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Note: In the 1900 census, John J. Houlihan is shown as a 15 year old boy living in the ho I located John J. Houlihan and Kathryn V. Gallagher in the Pittsburgh Marriage License Registry Index in 1917, recorded in Vol. 95, page 295. John J. and Kathryn marri Early in their marriage Joe and Kathryn lived with Kathryn's sister, Ella Gallagher O'Keefe and her husband, Jack O'Keefe, in the Overbroo J.J. and Kathryn later moved to Jancey St. in Morningside where daughter Mary Kay was born. They were living at 1604 Chi John J. Houlihan was a draftsman with some civil engineerng training He and Florence sold the farm and moved back to Detroit where they lived on Bringar Joe and Florence were residing at that house when he died of cancer in 1965. John Joseph Houlihan is buried a In January, 1998, I lea
Note: Known to his grandchildren as "Pop Pop" and to family and friends as "Joe." John J. "Joe" Houlihan was born in his parent's home 22 September 1885 at 52 Butler St., ward 18, Pittsburgh, PA on 22 September 1885, delivered by widwife Barbara Leppold. His birth was registered as "Joseph Hollihan" son of David and Barbara Hollihan and recorded in the Pittsburgh/Allegheny Co. Birth Registers Volume 28, page 349. His father's occupation is listed as laborer. An affadavit attached to a copy of the birth certificate, dated 3 July, 1940 and signed by Joe's brother Charles Houlihan certifies that "Joseph Hollihan" and "John Joseph Houlihan" are one and the same person. Joe's Certificate of Baptism states that he was baptized by Rev. G Pollard 11 Oct. 1885 at St. Mary's Church, 46th St., Pittsburgh, PA as John Joseph Houlihan, son of David Houllihan and Barbara (sic) Guttenberg. The baptism sponsors were David McCarthy and Joanna McCarthy (I don't yet know who these McCarthy's were; likely cousins to Joe's Dad. This information is listed in the Baptismal Register at the church, Vol. 1, page 231.me of his parents. His occupation is listed as "machinist." According to FX Houlihan, both his Dad and Uncle Charlie went to work with their father at the shipyards as young boys. He later went to night school to get his high school certificate and later attended classes at Carnegie Tech (now, Carnegie Mellon Institute) in mechanical and structural engineering; he did not receive a degree. He later worked as a draftsman.ed against the wishes of his mother, Barbara Guttendorf Houlihan, who wanted neither sons John J. nor Charles to marry. As a result, John's mother did not attend his wedding and never accepted his wife, Kathryn, into the family. Kathryn Houlihan later told her son Francis X. that she saw her father-in-law David Houlihan and brother-in-law, young Dave, standing in the back of the church as they were walking down the aisle! Brother Charles and his wife Rose did attend the wedding. Kathryn also told her son FX that young Dave Houlihan used to ride his bicycle over to see his brother John and sister-in-law Kathryn - he was 15-16 at the time - but when his mother Barbara found out, she stopped him from visiting! It's not surprising that their son, FX Houlihan, only remembers seeing his Houlihan grandparents once, that being at the funeral of his brother, their grandson, John J. Jr, in 1929. The grandparents moved to Philadelphia in 1917, the year John J and Kathryn were married, taking with them their unmarried children remaining at home.k section of Pittsburgh, south of the city. It was either a 2 family home or a house they shared. Their son, Joe Jr, was born there. Son FX recalls hearing that his father had to take the Perry St. streetcar to go to work at either Duquesne Light & Power or at Copper's. FX also recalls an often-told family story that his father and Uncle Jack built a canoe in the basement of that home over one winter; Jack was a canoe enthusiast and belonged to a club called the "Eonac Club", canoe spelled backwards! Unfortunately, they misjudged the size of the final product and, when they couldn't get it out of the basement, they had to cut it in pieces to get it upstairs! slett St., Morningside, when he (FX) was born in 1922, near St. Raphael's Church. In 1927 they moved to Duffield St., Morningside. In June, 1936, Kathryn/Catherine and her sister Ella wrote to Calvary Cemetery and the address of the writer was 1668 Jancey St., Pittsburgh; this was likely JJ and Kathryn's address at the time.. During the Depression of the 1930's, he and his brother Charles went to Detroit to find work. John stayed and eventually brought his family there permanently in the late summer of 1936. He was a civil engineer with Giffels & Rosetti, Detroit, MI (last Giffels & Associates) and retired from that firm. A gold pocket watch, presented to him upon retirement, was given to grandson Patrick F. Houlihan. His family lived on East Grand Blvd. and belonged to St. Anthony's parish from which all the children graduated from high school. After the death of his first wife, Kathryn, Joe continued living there and he and family friend, Florence Adams McGovern, were later married at St. Anthony's. Mary Beth Houlihan Wheeler recalls visiting with them in that multi-family flat with the upright piano and beautiful silver cruet set marked with "A" (for Adams) that was Florence's. "Grandma Florence" played the piano beautifully and PopPop played the coronet and the violin, often accompanying Florence as she played the piano. Mary Beth also remembers PopPop's love of jigsaw puzzles and how he taught her to lay out all the pieces right side up and start working on the borders first. He and Florence bought a small farm in Zanesville, Ohio during the 1950's where they had several acres of land and raised chickens. Mary Beth Houlihan Wheeler remembers spending time one summer there visiting, making friends with Mary Ann Perdue, the girl next door whose family owned a large farm. They were "pen pals" for a number of years after that. Mary Beth remembers learning there how to properly set a table from Grandma Florence and how Grandma used to make braided wool rugs from PopPop's old suits. While living there, Joe Houlihan fell through the ceiling of the dining room from the attic, having gone to the attic to check on something. He injured his back and was hospitalized in Zanesville.d Ave., Detroit near Eight Mile Road, on the East side of the city. It was in the basement of that house (painted green, I remember, with the upright piano there, too) were he worked on the genealogy of the family upon which this study was initially based. PopPop also made wooden models of buildings - houses and our school - to be used with our train set. He also did some small carving: I recall him carving a peach pit into a basket that had several little golden "eggs" in it. t Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, MI with his second wife, Florence, section 23, lot 19. Funeral arrangements were handled by Sommers Funeral Home, 12140 Morang Dr., Detroit.rned about a Christmas nativity set that PopPop and Kathryn had owned; it's now owned by my cousin, Kevin Silvers. I asked my Father about it and he recalled it well, especially the 3 Magi and remembers he and his sister Mary Kay studying all the pieces carefully because the faces are so detailed. He especially. recalls one of them, one that's kneeling, that wears an ermine cape. He thinks that his Father may have purchased the set before he was married. Apparently, PopPop used to teach Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (catechism) classes in a little town called Francis Mines, north of Pittsburgh, and Dad thinks he may have bought the set to take with him to class, to show the kids and to use it to discuss Christmas with them. He says the set is made of bisque and that it's filled with wax because Pop-Pop was told by someone that, due to the delicacy of the pieces, wax would help protect them from breaking. So he did it himself. Dad recalls that some of the pieces did break over the years but that PopPop fixed them. Dad also remembers that each year that each of his children were in the first grade, starting with Joe the eldest, PopPop would take the set to his son/daughter's school and set it up in the classroom about 10 days before Christmas vacation. Then Dad recalls that after vacation started, he and PopPop would go to the empty school and box it back up and take it home to set it up there. Finally, Dad thinks that PopPop gave it to his daughter Regina when he was breaking up housekeeping after Grandma died. Nice story!
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