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Note: from dna dot ancestry dot com, match to 2nd cousin divacassandra: Cassandra Liane (Troutt) Hamilton b. June 5, 1969
The Tulsa city directories confirm Joe and May Gasdorf lived in Tulsa during the first half of the 1920s. They must have gone to Arkansas in 1926 or 1927 because Patsy told me May took care of dad while Blanche worked as a saleslady in Little Rock. May and Blanche would clean houses together for extra income. City directories confirm Blanche is working in Little Rock in the last half of the 1920s.
Dad appears in the 1930 Detroit census, living with Joe, May and Frank Gasdorf. It says he was adopted. He was not legally adopted.
During their time in Detroit, Joe, a deputy sheriff, and May took physical custody of twin babies Patsy and Peggy Burgin, born in March 1929 in Detroit. Their 23-year old mother Ruth (Lee) Burgin died days after child birth. Their father John agreed to let Joe and May raise them on the condition he would receive updates on their schooling and general well-being. The girls were not legally adopted either.
Sometime after 1930 Joe and May took dad, Patsy and Peggy with them to live in Tulsa. Although Tulsa high school records for dad have been located (by me), no Tulsa elementary school records for him have been found. A woman named Loretta with the Tulsa school district and I met in Tulsa in about 1984. She told me she looked everywhere and none existed. It's presumed Jack attended elementary school elsewhere.
Lulu May 'May' (Linzel) Gasdorf couldn't conceive. She was delighted to have these children to love and call her own. This family remained in Tulsa until Joe died on January 10, 1947.
After Joe died on January 10, 1947 in Tulsa, May married a man named Don Norris. She died May 15, 1966 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Joe and May are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa. ___________________________
Dad played baseball like a pro. I wondered where he learned how to run, throw and hit with extraordinary precision and power. At father-son baseball games he was the best among some good and not-so-good players. I was proud of him, and a little shocked, too -- though I believe showing up for your children is what counts the most. Some twenty years ago I began researching my family history. I tracked down my dad's only cousin. After the usual polite conversation, I asked her where my dad learned how to play baseball "like that." She looked surprised and laughed, and told me their paternal grandmother Loretta was married to Clarence Walter Huggins. It was her second marriage, his first. "Who the heck is Clarence Walter Huggins?" I asked. Dorothy told me he was the brother of Miller Huggins. Miller, as you may or may not know, was the manager of the New York Yankees, from 1918 to 1929. He recruited Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other baseball greats of the era. Walter, as he liked to be called, managed his younger brother Miller's early career. In 1899, they played together with the Mansfield Haymakers until Walter was waylaid by a leg-hip injury, after which Miller moved from his right-field position to his brother's shortstop position. At the beginning of the turn of the last century, Miller and Walter played ball for the St. Paul Saints. During this stint Walter realized his injury was permanent. He stayed on to negotiate his brother's contracts. My dad's dad Frank lived with his step-dad Walter and his mom in St. Louis when Miller played for and managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 1910-1917. Frank passed on to his son -- my dad -- what he learned about baseball from the Huggins brothers. Dorothy told me her mom and she vacationed in Florida all the time and stayed at Miller's home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Whenever I watch a ball game, I remember my family's connection to the emergence of baseball as a national sport and pastime, and smile to myself.
Nickname: Speedy (was a very fast runner) As a child: Was an eagle scout and took violin lessons Volunteer: boy scout leader in the early 1950s Military Service: Army-Air Corp. Enlisted on February 26, 1946. Was an airplane mechanic. AF-38468393, rank of sergeant. Stationed in Salina, Kansas; McConnell AFB in Wichita, KS; Hawaii and Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin. Honorably discharged on February 25, 1949 with the rank of sergeant. Note - Soon after Pearl Harbor, Jack enlisted without his parents' knowledge or consent. He was underage and, therefore, ineligible to join. He lied about his age to the enlistment officer. Eventually Joe and Lula tracked him. He was released with the recommendation he return when he was of age. - per Patsy Filo Occupation: ~1949 - radio technician after discharge from service; civil engineering draftsman for 25 years: 1953-1956 Wisconsin Power & Light; 1956-1958 Carl C. Crane Consulting Engineers at 2702 Monroe St., Madison, WI; 1960-78 Engineering Co. in Phoenix, AZ Activities: bowling, baseball and basketball teams Miscellaneous: Rode a motorcycle as primary mode of transportation. Was a member of the Million Mile Club. Buried: October 18, 1978 in Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery, 2300 Van Buren, Phoenix, Arizona - Block 22, Section 575, Plot M4
Census: 2 APR 1930 in Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan living at 132 Leicester Ct., Detroit, MI Joseph Gasdors (misspelled), 62, HOH, sheriff's deputy for Wayne Co., born in Kentucky Lula, wife, 43, born in Arkansas Frank C., son, 35, police officer for city, born in Ohio (age is incorrect; b. Apr 4, 1892) Jack, adopted son (of HOH), 5, born in Oklahoma, in column showing birth place of parents is Unk for unknown. It was crossed out and United States was entered for both mother and father. Note: Jack Gasdorf was not legally adopted.
OBITUARY - Jack Gasdorf, 54, died on October 14, 1978 at his home in Phoenix, Arizona while watching the World Series on television, something he loved doing. He was born on September 15, 1924 in Detroit, Michigan to McKinley C. and Blanche L. (Donham) Moshier. In the 1930s he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma with his foster grandparents Joe and Lula (Linzel) Gasdorf and grew up there with his foster sisters Patsy Ruth and Peggy Lee. In the 1940s he served in the U.S. Army-Air Force working as an aircraft radio technician, attaining the rank of sergeant. On March 16, 1946 he married Verna Mae Topper, daughter of John and Gladys (Barsness) Topper, at Luther Memorial Church in Madison, Wisconsin. Four children were born from this union: Terry Lee (Nancy Ellen Nesson), Jill Suzanne Burnham, Roger Lee (Carol Van Dyke) and Brian Lee. In the early 1950s Jack was a boy scout leader, drawing from his experience as an eagle scout. In July 1960 the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. For 18 years he was a respected civil engineering draftsman at a Phoenix engineering consulting firm and prior to that at a Madison, Wisconsin firm. Jack enjoyed sports, especially bowling, at which he excelled. He also was a very good baseball player and "hung up" his "spikes at 50." He played on company and city league bowling, basketball and baseball teams. He enjoyed riding his motorcyle and took regular excursions to southern California and Mexico. He found pleasure in Western handcrafting, creating Indian bead jewelry and accessories, and leather goods such as belts, wallets and purses. In his younger years he enjoyed a night out dancing. Jack is survived by his wife of 7 years, Cristela (Balli), his four children with Verna; grandchildren Sheri, Wendy and Georgianna Gasdorf and Lisa Ann Burnham and half-sister Martha Ann Moshier. He was predeceased by his father, foster parents, grandparents, half-brother McKinley, Jr., sons Douglas Paul and Jack Ray, and granddaughter, Holly Ann Gasdorf. Burial will be on October 18, 1978 in the military section of Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery in Phoenix. Rest in peace, Dad.
U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 Name: Jack Gasdorf Gender: Male Birth Date: 15 Sep 1924 Death Date: 14 Oct 1978 SSN: 445124543 Branch 1: ARMY Enlistment Date 1: 8 Apr 1943 Release Date 1: 26 Feb 1946 Papers in his family's possession show he re-enlisted in 1946 and was discharged February 25, 1949.
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