LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -APRIL 5, 2015
The ChildrenOf 1940
byLynneBelluscio
RuthHarviecame in lastThurs-
day and I told her that I had a
special project for her to work
on. She took the little red leath-
er-covered book that lists all
the people in the 1940 Book
and beganmethodically reading
through the alphabetical list. By
the end of the day, she had over
twenty people. On Friday, she
read through the rest of thebook
and thereweremorenames, some
withquestionmarks.Weare still
workingon the list, but I thought
it would be worth the effort to
share what we had at this point,
and seewhat you think.
If familieswanted to be in the
book, theyhad topayasmall fee,
so just becauseyour family lived
inLeRoy in 1940, doesn’t mean
that theirphotograph is included.
As far as we can determine,
Lois Thorn may be the oldest
survivingperson in thebook.The
challenge isknowingawoman’s
marriedname since they are list-
edwith their maiden name. I’ve
posted some of the photographs
on the facebook page “LeRoy
Then andNow” and have heard
from some folks.
Carol Lathan Boniquisti re-
members wearing her very best
dressandwalkingdown thestreet
tohaveherpicture takenwith the
Lathan family. She’s also been
veryhelpful ingivingmea listof
survivingLathans. JimHenryand
his twosisters,BettyStewart and
DorothyPapke, are still around.
Jim was thirteen when the
family picture was taken. When
I talked with him yesterday, he
toldme that what he remembers
is thathisdadhaddied (whenJim
was10)andhismotherwas really
trying hard to make ends meet.
They couldn’t afford to pay the
fee to be included and his Aunt
Bessie Campbell made sure that
theHenry familyphotowas taken
and included in the book.
I overheard a comment that
thereweren’t any Italian families
in the book, and that’s not true. I
haven’t counted them, but there
are many. One of my favorite
pages is the Forti family which
includes a photo of the Forti
Store. When I posted their page
on“LeRoyThenandNow”many
people shared stories and fond
memories. Both John and Eliz-
abeth Forti are alive and I hope
to share the stories with them. I
know they’d enjoy it.
Many years ago, I talked with
JimOlmsted, and he toldme that
he arrived late for the familypho-
tograph.Hisfatherwasfuriousand
hedidn’t have a chance to change
into his good clothes. He stood
with his bicycle, and several pic-
tureswere taken,buthis fatherwas
so mad at him, he couldn’t bear
to open his eyes. OzzieWeiggel,
the photographer had to print the
photo and paint his eyes open.
Here is a list that we have put
together. There are over 40 peo-
ple thatwe thinkare stillwithus.
We aren’t sure ifwe have every-
oneor ifwemight have a couple
ofpeoplewhohavepassedaway.
So as you read through it, if you
haveanycorrectionsoradditions,
Anchor, Donna (Mills)
Anchor, Bob
Boylan, Paul Jr.
Bradbury, John (Jack)
Bradbury, Sonja
Bradbury, Nancy
Brooks, Elaine (Booten)
Brooks,Wilfred ?
Davis, Frank
Fay, John
Ferguson, Anne (Cooper)
Forti, Elizabeth
Forti, John
Frost, David
Frost, Nancy (Norman)
Frost, Betsey (Levinsen)
Gleason,Mary Joan
Graham, David
Graham, Joyce (Jordan)
Graney, CarolAnne
Graney, Charles (Chuck)
Graney, Dorothy (Chapman)
Graney, Larry Judd
Graney,William
Henry, Dorothy (Papke)
Henry, Jim
Henry, Elizabeth (Stewart)
Hoe, Robert
Knoll, Joan (Ianello)
Lathan, Carol (Bonaquisti)
Lathan, Robert James
Lathan, Lloyd
Lathan, Helen (Hussey)
Lathan, Jim
Lathan, Clarence
Luttrell, Lois (Thorne)
McDermott, ThomasEdward
Messore, Elaine
Schmelzie, SonjaRay
Woodward, Dorothy (Daley)
Zimmerman,Katherine (Lapp)
As I look over thenames, Isee
peoplewhohaveexperienced the
last75years - -Thesearechildren
bornof parents from theDepres-
sion - - of World War II. They
know of thirteen presidents, but
probablymore important,what it
was like to raise families - - teach
children - - work - - and play.
They share memories of LeRoy
- - somegoodandsomebad.And
they are our aunts and uncles,
grandmothers and grandfathers,
and they are our link to our past.
As I lookat thephotographs, and
see young children, with their
lives yet to live, I cannot help
but wonder, if their dreams and
expectationsweremet.
JimHenry
Carol Lathan (Bonaquisti)
DorothyHenry (Papke)
TheBradbury children:
Jack, Nancy, Lyle, Sonja
FrankDavis
Paul Boylan, Jr.
ElizabethForti
