Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis – Page 3 – Many Branches, One Tree

Thankful Thursday: From the Angels in Heaven

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) It was still early morning on the Fourth of July, 1928, when my grandfather, Ralph Schiavon, still half asleep, rolled out of bed to answer the telephone. Doctor Thomas Doyle, the McGinnis and Schiavon family physician, was calling with good news. My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, Chicago, … Continue reading

Born Going Up in the World

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) 1928 was a year of prosperity, hope, and bravado. It was the middle of the Prohibition era, and Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States. The U.S., along with 14 other countries, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, a treaty that condemned … Continue reading

Amanuensis Monday: A Grand Aunt

[Note: Amanuensis is an ancient word meaning one who performs the function of writing down or transcribing the words of another. Derived from the Latin root manu- manual, or hand, the word also has been used as a synonym for secretary or scribe.] Benita Elizabeth McGinnis (1889 – 1984) From my Grand Aunt Benita … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: The Wonders of Modern Medicine

Francis Eugene McGinnis (1891 – 1961) It was one of those trying weeks some years ago, the kind most families experience, when our three children, at the time preschoolers, came down with colds that developed into ear infections and strep throat. Between calling the doctor and flipping through parenting books to check symptoms, my … Continue reading

Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon

Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon Born June 14, 1895, in Conneaut, Ohio Died January 1, 1963, in Chicago, Illinois My beloved grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, was a bit of a rebel. Charming, but a rebel nonetheless. As a child, she did not want to go to school. She would line up in the morning … Continue reading