In September 1953, my aunt, Gladys Whalen Stoddard (1893-1973), wrote about her paternal grandfather, Thomas Whalen. Gladys was my father’s sister and the eldest child of Thomas’s only son, Charles C. Whalen and his wife Leta Mary Clarke Whalen. A photocopy of Gladys’s four-page document is included at the end…
Category: Whalen
Leta Clarke Whalen’s 150th Birthday
Today, January 19, 2024, marks the 150th birthday of my paternal grandmother, Leta Mary Clarke Whalen. Grandma Whalen was born on January 19, 1874, in the town of Hounsfield, New York, to George Roswell and Mary Elizabeth “Libbie” Maxson Clarke. Her father’s farm was located on a no-longer existing road…
Remembering Frieda
Remembering our dear step-mother Alfrieda Cecilia Gebo Harrington Whalen (15 June 1910 – 17 October 1994). Her eyes snapped and sparkled, her laugh was always ready, and she loved us.
Leta Mary Clarke Whalen’s Cake Recipe
Today, January 19, 2023, would be my Grandmother Whalen’s 149th birthday. Grandma was 91 years old when she died in 1965, so she was able to celebrate a lot of birthdays! This photo is from one she celebrated in 1955 or ’56. Grandma had what today we would call a…
Kendall C. Whalen and Marjorie A. Kay, 76th Wedding Anniversary
Today is our parents’ 76th wedding anniversary. They showed us what love looks like. January 5, 1946. Kendall Charles Whalen and Marjorie Ann Kay Whalen were married at St. Peter’s RC Church rectory, Lewiston, New York. Their witnesses were Kendall’s brother, Clifford Edward Whalen, and Marjorie’s sister, Ruth Joan…
Some Ancestors’ Portraits
Many in our family have copies of the following four portraits. This is thanks to our dear brother, Charles Howard Whalen. Charlie made copies of these and other photos and made sure our dad and siblings each had a framed set. Charlie was devoted to family history, and we are…
Kendall Whalen and Marjorie Kay’s 75th Wedding Anniversary
Whalen-Kay A lovely winter wedding was solemnized on Saturday, January 5th, when Miss Marjorie Ann Kay, daughter of Mrs. Howard Kay and the late Mr. Howard Kay of Youngstown, N.Y. became the bride of Mr. Kendall C. Whalen of Sackets Harbor, N.Y. The wedding took place before the immediate families…
Kendall Charles Whalen’s 1923 Thanksgiving Composition
Among the treasure’s given to me by our dad, Kendall Charles Whalen, is his 5th grade composition book. In it are all the usual English exercises taught back then: capitalization rules, some spelling and vocabulary words, the proper form for writing a letter, and, of course, the age-old “What I…
Mom’s Baked Beans
Margie Whalen was known for her baked beans. If some ladies group was holding a dinner, someone would always say, “Marge, you bring the baked beans.” They were the beans to have. Shortly before Mom passed away, a friend came over specifically to ask for her recipe. Mom told her…
Mom’s 100th
Today, September 4, 2019, would have been our mother’s 100th birthday. Marjorie Ann Kay Whalen had a short life–she died just weeks before turning 50–but a full one. She was a wife, mother of six, a part-time bookkeeper, and a registered nurse who later taught nursing. It is difficult for…