Notes from Conversations with Mom: 1 June 2011

1 June 2011 

It was on this day that I started keeping dated notes when I talked to Mom on the phone. We talked almost every day for a while there. Wish I’d dated all the notes prior to that but am happy to have what I do.  

On this day Mom wanted to talk about WWII and the boys who served. There were a lot of them too, and ours wasn’t the only family who sent their boys off. Mom’s brother Camey Williams joined the Army and went to California for training. His best friend was Lonnie Kyle and he’s related by marriage on Mom’s side, somehow. Have just spent the better part of an hour trying to figure it out and can’t work it out. Ever get a stray person such as Lonnie Kyle? You know that there’s a connection but you just can’t make the pieces fit. 

 

Mom’s maternal grandmother Mam Whetstone is pictured with Nan Kyle in this photo above. Just don’t know who Nan is to Mam. This picture is dated 1939 and Nan appears to be pregnant. With Lonnie’s younger brother? Finding out who the Kyles were to our family is going to drive me crazy. 

While Camey was in California, so far away from little Frostburg, their hometown, he sees Lonnie! Lonnie yelled out, “Last time I saw you, you had pneumonia!” Which is strange thing to say, I first thought. 

But it was the truth! Camey and Lonnie and a bunch of the boys were playing down by the creek in January. It was frozen over, solid. Except for that spot Camey found when he cracked the ice and fell in. And he got pneumonia. He did however get an ambulance ride to the hospital. His first one. He was excited, very ill but excited. 

Lonnie also said that the last time he saw Camey he was a skinny little kid. Now, he said that Camey had turned into a man.  

 

 

That’s Uncle Camey on the right. I think this photo might have been taken in Frostburg at some point.  And I have no idea where that top one was taken, but it's not Frostburg.

 
The notation on this picture says that he was in Switzerland.  

Mom’s sister Dot had a childhood sweetheart named Harold. They grew up, fell or stayed in love and married. Uncle Harold Conrad also served but in the Navy. Cousin Steve knows his Naval history and stories of his service and someday I’ll have to get more information from him. Meanwhile, here he is in uniform. 

With his new bride, Aunt Dot.

 

 

Here he's on board a ship in the Pacific. Cousin Steve will know all of the details.

Thank goodness for cousins!

On Dad’s side of the family, his brother Bernie Kelly, was off to the European Theatre of war. When he got there, he spotted his brother-in-law Pete Fraley, his sister Christiana’s husband. Once they met again, Pete and Bernie started kidding around and Pete told him he was not regulation anything and was one of those “undesirables” they talk about. They had a good laugh! 

Kidding around was a brother thing in our family and it pops up in many family stories. Bernie was, I thought, the funniest of the uncles. Dad was funniest when he was with Bernie and they got into some close scrapes too, but all in fun. I don’t think anyone got arrested for any of their pranks, but I’m not totally certain.  

It’s said that Bernie stole watches from POWs, but maybe that’s just a made-up story told by the two other brothers. One day Bernie was walking around camp and saw this officer looking particularly pompous and thought, “Who does he think he is.” Then he realized that it was his brother Delbert!  

As I heard the story, the day the war was over in Europe Bernie grabbed a jeep and drove off to find Delbert to celebrate. Against odds, they found each other! 

 

Delbert John Kelly on the top and on the bottom, Bernie Kelly.  

 

Military Memories: Women in the War, the mothers who waited

I'm following the GeneaBloggers writing prompt for the month of May with short posts now and again on the topic of Military Memories, from Jennifer Holik. Must admit that I'm enjoying it and thinking about my own impressions of the time in history just before I was born at the start of the Baby Boom. Mom and I have talked a lot about the war years and I never tire of hearing her stories and descriptions of people and places. This time we are interested in women and their role in war, or at least as it was for Mom and Dad's families. The place is that small mountain town in Western Maryland called Frostburg.

Just to drive around Frostburg during the war years, assuming that you had a car and enough gas coupons which were both all but impossible to get because of rationing, and you'd notice the stars in windows indicating how many young people in the family were serving their country. Grandma Kelly had two stars in her window, one for Bernie and the other for Delbert.

Here are the Kelly women in the backyard posing before the boys went off to WWII. Grandma Kelly is second from the left and in no mood to smile.

Dad with Delbert on the left and Bernie on the right.

Grandma Kelly had three sons and three daughters and two of her three sons were going to war. Now I know Grandma and that top photo tells the story. She was real worried. Who wouldn't be? And I think that for the women at home in Frostburg the big burden was worry, just plain boldfaced worry. Would she ever see her two boys again?

My Mom was a young newlywed and happy because Dad was exempt from service due to an old injury. I'm kind of thinking that the fullness of fresh love drove out the ghosts that haunted Grandma Kelly and Grandmother Williams' dreams. And Mom's son wasn't born yet.

So what did the women contribute during the war? There will be stories posted to blogs that feature WACs of the US Army and WAVES of the US Navy, and the SPARS of the Coast Guard. And stories about women's sacrifices at home. But my thought today is of the mothers who waited.

Let me tell you a little story. One day I was at Grandma Kelly's house on West Main Street, and we came in from enjoying one of our favorite activities, sitting on the front porch swing watching traffic go by and waving to neighbors. On the left wall of the front hall was a beautiful fan from Asia displayed in a glass case. It was, and still is, the most lovely and ornately decorated fan I've ever seen. It held a sort of magic for me and I always paused to enjoy it. One day Grandma was talking about what I could have when she was gone. Now you had to know Grandma to understand how deeply she loved talking about a maudlin topic such as who would get what after she died or how so-and-so died. She had seen me admire the fan and warned me that Delbert would get that after she was gone. Delbert had given it to her.

Now that I think about this it all makes sense. Delbert had served in Europe in WWII and then served in Korea. Uncle Delbert told me how much he enjoyed that time in his life and entertained me well with stories about it. A young boy who came for food daily, a painting village people gave him, and each story filled with love and compassion for the Korean people in their war torn country. Of course he would bring his mother a treasure from a place he loved. I can imagine Delbert giving the fan to her when he got back from Korea. They laughed, they cried, Grandma loved it! The shadow of the heartache of having sons in the war was lifted. Her boys were back.

Oh, it was a beautiful fan and when Grandma Kelly passed on, Delbert came and took it. I remember noticing the place where it had been now marked by a bright spot on a field of floral wallpaper. Just like Grandma, my bright spot missing.

I think my cousin Kevin has the fan now, probably on a wall in his living room, given a place of honor. At least I hope so and that, as so many family treasures are, it's not in the attic catching dust.

Grandma surely wasn't alone in worrying about her boys. The mothers of Frostburg all bore the burden of that heartache. Mothers everywhere did. They waited and they worried.


If you'd like some idea of how beautiful that fan is, just click here. Pick the most elaborate then imagine it completely covered in landscape drawings. Now look at the price. Cousin Kevin, is a visit to Antiques Roadshow in your future?

Beautiful fans at: http://www.antiquealive.com/masters/Hand_Fans/Decorative_Folding_Fans.html

The URL for this post is:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/05/military-memories-women-in-war-mothers.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

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