Summertime Back in the Day

Maybe if I talk about the beach it will feel more like summer to me. I don't know about you but as far as summer weather goes, it's not been one of the best on record so far. But I hope you all are enjoying yours regardless.

This is dad at the beach with his mother, Catherine Pierce Ryan, long before Peter arrived on the scene. Apparently this is Long Beach which I don't have any real memories of but I do have some vague recollections of time on Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. I remember digging around in the sand near the bridge where there were small pools of water left behind by the tide. I remember how flat and wet the beach area was and how cold the water was.

I've never been a real big fan of the beach (sand, slimy seaweed and mysterious creatures underfoot) but I do love the sound of the ocean and the feel of the sun. This seems to be a very sunny day although Dad seems a little mystified. I wonder who's behind the camera.

This is a picture of Mom on the beach probably when she was about 5. I am not sure what beach this might be. Ever thought about how our ancestors on both sides spent a great deal of time in and near water? No wonder we seem drawn to Gloucester. Although learning to swim in Lake Erie probably should have killed that instinct in me, it didn't. Fort Myers Beach is probably the closest I ever came to actually almost enjoying the beach.

My son's first beach experience was in Florida at a beach just down the road from his aunt and uncle's house. If you can imagine, I forgot to tell him to expect saltwater and he took in a big mouthful. I think he was about 4. That was the end of swimming for quite a while for him. After he forgave me for that, he was cautious for years to ask first if it was saltwater before he dipped a toe in.

Water was part of our everyday lives when we lived in Silver Creek. Moving "inland" to Walton was the first time I realized that not everyone grows up near water and that some people don't learn how to swim as part of a rite of childhood. My children don't have that same experience, but I hope they will always feel the pull of the ocean. Well, not literally.

William Gleason Jr. 1925-2015

We we saddened to learn of Bill Gleason's death recently.  Saddened, but not overly surprised since he lived to be 89 years old!  Bless him.  I thought of him frequently, fretting a bit that no one would think to let us know when he died as his children have no idea who we are.  He died March 31 and we were in Gloucester for Easter weekend, so we could have paid our respects in person but we didn't find out until a couple of weeks later after a phone call from cousin George Handran to our aunt Emmy Ryan.

I never got to know his wife very well, but Bill was very kind to us.  He graciously invited us to him home and fixed us lunch.  We brought our young children and he didn't seem the least bit fazed by that perhaps partly due to his own grandchildren.  He generously shared his sister Ann's family history notes for the Pierce side of the family.  I still refer to them regularly in my research.

 This is our dad, Paul Ryan on the right with his cousin Bill.  Just off Dad's shoulder you also see Dad's cousin George Handran.  This was in the summer of 2000.

Later the same day.  From left to right Bruce Pierce, Timothy Ryan, George Handran, Paul Ryan, Billy Pierce, Tom Foley and Peter Ryan.  All cousins of some degree through the Pierce side: truly Gathering The Cousins!

Cousin Bill Gleason's mother was Florence Pierce Gleason, sister to my grandmother Catherine Pierce Ryan of Gloucester Massachusetts.  You may remember a recent post that included some memories Bill shared after our father Paul Ryan died.  Bill's sister Ann was also very generous with her time and information.  I met up with her once or twice at Bill's and corresponded with her frequently.  I learned of her death when George Handran called me from Ireland to let me know.  I was very grateful for that call. 

Rest in peace Bill and Ann.  You are missed.

Violet Elizabeth Ryan 1902-1957

Aunt Bud was Viola Elizabeth Ryan, a sister to our grandfather Paul Ryan Senior and a favorite aunt of our dad Paul Ryan Junior.  Her date of death was a mystery that I decided to apply my finer detective skills to.

In this picture you see CatherinePierce Ryan, Paul Junior, Violet Ryan ("Aunt Bud") and our uncle Peter Ryan.  I believe this was taken at Paul Junior's college graduation 1955.  So I knew she was alive at least until the spring of 1955.  For a long time, I've been trying to track down some more details about Aunt Bud's life especially when she died and where she was buried.  Our uncle Peter told us once that he remembered that she was living on Haskell Street with our grandparents Paul Senior and Catherine Ryan because she was ill.  He came home from school one day and found her dead.  No one could really remember when that was but I figured 1955-1958 as a range because Peter would probably have graduated by about 1958 when he was 18.  That narrowed it down but that's still a pretty big range to search.  Both our uncles Tim and Peter thought it might be 1956 or 1957 so I started to search day by day through the Gloucester newspapers for an obituary. 

Just before we left for a recent trip to Gloucester Massachusetts, I prepped myself to research Aunt Bud and Uncle Jack (John Ryan), who supposedly had died of an accidental gunshot wound.  Lo and behold some new digital references had become available so I learned that Aunt Bud died in 1957 and Uncle Jack in 1939 (the year of the accident). So I began searching the Gloucester Daily Times at the Sawyer Library day by day through "only" 1957 without much luck the first time.  But the second time, I tried the roll of microfilm that held copies of the paper from Oct-Dec 1957 figuring that range might be a good bet because school is in session most of that time since Peter remembered he had some home from school to find her.  (Nancy Drew has nothing on my detecting skills!). And this is what I found from early December:

Peter was right again!  He's got great information.  I was quite pleased to find her.  You'll notice it says she was buried in the family plot at Calvary.  The only family plot I was aware of at Calvary in Gloucester is this one for our grandparents Paul Senior, Catherine Pierce Ryan and Paul's mother Kathryn Bentley Ryan:

We noticed her arrangements were made by the Greely Funeral Home and I remember our mother saying this is the place always used by the Ryans.  My husband Jim suggested we go there and ask.  I was a little reluctant, but off we went and BOY was it worth the attempt!! A very nice lady was wonderful enough to go up into the attic to locate their books from 1957 and show us the page in their records for Aunt Bud's services:

Perhaps you'll notice that the drawing of the plot seems to indicate the burial of mother Katherine Bentley Ryan AND Arthur 1955 from Florida!  Arthur is another "lost" Ryan so this was huge.  I was tickled to think I'd found Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur so we went back to Calvary to see if we could find Sect 15 Range 15 Lot 13.  No luck. I called the Archdiocese of Boston and they said she was in Sect 17 Range 1 Lot 13.  Back to the cemetery.  Still no luck.  Apparently there is some confusion with Calvary cemetery records prior to 1960.  The Archdiocese "cannot confirm or deny" that Aunt Bud is buried there so we cannot have her name added to the stone--which was my intention at first.

We feel Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur are also buried in this plot.  We don't know why their names do not appear but I can speculate that it was just too expensive.  The monument people told us it would be $410 plus a $20 fee to the Archdiocese to add Aunt Bud to the stone.  That was more than I was expecting so I suppose in 1955 or 1957 if you pro-rate that amount, it would still be kind of expensive to add those names, even if the other siblings helped out.  And perhaps it should just stay that way.