Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:
It's Saturday Night again
-
Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
Our assignment from Randy
Seaver of Genea-Musings is to:
1) Family stories are often about
"Turning Points" and "Major Decisions."
2) This week, please
describe a "Turning Point" in the life of one of your parents (or for
both of them, or for grandparents). Describe the decision, and discuss
the outcome of it.
Here's mine:
A turning point in my father, and his sisters’ lives was
when his mother and father separated sometime in the 1930s. They were living in
Southern California. He was probably five or six, maybe even seven. I don’t
know what year the split was. The 1937 Pomona city directory lists his dad,
William Cyril Hork along with wife, Anna, at 215 ½ N. Euclid Avenue in Ontario.[1]
By the 1940 census, they were listed apart. She lived at 236 East Foothill Road in Cucamonga,[2] while he lived at 215 ½ N Euclid Ave in Ontario.[3] Anna worked as a waitress. Cyril worked contract work for the W.P.A.
The summer of 1940, Anna’s brother-in-law, Vir Quigley, asked Anna to move up to Napa and work in his café, Cozy Corner. My father was ten years old. Her daughter, June related the story:
"We came to Napa in July
1940, driving up with 4 children and dog, Nappy. Aunt Margaret (Vir's
sister) let us live upstairs in the house on Atlas Peak Road. It had
a prune orchard and well--about 15 acres. Vir’s father lived there,
too. Vir traveled a lot with mining. Later Mom rented a house
on Eggleston. The girls (June & Virginia) walked to High School,
Lorene was already graduated. John, Vir’s son, & June were together
in class. John hung out at Hork house after school because it was close
in town. Anna worked in Cozy Corner near the Fox
Theater. It wasn't big--three booths, counter, juke box, added
popcorn machine vented to sidewalk. There were candy jars & soft
drinks. Margaret Patterson, their cousin, also worked there."
Later, Anna taught at Napa schools but had to return to college (San Francisco State) to complete the requirements for a California teaching credential, as her Montana one was insufficient.[4] The Normal College she attended had been 2 or 3 year program. She taught in the Napa School District until their move to Concord in 1949.[5]
Living in Napa was a happy time for the family. The small town seem excited about three teenage girls moving in (at least that is what my aunts told me). They had family nearby, attended good schools, and thrived in the town. It ended up a good turning point.
 |
| Hork family Easter 1942 |
[1] Pomona
City Directory (Los Angeles Directory Co., 1937-38), p. 391, Ontario, Wm C.
(Anna M) Hork.
[2] 1940
U.S. census, San Bernardino Co, California, Cucamonga, ED 36-36, sheet sht 65a,
household 150, Anna M Hork.
[3] 1940
U.S. census, San Bernardino Co, California, Ontario, ED 36-63, sht 64A, p 903,
William C. Hork.
[4] Diploma,
San Francisco State College, 1952, Anne Sullivan Hork, Bachelor of Education.
[5] "Williams
School Enrollment," Contra Costa Gazette (Martinez, Calif), 1 Sep
1949. A newspaper clipping found at the Contra Costa County Historical Society
with no notation of page or column.
Small world - I know Euclid Avenue and the Cucamonga area. We lived in Alta Loma for 31 years. My first teaching job was at Vina Danks School, a couple of blocks off of Euclid.
ReplyDeleteIt is a small world!
DeleteI'm gussing that's your father in the photo? Is he wearing a Boy Scout uniform for Easter?
ReplyDeleteYes. He's wearing his uniform. Perhaps all the scouts did that day.
DeleteFor my father: World War II, it started on his 11th birthday - they nearly forgot his birthday.
ReplyDeleteFor my mother: The 1953 flood. She wanted to get something from the shed, but saw a wall of water coming at her, closed they door, and they all stayed on the attic. They had to be rescued, later, but it took a long time before the rest of The Netherlands realised that the islands had been flooded.
Oh, wow on both accounts. Living in Europe during WWII would certainly had been a turning point. I cannot image a flood like that. Lucky for them to be safe in the attic.
Delete