Tombstone Tuesday - Another Brick in the Wall

I've blogged about Dennis Dugan before.  He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Quirk who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter via c-section.  Their daughter was Elizabeth "Betty" Dugan and while I found her in the 1920 census with her widower father, by 1930 Betty is missing and Dennis is remarried.

Even though Bessie, Dennis and Betty are not in my direct line, I have spent a lot of time trying to find out what happened to Betty.  Why?  Bessie was the only other child of William and Mary Quirk nee Lee to marry and have a child.  The other was my great grandfather, Edward, and he had one child that lived.  He too lost his wife and second child shortly after childbirth via c-section. Despite William and Mary having had 9 children they do not have a multitude of descendants.  Part of me hopes beyond hope that perhaps Betty went off to live with another relative by 1930 and perhaps she married and had children.  I've found nothing to prove that...or disproved that, thus far.

I have hopes that someday I can find word of her.  She wasn't mentioned in her father's obituary.  Not a good sign.  There is likewise no grave for her in Holy Saviour Cemetery in Bethlehem, PA.  This is the cemetery that her father, Dennis, is buried in.  If she is buried there, perhaps it is under her married name.  A girl can hope.

I had hoped that Dennis' tombstone might add some additional information or chip a little away from the brick wall that are the Dugans.  Nope.  On one side of the tombstone is merely the surname "Dugan".  On the other "Auer," "King," and "Larkin".  I know his second wife's maiden name was King, and her mother's maiden name was Larkin, but I don't know who this "Auer" is.  Perhaps a clue.  I'll have to call the caretaker back and see if he can give me the names of these unknown people. Until that time, it doesn't appear that any bricks are coming down.  Sometimes I think there's a devilish leprechaun building up the wall instead.  Tricky little buggers, but I'm determined to find the gold at the other side of the rainbow brick wall.

[A very special thank-you to Charlene Teifer Stiffinella for taking the pictures of the tombstone and for permitting me to use them in my blog!]

Military Monday - My Father-in-Law is Drafted

Patrick W. Cayemberg, Jr

Doesn't dad look handsome in his uniform!

Green Bay Press-Gazette, 23APR1954

"Seven From Here Among Draftees

[hand-dated April 23, 1954]

Seven Green Bay men are among the 14 Brown County residents comprising the April quota of the local Selective Service Board.

The Green Bay inductees are Patrick W. Cayemberg Jr., 2023 Willow St.; James R. Smith, 1200 Reed St.; Harley R. Bopray, 1925 Farlin Ave.; Wilbur J. Van Ermen, 202 W. Walnut St.; Thomas G. Skelly, 218 N. Van Buren St.; and Donald J. Horkman and Bernard D. VanPay, both of Rt."

The end of the clipping is cut off.  I'll have to get a better copy when I go back to Wisconsin.  Usually the dates hand-written on these clippings refer to the date of the event, but here, I'd venture to guess that it's the date of publication.  I guess I'll find out in a few months!

I suppose the rest of the article wasn't that important to Patrick's mom who clipped the article though.

Sunday's Obituary - Who in the World is Benjamin Koss?

Well, perhaps I should rephrase that as, "Who is Benjamin Koss to my family?"  None of the names in the obituary are in my family tree or even familiar to me.  I can only imagine that this article was clipped because of his position in the community in which my husband's ancestors lived.  A rather gruesome recounting of the death as well.

I don't know which paper it was published in (I'll add that to my list of things to check on!), but most of the articles that were passed on were from the Green Bay Press-Gazette.  This one is hand-dated October 31, 1956.  I have noticed that this usually refers to the date of death rather than of publication.

I won't completely rule out that this person may have a place in my family tree, but for now I'm thinking no. Perhaps the article will fit into another researcher's tree.

"Koss Killed In Accident With Sawmill

[Hand-dated Oct 31, 1956]

Town of Luxemburg Chairman; Funeral Rites Set Saturday

LUXEMBURG, Wis. - A portable sawmill accident Tuesday afternoon cost the life of Benjamin Koss, 45, of Luxemburg, Rt. 2.  He was chairman of the Town of Luxemburg and chairman of the Kewaunee County highway committee.

Koss was feeding logs into the machine on the Allen Farm in the Town of Preble.  A slab of wood kicked back and struck him below the chin, severing his jugular vein.  He was dead on arrival at a Green Bay hospital.

The accident happened about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Owned Portable Mill

Mr. Koss, who operated a farm in the Town of Luxemburg, did custom sawing with a portable powered rig.

He was serving his third term as chairman of the Town of Luxemburg.  Previously he had served two terms as town treasurer.

Mr. Koss was a member of the Luxemburg Court of the Catholic Order of Foresters and of the Holy Name Society of St. Odile Church, Thiry Daems.

He was born May 18, 1911, in the Town of Lincoln, Kewaunee County.  In 1932 he married to Collette Junion in St. Odile Church.

Survived by Wife

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Karen, at home; four sons, Eben, Glen and Karl, all at home, and Gene, who is stationed with the U. S. Army at Ft. Lawton, Seattle, Wash.; one granddaughter, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Koss, Town of Lincoln.

Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Lee (Marie) Fett, and Mrs. Frank (Rita) Havel, both of the Town of Lincoln; and two brothers, John, Rio Creek, and Matt, Green Bay.

Funeral services will be held at 9:30 Saturday morning at St. Odile Church, Thiry Daems.  The Rev. Anthony J. Righino will officiate.

Friends may call at the Weisner-Massart Funeral Home, Casco, after 6 o'clock this evening.  The Rosary will be recited at the funeral home at 8 o'clock this evening and Friday evening and 8:45 on Thursday evening."

Wordless Wednesday - Four Darts

Pictured above from left to right:  Odile, Mary, Louisa and Desire Dart (or so I'm told)

Odile, Mary, Louisa and Desire Dart are four of the twelve known children of Jean Baptiste Dart Sr and Marie Josephe Podor.

Tombstone Tuesday - Gone, But Never Forgotten

I've posted before about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and their goal to put a photo with every name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.  Of course, not literally on the wall, but for now they have a virtual wall and if you know someone on that wall, please head over to the Virtual Wall and see if there is a picture for that person.  You can also search by city and see who is missing a picture.  It would be a wonderful contribution to find pictures of those brave service members in yearbooks or newspapers and upload them to the site.

This post tonight is in memory of a young man who made the ultimate sacrifice during Vietnam.  I came across his photo in my family scrapbook.  I don't know if he's related to my family in any way or if the newspaper article was clipped because he was a friend of the family.  The Smeesters attended the same church as my family, SS. Peter and Paul in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Maybe I'll find out if there is a connection someday, maybe it will remain a mystery, either way I take tonight's post to dedicate to Daniel's memory.  I recently spoke to a high school friend of Daniel's.  He found out about Daniel's death while he was still in training with the Army.  Daniel was his "angel on his shoulder" as he served in Vietnam and remains his angel to this day.  He was kind enough to send me pictures of Daniel's grave, military marker and the military monument.  Thank you David for being such a true, dear friend to Daniel and his memory.  I know you miss him terribly.

Green Bay Press-Gazette

"Cpl. Daniel Smeester

Corporal Daniel Smeester, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Smeester Jr., 1019 Harvey St., was killed in action in Vietnam on Saturday, July 1.  He attended SS. Peter and Paul grade school and graduated from East High School in 1965.  He was employed by the American Can Corporation prior to entering service in May 1966.

Survivors include his parents, his mother is the former Eleanor Turensky; two brothers, James and Thomas; paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Smeester Sr.; maternal grandmother, Mrs. Louis Turensky; all of Green Bay.

At Malcore Funeral Home after 6:30 p.m. Saturday.  Rosary 8:00 p.m. each evening, Sunday by Msgr. Peter Skell.  Funeral services Monday 10:00 a.m., SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.  Burial in Allouez Cemetery.  Graveside military rites by the American Legion Sullivan-Wallen Post No. 11."

[Thank you to David Peterson for emailing me these pictures to share so we all can remember Daniel as well]

Military Monday - Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery

Last Monday morning as I got the kids ready for school I saw the front page of the newspaper and saw the memorial for the casualties for Iraq and Afghanistan.  The Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery will be adding the casualties for 2011 onto the 2010 monument and it will be dedicated on Memorial Day 2012.  Why are they adding the names onto an existing stone instead of adding a new monument like they had in previous years?  Well, thankfully for 2010 there were only 10 casualties that were either from Central Texas or were stationed in Central Texas.

Don't get me wrong.  Ten casualties is 10 too many and I look forward to the day when we aren't adding anymore names, but I am grateful that the monument is not like the others...full, or mostly full.  I will head over to the cemetery after the monument is dedicated and get a photo of both sides (one side is a list of names, the other is for photos).

I am posting the list of names published on January 23rd, 2010 in the Killeen Daily Herald.  I know that many people have visited my site looking for names on the memorials.  If you know someone on this list has their name is spelled incorrectly (I double checked my spelling so that it matched the news article), please contact Patrick Turck at patrickturck@yahoo.com or (254) 681-2224 if there is a mistake, if you have a photo to submit for one of the fallen, or if someone's name is completely missing.  Please note that I am fully aware that the abbreviations for some of the ranks are incorrect.  This is the way that they are on the memorials.  Please contact Mr. Turck if the rank is incorrect (not the abbreviation).

Roll Call

Spc. David A. Croft Jr

Spc. Christian M. Adams

Capt. Jason E Holbrook

Pfc. Alexis V. Maldonado

Pfc. Diego M. Montoya

Pfc. Barbara Vieyra

Sgt. Mark A. Simpson

Spc. Donald S. Morrison

Pfc. David R. Jones Jr.

Cpl. Shawn D. Fannin

Pfc. David D. Finch

Sgt. Michael P. Bartley

Sgt. Martin Lamar

Staff Sgt. Mecolus C. Mcdaniel

Staff Sgt. Christian S. Garcia

Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins

Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Scatliffe

Sgt. Vorasack T. Xaysana

Pfc. Antonio D. Stiggins

1st Lt. Omar J. Vazquez

Spc. Robert M. Friese

Chief Warrant Officer Christopher R. Thibodeau

Pfc. Matthew J. England

Staff Sgt. Nicholas P. Bellard

Sgt. Glenn M. Sewell

Staff Sgt. Russell J. Proctor

Spc. Dylan J. Johnson

Spc. Matthew R. Gallagher

Sgt. Robert G. Tenney Jr.

Capt. Matthew G. Nielson

Capt. David E. Vancamp

Sgt. Steven L. Talamantez

Cpl. Frank R. Gross

Staff Sgt. Estevan Altamirano

Pfc. Steven F. Shapiro

Sgt. Paul A. Rivera

Capt. Shawn P.T. Charles

Sgt. John A. Lyons

Pfc. Adam E. Dobereiner

Sgt. Noah M. Korte

Spc. Kurt W. Kern

Pfc. Justin M. Whitmire

May our Soldiers come home soon.

[To view my other blog posts on this memorial just click on the year to be taken to that post: 2002-2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010]

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. Odile Dart

Back to trying to sort out my husband's Dart line with another news clipping from an old family scrapbook.

Odile was my husband's great grand aunt and I actually have her and her late husband, Jule, already in my family tree...and with all their kids!  Yay!  I did not have Odile's date of death in the tree though.  I've noticed that in my collection of clippings, the hand-written dates have (so far) always referred to the date of event.  I verified this by checking on Ancestry.com and found Odile in the Wisconsin Death Index, 1959-1997.  Now the date is in my tree and both the clipping and the Death Index have been cited.

While the newspaper has no publication information, I did see from the Death Index that she died in Brown county.  I see from the obituary that her service was at SS. Peter and Paul Church and she was buried in Allouez Cemetery.  While the name for the church is quite common, the three of those are not and it is most likely that this clipping (like most others I have) came from the Green Bay Press-Gazette.  I will, of course, verify the next time I head up to Wisconsin.

May 1960, Green Bay Press-Gazette

"Mrs. Odile Dart [hand-dated May 7, 1960]

Mrs. Odile Dart, 539 Henry St., died at a local nursing home this morning following a brief illness.

She was born Odile Motquin in Brussels and married Jule Dart 56 years at Brussels.  They had farmed in Maplewood until 15 years ago.  Her husband preceded her in death in 1949.

Survivors include three sons, Louis of Green Bay, Julius of Gardner, Door County, and Melvin of Sturgeon Bay; two daughters, Mrs. William (Anna) Lemense with whom she lived and Mrs. Lillian Claflin of Two Rivers; 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Josephine Herlache of Green Bay; on brother, Frank Motquin, Green Bay.

Friends may call at Malcore Funeral Home after 6:30 Sunday evening.  The Rosary will be recited Sunday and Monday evening, Monday by the Rev. Peter Skell of SS. Peter and Paul Church and burial will be in Allouez Cemetery."