52 Ancestors: Earliest

This weeks' blog prompt is Earliest.  At first I was stumped - should I write about the earliest document I have, the earliest ancestor I have documented, or earliest memory I have of one of my ancestors?  Wait - how about the earliest photo I have of my ancestors?  So here we go.....

Paternal side

3x great grandmother, Hannah (Plotzky) Steen, 1828-1909

2x great grandmother, Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz, 1848-1918

2x great grandfather, Louis Schwartz, 1834-1893

2x great grandfather, Ferdinand Gunzendorfer, 1838-1907

2x great grandmother, Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer, 1848-1910

Great Grandmother, Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer, 1872-1950

Great grandfather, Abraham Gunzendorfer, 1869-1944

Great grandfather, Herman Levy, 1856-1918

Great grandmother, Goldie (Benas) Levy, 1864-1926

Grandmother, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy, 1896-1982

Grandfather, Sigmund Levy, 1888-1968

Father, Gordon Levy, 1927-2005

Maternal Side

2x great grandmother, Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson, 1836-1923

2x great grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy, 1845-1928

2x great grandfather, Mathew Fitzgerald, 1850-1905

Great grandmother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, 1883-1966

Great grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald, 1879-1968

Great grandmother, Frances (Brooks) Martin, 1860-1936

Grandmother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, 1903-1987

Grandfather, Earle Martin, 1900-1986

Mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, 1928-2013

And last but not least - ME!

I'm missing a few and hope to one day find them but I feel like I have a pretty good collection!

And now I’m 7!

Photo by Bart Maguire

Here we are - another year has passed.  Which means I’ve been blogging for seven (SEVEN!) years.  It seems like just yesterday that I got the bug and boy has it been a great ride.  Thanks again to Kerry Scott for getting me started (her blog is undergoing a makeover right now but you can find her at Clue Wagon)  And yes, she really does like dead people!

I remember my first post back in 2011 – I wasn’t sure what I was doing and was worried that no one would read it or if they did, care what I had to say.  But I’ve met a lot of people, received some great feedback, and built up my confidence.  And I’ve learned that no matter what I say, it’s MY blog and I can do and say whatever the heck I want.

I think I’ll take my blogiversary as a day to step back and reflect on some of the more popular posts throughout the years.  Not necessarily my favorites but the posts that brought the most views.  I will add that when I write about events in Fresno, I have two Fresno Facebook groups that I share my blogs in so traffic is always higher then.  So here are my top 5.

Wanted: Herman Levy from January 14, 2018.  I haven’t figured any of this out yet and I wasn’t very successful in my search in Salt Lake City but I’m not giving up.  My dad’s cousin’s two children have submitted their DNA to Ancestry.com so maybe between us we’ll figure something out. 

Back in Time from October 14, 2012.  This was definitely one of my favorite posts to write as it shows the letter my grandfather, Sig Levy, wrote to his future in-laws, Birdie and Abe Gunzendorfer, asking for my grandmother’s hand in marriage.  It’s not often you can read both sides of the story.  I’m sure glad they said yes!

On January 5, 2013, I took part in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and wrote about where my ancestors were 100 Years Ago.  It was fun to put the post together and I was so glad that I had a picture of one of the homes.

Best Wishes for a Long and Happy Life Together, from November 17, 2013 was one of the blog posts I wrote about the wedding of my parents, Gerry (Martin) and Gordon Levy.  A beautiful portrait of my mother in her wedding gown always hung at the end of the hallway in our home so there was no forgetting – ever – what she looked like on that day.  Plus, as kids my sister and I would spend HOURS pouring through the photo album from their wedding and memory book so there will always be lots of memories in my mind.

And a repeat from last year’s top 5 is this post from June 16, 2013 A Bittersweet Day, another Father’s Day without my dad.  It was an emotional post to write as my mom had passed away a few weeks before (May 22) and then we ‘celebrated’ her first birthday (June 8) without her.  So by June 16 I was pretty emotionally spent.  I love looking back at the photos in that post but I wish I knew more about Dad’s friendship with Bob Hope!

Another Facebook group I’m a member of is GeneabloggersTribe.  How nice to be remembered for my blogiversary – you can read it HERE. 

I have so much left to say so I hope you’ll stay with me for the next seven (or seventy) years.

On to eight!

SNGF: Female Ancestors' Age at Death

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (okay, so I’m a day late) from Randy Seaver is to review your pedigree chart and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least 5 generations.  You can read about it HERE. 

What’s interesting about this exercise is that I’ve actually given it quite a bit of thought as when my mother died at the age of 84, I thought back to her mother, and her mother, and her mother and I thought they were all about the same age.  It made me realize that I’d really like to go from age 83 to about age 85 and just bypass those ages altogether. 

So an added exercise for me was to identify the ages of those women, in addition to five generations.

My mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, died 15 days before her 85th birthday.  So 84 years old.

Her mother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, died at the age of 84.  Uh-oh.

Geraldine (Martin) Levy & Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter

 

Clara’s mother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, died at the age of 83 years, 5 months.

Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald

 

Mabel’s mother, Rebecca (Waller), died at the age of 83 years, 2 months.

 

Rebecca (Waller) McAboy

See?  I’m turning 83 and then poof – I’m gonna be 85! 

Okay, so back to the original exercise.  Some of my math might not look correct as I took into account the age at their last birthday.

Mother
Geraldine (Martin) Levy – 1928-2013 – 84 years

Grandmothers
Clara Maxine (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter – 1903-1987 – 84 years
Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy – 1896-1982 – 86 years

Great Grandmothers
Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald – 1883-1966 – 83 years
Frances Maria (Brooks) Martin – 1860-1936 – 75 years
Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer – 1872-1950 – 78 years
Goldie (Benas) Levy – 1864-1926 – 62 years

2nd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Waller) McAboy – 1845-1928 – 83 years
Julia (Horgan) Fitzgerald – 1849-1886 – 37 years
Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson – 1836-1923 – 86 years
Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz – 1848-1918 – 70 years
Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer – 1848-1910 – 62 years
Fredericka (Wilzinski) Benas – 1840-1915 – 75 years
Millicent (Moore) Martin – 1827-1884 – 56 years
Unknown ( ) Levy

3rd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Parker) Waller – 1814-1845 – 30 years
Margaret (Finley) Miller – 1812-1884 – 72 years
Monima (Williams) Brooks – 1801-1867 – 66 years
Hannah (Plotzkey) Steen – 1828-1909 – 80 years
Margaret (Callahn) Horgan – Unknown
Sarah (Frankel) Goldstein – 1838-1897 – 59 years
Sarah (Mann) McAboy – 1825-1910 – 85 years
Margaret (Cullen) Fitzgerald – Unknown
Amelia (Jackson) Wilzinski – 1816-1902 – 86 years
Elizabeth (McDaniel) Moore – 1808-1867 – 59 years
Tabitha (Rodgers) Martin – 1800-1860 – 60 years
Unknown x 5

The female ancestor to live the longest was Sarah Jane (Miller) Brooks Anderson at 31,586 days.  Sarah’s first husband (and my 2nd great grandfather) was killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg and at one point she moved across country from South Carolina to California – what stories she would have had!

A close runner-up was my grandmother whom I’ve written so much about, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy at 31,519 days.  Besides my parents, I probably know more about her than any other ancestor.

The ancestor to live the least amount of time was Rebecca (Parker) Waller, my 3rd great grandmother.  Rebecca died at the age of 30, within days of giving birth to my 2nd great Grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy.

The average age of the 23 women I know the age for at the time of their death was about 70 years old.

It sure is hard to see how many of these women died at an age younger than I am today.  But I’m not dwelling on that, at least not until I get to be 83 years old!

Happy Mother’s Day

I’ve never been a Mother’s Day (or any other Hallmark holiday) fan but now that I’m older and my mother is no longer with us, I find it a perfect day to reflect.  This time of year is difficult as besides Mother’s Day, by mother passed away on May 22nd and her birthday was June 8th.  The good news is that I get all of these “days” over within about a month.

Geraldine Martin was born in Fresno on June 8, 1928 – she sure was a cutie!



Mom seemed to have a difficult childhood and didn’t talk about it much.  As I got deeper into this journey she shared a few tidbits with me but for the most part, it seemed like her life started when she met my dad.  Her parents divorced when she was about 10 so photos with her dad are almost non-existent.  But I was able to find one of the family together with her paternal grandmother.

Clara Fitzgerald Martin, Francis Brooks Martin, Earle Martin Geraldine Martin

After a few years of moving around and staying with relatives, Mom found her way back to Fresno in time to enter High School.  I don’t think it was long before she had a new beau – my dad, Gordon Levy!  I love how she signed this photo – I wonder who was more smitten with who.



After high school, Mom ended up at Stanford with Dad.  She always said she didn’t “follow” him but I’m not sure who she was trying to kid.  And once they both graduated, it was time to get married.  Mom was a beautiful bride!



Then came kids and a chance to pose for photos.  Unfortunately, the professional photos seemed to be more prevalent during the early years and before little brother joined the family. 



And just like that, the years had flown by and before she knew it, Mom had grandchildren.  I’m sure glad we were able to capture this photo with four generations but geez, what was going on with my hair?

Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter, Daughter #1, Geraldine Martin Levy, Me, Daughter #2  (c. 1981)

In later years, we tried to get together to celebrate Mom when we could.  I think she was happy that we were able to be with her for her 80th birthday.

Mom and Dad loved to vacation in Kauai and visited every year around Memorial Day.  Once Dad was gone, Mom continued to go by herself and loved to putter around the island and visit her favorite restaurants.  After a few years of that, she said she wasn’t sure she could do it any longer but she wanted to go back one last time with the kids.  Us?  Vacation in Kauai?  How could we say no?

I don’t know why we didn’t take many pictures while we were there but we did manage this while we were out to lunch (Kauai = restaurants in Mom’s world).



And now here we are the 3rd Mother’s Day without Mom.  Still seems hard to believe she isn’t with us any longer but we have some great memories (and photos!) to remember her by.  Miss you, Mom!

SNGF: How they met

Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun this week is to describe how our parents met.  You can read about it here.  The timing was coincidental since I was looking through some things this afternoon and ran across my parents’ high school yearbooks.

My parents, Gordon Levy and Geraldine Martin, met at Fresno High School in, I believe, 1943.  I remember hearing stories about them meeting when Mom was a sophomore and Dad was a hot shot senior.  I don’t see Mom in the 1943 yearbook so I’m guessing she entered Fresno High School in the fall of 1943 after a few years living in Alameda County with her mother and great aunt.

Here’s the yearbook for Fresno High School in 1944.



And just like kids have done for years and will continue to do, having friends sign the year book was THE thing to do. 



My dad was involved in just about everything in high school.  In fact, that involvement gene stayed with him throughout his life.  He was happiest when he was busy – he must have been really happy in his senior year of high school with all of his activities and his new girlfriend.

The Owl, Fresno High School, 1944

I have no idea who Donald Levy is but I’ve run across his name before.  Perhaps a relative?  Or maybe just a friend?

Dad was the Student Body President in the fall of 1943.





And somewhere during his senior year, he met a girl.  Apparently he was smitten as they stayed together until his death in 2005.  Looks like the underclassmen (people?) had group pictures taken for the yearbook.

Geraldine Martin second row from the bottom, third from the right

Dad was quite the track star and was known as “Flash” Levy due to his amazing speed (ha!).



From the Owl:  “Levy, undefeated in ten races this season, turned in the best performance of the squad by running the 100 in 10.1 and breaking the school record of 22.4 in the 220 by sprinting the distance in 22.3.  He also anchored a victorious relay team to a win in the county meet in 1:33.6, and a disputed tie with Edison in the city meet.”

1944 Fresno High School Track Team Gordon Levy, bottom row, third from left Jim Bradshaw, bottom row, third from right

Jim Bradshaw, sitting to Dad’s left, was not only a classmate at Fresno High and Stanford University, but a friend for life.

I’m sure commencement on June 9, 1944 was a big event, especially since D-Day had occurred just 3 days before. 



Dad was the Valedictorian that year – what an honor.  I’d love to come across his speech “To Promote the General Welfare, to Secure the Blessings of Liberty”.  I’ll bet Mom was proud of her man!



Mom always said she didn’t “follow” him to Stanford University but I think it’s more than a little coincidental that they both graduated from Stanford and were rabid fans their entire lives.  She did tell me once, though, that more women were admitted during the war years as so many of the men were off to war.

I found one very sweet treasure in Dad’s yearbook – Mom’s message to him as he graduated. 



Dearest Gordon,

There isn’t really much I can write here but what I do will have to be O.K. I guess!  I guess at times I’ve seemed a little silly to you but I couldn’t seem to be any other way at the time.  I guess you got pretty disgusted with me when I acted like a little baby.  I suppose this is a fine time to say so but I promise I’ll never act that way again.  I don’t see how you’ve put up with me for so long – guess there must be a reason though!  I know I shouldn’t get mad so easily – I was always sorry the minute I did but was too stubborn to give in.

I guess even though I’ve acted like a little fool at times we’ve still had a lot of fun – at least I have.  These have undoubtedly been the happiest months of my life – I guess they always will be.

These are all silly things to be writing here but I had to get them said somehow  Now that I have I guess that’s all there is I can write  Good luck!!

All my love – Gerry

I’ll bet when Mom wrote those words more than 70 years ago, she never thought about her daughter reading (much less transcribing) her message.

I haven’t found a picture of Mom and Dad together during high school (YET) but I have found some cute photos of them individually from that time frame.

Geraldine Martin 1945

I’d like to figure out where she was standing but, so far, I haven’t run across the address of 1441.  I just love the preppy plaid skirt!

She looks so playful here, which is not a word I would have ever used to describe my mom.

Geraldine Martin 1945

And one of Dad.  Nice slacks!

Gordon Levy c 1945

I don’t necessarily know the story of how my grandparents met, but I have the letters they wrote back and forth as they were courting.  And I wrote about their engagement here, including the letter my grandfather wrote to Grandma’s parents asking for her hand.  And I even have the letter they wrote back!

Thanks for the blogging inspiration, Randy!

Family Photos – Hanging Around

I continue to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  To start from the beginning, click here.

Next page includes our grandparents – we spent a lot of time with them when we visited Fresno.

Dig in, Sig 1957

This picture of my grandfather, Sigmund Levy, is just how I remember him – a little mischievous and quite a character.  That’s my sister sitting with him and looking like she’s thinking about digging in, too.

Dinner at the chicken farm – 1957 Sheldon Hunter, me, Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter (standing), Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy, Sig Levy, Sister Cary

I guess that empty spot would have been for Clara and my dad.  When I posted this photo before a fellow blogger commented about the pearls my mother and grandmother were wearing – can you even imagine that attire today?  We had a BBQ last night and we were all in shorts and t-shirts – no pearls in attendance!

The next two photos are fun – not only the photos but it looks like my sister wrote on the back so we’d know who it was.  Good thinking!

Our Mother

Looks like she had no intention of sharing her mother with me!

The tall & short of it 1957

What’s really interesting about this photo is that my dad wasn’t very tall – maybe 5’9” on a good day.  I always knew my grandfather was short but he was REALLY short. 

And my sister wrote on the back of this one, too.



Next up – random photos of cute little girls.

Oh, so sweet 1957

I wonder if he meant the girls or the goat was sweet.

Cary’s 1st school picture 1957

Now this is definitely one of the sweetest faces ever!  I was able to spend the day with my sister last weekend – she hasn’t changed a bit!

Grandmother back from Hawaii 1957

My grandparents did like to go to Hawaii.  They always took a cruise and as this picture shows, Grandma was always dressed to the 9’s.

Cotton what? 1957

I always loved cotton candy but what a mess!  I can just imagine what our faces looked like when we were done eating this mound of sugar.

Cary on the shutter

No selfies necessary when there was a big sister to take the photos!

No caption for this photo but I know it was 1957 and I know it’s my sister.  What I don’t know is where this dog came from as it wasn’t one of ours.  Maybe she was doing her best to look cute while she begged for a puppy?