Ralph Thomas Schiavon – Many Branches, One Tree

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: It’s All Relative

Phillip Eugene “Bud” McCormick (1927 – 2004) Benita Jane “Janie” (McCormick) Olson (1927 – 2011) Joan (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) My great-aunt “Detty,” or Benita (McGinnis) McCormick, and her younger sister (my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon), lived several blocks apart on the South side of Chicago, both from each other and from their mother, Mary Jane (Gaffney) … Continue reading

Treasure Chest Thursday: The Walk Home

John Terrence Cherry (1907 – 1956) The third of four children born to James W. and Frances (Gaffney) Cherry, John Terrence Cherry seems to have been named after his maternal grandfather (John Gaffney) and maternal great-grandfather (Terrence Quinn). John Terrence Cherry He was born between 1906 and 1907 in Conneaut, Ohio, and from family … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: Good Things Come to Those who Wait

Joan Joyce Schiavon (1928 – 1987) Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon, about 1947 1947 was a time of joy and excitement for the Schiavon family of Chicago, Illinois, as they anticipated the wedding … Continue reading

Wedding Wednesday: Tom and Angie Schiavon

Ralph Thomas Schiavon (1924 – 1993) Angelina (Ciliberto) Schiavon (1923 – 2004) Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Thomas Schiavon exiting Saint Philip Neri Catholic Church, Chicago. The man behind Angie is her brother, Joe Ciliberto. Angie’s father is on the far right, beaming with pride at his daughter. The wedding took place inside the exquisite Gothic church of Saint Philip Neri, on Chicago’s … Continue reading

Mappy Monday: The Schiavons and the McCormicks in the 1940 Census

Map shows the walking route that sisters Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon (House “A”) and Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (House “B”) might have taken to visit each other’s families in 1940 Chicago, Illinois. (Courtesy Google Maps, 2012) Visiting the 1940s Chicago of the Schiavon and the McCormick families, we can see the beginnings of a decade of change for … Continue reading

Looking Back: The Schiavons in the 1930 Census

In a snapshot of Ralph and Alice Schiavon and their two children, five year-old Thomas and 21-month-old Joan, the 1930 United States Census shows us that less than a year after the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression had not fully impacted the family yet. On April 8th of that year, we can … Continue reading

Motivation Monday: How Could I Compete with a Genius?

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca 1928 – 1987 My godfather and Uncle, Ralph Thomas “Tom” Schiavon, United States Army Signal Corps, Camp Crowder, Missouri Ralph Thomas Schiavon 1924 – 1993 In her own words (Part Six) We have been following my mother’s account of her life, written a couple of months before she died … Continue reading

Wordless Wednesday: Joan and Tom Schiavon

Amanuensis Monday: “This is the Wish of their Mother”

[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- , meaning manual or hand, the word also has been used as a synonym for secretary or scribe.] Inside cover of my mother’s baby book, as inscribed by her mother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon ca. July … Continue reading

Ralph Schiavon – Part Three: Halcyon Days

Ralph Schiavon Halcyon Days (Third of a four-part series about my maternal great-grandfather) A self-made man, my grandfather, Ralph Schiavon, was not afraid of anyone. Not even “Scarface” Al Capone. In the late 1920s, Ralph was working as a supervisor for the Internal Revenue Service and lived on the South Side of Chicago with his … Continue reading