Sharing About the Memories of Neighbors: Jerry & Eleanor Carpenello

When writing the story of your family, have you included those memories of times with the neighbors? Neighbors can often be an important part of your family’s lives. Here is a story of the neighbors of my parents who likely helped out with advice and childcare for my young mother.

When we lived in Pittsburg, California, the next-door neighbors were an older Italian-American couple named Jerry and Eleanor. Eleanor did a lot of things for my mother, probably watching one or two of us when she had too much to do with the younger children. By 1960, she had four children under six. I had brought home both the measles and chicken pox during my year in Kindergarten, and subsequently the three younger siblings also got it—even the newborn. There was probably lots of discomfort and crying.

I could not remember Jerry and Eleanor’s last name. We always called them Eleanor and Jerry. I had just turned nine when we moved to Walnut Creek in 1963. But I remember her house. It was cozy with stuffed furniture and odors of cooking from her kitchen. She was a typical housewife of her time. She ironed everything, including the sheets, and had a ritual: she sprinkled the item with water from a bottle and then rolled them up to save to iron later. Perhaps there was starch in the water, too. I loved the smell of the hot iron on the starched sheets.

Other memories I have are when we used to play in our front yard and on the sidewalk in front our house and the immediate neighbors’ houses. About once a week, a large flatbed truck piled with produce would park in the street and all of the housewives would come out to purchase fruits and vegetables. I never could understand what anyone was saying—they all spoke Italian. Eleanor would be one of those housewives.

This week, I was browsing in the 1960 Pittsburg-Antioch City Directory and discovered they had pages with residents according to the street address. I turned to the page where East 9^th Street was listed. I found my grandmother, Mrs. Anne M. Hork at 448 E 9^th, who lived across the street and down a few houses from us, and my parents, Wm J (Lela N) Hork at 467 E 9^th. There next door to my parents was the listing for “Jerry Carpanello” at 471 E 9^th. Jerry’s wife was Eleanor and he worked at Columbia Steel as a steel worker according to his alpha listing.[1]

Our house on the left & Jerry & Eleanor's on the right (2021 version)
They look so much smaller than I remember!

I have no idea if my parents kept in touch with Jerry and Eleanor after moving, although it is likely that my mother sent them Christmas cards, as she sent out many every year. I searched for Jerry on Ancestry.com and discovered his name was really spelled as Carpenello. Only a few city directories had that other spelling. I learned that Jerry served in the Navy between 1914 and 1924. He was born 18 Oct 1898 and died 26 March 1981, at the age of 82 years.[2] His wife, Eleanor died eight years later on 16 Oct 1989. They are both buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Antioch, California.[3]

I’m glad I have the information to tell a bit of the story of our neighbors living next door in Pittsburg, California. Next, I need to locate their obituaries and I might learn a little more about them. A trip to the Contra Costa County Historical Society’s archives in Martinez should do the trick as they have newspapers and obituary clipping files that might be helpful.

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[1] Pittsburg-Antioch City Directory, (Los Angeles, California: R. L. Polk, 1960), p. 31, 467 E 9^th and 471 E 9^th listing, p. 68, Jerry (Eleanor) Carpanello, & p. 183, Wm J. Hork (Lela N).

[2] “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/), Jerry Carpenello).

[3] Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com), memorials 145764633 (Jerry Carpenello) and 145764645 (Eleanor A Carpenello). 

Copyright © 2021 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.