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My paternal grandmother was a Ryan/Monroe . . .
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Some of our Ryan family lineage is Monroe, Poorman, Stoddart, McNerney, Graff, O'Donnell, Quay, Hughes,
Shearer, Shadle, Bierly, Seasholtz, Baird, Bailey, Pfoutz, Drash . . .
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| My Ryan Line |
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Grammy Poorman (1890 - 1985)
was a Ryan. Daniel Ryan was her father, whom I never met. Her Mom was Frances Monroe Ryan, who I knew when I was
young. They lived at 108 Jessamine Street in Lock Haven, PA. The house is gone now, but one of her big twin maple
trees remains - which I visit every tme I go to Lock Haven.
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The Ryan Family - Dan
& Frances Monroe Ryan had 5 kids, Maude, Charley, Hazel, John/Mick and Mary. (Oops, I just learned maybe 7, including
Blance Agnes and Michael.) Maude, my gram, married John Sylvester Poorman and had three kids, Ken, my dad, Aunt Frances
(Smith) and Aunt Kathryn (Moon). They all worked at the Paper mill. Gram/Maude was the only one of them who had
kids. Mick was a drunk. I only ever saw him a few times, and didn't call him uncle. I saw my dad kick
his butt once. Couldn't believe my eyes. Mick used foul language in fromt of Gram and me, and Dad took him apart,
and threw the pieces in the yard, the end. I never saw Mick again after that. Charlie was a sweetie, and
lived and worked as a bartender in Harrisburg. We saw him occasionally when he visited Gram. I rode in the hearse
when Dad drove it to Harrisburg to pick up Uncle Charlie's dead body. I don't have any photos of him, but he looked
a lot like Gram. We visited Aunt Mary and Uncle Mick McNerney pretty regularly. Aunt Hazel married Bill Stoddart
from Philly, and they owned and operated the Town Tavern for many years in Lock Haven, until Uncle Bill died. I spent
a lot of time with them. I still remember Aunt Hazel dying, and still feel badly about it. She always bought me
anything I wanted. All I had to do was point. Then Uncle Bill took me around town a lot after she died.
They used to take me to Philly a lot when I was little, to visit his sister, Mary Stoddart Graff. I spent a lot of time
with Uncle Bill when he was dying too. I went to his house every morning before school and fixed the coal
file, and got him something for breakfast. Then I stopped after school and took out the ashes and banked the fire for
the night. I made him something for dinner, and sat and talked with him for a while. He gave me his National
Marble Championship Medal, but unfortunately I've lost it over the years. I wish I still had it. He was very proud
of it, and often talked about it. Sometimes I played his accordian, and he played the harmonica. I felt badly
for him, he was having a difficult time of it. He was pretty much confined to his chair. He could move around
a bit though, but it was difficult for him. But I spent the most time with Gram in my childhood. I have
a treasure chest of good memories of her.
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| Maude (Gram), Mick & Ginger |
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Daniel & Frances Monroe
Ryan
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Maude, Ken, Kenny & Frances
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Frances M. Monroe (1870-1952) was the daughter of
Prevost Monroe (Canada-French) and Louise Bowman. She was born in Beech Creek PA and had a brother, James Monroe (8/5/1885)
who married Cora Chapman. Frances was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Water Street, Lock
Haven. She married Daniel Ryan and they lived at 108 Jessamine Street in Lock Haven. They had 7 children, Charles
Daniel Ryan (1889-1954), Maude Ryan (1890-1985), John "Mick" Ryan (1900-1953), Hazel Ryan (1903-?), Mary L. Ryan
(1907-1999), Michael Ryan & Blanch Agnes Ryan.
Here's Gram's Mom (Frances), two sisters
and two brothers, Mary Ryan McNerney, Hazel Ryan Stoddart, John (Mick) Ryan, and Charlie Ryan (no photo) . . .
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| Frances Ryan |
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| 1870-1952 |
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| Maude Ryan |
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| 1890-1985 |
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| Mick Ryan |
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| b.1900 |
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| Hazel Ryan |
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| b. 1903 |
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| Mary Ryan |
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| 1907-1999 |
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| Mary Ryan |
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| Mary Ryan |
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| My Aunt Mary |
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| Click to enlarge |
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| Mary Ryan McNerney |
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| Earl V. McNerney |
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| Uncle Mick |
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Great Aunt Mary . . . I hate to think
about how much Aunt Mary suffered for so long in the Long Term Care Unit before she died. It was horrible. I had
great difficulty visiting her, the pain in her voice, and eyes. She couldn't move, just lay there and suffer. I
used to go pick up little Caleb and take him along with me when I visited her, because she didn't like the confusion/noise
of having a little kid in her room, so she would ask me to leave in short order. (I'll bet Caleb doesn't know that-ha.)
I couldn't stand to see her suffering like that. God bless you Aunt Mary. Before she went to the LTC Unit, I would
stop at the Town Tavern on the way to her place and pick up a six pack. We would sit in the kitchen or living room and
chat over a beer. It was nice. I loved the photo of her niece, Sister Borgia, that she had hanging above her bookcase
in the front room. Donnie and Yvonne gave me two of her Crucifixes after she died. Crystal has one in her bedroom,
the one that Aunt Mary had hanging in the hallway; and Diana has one in her bedroom, the one that Aunt Mary had in her
bedroom. I think of her a lot. Aunt Mary died on 7 April 1999. RIP†
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St. Mary of the Mount on Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh,
PA, where our Sr. Borgia is Director of Religious Education, 2008.
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Sister Francis Borgia O'Donnell, I.H.M. -
I saw Sr. Borgia a few times in recent years . . . a couple of times at Aunt Mary's apartment before she got sick, at
Aunt Mary's funeral in 1999 at St. Agnes, and later at Dorothy Wolfkeil's funeral at IC in Lock Haven. She was DRE at
St. Mary on the Mount in Pittsburgh. Last I spoke with her, she was going to retire to her Mother Home in the Scranton
area.
SIster Borgia is Uncle Mick
& Aunt Mary Ryan McNerney's Niece. She was Joan O'Donnell of Lock Haven, PA. Joan lived up on Susquehanna
Avenue. I think she was Principal of the Catholic High School in Bellefonte at one time. Now, 2008, she is Sr.
Francis O'Donnell IHM, and has been Director of Religious Education for several years at St. Mary of the Mount in Pittsburgh.
She tells me she will be retiring to their home in Scranton soon, IHM CENTER. I hope we can get up to see her there. It seems I only see her at funerals now. I saw her at Aunt Mary's
funeral at St. Agnes, and last at Dorothy Wolfkeil's funeral at IC.
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| Me & Aunt Hazel |
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| Uncle Bill & Aunt Hazel |
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William P. "Red"
Stoddart
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Uncle Bill (r)
National Marble Champ |
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Great Aunt Hazel - when I ws very young, I spent a lot
of time with Aunt Hazel and Uncle Bill at the Town Tavern on Mill Street in Lock Haven. They had two adjoining
row houses behind the J.C. Penney store on Main Street. The bar and service area was on one side, and the kitchen and
dining room was on the other, next to the alley. They had an apartment over the Dining Room side, and rented out the
third floor on that side. They also rented out the second and third floors over the tavern. Aunt Hazel died
there. Uncle Bill left there after the J.C. Penney fire, and bought a house on East Main Street. He salvaged the
big bar, back bar and booths and moved the tavern into a rented building on Bellefonte Avenue. He also had two camps
up the Renovo Road. We spent a lot of time at the one he used. He rented out the other. I remember Ernie
the bartender, and the hand pump and lanterns at the cabin. It is still there. I even remember the furniture.
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| At Uncle Bill's Cabin |
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(Standing) Uncle Bill, Aunt Hazel, Aunt Mary, Aunt Francie
(Front) Dad & Uncle Mick McNerney |
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| My great uncles Mick McNerney & Bill Stoddart |
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| Uncle Bill "Red" Stoddart on right 1922 Philly |
Scenes from the 1922 Inter-city Tournament
in Philadelphia. Newark's Marjorie "Babe" Ruth (L) and Philadelphia's William "Red" Stoddart (R) show
their shooting style, but in the end, Baltimore's Frank McQuade Jr. (C) won the trophy
Article
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| Philadelphia Art Museum |
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| Graffs lived on Olive Street behind 2601 next to the Art Museum |
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Mary Stoddart Graff
Pearl Hall Poorman
& Kenny Dick |
Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) Parish
on Greene Street, where Anna went to school & took me to Mass when we visited in the summers.
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Anna & Mary Graff
& Kenny Dick Olive Street, Philly |
| Anna Graff & Kenny (THEN) |
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| Olive Street-Philadelphia PA |
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| Ken & Anna (NOW) |
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Ken Poorman & Anna Graff Hughes 2007
Bill Stoddart's Niece |
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