Not my grandmother's DAR anymore!

The first post here under the Nut Tree about the DAR, which you can see here, was all about how I came to get interested in the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, or as everyone usually calls it, the DAR. I was going to now write about the Meet and Greet but first I want to give my impressions of the DAR today. I know that it's early on for me to even have an opinion but sometimes first impressions are more true than not. And I am first to admit that I, along with many others, might have a misconception about the group with out of date images of very proper ladies who always wear white gloves, even to the grocery store, sporting big blue sashes while decked out in, what, maybe hoop skirts. And they never laugh and are always reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. That sure isn't what I found! And I have to say, these ladies laugh. A lot!

Guess I should make it real clear here that I speak for myself alone. This stuff is not approved by anyone, let alone the NSDAR. I'm barely in the door there and my transfer from Member at Large to the local chapter is still working its way through the channels. This is my own deal here and I don't represent anyone or anything. I just think it might be interesting to someone or other what the DAR experience is about for one person. Or maybe not.

And speaking of grandmothers, if my Grandma Kelly would have known about the DAR she would have loved being a part of it. She had, after all, two for-sure Revolutionary War patriots on her own grandmother's side, and that's not counting two more on her grandfather's side that I still need to investigate because they are on the list of DAR's Patriots. So that's potentially four patriots for Grandma Kelly. She would have been so very proud of that. And she would have loved being part of a group of ladies who are interested in their ancestors and work on civic projects. And, she loved to have lunch and listen and talk about history and her community! Yes, she would have just adored the DAR. Sadly, Grandma Kelly didn't know about the DAR and about her ancestors' patriotic past until very late in life but when my Mom told her, she soaked it up!

The question begs asking: can an organization like this be relevant now? I'm thinking that we all believe in the power of people in the community pulling together to help others. We see that within the genealogy community all the time. Here in San Diego, in many ways a military town, there are numerous opportunities to help veterans and their families. But it's just harder to do something really worthwhile for them by yourself except the holiday food drive. And I'm not sure that I would know how to make a difference on my own. I can easily see the greater good in being part of something larger than ones self to help make your community a better place.

So let's float this: is patriotism relevant today? Maybe some people don't have time to even consider this question due to their busy lives. I get that too. But after September 11th, 2001 I never once went back to taking my country for granted. It means something to me. And to be honest, having ancestral lines that go back to the very beginning here feels great. (Not that I'm not equally proud of my recent immigrant ancestors too. They struggled and overcame as well.)

My impression is that things have changed at the DAR, changed with the times and probably for the better. I think I read somewhere that the NSDAR has recently enjoyed a mini boom in inquiries due to their online presence and the wonderful Ancestor Search portal to the patriot listings, which you can access here. You can use it to find out if your ancestor is already listed as one of their Patriots. Just pick an ancestor you think might have been alive during the Revolutionary War and plug in the surname to get instant gratification! And here's a look at the search page, below. It's super easy to use, as you can see.

DAR Ancestor Search screenshot.

Check it out. Go ahead, just plug in a surname and see what happens. Maybe you too have an ancestor who is listed? I run all of the ancestors through this search engine if they were born anywhere near 20 to 30 years before that 1776 date. And remember, some were older and served, some paid a tax in support, and some took a loyalty oath so be inclusive with your ancestor list. And don't forget the little drummer boys too! (Was that actually a thing? I think so.) The American Revolution took a lot of support from a lot of people. Don't forget the ladies because they served as well. Do remember that not all who might qualify are already listed so you could be the first to get your patriot approved. That would be exciting!

I simply can not imagine Grandma using a laptop, although once I did see her in a pants suit. I have to tell you, that was real shocking!

OK, I know that not all the DAR ladies are toting laptops and smart phones and multitasking. There are some who are maybe 30 or 40 years in and are proud that they don't use email. At all. Ever. I get that, and have to say I respect it too. It's real nice when people aren't "run" by their electronic devices. And what genealogical society doesn't have members of long standing that aren't on the email list? Yeah, I don't think my Grandma would have embraced the social network that drives portions of my life. She just loved sitting in her dining room in the corner at the telephone stand talking on the black rotary phone. If we don't respect those who have gone before us, what have we got? I just love the most senior of the DAR ladies for all that they have done. They paved the way.

Another thing that might be different about today's DAR, although I really don't know, is that everyone is so upbeat and kind and energetic. Maybe it was always like that but as I say, I really don't know because I'm new to all this. But I can't even imagine anyone being nicer and more accepting of newcomers. I have the feeling that the pace of the organization now is as swiftly moving as life today itself. I got a feel for just how lovely they are and how willing to help when I lurked on the "Daughters of the American Revolution" Facebook page. Go see for yourself. Here's a recent post there.

 

DAR Facebook page, recent post. Yeah, it's like that there:)

Find the DAR Facebook page here.

And it's all-inclusive: moms, working women, moms who are working outside the home. And retired ladies like myself too. One woman I got to know at the Meet and Greet worked full time and participated in DAR activities as best she could for a bunch of years before she was able to work full DAR chapter participation into her schedule.

And one last thing. Do you remember back when there were rumors and stories about the DAR being elitist? Very exclusive? No? I don't either but I think there might have been an issue back in the 1950s but there were a lot of issues about many aspects of life back in the 1950s and 1960s. Everyone learned and grew in spirit, and that's as it should be.

I have the feeling that it might be a changing world out there in DAR land where tradition is kept and honored while finding modern ways to "be" in the world. And if you think you might like to be a part of it, all you have to do is let them know and you'll get all the help you need.

OK, wanting to help everyone is very much like my Grandma!! Yup, she would have loved it.

Mom and Dad, Grandpop Kelly with Grandma Kelly on the right.

Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, 1942.

 



The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/08/not-my-grandmothers-dar-anymore.html

Military Memories: WWII: Dad stayed home, why and what happened then

When his brothers Delbert and Bernie went off to enlist Dad stayed home because he knew he wouldn't be eligible to serve. You see Dad had an accident when he was two years old and burned his hands on a hot stove.  Here's a tracing of Dad's little hands done by his Grandmother two days before the accident.

Dad's hands just before they were burned, an injury that kept him out of WWII.

Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916-2007).

Unfortunately Dad's hands never healed correctly and he was unable to have full range of motion with his fingers afterwards. See how the little fingers in the tracing above look normal? After the accident they were sort of webbed slightly together at the base and scarred such that he couldn't open them fully. It never stopped him from doing anything he wanted to... except join up at the start of the war.

 

Dad had worked at a textile plant so he knew manufacturing real well and worked his way up through the ranks. During the war years he worked in a munitions plant. He had a good analytical mind and understood how chemicals worked. Dad was always intellectually curious throughout his life and was truly a life-long learner. So it's not too hard to imaging how he took to the new chemistry of ballistics and bombs.

 

In his work he met some very important figures of the day and men who went on to work on the Manhattan Project. He was invited to meetings of the National Defense Research Committee, or NDRC, which from what I understand was a top secret group whose work was pretty forward looking and instrumental in the development of ballistic weapons. As Wikipedia describes it:

 

NDRC was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare."

Dad's specialty was explosives and by association, propellants. This area was to become big during the war as science worked with military to develop new weapons. A lot of the projects he worked on were top secret and he had a pretty high security clearance, but exactly what level I'm not sure. He went on numerous trips to meetings at the Pentagon.

The NDRC in its original form lasted a year from June of 1940 to June of 1941 and then it reorganized a bit and continued until after the war in 1947. Looking at the Wikipedia page about it I'm guessing that from what I know about Dad's work he was involved with Division 8, as follows form the Wikipedia listing, below:

Following the reorganization of the NDRC in December 1942, it had the following divisions:
Division 8 (Explosives), George B. Kistiakowsky, Chief (1942–1944), Ralph A. Connor, Chief (1944–1946)

I'm posting some of  the photos of that time from Mom's archive. I'd like to be able to identify some of the individuals but as yet can't except for Dad and one other man. There he is on the left with dignitaries in the photo just below.

 

 

 

Dad often talked fondly about one individual and that was George Kistiakowsky, or "Kisty" as he was called. Kisty went on to work on the Manhattan Project. I'm not positive but looking at other photos of him online, that's most likely him standing to the right of Dad. Here's just part of his fascinating life story which you can read in it's entirety by clicking on his name above which serves as a link.

 

While teaching at Harvard throughout the 1930s, Kistiakowsky applied his expertise in thermodynamics, spectroscopy, and chemical kinetics to military research, corporate consulting, and political advising. During World War II, Kistiakowsky served as chief of the National Defense Research Committee's Explosives Division.
Kistiakowsky joined the Manhattan Project in late January 1944, leaving his role as chief of the National Defense Research Committee's Explosives Division. He replaced Seth Neddermeyer as head of X (Explosives) Division and by spring 1945 had over 600 people working on solving the complicated problem of igniting the plutonium core in the atomic bomb. Under Kistiakowsky's leadership, the complex explosive lenses that would uniformly compress the plutonium sphere to achieve critical mass were developed. 

Dad at his desk at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.

 

Dad at his ABL desk, back of the room.

Dr. Van Evera, left, shaking Dad's hand.

All of these were taken during the war years. The photo above is marked on back "Dr. Van Evera" and in the image of the plaque below you'll see his name, last column on the right. Some pretty heavy company in the room as Dr. Van Evera witnessed history. As this web site states, Dr. Van Evera must have been a big deal too:

However, The most famous event at this 5th Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics came from the announcement by Niels Bohr at the 1939 conference, in the Hall of Government, Room 209, that the nucleus of uranium had been split by bombardment with neutrons, with significant energy released. This was the dawn of the atomic age.

Photo courtesy: The GW Astrophysics Group and their Washington Conferences on Theoretical Physics.

So that's what Dad did during the war. Wish I knew more, but he wasn't talking about it overly much and now I can see why. It was all pretty hush-hush.

After the war ended and a couple of years passed during which Dad got good jobs at ABL for as many of the boys returning home as he could, and he got interested in plastics. He made some important contacts with the owners of a growing plastics plant outside of Cleveland. In 1952 we moved from the little Western Maryland mountain town of Frostburg to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and you can read about that here. It turned out to be a good move for us as a family and brought us that prosperity and new modern life you hear about and see in movies about the 1950s. Somehow, it all worked out.

Dad, 1945.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/05/military-memories-wwii-dad-stayed-home.html

The New Year and First Footin'

Mom and I were talking on the phone New Year's Day morning about the day's traditions amongst our ancestors. Mom was cooking the traditional pork and sour kraut that she loves. Our people are all from the hills of Western Maryland, and Maryland being a notoriously difficult state to categorize, North vs. South wise, there are still northerly traditions as well as southern ones, and some left over from the British Isles too. It's an interesting day because it is now a jumble of old and new traditions which, all in all, seems about right for a day that's all about the leaving of an old year and the start of a new one.

While she's busy making her pork, which is a southern tradition and a mainstay of Southern cooking but without the black-eyed peas and with more northern mashed potatoes, she's also looking for the first person in the door to be a dark handsome gentleman. That was Dad's roll in the family for many a year, but he's no longer with us. Now it's my brother. That tradition is called "First Foot" or locally, First Footin'.

I visited the Facebook page of the little town we're all from, Frostburg in Allegany County, named "You Know You're From Frostburg When..." and was delighted that there was a robust conversation going on about First Footin'. The first wave of posts verified how widespread the tradition was as many people told of moms, aunts, and grandmothers insisting that the first in the door after midnight be a dark haired handsome man.

Here's what one member of the group posted and that gave it a historical perspective:

Question: What is First Footing
As midnight strikes the strains of Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burn's version of this traditional Scottish air, can be heard everywhere, followed by a toast to health, wealth and happiness for the coming year and the custom of First Footing.
Answer: First-Footing is the visiting of friends and family immediately after midnight and sees the Scots rushing from house to house to welcome in the New Year. The First-Foot in the house traditionally is a dark, handsome male carrying a piece of coal, whisky, Scottish shortbread and black bun - a rich dark fruitcake encased in pastry. The visitor in return is given a small glass of whisky.

And here are some of the other posts and I especially like the last that places it in the Welsh tradition, which is the orientation in our family. Click on this to see a larger image.

 

 

Mom and I were chatting this morning and I read her some of the posts. Then we took a historical view of it. Coal miners came from Wales and Ireland to the Western Maryland area to work in the rich mines of the area. Actually and to be correct about it, the Irish came for work on the C&O canal  or the B&O railroad, and when that work ran out moved their skills on over to work in the mines. Once situated in the area, the Welsh and Scottish tradition of First Footing was adapted and adopted to the area and became rather widespread in the earlier part of the 20th Century. By the mid-20th Century, even Italian families were First Footin'. The dark haired man didn't bring whisky with him and the Scottish shortbread was left out too. As a matter of fact, he just brought his good looks and good luck!

 

Here's wishing you and yours lots of good luck on the New Year!

Dad, always ready to be the first dark haired man in the door on New Year's Day.

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-new-year-and-first-footin.html

 



Stories Mom Told Me: Part 3, Pots and pans

Here's what I'm doing with this little project, copied from the longer explanation on the Part 1 post:
I'll share some more stories Mom told me. You see I call Mom almost every morning and we do go on about family history. I keep notes on what she tells me in spiral notebooks. Now I have three fat ones brimming over with what Mom knows. Sometimes it's just a detail about our ancestors, a small event, or a note about what happened to whom and when. It's the kind of stuff that can easily get lost if a person doesn't write it down then and there.

So today's story is about pots and pans. This is a rather short one but it gave me a different picture into a time past so I'd like to share it with you.

Pots and pans

One fine morning back in June of this year I was talking to Mom by phone and the subject was cooking and kitchen stuff. I think that after our all-time favorite subject of family history, our second most favorite subject is food. You see, Mom always did love to cook and I think that we were possibly the only family in our suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, that ate French food even though we were far from French.

Mom was fearless in the kitchen and her favorite person, possibly of all times, was Julia Child, and when I look at Mom's cook book shelves, her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is the most worn by far. As a matter of fact, I spent a goodly portion of my first grown-up pay check buying Mom "Larousse Gastronomique," that unparalleled resource for French cooking.

So if Mom was so high minded about her cooking, did she use some of the oldest pots and pans I've even seen?! Now, Mom, you know I love you, but really? Where did you get those really old pots and pans? I didn't know, so back in June I asked her.

During WWII, metal was used for the war effort. During this time, if you were setting up house as my parents were, the best you could do was to beg some cookery from relatives. New pots and pans were just not available. Too bad, you newly weds!

Just at the end of the war all manner of stuff became available again. The boys were back and they all wanted and needed jobs too, so that their wives could buy those things that were so scarce during the war. The new post-war economy was being born.

Dad's brother, Bernie, had met and married a lovely Boston lass right at the end of the war. Ruth Mullaney came from an Irish family too so she fit right into the madness that was the Kelly family and all six siblings. The commotion in Grandma Kelly's kitchen didn't phase her one bit. She was a beauty too, and everyone loved her right off.

Ruth and Mom became fast friends: two young brides making homes after the war. Ruth had a brother, Bill. After he left the service at the end of the war, and for a period of time, he sold pots and pans, sort of door to door. Both Ruth and Mom bought a full set from Bill, of course.

There were three pots and two skillets and lids for each. The set cost $40 and that was a lot of money then. But they were brand new! A treasure.

Bottom line, Mom still has them and uses them all the time, and has done so for the last 70 years! How many family meals have been cooked on them, I can't even begin to calculate. But it has averaged out to 57 cents a year:) Good bargain, Mom!

 

Two of the three brothers, off to war:

John Delbert Kelly (1920-2013), Dad, Francis Patrick Kelly (1916-2007), and Bernard Michael Kelly (1918-2007). Dad stayed home because of physical issues.

Bernie on leave after basic training.

 

Mom and Bernie contribute to the War effort.

Mom must have taken this picture because she's the one missing! Back row: Dad, Grandma and Grandpop Kelly, Bernie and Ruth who was expecting Cousin Cynthia.

Cousin Mike and I ham it up for the camera.

 

Holiday fun: Bernie, Ruth, Aunt Louise, and Uncle Harry.

Can you tell this is one of those old Polaroid pictures?!

 

 

 

The URL for this post is:  http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/11/stories-mom-told-me-part-3-pots-and-pans.html

Cleveland: Dad worked at Johnson Plastics, now where was that?

I've written before about how we moved from the little mountain town of Frostburg in Western Maryland in 1952 so that Dad could pursue a better executive position at a plastics plant. You can read about those times and our move here and here. Mom, who usually looks beautiful and very happy in photos, both then and now, somehow looked sad or perhaps worried. Here she is below, first on the start of the journey from Frostburg, Maryland and in the next photo, just after we landed in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

See how this picture tells a story: we're leaving Frostburg for Ohio.

Mom looks sad or worried, Dad looks happy and excited, and there I am holding Dad's briefcase and pretty thrilled.

Mom now living in Chagrin Falls, standing next to my tricycle. The rental house was at the top of a big hill leading down to the village, so maybe she was worried I'd try to coast all the way down;)

And here she is, below, with her usual smile.

1942, with Uncle Delbert Kelly.

So my brother and I were emailing in plans for this very recent trip to Cleveland and wondering about the old Johnson Plastics plant where Dad worked. Where was it, exactly? Luckily, I thought, I had a photo of one his old business cards, so I checked it out and this is what I saw.

So off I went trying to find a street address, because as you see, all it gives is a post office box in Chagrin Falls. That's not going to help us!

I called the library in Chagrin Falls to see if they had any old phone books or directories from the 1950s. None. Tried to search "Johnson Plastics Corporation" on Google but that was a dead end. What to do? Then I remembered that I like genealogy and it might help to start thinking about this as a genealogy problem and not a missing persons problem:)

Using one of my newspaper subscription web sites, I searched for "Johnson Plastics" and found a series of articles from the Cleveland Plain Dealer about an incident in 1958. It was fascinating reading and when the dust bunnies that had accumulated in the deep corners of my mind shook themselves out and cleared, by gosh I remembered something vague about it all. Here's how the first article, dated June 26, 1958, began:

Pickets' Bullets Chase 7 Youth
Five pickets around the struck Johnson Plastic Co. in Chardon, mistaking seven teenagers in a car for strike breakers, chased the youth and fired three rifle shots at them last night, said Geuga County Sherriff Louis Robusky said.

Yeah, I do remember that: pickets striking the plant trying to unionize without luck, then shots fired. There were five articles in all running from June 26, 1958 to October 8, 1958. The articles drew out the facts and the story painted a picture of some rough action on the part of the pickets. The newspaper reported that they were convicted and sentenced by October.

But where was the plant? The first article mentions that the teens were driving on Munn Road. The second article running on June 28, 1958 mentions that the plant was on Stafford Road. So off to Google Maps and Satellite View to look at the corner of Munn Road and Stafford Road. Humm! That looked like the plant! Now I used Street View and placed the "little man" right at the corner. Yup! That's the plant!

OK, now this might not sound like a whole lot of fun to you, but my brother and I have very fond memories of that plant. Dad took me to work with him a number of times. I got a tour of the plant, which always fascinated, and a bunch of plastic toys and hula hoops to take home, which they made right there. Wasn't overly impressed with the plastic pipe or flooring;) Plus, both my brother and I fished for sunfish in the pond on the premises, and we both love to fish! Great fun!

On Monday of this last trip, I had to jet off home, but brother took on the task of hunting down this plant we thought might be at the corner of Munn and Stafford. Here's what he emailed me a few hours later:

I swear, I shouted “that’s it;  that’s the plant” as soon as we came over the hill and saw it.  Even though it looked all new(ish) and well maintained, I could see the original in my mind as soon and we saw it.  No question about it.  And we saw the Johnsonite sign, I knew the reason we couldn’t find anything about it when we searched on-line.  Remember me telling you Mr. Johnson may have been a chemist or something because I saw all the hits on “Johnsonite” when I searched for Johnson Plastics? 

So it all fits together now.  We solved the puzzle.  Really wish you could have been there for the final discovery.

 Me too. And here's the photo he took.

 

 

Yes! That's the plant for sure. And how nice for us that they choose to keep the original blue and white color scheme so that we could more easily recognize it! This adventure was really "our kind of fun"!

Dad at his desk, before we moved to Ohio and Johnson Plastics.

 

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/10/cleveland-dad-worked-at-johnson.html

The start of WWII for the Kelly family, in photos

I often look at this set of photos taken of my Kelly ancestors in 1942 and wonder what they were thinking and feeling. It was the start of America's involvement in WWII which everyone could pretty much see coming and dreaded, from what Mom has told me.

 

Of the three Kelly brothers which included Dad (Francis Patrick Kelly, 1916 - 2007), Uncle Bernie (Bernard Michael Kelly, 1918 - 2007) and Uncle Delbert (John Delbert Kelly, 1920 - 2013), two went to war. Not that Dad didn't try to enlist with the rest of the brothers because he did, and you can read about that here , here and especially here to find out why he had to stay home.

 



I look at this set of family photos and wonder if similar scenes were playing themselves out across the country. Sure they were: gather all together for photos to remember you by. Brave faces, men in uniform, women worried. I knew these people, and they were worried and trying not to show it. I bet Grandma Kelly cried then. Sure she did. What mother didn't, what mother wouldn't?

 

I think these in the first grouping were taken in the back yard of the Kelly home place on West Main Street, Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, and are all from the same morning, but I'm not 100% sure. Just wanted you to know:)

 

 

The Back Yard Pictures:



 

Mom is in front with some kid that's not me on her lap. Grandma Kelly is second from left and none too happy.

Left to right, Uncle Delbert, Dad, and Uncle Bernie.

 

Uncle Delbert.

 

Mom and Uncle Delbert.

 

 

Dad on the left.

The ladies.

Grandma and Grandpa Kelly,

John Lee Kelly 1892 - 1969 and Helen Zeller Kelly 1894-1985.

Mom and Dad.

 

At Camp:

 

 

Uncle Bernie and Mom at Fort Bragg

 

Uncle Delbert

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-start-of-wwii-for-kelly-family-in.html

Wisdom Wednesday: My kind of day

Some weeks have gone by and I really have nothing to post on the GeneaBlogger's blogging prompt called Wisdom Wednesdays. There's just no "wisdom" to be had here under the nut tree. But today, just as time was running out and I had decided to skip the whole thing, I realized that this was my kind of day. This is the sort of day for which I "do" genealogy. What in particular made it good for me today? Just three things, but that's all it took. So let me share them with you very briefly.

Just about an hour ago I got an email from a person who stumbled into this blog and she said: How totally bizarre that you are a distant cousin of mine! To be honest, the number one reason I blog is to attract cousins, both close and distant. I figure that if there are cousins out there doing genealogy, sooner or later, they'll go to Google and plug in our shared ancestor's name. She did just that and found a blog post about Honora O'Flynn and William Logston. Mention of this notorious couple was in a post that also contained a reference to GEDmatch. Short story even shorter, she and I have exchanged GEDmatch kit numbers and are now off looking to see if we share any DNA from this couple. This morning I didn't even know her and this afternoon, we're comparing chromosomes!

Then a lovely email greeted me this morning from Cousin Rich, who I must say is a very good researcher! Mom and I were just wondering last week how he was doing. He's doing great! He still hasn't found the official documentation of a particular law suit we were all looking for, but never mind. What he has done is document the Revolutionary War contribution made by a shared ancestor... and now he's off to fill out DAR forms. He said, and we all support this, that these Patriots should be listed and honored. Go Rich!

I'm sitting here this afternoon listening to Big Band Era music on Jazz 88.3 radio station out of San Diego, working on my uncles on Mom's Ancestry.com Big Tree, adding photos of them during the war years. Perfect accompaniment:) I've decided to add more informal and candid photos there. I like the formal, "official" portraits well enough but the candids taken with those Brownie cameras are closer to my heart.

My kind of day!

Uncle Harold Conrad with his new bride, Mom's sister Dorothy Williams Conrad.

Dad in the middle with his two brothers, left is John Delbert Kelly, and right is Bernard Michael Kelly. Delbert, Pat and Bernie, about 1942.

All of the Kelly women, 1942.

Here and below, Bernard Michael Kelly.

Cambria Williams Jr., "Camey", Mom's brother.

 

Here and below, John Delbert Kelly. That's Mom looking sassy!

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/08/wisdom-wednesday-my-kind-of-day.html

Sentimental Sunday: Goodby Uncle Delbert, John Delbert Kelly (1920 - 2013)

Uncle Delbert passed away Friday. He lived a very long and good life and is remembered by many people because he was a real nice guy and also a high school teacher, assistant principal and then principal, so he touched many lives. Facebook has numerous lovely postings in his honor right now. And there's his obituary which you can find right here. But he was my uncle so I want to show you a little about who he was by posting some family photos of him. He was the last of six brothers and sister surviving. It's the end of an era, the last of one family.

First you need to know that all the family called him Delbert but the world called him John. It was one of those idiosyncratic naming things families do sometimes. Because there was more than one Delbert, Bert, or Adelbert, Uncle Delbert got to be Delbert and his uncle got to be Burt.

John Delbert with his uncle Adelbert Zeller (1883 - ?),

Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, about 1942.

 

The above photo isn't the earliest picture of Uncle Delbert in our photo file. Here he is, below, with his two brothers, Bernie, Bernard Michael Kelly (1918 - 2007), and my own father, Pat, Francis Patrick Kelly (1916 - 2007). Must be about 1922 or so because Delbert, in front, looks really young. That's Uncle Bernie on the left and Dad on the right. In the larger version of the photo, that's Helen Lee Kelly Natoly (1914 - ?) on the right. She was the oldest. Not pictured are Christiana Kelly Fraley (1922 - ?) and Louise Kelly Chaney (1924 - 2002).

 

Bernard Michael "Bernie" Kelly (1918 - 2007), Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007) and in front, John Delbert Kelly (1920 - 2013)

 

And here is the image in its entirety, thanks to Cousin Linda!

We have no idea who that kid is on the far left.

 

 

Here's what Uncle Delbert's obit had to say about his service in the armed forces during WWII.

 

Mr. Kelly was a veteran of World War II and Korea. He was inducted into the Army on May 6, 1942 and graduated from Officer Candidate School (OCS) in 1943. He served as a company officer with the 616th Ord. BN in the European Theatre. He left active duty in July 1946 as a Company Commander with the rank of Captain. In June 1951, he was recalled from the active reserve to serve 16 months during the Korean war. In Korea, he served as BN. Staff Officer with the 32nd Ord. BN. Upon the completion of his Korean tour, he joined the Honorary Reserves.  

 

In recent times I liked to call Uncle Delbert and chat. He suffered from some memory impairment so I'd have to remind him exactly which niece I was at the start of every conversation, which was no bother at all. Then we were off to the races, me with notebook in hand. I loved hearing about his time in the service. I know his time in the service wasn't fun at the first because of a letter he wrote to Dad, which I blogged about here. Here are some other photos from the times when Bernie and Delbert had signed up but hadn't yet left. Dad was exempt because of physical issues and you can read about that here.

 

 

The ladies of the family pose.

Delbert, Dad and Bernie, 1942.

 

Delbert, 1942.

Mom and Dad took the train south to see Bernie and again to see Delbert before they shipped overseas. Everyone knew it might just be the last time as it was war time and anything could happen. Here's a photo of Mom and Delbert before he left. And below that is a photo booth picture taken of Delbert all decked out in uniform.

 

 

 

The two brothers both made it back home after VE Day. Bernie had had enough but Delbert went on to the Korean War. After the wars, he got an education and eventually taught and was a school administrator. Here's part of the obit about that.

 

Mr. Kelly was retired from the Board of Education of Allegany County. He served as a member of the Beall High Faculty for nearly 20 years, initially as a math teacher and subsequently a Guidance Counselor and Vice Principal. For 10 years, prior to retiring, he served as a Principal of Flintstone School which was a K-12 school. Mr. Kelly received a BS Degree from Frostburg State College (now Frostburg State University) and a MA Degree from the University of Maryland at College Park. He did extensive post-graduate study at the University of Maryland, Purdue University and Boston University.

 

Of course I don't remember him as a soldier or an educator. He was simply Uncle Delbert to me. Funny, sharp whited, always smiling. All of us sitting around Grandma Kelly's kitchen, the hub of activity. Mostly he was in a hurry living his busy life so he often kept his coat on, sitting on the bench of the big hat stand near the hallway.

 

Here's my favorite photo of Uncle Delbert and his brothers. It was Grandma's birthday, and must have been after Grandpop Kelly passed on, so after 1969. I'll have to remember to ask Mom. I wasn't there, so I guess I was off living my own busy life. Too bad.

 

 

That's Dad on top n the red sweater,

Bernie on the left in yellow,

and Delbert on the right.

And that's Grandma Kelly smack in the middle of her boys!

 

Here's Uncle Delbert, cropped out of that photo.

 

Here are the two photos of him from the obituary, below, of a young and an old Uncle Delbert. Might as well include them here too. I imagine his son, Kevin, supplied them. Thanks to Kevin there are two more family photos in my file.

 

  

 

There's never enough time, is there? Goodbye Uncle Delbert.

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/08/sentimental-sunday-goodby-uncle-delbert.html