|
a.
|
Note: Born on the McMenamin Farm, 6 miles south of DeKalb, IL, 5 miles north of Waterman, IL, on October 20, 1918. Baptism Sponsors were Mary Ann McCormick b 1864 and Henry McCormick b 1874.
Three brothers awaited her arrival, Joseph (1913?), Robert (1914) and Victor (1916?). A sister, M. Claire, would arrive when Barbara was 4-1/2 years old, in 1923.
As a young girl:
My family lived in a large country home.
I went to school for the first five years at the country school, a one-room building. We usually walked to school - truly 1-3/4 miles from home.
As a student I loved school - learning to read, trying to be a good student - as my three brothersd ahead of me were! One was aware of that in a one room schoolhouse - all grades!
At home I was expected to "help in the kitchen. In my high school years, my job each Saturday was to clean the downstairs."
My father taught me to value "family relationships; a good sense of humor, our blessings from being good farmers!"
My mother taught me to value "our Catholic faith, to love reading, love good music."
My parents were "very strict about our behavior - anywhere, and our love for one another."
What I loved most about my father was "his ability to face up to hardships and misfortunes; to be a good provider for his big family."
What I loved most about my mother was "her ability to find time to spend with her children - her unending patience! Her ever present love for all of us."
My teenage years were "during the great depression! We were so poor - but we didn't know it - all your friends were the same! Living on a farm - we had plenty of food! With a small dairy we had milk, butter, cottage cheese, chickens, eggs - the best beef, veal, pork - and always a large vegetable garden each summer!"
Favorites:
Actors/Actresses: Clark Gable, William Powell, Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy;
Book: Anne of Green Gables;
Radio show: Lux Theater;
Season: Summer;
Vacation spot: Visits with cousins in Chicago;
Holiday: Christmas;
Flower: rose;
Color: blue;
Sport: baseball "(I had three brothers)";
Food: "my mother's home-made bread or her ginger cookies";
Favorite subject in school: English and biology;
Friend: "from 6th grade - Barbara Ferguson, quite opposite of me; we usually tied for scored in tests. She was a fine cellist - could persist with the hours of practice. I would find that difficult - you know I'm not a perfectionist!!"
1924-1929 - For five years, attended rural, one-room school at the corner of Waterman Road and Perry Road, along with her brothers and eventually her little sister. (This school no longer stands.) Walked 1-3/4 miles to school. She "loved school - learning to read, trying to be a good student - as my three brothers, ahead of me, were! One was aware of that in a one room school - all grades!" First started dating at age 17.
1927 - Lived in Chicago, IL, for approximately four months with two of her aunts, Evelyn McCormick (a school teacher who actually had a car), and Elizabeth McCormick (a bookkeeper for a large department store), and Barb's great-aunt who was called "Auntie" Maggie. Barb moved in with her aunts after Christmas when she was eight, at their suggestion, so that she would be able to receive her First Communion at their parish, Queen of Angels. A gift from her aunts for her First Communion was an upright, cedar wardrobe closet (now in the possession of son, William(2019). According to Mom, this living arrangement was proposed by the aunts, because Barb's dad was having financial troubles like so many other farmers prior to the "official" start of the Great Depression, and he was going into a personal depression because he knew he was going to lose the farm. (A Chicago attorney bought the farm as an investment, and allowed the family to continue to live there.) The aunts' Chicago apartment was on Sunnyside, across the street from Wells Park, and just down the street from the Biograph Theatre, which would become infamous several years later as the place where the bank robber John Dillinger met his end. Barb's first cousin, Jim O'Connor (his dad worked for the streetcar company in Chicago) taught her how to hop on and ride the streetcars for a nickel or a dime.
1930-1931 - Attended Waterman Grade School, 7th & 8th Grade. Had Mr. Wm. Migel for her teacher in 8th Grade.
1932-1936 - Attended Waterman High School, graduating in 1936.
1936-1938 - Attended Northern Illinois State Teachers College (NISTC) which later became Northern Illinois University (NIU), graduating with her Teaching Degree / Certificate in 1938. (A few photos from this time also exist.)
1938, October - Started teaching at the age of 20 in Oct. 1938, and taught there (one room school house) for three years. She worked as a bookkeeper at Montgomery Ward's store during the summers and for "a full year in 1941". In August 1942 she "accepted a teaching job (2nd-3rd grades) at Blaine School in Batavia for $1000 for nine months!" (That's for the entire school year, not per month!)
1938-1941 - Taught in the one-room Afton Township rural school, south of DeKalb, corner of Perry Road and Waterman Road.
1938-1941 - Worked as a bookkeeper at Montgomery Ward's store during the summers and for "a full year in 1941".
1939 - Attended the World's Fair in New York (Somewhere there are a few photos.)
Early 1941 - Nearly married a suitor but canceled the wedding the evening before the wedding was scheduled. This was brought about as her Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Evelyn could not make it to DeKalb from Chicago on the wedding day before the time Barbara and her prospective groom were to leave for their honeymoon at 4 p.m. During an argument over the situation involving her aunts the night before the wedding, she informed the fiance they would need to wait to leave until the Aunts could arrive in DeKalb and see them off along with the rest of the families. The response from the fiance told her "they were going to wait for no one". She very quickly told him the wedding was off as she could not fathom a lifetime with the overbearing, inflexible man. That night she was being hidden from view on the floorboards of the brother Bob's car as the now ex-suitor was out looking for her along with his brothers in their car, while brandishing a gun. As she and her family knew the ex-suitor would not leave her alone, the next day she left by train to visit Uncles and Cousins in Portland, OR, accompanied by her father, John Henry McMenamin, for a couple weeks, tickets quickly purchased by her oldest brother, Joe, driven to the train by her brother, Bob, who told her she would probably be married to someone else in a couple years (a true prophesy).
Summer 1941 - Her mother, father, sister Claire, and brother Victor gave up the McMenamin family farm and moved into DeKalb, IL, to a house at 313 Augusta Avenue, near the college, NISTC.
1941 - Again due to her father's failing health (he needed treatments for depression at Mercy Center in Aurora, IL) her mother needed Barbara's help at home. Lived with her parents, and siblings Victor and Claire on Augusta Ave. Victor enlisted in the US Army Air Corps shortly after the country entered WWII. Claire joined the WACs but did not see active duty. Her parents would take in renters, students and other individuals from the town.
1941 - Her brother, Victor, brought home an acquaintance and interested renter, a James Robert Montgomery, who was renting a room in the boarding house across the street from St. Mary Church, which later became the Church's convent for Nuns teaching in the St. Mary Grade School, at which all four of Bob and Barb's children would later attend, each child for eight years between 1950 and 1967. James Robert Montgomery moved to DeKalb from Aurora, IL, in 1941 with hopes of continuing his retail merchandiser interests, and at the same time continue his music interests as a drummer, encouraged to move to DeKalb by his friend Dee Palmer who knew Bob's brother-in-law, Harold "Obie" O'Brien. "Obie" had recommended Bob to Dee as a very good "big band" drummer. Bob played drums with Dee Palmer in "combos" from about 1941 until 1970. Bob was allowed to rent a room from the McMenamins on Augusta Avenue.
1941-1943 - Barbara, after first being hired as an Assistant Cashier, worked in the bookkeeping department at the Montgomery Ward retail store in downtown DeKalb, IL, walking to work down Augusta Avenue and North First Street to the store located at Lincoln Highway and First Street, about five blocks. In September 1941, a Bob Montgomery started working in the shoe department at the Montgomery Ward store.
1941-1943 - During this time a wonderful friendship and subsequent special courtship began between Barbara McMenamin and J. Robert Montgomery. When it became apparent that Bob was taking a special interest in Barb, her oldest brother, Joe, suggested to Bob that it would be the proper thing for Bob to "find other lodging". Bob then rented an apartment from a Mr. & Mrs. Wilson at the SE corner of North First and Oak Streets, in DeKalb.
1942 - August - She "accepted a teaching job (2nd-3rd grades) at Blaine School in Batavia for $1000 for nine months!" (That's for the entire school year, not per month!) She later found out the school building in which she had taught was previously the sanitorium in which the wife of Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, had temporarily resided in the mid-1800's. A co-worker of Barbara's at this school was Mary Nolan, who would later be a neighbor on North Fifth Street in DeKalb, IL.
1942 - Summer - Bob and Barb visit Springfield, IL, and Barb's brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Mary McMenamin, living and teaching in Springfield, while also visiting the Lincoln Monument and its Custodian, H.W. Fay, a personal friend of Bob's Grandfather J. Ivor Montgomery.
Fall 1942-Spring 1943 - She rented a room and lived in Batavia, IL, while she taught at Blaine Street Elementary School in Batavia.
1943, Feb 14 - First date with Bob Montgomery, a "formal" dance at Williston Hall at NIU in DeKalb, IL. Other dates were "to a "movie" - after all it was war time - rationed gas, low wages - so we often took a picnic to a local park."
1943, April - After almost two years of "courtship", became engaged to J. Robert Montgomery, who said, "When I get my next raise I think we can afford to get married." When she told her parents of the engagement they said, "We already knew."
Summer 1943 - Bob and Barb fretted over money issues, not seeing any possible way to be able to get married. While visiting Bob's cousin, "Dot" Montgomery Froom and her husband "Bud", in Rockford, they were talked into getting married after being helped to put it all on paper and adding it all up.
1943, September 4 - J. Robert Montgomery and Barbara Jean McMenamin are married at St. Mary Catholic Church in DeKalb, IL. They honeymooned two nights in a one-room log cabin at White Pines Forest State Park, west of Oregon, IL, 45 miles west of DeKalb. The car trip to White Pines was done with the aid of gasoline rationing stamps gathered from friends (during WWII), in a fog, at one point missing a turn and backtracking 20 miles to their destination. While driving down the last hill approaching the entrance to the park, the brakes went out on the car, so quickly thinking, Bob coasted partway up the next hill, and then put the car in reverse and coasted into the entrance to the park. The next morning, Barb was able to get a ride to the Catholic Church in Oregon, while Bob was able to find a service station that fixed the brakes - for $10. She was only able to work "at Montgomery Ward's in the credit office until Dec. 31 of 1943" because "I was pregnant and really blossoming. One couldn't work while pregnant at that time in history."
1943 - Bob and Barb rented a downstairs apartment at 401 West Locust Street in DeKalb, IL, for six months. Bob would later marvel (to son Bill) that it was during this short period of time he began to appreciate strawberry jelly on his toast for the first time in his life, only to realize sooner than later that children cause the need for economizing in a marriage, hence the loss of the jelly on his toast for the next 20 years. After six months they moved to an apartment at 118-1/2 Oak Street. "As a cook I was OK - had an occasional charred pan. I was lucky - Bob loved to eat and had few if any dislikes."
1943-1944 - Barbara became pregnant during or shortly after their honeymoon. While Barbara was pregnant, and until after their first child was born, they lived in an upstairs apartment (rented from a widowed Mrs. Bowen) across the alley to the east (running from Oak Street to Locust Street) from the house at 112 Oak Street that they would eventually rent from Mr. and Mrs. Wilson that Bob had rented from earlier.
1944, June 5 - A first child was born to Bob and Barb, a daughter, Jean Marie Montgomery, while living at 118-1/2 Oak Street in an apartment.
1944, June 6 - D-Day in Europe.
1946??? - Barbara's parents are helped by her brother, Bob, to purchase a house at 216 W. Locust Street in DeKalb, only two blocks from Barb and Bob. This enables John and Martha to continue to take in boarders, usually college students at that time.
1946, June 13 - A second child was born, a son named Richard James Montgomery.
1948, October 20 - A third child and second son, William John Montgomery, was born almost a month past Barbara's original due date.
1949 - Barb's brother Bob and his wife Margaret and their three children (Madeline, Bobby and Margaret Ann) move to New Zealand, due to Bob's job with International Harvester.
1952-53??? - Barb's parents are again helped by their son, Bob, to convert their two-story house into a two-flat. Due to John's deteriorating health, he could no longer climb stairs, and began to use a wheelchair most of the time. Martha did take in an occasional student boarder, who lived in a made-over room in the cement-block basement. One of the last boarders was from Korea, and his last name was Kim. One of her boarders would eventually become the Mayor of DeKalb, Mr. Frank Von Buer.
1953, February 23 - A fourth child and third son was born, named John Robert Montgomery. They lived in the two-bedroom house at 112 Oak Street until 3-1/2 months after the birth of their fourth child, John Robert Montgomery b 23 Feb 1953.
1953, June - With financial help from Bob's mother, May, Bob and Barb were able to put a down payment on the first and only home they ever owned, at 640 N. Fifth Street in DeKalb. On moving day, Barbara was in St. Mary Hospital with hives caused by a shot of penicillin. Bob's sister, Mary Lou Montgomery O'Brien drove from Wheaton to DeKalb and stayed overnight, supervising the moving and placement of furniture, clothing, kitchen equipment, etc. That afternoon, the children who were able climbed a ladder to pick tart cherries from two cherry trees in the backyard, which Lou promptly turned into fresh cherry sauce for dessert. Barb got home either the next day or the one after that.
1955, July - Barbara's father, John Henry McMenamin, dies of complications caused by diabetes.
1958, June - daughter Jean Marie graduates from St. Mary Parochial School
1958, Summer - Remodeled the house on North 5th Street, adding a large living room on the south of the existing dining room. The previous living room became a 4th bedroom. Two boys shared one bedroom upstairs for the next 8 years or so, until Richard moved out to go to Junior College and live in Elgin, IL, in about 1965.
1960, June - son Richard James graduates from St. Mary Parochial School
1962, June - daughter Jean Marie graduates from De Kalb High School, attends Northern Illinois University in the Fall
1962, June - son William John graduates from St. Mary Parochial School
1964, February 8 - daughter Jean Marie marries Joe Thomas Bjorn
1964, June - Richard James graduates from De Kalb High School. Shortly thereafter begins attending Elgin Community College, and lived in Elgin, IL
1965, Summer - Bathroom / Kitchen addition to rear of house at 640 N. 5th Street
1966, May 26 - First grandchild born, Jeffrey Thomas Bjorn, to Jean Marie and Joe Bjorn
1966, June 8 - William John graduates from De Kalb High School. Attends Northern Illinois University in the Fall
1967, June - Richard James graduated from Elgin Community College and began a 34-year employment with Commonwealth Edison, starting out as a meter-reader.
1967, Fall - Son Richard James enrolls at Northern Illinois University, graduating in December, 1983, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in General Studies
1968, May - Son Richard James drafted into US Army, sent to Viet Nam for 11 months
1968, June 11 - Mother-in-law May Belle Montgomery dies at Pine Acres Center, DeKalb, IL
1968, September 4 - Celebrates 25th Wedding Anniversary
1968, September 7 - Richard James marries Jeanne Lorraine Allen (D)
1968, January 23 - Second grandchild born, Eric Clifford Montgomery, to Richard
1969, April 26 - Son William John marries Pamela Whitson (D)
1969, July - Man steps on the moon
1969, November 3 - Son William John drafted into US Army, sent to Korea
1970, June 18 - First Granddaughter born - Stephanie Lynn Montgomery - to William
1970, November - Son Richard James returns from US Army, Viet Nam
1971, June - Son John Robert graduates from De Kalb High School. Attends Kishwaukee College in the Fall
1971, June - Son William John returns from US Army, Korea
1971 - Fall - Son John Robert starts college at Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
1973, January 31 - Grandson born - Scott William - to William
1973, January - Son William graduates from Kishwaukee College with an Associates Degree
1973 - Husband Bob retires from Chas. Ackerman Stores after 5 years employment, age 62
1973, June - Son John graduates from Kishwaukee College - transfers to University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
1973, September 4 - Celebrated 30th Wedding Anniversary
1973, September - Granddaughter Jennifer Pielstick born to son John
1974, April 23 - Grandson born - Spencer Fitzgerald Montgomery - to Richard
1975, June - Son John graduates from University of Illinois with BA
1976, May 13 - Her Mother, Martha McMenamin, dies at Pine Acres Center in DeKalb, IL
1976, June - Son John graduates from University of Illinois with MA
1976, June 19 - Her Aunt Julia Griffin dies at Pine Acres, the last of her Mother’s sisters
1976, August 26 - Son John marries Kristi Pielstick at Elwood House, DeKalb, IL
1977, Summer - Travels with husband Bob to England and the Island of Majorca, Spain, to visit Barbara's sister, Mary Claire
1977, September 23 - Granddaughter born - Jennifer Pielstick - to John Robert
1977, November 22 - Granddaughter born - Carolyn Martha - to William John
1977, December 11- Grandson born - Joe Ryan Cornish Bjorn - to Jean Marie and Joe Bjorn
1978, March 12 - Husband James Robert Montgomery dies of Prostate Cancer
1978, March 15 - Buries Husband Bob at St. Mary Cemetery, De Kalb, IL
1978, October 20 - Celebrates 60th Birthday
1982, February - Retires from the First National Bank, DeKalb, IL, after 23 years at the bank
1982, September 23 - Granddaughter Martha Pielstick born to son John
1984, October - Sells the house at 640 North 5th Street in DeKalb, IL, and moves to apartment at 318 North First Street, 3rd floor, (The Finn Apartments), the same apartment buildings her Mother Martha and her Aunt Julia had lived until 1975
1987, July 17 - Grandson Robert Pielstick born to son John
1988, Summer - Toured the McMenamin Farm on South First Street (for the last time) with her children, her brother, Bob, and some of her grandchildren, nieces and nephews
1988, October 20 - Celebrates 70th Birthday
1989, June - Grandson Jeffrey Todd Bjorn marries Erin Fitzpatrick
1992, February 14 - Granddaughter Stephanie Lynn Montgomery marries Michael O’Connell (D)
1992, August 12 - First Great-Grandchild Alexander William O’Connell born to Granddaughter Stephanie Lynn
1993, June 3 - Grandson Scott William Montgomery marries Genene Allen (D)
1993, April 14 - Sister Martha Claire McMenamin dies at Majorca, Spain, age 69
1994, July 23 - Great-Grandson Tyler John Montgomery born to Grandson Scott William, on same date as her Father, John Henry McMenamin was born
1996, October 14 - Brother Victor Arthur McMenamin dies, age 81
1997, January 11 - Great-Grandson Quenten Michael O’Connell born to Granddaughter Stephanie Lynn
1997, February 10 - Great-Granddaughter Katherine Jean Montgomery born to Granddaughter Carolyn Martha
1998, October 11 - Granddaughter Carolyn Martha Montgomery marries Duane Paquin
1998, October 20 - Celebrates 80th Birthday
1999, 22 May - Son Richard marries (2nd) Andrea Boolman
2001, XXXX XX - Great-Grandson Alexander born to Granddaughter-in-law Jennifer Boolman XXXXX
2002, July 2 - Brother Joseph Patrick McMenamin dies, age 89
2003, May 2 - Great-Granddaughter Andrea Lynn Paquin born to Granddaughter Carolyn Martha
2004, August 20 - Grandson Scott William Montgomery marries Lindsay Beth Grossman
2004, September 29 - Son John marries (2nd) Lia Johnson
2004, December 20 - Great-Granddaughter Regen Ariel Montgomery born to Grandson Scott William
2005, May 8 - Great-Grandson Evan Robert Kemp born to Granddaughter Stephanie Lynn
2005, XXXX XX - Great-Granddaughter XXXXXX born to Granddaughter-in-law Jennifer XXXX
2005, Winter - Moves from apartment on North First Street in DeKalb to senior living facility at Barb City Manor, DeKalb, IL
2006, June 2 - Great-Grandson Ewan Moss born to Granddaughter Jennifer Pielstick and Fraser Moss
2006, June 17 - Grandson J. Ryan Cornish Bjorn marries Sarah Riley
2006, June 24 - Son, William marries (2nd) Mollie Kay Mathisen Keller
2007, August 23 - Great-Granddaughter Brooke Avery Montgomery born to Grandson Scott William
2008, October (11) 20 - Celebrates 90th Birthday with Open House in DeKalb, IL
2008, December 2 - Fractures pelvis during a fall, spends the next 8 weeks in hospital and rehabilitation facility, Bethany Rehabilitation Facility in DeKalb
2008, December 8 - Brother Robert John McMenamin dies, age 94
2008, January 10 - Moved out of Barb City Manor awaiting her rehabilitation at Bethany Rehab
2009, February 7 - Moves to assisted living facility, Heritage Woods, in DeKalb, IL
|
