Thinking about Weddings

My Mom and Dad--Willoughby, Ohio, August 1947:

Robert P. Coughlin and Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Coughlin

Dad had been home from his Navy service in World War II for about two years. He was 25 years old. Mom was 23. The wedding was held at Immaculate Conception Church in Willoughby, Ohio. I think Mom's cousin Lois Cherry (later Lois Goldie) was maid of honor. Mom was radiantly beautiful. Dad was drop-dead handsome. They couldn't have imagined a baby born 10 months later (me); another baby 2 years after that (Denny); then Mary Ellen three years after that; then Kevin; then Jimmy. A life full of ups and downs, as all lives are. I think of them as I reflect on Linda and my wedding 36 years ago in Cincinnati.

The Passing of Lois Cherry Goldy

This past Sunday, after mass at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio, I approached an elderly lady and asked her if she was Lois Cherry (I knew that Lois often attended 9 AM mass and sat in this particular location). She said that no, she wasn't Lois, and that Lois had passed on this past year. I was so sorry to hear this news--because Lois Cherry Goldy was my Mom's cousin and the maid of honor at my Mom and Dad's wedding in August of 1947. The passing of Lois, in late August of 2009, was one of the last links to my Mom. A couple of Mom's cousins still survive (I'm thinking of Sally and Pat Kearns; and some of the Sullivan kids, who were probably 10-15 years younger than Mom--Mary Ellen Sullivan, Sally Sullivan Silvaroli, and Mike and John Sullivan). But so many are gone now.

I located Lois Cherry Goldy's obituary online, at this address: http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/08/26/obituaries/nh1347976.txt

The obit mentioned that Lois' funeral was held August 28, 2009 at St. Mary's in Painesville; that she was born January 31, 1927, in Cleveland to Earl Cherry and Sara Sullivan Cherry. Sara Sullivan was my Mom's aunt and my Grandmother Margaret Ann Sullivan Fitzpatrick's sister.

Lois went to Villa Angela Academy in Cleveland (my Mom went there briefly before transferring to Notre Dame Academy on Ansel Road in Cleveland. Lois was married 3 years after my Mom and Dad were married--to Carl T. Goldy. They were married in Cleveland then moved to Painesville. They were married 50 years before Carl passed away. The obit states that she enjoyed playing bocce, and was "an avid seamstress, making more than 100 afghans for family and friends." Also--"she enjoyed the Cleveland Indians, bowling, cats, and especially adored her grandchildren."

Lois is survived by her sons Tim and Tom; daughter Jane; five grandchildren; her brother Richard; and many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.

So this link to my Mom is gone, and the opportunity to talk to Lois and ask her about growing up in the Euclid Beach area of Cleveland is gone. Requiescat in Pace, Lois.

Passing of Eugene Slusser, a Coughlin Cousin

My dad's first cousin, Eugene ("Gene") Slusser died recently. He was the son of Warren and May (nee Coughlin) Slusser. Aunt May (or Mary) was my Grampa Connie Coughlin's sister. She was the daughter of Cornelius Coughlin and Lizzie Ierg, immigrants from Ireland and Germany. Cornelius, my great-grandfather, was the youngest son of Daniel Coghlin and Mary Crowley, both born in West County Cork, Ireland. They moved around 1857 to Scipio, Cayuga County, New York with their children Jeremiah, Bartholemew, Catherine, and Cornelius. Jeremiah and Bartholemew both fought in the Civil War (and were prisoners of war for a while); Catherine married Thomas Fitzpatrick; and Cornelius, my great-grandfather, eventually made his to Cleveland, where, in the 1880's, he married Lizzie Ierg, who was born in Germersheim, Germany, a town along the Rhine River. By the way, my cousin Jack Pendergast is a descendant of Bart Coughlin.

I think Gene Slusser had 6 children, one of whom, Jim I think, was a state champion runner from St. Joseph High School in Cleveland. I just had a nodding acquaintance with Jim in high school, but I was aware at that time that he was a second cousin. There are not many of Gene Slusser's generation left in our family: My Uncle Bill and Aunt Kay Coughlin; and on my mother's side, Lois Cherry and, I think, Pat and Sally Kearns. But most everyone else is gone, alas. Tom Brokaw called this "the Greatest Generation." Who's to argue with that?

Here is the obit I found for Gene Slusser:


Obituaries.
Eugene G. Slusser (December 7, 1919 - April 27, 2009)

EUGENE G. SLUSSER age 89 of Euclid, passed away Monday, April 27, 2009. Husband of the late Doris; loving father of Judith (Robert) Schura, James, Richard (Margie), Robert (Rhonda), Marcia (Scott) Maxwell and Thomas (Ann); grandfather 17; great grandfather of 5; Son of the late Warren and Mary (Coughlin); brother of Patricia and the late Warren and William. WWII Army Veteran. In Lieu of flowers Memorials may be forwarded to the Vitas Innovative Hospice, 600 E. Granger Rd., Suite 100, Brooklyn Heights, OH 44131, Funeral Service Saturday, May 9, at 4pm in the funeral home. Private interment Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. Friends may call at the DiDonato Funeral Home, 21900 Euclid Ave, from 2:30pm till time of service Saturday.