Mom (Rosalia Hon Matyn)'s WW II photograph album

Sorry it has been so long since I blogged, but I needed a break.

Here are some images from Mom's WWII photograph album. She wrote on each one in green ink. Why green? I don't know. Most of her comments identify who, when and where the photographs where taken, with a few pithy commentary notes. I have only included a sample of them so other relatives can enjoy them. There are a lot of her nephew, my cousin, Donny Hipp, who was the oldest grandchild.

The Album begins with her graduation from Hermantown High School,  near Duluth, Minnesota  May 21, 1942 at 8pm in the school auditorium. Ditto copies of the school newspaper Kee-a-wah Trail, are in her album. There are various pictures of seniors in costumes, cooking out, and in caps and gowns together.

Here's Mom in the upper right of the image in front of Hermantown H.S. She was the valedictorian.

ED Hanning, Mom and George Ruravina (or Kukavina?) In a prior photo the men are in front of a small pine the class dedicated

"a sunny Sunday afternoon, on a stone wall...St. Paul, MN, ruined a pair of hose on the darn wall, Fall 1942"

Aunty Frances married George Clifford Hipp on March 31, 1940.  Their first son, Donny, was born April 16, 1941. There are a lot of pictures of Donny. He and my Mom spent a lot of time together and loved each other dearly.

Donny and Clifford Fall 1942

Donny playing in the snow, early 1943

Mom, Donnie and Cliff-windy Sunday Fall 1942

Mom and Donny in the back yard Fall 1942

Mom and Donald one Sunday afternoon in the yard in front of water station  in St. Paul, 1942

Donald with Aunty "roz" Fall 1942

Clifford, Donnie and Frances, St. Paul, Fall 1943

Here are a few more:

Altamae Johnson, Uncle Ed, Bethel and Wally Gershons, back home on furlough Fall 1943, close up. Altamae married Ed in Oct. 1945 and Bethel was a witness with Uncle Paul. This may indicate that Wally did not survive the war.

Here are Uncle Ed, Wally and Grandpa Hon in his Coast Guard uniform July 1943. I cannot make this photo line up. Grandpa helped "watch for the enemy" in the Great Lakes during WWII.

The first part of 1943 Donny, clearly the love of everyone's life with Grandpa and Grandma Hon and a very young Aunty Phyllis.

A lot more of the album in the near future. I promise. No more long breaks.

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Aunty Phyllis Hon

Aunty Phyllis (Phyllis Gertrude Hon, 1934-1985). Aunty was a feisty redhead who was cutthroat, like her siblings, at playing games, and delighted in killing her nieces and nephews at jacks, cribbage, and monopoly, to mention a few games. Born in Minnesota, she went with her family during WWII to Michigan and grew up in Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan. She was 20 years younger than her oldest sister, Frances, and 10 years younger than her other sister, Rosalia (my mom) and just a bit older than her eldest nephew, Donny Hipp.

Aunty entered the Adrian (Mich.) Dominican convent on June 27, 1953, and took her final vows on Dec. 30, 1958 as Sr. Rosalia Marie Hon, O.P. (Order of Preachers, the Dominicans). My Mom told me that Aunty told her date the night before their high school prom that she was going to enter the convent after high school and he immediately dumped her because he did not want to waste any more time on her. I bet that smarted. She and Sr. Therese DiCanio were dear convent friends, growing together in their faith, laughing a lot, working hard, they shared an apartment, and taught at the same schools for many years. Aunty taught business related classes, such as shorthand, stenography, and typing for many years in Catholic girls high schools in metro-Chicago, Illinois.

I remember her and Sr. Therese coming to visit us several times in Grayling during the very late 1960s and 1970s. One time they drove from Chicago in an un-air-conditioned car and brought a bucket of chicken. My mom threw it out. She hated fried chicken and figured it had rotted in the bucket.  Another time we raised the flag-see picture below. On one occasion in the 1970s Aunty curled her hair at night in big curlers. I thought what is the point if you put it all under the habit? Her bangs stuck out a bit. At that point the nuns were wearing modest dresses and only a shoulder-length habit. Later, they got rid of the headgear. Whenever she came up to visit she would help Mom sew dresses from patterns. Aunty was an excellent seamstress. She had a sewing machine and so did Mom. She'd carefully adjust all the patterns and materials to get the best fitting dress maximizing the best use of the material. Once she sewed over her end of her finger by accident and it was still bandaged when she visited us, I think she had to have stitches. Most of Mom's 1970s dresses were made by Aunty from Butterick patterns. Aunty also sewed a lot of her own clothes, skirts, pants, tops, and jackets. The first and only time we flew round trip as a family in the very late 1970s was to Chicago to see Aunty. I'm not sure why we fly that time, instead of driving, but we did. Maybe it was because there was no place to park the car. I think we slept on the floor of their apartment. Mom was steamed because all the film negatives were lost in the mail, so we didn't have any photographs. I know we went to all the museums and a planetarium on that trip. [Sr. Therese is still alive in Illinois. What a lovely lady! She's family. She and Mom wrote for decades, so now I send her a note periodically.]

When Aunty knew she was dying, she visited all of her siblings before she went to the motherhouse for medical care. Sr. Therese went with her. Aunty died there and is buried in the circle of graves at the mother house in Adrian. The funeral mass celebrating her life was wonderful. Nuns who had known her and worked with her or taken vows with her came from far and wide to support us.

Here are some pictures from various stages of her life:

1936 standing Uncle Carl in the hated knickers, Uncle Paul, my Mom (Rosalia Jane Hon Matyn),

sitting Uncle Ed holding Aunty Phyllis who was then 2 years old.

Aunty Phyllis, dog, my Mom, Uncle Carl, two dogs and Grandpa Hon (Carl Hon, Sr.) on a pile of hay, about 1939. This is the only tinted photograph of the pre-WWII era I found. I wonder why it is tinted and who tinted it. I also wonder what the dogs names were. My mom made simple dresses that tied over the shoulder for me and my sister, Alice, when we were little. There are a lot of pictures of us with our shoulders exposed just like Aunty's in this image. I'm thinking she and Aunty Phyllis were responsible for continuing that style.

Aunty in 1945, age 11, Mom's notes in green ink-notes "living in Grand Rapids"

in 1947, age 13

Grandma Hon with her gloves, Aunty as a postulant (meaning she recently entered the convent), and an unidentified postulant, at the motherhouse

This is Aunty in white habit, so she's hasn't made her final vows, with an unidentified woman in a fur coat. This is probably at the Adrian motherhouse between1953 and 1958. Sorry it is blurry.

Sr. Gregory Hon (Grandma Hon's sister), her niece Aunty Phyllis (Sr. Rosalia Marie in full habit) and Sr. Gregory's unidentified companion, late 1950s or early 1960s.

Sr. Therese, Aunty Phyllis and Alice Matyn raising the flag at 604 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, in 1969 in the backyard with laundry on the old clothesline. We have a home movie of this- it is hysterical.. Just as the flag hits the top of the pole, the wind comes up, habits and crucifixes go flying. You wonder if they will take flight. It's the ultimate patriotic Catholic American home movie.

Here is a very happy Aunty teaching, 1970. Blackboard, lectern, books-things have changed. She looks to me like she's  going to give a test any minute.

Close up 1970. I don't see any curls showing in this photo.

A few more of Mom

I could not get these to load earlier, and they are fun.

Mom as a baby about 9 months old, so in early 1925, at 5223 Dodge St., Duluth (the family home)

close up of her First Holy Communion class photo. She is sitting in the front 2nd from left, St. Michael's Catholic Church, Duluth, 1931-1933

Hermanville Twp., outside of Duluth,  HS graduation photo 1942

Rosalia Jane Hon Matyn as a child

Here are some images of my Mom. Rosalia Jane Hon Matyn (July 25, 1924-March 7, 2016), as a child in or near Duluth, MN. I've already shown  of these on prior posts, but here are some more.

Uncle Carl, Mom, Grandma Hon all reading on a couch about 1930?

Mom behind snowman, could be Uncle Carl on left and Aunty Phyllis on right?

All the Hon kids, Uncle Carl in his hated knickers, Uncle Paul and Mom, Uncle Ed holding Aunty Phyllis, 1937

Christmas, Mom looks about 5, 1929? holding hands with Uncle Carl? is that Paul behind her? Who are all these kids?

unidentified images of Carl and Rosalia Hon's children

Finally, for the first time since Dad died, I'm able to get back to posting. I'm going to start up where I finished. Here are the remaining unidentified images of Carl and Rosalia Hon's children. Please let me know if you see someone you recognize or if you think I've identified someone correctly and I'll add a heading. If you learn anything from this blog post it is this-identify and date your important and precious images before it is too late and family history is lost forever.

Here are unidentified babies. Talk about precious! Who are they? 

Unidentified man, Grandpa Hon (I think) and an unidentified baby.

Grandpa Hon and three kids, might be my Mom next to Grandpa. Might be Aunty Frances, cut off, on the right.

Unidentified kids. The woman in black dress I think was in early images with Aunty Frances. I think that is Grandma Hon in the white dress.

Here are some unidentified girls, the one on the far right might be Aunty Frances.

Hons on a fence? Could be Uncle Paul on left, Uncle Carl on the right? Aunty Phyllis climbing? on the Hon farm?

Two boys in front of a field, houses and a tired looking horse drawn piece of equipment

unidentified Minnesota kid on a snowhill

a bunch of boys. I think that is Uncle Ed on the far left and Uncle Paul 2nd from the right, both in the front row.

two very patriotic little boys, but who?

Kid on bike, kid picking nose! Uncles Ed and Paul?

same kids, no picking recorded

The children of Carl and Rosalia Hon in mostly identified photographs

After Aunty Frances, Grandma and Grandpa Hon had a large family. This apparently stopped them from identifying and dating all the other children's photos. Therefore I'm unable to do a page and say these are all baby pictures of Uncle Ed. So here are some loose photographs from Grandma's album, most of which my Mom  identified if she could:

Here is a photo of someone in a snowsuit with a sled. Adorable, but the kid is looking down so if you know who it is, please let me know. Could it be Uncle Ed?

Here's a cute summer photo of siblings [my Uncle] Paul and [my Mom] Rosalia Hon holding stuff, homemade art?, on a blanket in the backyard, about 1929. I am the spitting image of my Mom.

Siblings Carl and Rosalia Hon bundled up in coats, hats and scarves about 1928, in Minnesota, so it could be July....ha non-Minnesotan humor.

Mom labeled this one Dad [meaning her Dad], [and siblings baby] Carl and Rosalia, about 1926.

Here's a photo from about 1936. This is known as the infamous knickers photo. Mom said they had returned from church and Uncle Carl hated his knickers and had ripped them off as soon as he got home, but Grandma and Grandpa made him put them back on for the photo. You can clearly see he is extremely unhappy about the situation.
Someone, I think Grandma Hon, identified everyone on the back and wrote the note as follows:
Edward [seated] 17 years, holding Phyllis 2 1/2 years.
Standing (right to left): Rosalia 12, Paul 15, Carl 10.
They are all in H. School except Carl and the baby of course.

Here's a photo of Grandpa Hon and the kids all lined up. Aunty Frances, Uncle Ed, Uncle Paul, my Mom[Rosalia] and Uncle Carl, probably about 1930.

More photos [mostly unidentified] from Grandma's photograph album next weekend. Tune in and maybe next week you can help identify someone you love.

Aunty Frances Hon before marriage

The lady I knew as my Aunty Frances was baptized as Saint Frances Charlotte Hon, the first child of Rosalia Mannheim Hon and Carl F. Hon, Sr., on April 12, 1915 in Duluth, MN. Here are some photos of her before her marriage. Hers are the only photos of Rosalia and Carl's children in the family photograph album that are dated. I guess it is true about the first child being well documented.

I have a later batch of photos of her married during WWII and living with her parents that I will share in the future. For now her is some of her childhood.

Here are some photos of Aunty Frances as a  baby of a few months, one with Grandma Hon admiring her,  a photo of Aunty on a front porch, I assume her parents' porch, a photo of her with her dad (Grandpa Hon) and another with Grandma Hon with Aunty on a baby tricycle of sorts. No safety equipment. [Sorry, I cropped these and then could not get the cropped images to show up in the blog. My goal is to do a blog post every weekend from now on that I can manage.]

Aunty Frances with Grandma Hon who wrote on this In our To Basket 7/17-15

Aunty Frances on the front porch dated 7-17-15

Grandpa Hon with Aunty at the shore, dated June 11-19-1916 (maybe they were on a trip?)

Grandma Hon in a nice hat and Aunty Frances on a little tricycle

Here is Aunty Frances as a little girl with some unidentified people. I think the tallest woman looks an awful lot like my Great Grandma, Elizabeth McKinnon Mannheim, but she died in 1907 before Aunty Frances was born. I wonder if this could be one or two of her sisters? And the man may be another relative or a husband of one of these ladies.

Here is Aunty Frances in 1926 at age 11 standing in front of a large vehicle, a bus, heading off to an event?

I think Aunty wrote on this -1926 Me

This is a really cute photo of Aunty Frances and all her siblings except Aunty Phyllis together. On the left Uncle Ed Hon behind my mom, Rosalia Hon Matyn, Aunty Frances in the middle, on the right Uncle Paul behind Uncle Carl Hon (Jr.). probably about 1935. Aunty Phyllis was either just a baby or not born yet.

In a summer shorts outfit as a young lady, probably in high school.

Lastly, here is Aunty Frances all dressed up, perhaps high school graduation?