Hillman Family Connections

AUNTS AND UNCLES WEEK – EXTRA PUZZLE # 3 – DISCUSSION

JUDY AND/OR DICK

Judy is Gil’s sister.



1ST SLOT IN ESTHER&CLIFF’S LOT

Judy is technically Gil’s half-sister. Esther was first married to George Hillman, with him she had three sons. Esther and George divorced and she later married Cliff Kenyon. Judy was the oldest of Esther and Cliff’s three children.

SIS INSIST SHE NO LNGR ASSIST

According to Aunt Christine, Judy had been an assistant in (her sister) Carol’s classroom/library and it was because of Carol’s encouragement, persistence, and maybe even insistence that Judy went back to school for her library science degree. Judy later moved out of the library assistant position to that of librarian.

3 MALES, NONE NAMED DALE

Judy and Dick had three boys, named, Dave, Jeff, and Mark. No significance to the name Dale…it just rhymes (sorta).

FOND OF HER SPOT ON THE POND

Judy lives in a magnificent spot on what I always refer to as “Salt Pond” but technically is Point Judith Pond in South Kingstown. She held a summer cookout there for years and I know now that I didn’t appreciate both her efforts and just how beautiful the location is. I’ve visited a couple of times in the last few years and made sure to take a few moments to just drink in the beauty of the place before leaving.

Additional info for the younger generations that may be interested: Judy and Dick lived in downtown Wakefield before moving to the pond on Jerry Brown Farm Road. In Wakefield, they lived in a house located across the street from the Purple Cow gift shop, next to Stedman’s Bike Shop are currently located. Dick owned and operated a newsstand in Wakefield for years. For some time the family lived in Wakefield for fall, winter, and spring, moving to Jerry Brown/Point Judith Pond only for the summer as the place was not winterized. Aunt Judy told me a story that I didn’t completely follow about how they were able to either buy the Point Judith Pond property or winterize it because of a deal Dick made with the Providence Journal. It had something to do with how the journal was going to make changes in their distribution system and Dick (being a ProJo distributor) got them to buy his Wakefield property. I know – the details there are vague but I heard the story at least a year ago and I’ve forgotten things for sure.

Below is a photo of (left to right) Dick Healy, Dick Kenyon, and me from a family Christmas party, circa 1980. I think I was selling Dick a raffle ticket for something.

Below is a photo of Judy (in the middle) with her mother (Esther, on the left) and sister Carol (on the right). Although the photo is dated June 1960, I’m going to assume that’s the film development date and guess the photo was taken at Christmas 1959.

Please note that this image is not from a scan but is rather a photo of a photo so there was a curl which I tried to fix digitally. I think it looks pretty good but there may be a slight distortion.

TOM AND/OR SHIRLEY

Tom was Claire’s brother.


TOM OR JOE? I DON’T KNOW

I don’t know that I’ll ever make sense of first name-middle name switching that seems pervasive in old Catholic families. Tom’s name was Joseph Thomas. I only knew him as Tom but apparently in some circles he was known as Joe. This first came to my attention when I saw the photograph below and asked my mother why he was wearing a shirt that reads, “JOE THE WELDER.”

I think Uncle Bob tells a similar story of being in high school and a coach asked if he was going to tryout for the ball team like his brother Joe. Bob didn’t know what they guy was talking about and only got things clarified when he went home and mentioned it to his mother.

I am not making the following up. I went to check something in the genealogy binder I have this morning and saw that Tom is listed as Joseph Thomas there — I always thought it was Thomas Joseph. I had written this entry to reflect that arrangement of names and had to go back and change it.

WELDER LIKE BROTHER YOUNGER

So yeah, Tom/Joe was a welder at Amtrol in West Warwick. I won’t give away who the younger brother was but many of you will already know. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s puzzle if you don’t.

SOUTHPAW WAS HE&GODFATHER 2 ME

Tom was apparently left-handed as one would assume from the newspaper clipping below. He was also, in fact, my Godfather.

If you look closely, it does appear that he has a glove on his right hand, further confirming he was a southpaw. Oh, and who is that in the doorway?

HE & WIFE, NC RES LATR IN LIFE

Tom and Shirley lived in North Carolina for much of their retirement years.

I should note that Shirley was Tom’s second wife. I included her rather than Iris (Tom’s first wife) only for simplicity and the fact that he was probably married to Shirley longer than Iris. Tom and Iris had four boys, Neale, Brian, Jay, and Darrin. When I was in the hospital when Catherine was born, Darrin’s wife was there having a baby as well. For a short time Catherine and Dylan were in the same after-school program.

“UNCLE” IN OTHER VARIOUS LANGUAGES


FARBROR OR MORBROR are the Swedish words for Uncle. Farbror is and paternal uncle and morbror is a maternal uncle.


OOM is the Dutch word for Uncle.


ZIO is the Italian word for Uncle.


TIO is the Spanish word for Uncle.

BOB AND/OR LIZ

Bob is Claire’s brother.


DIBS ON BEING YOUNGEST OF SIBS

Claire’s brother AND the youngest of Frank and Flo’s kids.

WHO 2 BLAME? SIS PICKED M NAME

Bob’s middle name is Earl. I’ve heard that Claire picked his middle name. She must have really liked it because she would later use the same combination for her first son. I also believe the name was a nod to a parish priest in West Warwick. Can anyone confirm?

4 A WHILE-VISIT2FLO NOT FAR2GO

For a while Bob and Liz lived on South Road next door to Bob’s mother (Flo).

DANGER NO MORE: LOCK THE DOOR

When Bob and Liz lived on South Road, I sometimes babysat for their boys.(I only remember babysitting Matt and Kevin – I think Chris was born after they moved from South Road).

I remember when they were leaving one of the first times I babysat, Uncle Bob told me that he knew that we didn’t lock doors down “at the corner” but they locked them there. I followed the instructions, locked the door and was safe and secure. I think it was probably the first time I realized that most of the world does in fact operate in this fashion.

I also want to note that their house was only two houses away from mine BUT there was a creepy old cemetery thrown in there as well, and Bob always walked me back to my house when they returned home. As a young scaredy-cat teen, I was always appreciative of that.

Big shout out and thanks to Tom and Bev for the following pictures of Bob and Liz from their wedding. I would normally have chosen one image to use but there were so many I loved and wanted to include for different reasons (I did eliminate some though, believe me, there were more).

First is a photo of Bob and Liz leaving their wedding reception and I love it for the frozen moment in time highlighted by the thrown confetti. And how about those Jackie O vibes Liz is vibing!

Next is a similar shot with less confetti but I love how they are looking at each other! I tried cropping this down to just the two of them but honestly the picture is better with all the people in the background.

Next, moving on beyond the picture-perfect bride and groom, I found this one. I included it because Gram Cummiskey (aka, Flo, Grandma Cookie) is in it. Look how happy she is!

I previewed these pictures (slides) on a great scanner, but a scanner with a small screen. It wasn’t until I got home and opened the images on my computer that I noticed both my mother and father in the following picture. Unlike Flo, neither of them look particularly happy but I included the image just the same.

Don’t see them? Gil is between Bob and Liz in the background and Claire is on the right side of the photo behind Liz.

Nancy Knott

5 responses to “AUNTS AND UNCLES WEEK – EXTRA PUZZLE # 3 – DISCUSSION”

  1. Couple tries but I got it. I didn’t realize Uncle Tommy was your godfather or that he went to NKHS.
    I met his daughter-in-law at at book club one time and said oh you must be married to Tommy’s son and she said no. Liz came over and straightened us out!
    If forgotten about Judy working for Carol for awhile. Always loved her spot down there on the water.
    Yes! Such a Jackie O vibe!
    Again great pictures!

  2. I’m getting better! Got it on the first try! Yesterday’s puzzle helped, “aunt in other languages”.
    I took had forgotten that Judy worked for Carol. Did remember they were both librarians. Do love her spot down there! Remember that the house remodeling/addition was involved somehow with the Providence.
    Did remember the Journal buying out the distributors.
    Forgotten Tommy/Joe was your godfather until reading the clue. Also did not know he was a lefty. Mom never mentioned that though I am pretty sure she told me that grandpa was a lefty.
    I remember mom telling me that she picked Bob’s name and I think that is correct that it was after a priest. And lastly, yes a very Jackie O vibe, or is it a Jackie K vibe?