The Walter and Eleanor Gillen Story

Sherry Gillen Butcher Belmonte, Virginia Gillen Poole

Description

The Walter and Eleanor Gillen story is an account of daily life in a large family raised on a farm in the Midwest during the sixties, and the trials and tribulations that led to their individual success.

The youngest of nine children, Walter was born and raised on the family farm 20 miles from Toledo, Ohio. “Walter was 5 years old when his father bought his first car - a 1921 Willy's Overland Aster.” He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and returned to help run the family farm. “After finishing a day of farming, and supper was over, he washed up, changed into clean clothes, and went out for the evening. On his way to town, he picked up friends and cousins along the way to share the evening. He could also be found frequently stopping at a brother or sister’s home for a visit and was often seen with a niece or nephew in his arms.” 

Eleanor was the eldest of two children, and a city girl from Toledo, Ohio. Her family owned a Hupmobile, but mostly used city transportation. They took the train to visit family in New York every summer. Eleanor was married for two years when her first husband died. After six years, her mother encouraged her to start dating again. She went square dancing with her girlfriends at the Trianon Dance Hall and round dancing at the Odd Fellows Hall where her uncle worked, and where she met Walter in 1946.

“Walter was 30 when he married Eleanor and won a longtime bet with Dudley that he wouldn’t marry before age 30. Eleanor was 27.” As a new couple they learned the farming and agriculture business and had nine children between 1947 and 1957. Their third child died the day after her birth. The family went to church on Sunday’s and often spent Sunday afternoons at a different aunt and uncle’s home. Everyone lived on a farm. Walter and his brother Leslie sold the family farm in 1959. Leslie moved to Wauseon, Ohio, and Walter and Eleanor moved to a 180-acre farm on Stony Lake in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Walter had a manufacturing job to supplement the farm income. There was time to play after chores were done. Weekends included visits with family and friends, Sunday drives, singing along with Eleanor playing the piano, or games and cards. Walter and Eleanor bought a family restaurant in 1964 where the children worked before or after school when they were old enough. They lost the restaurant in 1970. “Failure. Lost the battle. Do what has to be done and keep your damn mouth shut.” 

They lost the farm in 1972 and rented an old house in nearby Onsted. The four younger children were still at home. “…everyone still at home spent weeks getting the house ready to live in. Every room had old wallpaper to be removed, up to 13 layers in some rooms.” Research found the house to be an 1830s plantation house and a stop along the Underground Railroad. 

No one wants to endure or experience hardships, but they are what builds and strengthens character, and enables one to overcome future challenges.

“Eleanor had the great privilege of watching her children grow up to be well-adjusted, responsible, and happy adults.”

Sujets

• Historical
• Lettres et linguistique
• Biography
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Outskirts Press
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781977265579
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

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The Walter and Eleanor Gillen Story As Told By Their Children All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2023 Virginia Gillen Poole and Sherry Gillen Butcher Belmonte v4.0
The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Outskirts Press, Inc. http://www.outskirtspress.com
Cover Photo © 2023 Virginia Poole. All rights reserved - used with permission.
Outskirts Press and the "OP" logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To Walter and Eleanor, our beloved parents, who raised us and are missed beyond measure.
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Part One: Our Parents 1916 – 1946
Chapter 1: Walter’s Early Life
Chapter 2: Eleanor’s Early Life
Part Two: Walter and Eleanor’s Marriage 1946 – 1976
Chapter 3: Farm Life in Ohio
Chapter 4: Growing up in Michigan
Chapter 5: Eleanor’s Coffee Shop
Chapter 6: Home Life After Brooklyn
Part Three: The Maturing Family 1962 – 2022
Chapter 7: Irene and Ben Snider
Chapter 8: Cathy and Dave Osborn
Chapter 9: Noreen and Tim Litchard
Chapter 10: Ginger and Jim Poole
Chapter 11: Linda and Bill Thompson
Chapter 12: Norm and Margaret Gillen
Chapter 13: Gary Gillen
Chapter 14: Sherry and Brian Belmonte
Chapter 15: The In-Laws
Chapter 16: Eleanor’s Retirement Years
Part Four: Memories
Chapter 17: Favorite Family Memories
Part Five: Our Heritage 1719 – 1946
Family Tree
Chapter 18: Walter and Eleanor’s Lineage

Notes
F OREWORD
"I liked the book especially because it didn’t try to make everyone into a saint. You pointed out the human flaws as well as the virtues.
This is a slice of Americana that no longer exists. This is a real gift for future generations, who will read this and laugh and really get to know their forebearers."
Anne Smith
P REFACE
By Virginia "Ginger" Gillen Poole
LITTLE DID I know how challenging writing our family story would be. This effort began as a seemingly easy project with our brother and sisters all providing input and encouragement.
As I began discussing the project with friends, it expanded into a much larger project. Upon review of the initial draft in May 2020, I was asked to expand on the stories and include more details of our family life. I was also encouraged to self-publish our story. I incorporated both recommendations and have been following Outskirts Press publishing guidelines.
I spent 36 years as a civilian with the U.S. Navy, primarily as a budget and program analyst that required writing technical documents in government lingo. Luckily, I was able to enlist the assistance of Sherry Belmonte, my youngest sister, as a co-author. Readers will witness Sherry’s writing talent throughout the book. It is interesting to note that I am the youngest of the four oldest children, and Sherry is the youngest of the four youngest children. This became very helpful in piecing together the story.
Sherry and I are two of eight children born within 10 years of each other and raised together in the same house with the same parents. Even being born this closely together, the four oldest girls had a very different childhood than the youngest four children. Our annual family gatherings since 2018 allowed most everyone to attend. The stories told by the oldest and youngest children seemed like we were from two different families. This revelation encouraged us to collect our family memories and records and write the story of our family while most of us are still living. Our youngest brother Gary died in 1975 from complications associated with muscular dystrophy.
We had a wealth of information from our mother’s records that helped us clarify dates and events when we had questions. Eleanor our "Mom" was the family historian and maintained meticulous records of both sides of the family throughout her life. My oldest sister Irene made an album of our father’s side of the family. My second oldest sister Cathy made an album of our mother’s side of the family. My third oldest sister Noreen and her husband used Family Tree Maker to compile the information they had from archives and notes from Eleanor to create a family tree that provided the first detailed ancestry records of our family. Noreen also interviewed our aunt Sister Lorenzo and cousins for further insight into our family history. Brother Norm reviewed and edited our final book drafts and maintained our backup files.
All siblings contributed family memories, wrote individual family stories, reviewed, and consolidated family records, researched missing military and ancestry records, and provided photographs.
Several unexpected problems were encountered, the first being how to write a book with seven people. I didn’t have a problem with conflicting information as much as I had a problem with the different writing styles, vernacular, and changing people’s wording. When we all decided the book had to be from the author’s perspective, we decided, the author could recommend and make changes. Sherry and I had good communication with our brother and sisters throughout the process, and this became a non-problem. Another problem was deciding the focus of the story we wanted to tell – our ancestors, our parents, or the children. We decided it would be our parents’ story since we could include both our ancestors and children.
The book title and heritage research were also challenging. We changed the title of the book at least six times to try and depict our family story. We have the Gillen family ancestry dating back to 1719. All our great-grandparents immigrated to America from Germany. It was also extremely challenging to present our ancestry and their stories to make the book interesting to the reader.
Several friends were instrumental in urging me to continue and publish the book:
Lisa Coberly is a longtime friend of Sherry’s and the family and an avid genealogist and historian in her spare time. She researched specific family homes and ancestors for the book. Lisa introduced Sherry and me to the Lenawee Historical Society Museum Archives, the County Register of Deeds Office, and the Historical Archives, where the curators educated and assisted us in our research. Sherry used this indoctrination to continue research of our ancestors for the book.
Anne Smith is a longtime "Navy wife" friend and a professional journalist who also was the founding editor of CUA Magazine at The Catholic University of America.
Linda Ely is a longtime neighbor who once wrote copy for a national mail order catalog. She is currently a proofreader for the John Wasowicz legal mystery book series.
The late Susan Weaver was a bridge partner who suggested self-publishing.
The book provides a biographical and autobiographical narrative of past and present family members that future generations can enjoy and build upon.
PART ONE
OUR PARENTS
1916 – 1946
Their Early Years
Walter in Chicago 1943
Chapter 1
W ALTER ’ S E ARLY L IFE
By Virginia "Ginger" Gillen Poole and Norman "Norm" Gillen
Walter Andrew Gillen Our Father
WALTER’S FATHER, PETER John Gillen, Jr., was born in Rhinebrice, Germany, on October 1, 1872. Peter Jr. was the second oldest of nine children: Magdalina (Lena), Peter, Jr., Mary Ann (Maria), Catherine (Kate), John, Anthony (Tone), Mariam Elizabeth, Francis (Frank), and Rose Anna.
Walter’s mother, Margaretha Malburg, was born in Ogden Township, now Blissfield, Michigan, on July 1, 1877, and was the oldest of six children: Margaretha, Robert, Ann, Joseph, Rose, and Frederick. Many of these 15 aunts and uncles lived within five miles.
Peter Jr. and Margaretha, often called Maggie or Mag, were married on February 1, 1898, in Caraghar, now Assumption, Ohio. They had nine children born and raised on the family farm in Assumption: Cecilia (Celee), Edward (Eddie), Louis (Louie, later McGrory), Martin, Arnold (Spike), Leslie (Poodle), Marcella (Sally), Cletus (Charlie), and Walter (Walt). His oldest sister, Cecilia, was 17 when Walter was born on June 28, 1916. She left home the next year to become a Dominican nun. When Walter was born, his father was 44 and his mother was two days shy of her 39th birthday.
The 120-acre farm was 20 miles west of Toledo, Ohio, and one mile east of Assumption on Central Avenue, U.S. Route 20. Walter’s Grandfather Peter Sr. established the farm in 1876 that passed onto Peter Jr. Walter’s father continued farming and concerned himself with the chores to be done about the barn. He fed and cared for horses, cows, and pigs. He and the older boys milked the cows each morning and night. In the spring they readied the fields for planting corn, wheat, and oats by plowing and disking. In the fall the crops were harvested and stored or sold. Since there wasn’t weed killer in those days, busy work for the kids in the summer was to hoe the rows of corn to keep the weeds out.
Walter grew up in a happy family. The family always ate breakfast, dinner, and supper together. They had plenty of everything to eat and were never concerned about being wasteful because the table scraps were used to feed the dog, "Shep," and the cats.
The family worked hard, and they also took time to relax. Walter’s father went into Metamora to have a beer daily during the week after the farm chores were done, a practice Walter continued when he was old enough to drink. The family attended St. Mary’s of the Assumption, in Assumption. After Sunday morning mass, the day was set aside for visiting and relaxing, whether in summer or winter.
Walter’s aun