzziah was the father Jotham; Jotham was the father of Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah; Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh; Manesseh was the father of Amos; Amos was the father of Josiah; Josiah was the father of Jechoniah.

Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel; Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor; Azor was the father of Zadok; Zadok was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eluid; Eluid was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Joseph (was was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ the Messiah).

How does all of that information make you feel? It absolutely blows me away! How did those people manage to record all of that information which scanned thousands of years? Even in today’s times of modern technology, I can’t seem to find out who was my GREAT GRANDFATHER, only three generations ago!

Another thing, in all of that recording, why was the mother mentioned only four times (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary)? Did you know that Tamar was a prostitute and Judah’s daughter-in-law, not his wife? (Read Genesis 38, a really juicy story!) Rahab was also a prostitute (read Joshua 2 and Joshua 6 for another interesting story where Rahab and her family were the only people saved when the Walls of Jericho came tumbling down). Ruth was a model role model for young women. If you have a teenage daughter, be sure to have her read the book of Ruth. I’m sure you know that King David arranged for Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to be murdered (read 2 Samuel 11 for this unbelievable story). And notice that the Bible DOES NOT SAY Joseph was the father of Jesus Christ!

There are other intriguing questions that all of this has caused me to ponder. One is: if Jesus Christ had prostitutes, murderers, and kings among his ancestors, (and who knows what else), that gene pool did not seem to manifest itself in his character. He, like all of us, seem to have a great deal of control over our life through the power of FREE CHOICE. Yet, a second question: there seems to be one area of our lives where we have NO FREEDOM OF CHOICE. That is choosing our ancestors, parents, brothers, and sisters! Do these events happen by chance, or are they chosen by someone else? It would seem that this is where we find our first blessings from God, our ancestors. I can START counting my blessings from God with my grandparents, parents, and my sister. All these were the beginning of my many blessings. Let me start here.

Traley (TRAHLI) is of Austrian origin. My father had blue eyes and light brown hair, perhaps a remnant of that origin. Nevertheless, the only information that I can pass on to you is that the first Trahli arrived in the United States in the early 1800’s and changed the spelling of the name. When one of the Traley sons, Sebastian (born in 1873), married Caroline Fox in 1898, they decided to live on a barge towed by a mule along the Erie Canal. Now today’s children probably would not recognize the word towpath. But, to Louis (born 1901), Henry (born 1904), and Mary (born 1906), the Traley children, much of their early life was spent walking alongside the mule who towed the barge from Albany to Buffalo, NY along the towpath. The barge route actually was from New York City to Buffalo, the Hudson River providing a respite for the family as a tug boat moved them along this 160-mile route, the mule being required for the 360-mile canal route. Technological change impacted the Traley family life as the New York State Barge Canal was completed in 1903, thus allowing tug boats to traverse the entire distance from New York City to Buffalo, and making mules and towpaths obsolete and the space occupied as living quarters of the mule and the mule caretakers available for extra cargo space. Decisions, decisions, decisions, another promising career dashed on the rocks of progress!

So, Sebastian and Carrie choose a place to settle down and leave the hauling of grain, cement, and bricks to others. They choose to return to their birthplace, Kingston, NY, a thriving town on the banks of the Hudson River, as their resting place in 1908. Sebastian, Buster as he was known by his friends, took employment at Dwyer Brothers Boatyard in Kingston, one of the leading barge construction companies of that era. A lucky break for the children, they got to go to a real school, Public School #3. The children proceeded to lead quite normal lives after that, up to the marrying ages of their twenties.

Now the name Kelly needs only a brief explanation as to its derivation, IRISH! The Kellys also arrived as immigrants to the U.S in the early 1800’s settling in Bloomfield, NJ. One of the children, Thomas, born in 1875, married a pretty German immigrant girl, Martha Hammernick in 1898. Thomas became a plumber and then a Master Plumber. In 1900 he was offered, and accepted, a position by the City of Kingston, NY as the Plumbing Inspector for the city. Children came along to the Kellys, Leonora in 1903, Beatrice in 1905, Marion in 1907, Rose in 1909, and Martin in 1912. Of Catholic origin, the children attended St. Mary’s Parochial School and Kingston High School, in Kingston. During the influenza epidemic of 1917, Martha became a victim. Since Leonora was a senior in high school, Thomas decided that Leonora should graduate and Beatrice should leave school to become the housekeeper for the family, at age thirteen. Beatrice readily accepted this challenge, fearful however that she might lose contact with her dearest girlfriend, Mary Traley! Not to worry, Mary and Beatrice grew even closer together.

In the 1920’s more technological change impacted the people of Kingston. It became a thriving textile center of dress and shirt factories desperately trying to fill the demand for the exploding population of the U.S., particularly the New York and New England area. Mary took a job in a shirt factory as a seamstress. As the Kelly children outgrew the need for Beatrice’s housekeeping services, Beatrice joined her girlfriend in the factory.

In the meantime, Henry, probably wanting to rekindle his fantasies from his towpath days, found employment on the busy tug