The Passing of Sally Kearns

Sarah S. Kearns, who we knew as Sally, passed away on February 26, 2012. Sally was the daughter of Florence Sullivan (my great aunt) and John Kearns. She and her sisters Pat and Marge were great friends (and first cousins) of my Mom, Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Coughlin.

Sally's funeral will be this Saturday, 11 a.m., at Our Lady of the Lake (formerly known as Holy Cross), at E. 200th Street and Lake Shore Boulevard in Euclid.

Sally's passing seems like the end of an era. Not many of my Mom's cousins are still around. The Sullivan's and Fitzpatrick's were full of fun and kind people, with that beautiful Irish-American spirit (and, yes, some of the Irish-American flaws).

May the Good Lord hold her in the palm of his hand.

Some Cousins: Sally Kearns, Pat Kearns, Marge Moore, and Mike Moore

This past week I attended the funeral mass of George Callahan Sr., who was married to a Kearns (Mickey, I believe). George is the father of Ellen (Callahan) McHugh and Mary (Callahan) Roulette, two of the best writers in Northeast Ohio (I believe George had 7 children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren). While at the mass at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Mentor, Ohio, I heard the woman in front of me introduced as Sally Kearns. I immediately knew that Sally was my mother's cousin and good friend.

After the mass I introduced myself to Sally. I asked about her sister Pat, and found out that she had died around 2003, when my own Mother died. She also told me her sister Marge Moore had died. Sally and her sibling are related to my Mom in this way: their mother was a Sullivan (from Brownhelm Township in Lorain County); and my Mom's mother, Margaret Ann Sullivan Fitzpatrick, was her sister. The Sullivan girls all died fairly young. My grandmother died in 1940 at the age of 55, probably of blood pressure-related illnesses (easily treated in our day). I was born 8 years after her death.

When Sally looked at me and talked to me, she said that I had my grandfather John Fitzpatrick's "gene" (as she put it). I'm guessing that she was talking about some aspect of physical appearance. I had never ever heard anyone mention this connection to my grandfather. Alas, I don't remember John Fitzpatrick--he died in 1949 when I was a baby. My Mom did tell me that John had held me. So I have this tenuous connection to my maternal grandfather--and, in the eyes of Sally Kearns, I have his "gene." I hope I also have a little bit of the Sullivan sweetness, so clearly seen in my Mom and her siblings. Sally said that I do have that--but of course she can't know that for sure.

With Sally at the funeral mass was her niece, Mike Moore ( I think her given name is Mary Michelle, but she goes by Mike). Mike is the daughter of Marge Kearns Moore. Amazingly, she lives about a block from where I lived the first three years of my life--near Lake Shore Boulevard and Lost Nation Boulevard in Willoughby, Ohio.

There was one other Sullivan who lived in that neighborhood--Uncle Ed Sullivan (and his wife Helen Sullivan, and children Mary Ellen, Sally, John, and Mike). Ed was actually my maternal grandmother's baby brother, and was my great uncle. Sally Sullivan Silvaroli lives in Willoughby, Ohio; I had her son Joe in class some years ago. My sister Mary Ellen was named after Mary Ellen Sullivan. I've heard that John and Mike own the Mrs. Weiss' noodle soup company, located in Lorain County.

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.