Chapter 28 (Part 1)
Backing Up

Howard (1923-1925)

    Going way, way back, Eleanor had a brother, Howard, who was born on November 8, 1923.

Howard Edgren; 6 months old (May 11, 1924).

Howard Edgren; 1 year, 1 month old (December 15, 1924).

[At about] 19 months old, [he] developed what the doctor called "inward measles^[1]". He prescribed aspirins which were supposed to help the measles "break out."

    Rather than this helping Howard, he got worse, and on June 27th, 1925, after failing badly, Erana was holding him in her arms when Howard said, "Gone; all gone; all...." And he passed away.

    The doctor who had prescribed the aspirins, as the story goes, was a womanizer who ... never [allowed] proper time to care for his patients, and this was a perfect example of his negligence! I wouldn't want to be in his shoes when he [gives an] account of his life to the Lord!^[2]

Tom Vagasky and Family

    I'm going to spare you the names and dates of birth of the children of these nephews and nieces' kids. But since my Uncle Tom Vagasky was sort of a favorite over the years as we kids were growing up, I do want to cover his family (not that Aunt Anna or Aunt Betty weren't important to our lives!)

    Tom married Nellie Rhodes on August 10, 1940, and I remember Uncle Tom bringing Nellie out to see us in our Stickney home.

    They had three children. Tom Jr. was born [in] 1941. Then came Ruth Lyn who was born [in] 1943. Betty Jean's birth date I don't have listed, though I'd guess it was in 1945. Many were the times over the years we visited Streator, never failing to make the stop at Uncle Tom and Aunt Nellie's place where we felt so welcomed and comfortable. As I think of that, I'll have to send them a check when my boat comes in to cover some of those expenses! That boat presently is tied up on dry land or bogged down in some bureaucratic department of the government, evidently!

    Tom/Nellie built their own home on the acreage where we used to walk the cows for grazing when on the summer vacations [607 Fuller Ave, RR1, Streator, IL 61364; if you traveled east on Broadway St. across the railroad tracks, it would stop just a bit south of Tom's house], the place about a mile from Dzedo and Baba's [at 816 Jackson St.]. Tom was handy at almost everything to do with tools and equipment, and he did most of the work himself. He'd been left the land by Dzedo and Baba.

Andrew Edgren

    [On] March 25, 1945, Grandpa [Andrew] Edgren died. He was Eleanor's grandfather on her father's side of the family. Since I met Eleanor on July 19, 1946, I never got to meet Grandpa Edgren.

My Siblings' Marriages and Families

    I told of my wedding date and Marie and John's (sister and brother-in-law; married on May 8, 1948), but I never mentioned a thing about my brothers Phil and Ed. So I'm going to try condensing and listing that data right now.

Edward's Marriages/Families (1948-1981)

    Ed married Eve Kellman on May 29th, 1948. They moved from Stickney and built an attic apartment above Eve's relatives. I know Ed loved Eve, but there was a problem with her about having kids. She feared the idea, as I recall.
    That marriage lasted for what I recall was nearly six years, Eve having called the marriage off. In later years Eve, who wanted no kids, married a man who had kids older than she was, and she had a child by him. That's life, huh?

    Ed, in the mean time, broken hearted at Eve's divorce, got caught up in a marriage which never should have taken place. He was on the "rebound" and went for a girl whose father was active in the Elevator Mechanic's Union, I believe getting Ed into the business. She had a son and a daughter who were spoiled and ill treated, and Joan (that wife) had some hang-up where she was something near to the equivalent of a man who'd be called "impotent." She took Ed for whatever he had in that divorce. Illinois law favored women in divorces, and even a lawyer paid by the man sometimes helped the woman. That same sequence followed in all of Ed's divorces, and it took its toll on his hard-earned savings.

    Ed had three marriages after that, one of which lasted almost no time to speak of at all [our author doesn't even mention her name here]: The [first] one was to Barbara Reinecke in April of 1962. She was a divorced woman who had two daughters. They took the Sedory name eventually. That marriage, after having two sons, lasted until about 1973 or so. That's one where Ed was really hit hard with lawyers, and cost almost everything he had.
    The next marriage was the "quickie" where the woman had a son who wanted to run everyone and everything. He would not take Ed's instructions, and his mother took her son's side in squabbles. So that ended in a short period of time.

    In 1979 Ed corresponded with a girl in the Philippines, Mily. He made one or two trips there. There seemed to be some formality of government which made it difficult to get Mily into the U.S. They married on April 1, 1980, in her country, but she wasn't able to come to the U.S. until about July of 1980.
    Mily is a wonderful woman who looks after Ed (she's quite a few years younger) and is the best thing that has ever happened to him. They had a son, Edward, [in] 1981. We have come to know "EJ" (as he's called) and Mily well over the years and love them very much.

Philip's Family (1950-1954)

    Phil married Charlene Wenzl on July 22, 1950. They lived in Cicero for a time, later moving to the west suburbs of Chicago. They had a son Denis Richard on August 27, 1951, and a daughter Deanna [in] 1954.

Marie's Family (1952-1956)

    To conclude the family members' data, John and Marie (my sister) had their first born [in] April, 1952. That was David. Then Linda was born [in] October, 1953, followed by their last child, Debra, who was born [in] October, 1956.

Finger Surgery (1956)

    In 1956 (I think).
Comments:  I'd been playing softball at a church picnic and caught one right on the end of the middle finger of my right hand. It stretched the ligament, leaving the finger bent at nearly a right angle at the tip. I was working for the "Boss" in his auto parts store and often caught that finger in shelving as I put merchandise away. So I sought surgical help.
    Since baseball players commonly had such injuries (especially catchers), I contacted an old Chicago Cubs catcher, Gabby Hartnett (George). I was interested in who handled his surgeries (fingers). He referred me to the Chicago White Sox surgeon of that time, and I arranged for a meeting and ultimate surgery date with him. A piece of silver wire was attached between the stretched pieces of ligament and drew the finger up and nearly straight.
    Did you ever try becoming a left-handed writer when you grew up as a "righty"? That's what I was faced with for nearly six weeks as I worked in the store with that cast on my hand. In time my writing became legible enough for others to know what I had written.
    When I asked why he hadn't made the finger completely straight, the doctor advised me that he left it that way "just in case your finger stayed stiff and you couldn't move the tip, you wouldn't be bumping into those shelves you spoke of."
    Before I leave this subject, when the stitches were to be removed, the doctor said, "This might hurt a little." Removal of the stitches didn't hurt, but when he began to try straightening that finger out (it had been in a cast for almost six weeks), I nearly rose up through the ceiling as I screamed! The doctor explained this was necessary to insure blood flow and to remove some of the stiffness which would remain if he didn't do it.

1959

    Tom's father, Grandpa Vagasky, died on June 20, 1959, at 79, the same year Eleanor's father and Grandmother Kaske died. Dzedo (as we called him) was a soft-spoken, gentle and kind person. I remember that while I was taking courses at Concordia Teacher's College, he and I discussed various aspects of Scripture. One which interested him greatly was the mystery^[3] of the "waters above" separated from the "waters below" spoken of in the Creation account in the Book of Genesis [see "Day Two"].

    When my father-in-law passed away so suddenly, I felt pity on my mother-in-law, and I befriended her and tried to help in every way I could. She took this to mean I was interested in her personally, and she told Eleanor about it. That caused another split in [the] relationship [with my mother-in-law] which lasted for a number of years—I'd left the store and went to Grebel Auto by then.

    One thing I did was to teach her to drive, for the car her husband left was no good to her without knowing how to drive it. One hair-raising experience came from those lessons:

    We'd been out for some time doing ordinary maneuvers new drivers should know about, and we were on our way back to her house. She pulled into the alley (they lived in the middle of the block) and headed for her garage. But there were utility posts which protruded outward somewhat.

    Instead of putting her foot on the brake pedal to slow down, she inadvertently pushed the accelerator pedal. We began taking off as if in an aircraft!

    I yelled for her to hit the brake pedal and not the accelerator, but it was of no avail. So I tried to get my foot on the brake pedal while also trying to get her foot off the accelerator pedal. And all this while the car was swerving from side to side errantly, the posts barely being missed. While doing all those other things to gain control of the car, I also tried grabbing the steering wheel from her grasp. Eventually I slowed and stopped the car.

    Erana was a nervous wreck. She'd become nearly numb when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, and from that point on she was frozen in a position of being unable to listen to commands.

    She vowed to never get behind the wheel again after it was all over. But I related my flying experience to her and how Dick and Ivan reminded me that if I didn't get back into that airplane and fly it, I'd be a basket case for the rest of my life. I guess it worked, as she eventually did get her driver's license and some use out of the car.

The Corvair

    When my folks moved to Riverside, Dad's hearing had deteriorated. They'd purchased a Corvair automobile, one which was called the first of "compacts" and which was designated by Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, as one of the world's most unsafe cars. How, I don't know, but due to Dad's inability to hear horns or whistles (railroad's) Mom learned how to drive. I went along with her once or twice at the most. The one time I recall she was on Cermak Road shopping. She was on one side of the street and needed to make a "U" turn to go in the opposite direction. So she just wheeled the car around in the midst of all the traffic and made her turn. I must have put on ten years of age! I think the reason she survived was due to the fact anyone who saw her coming stayed as far from her as they could. And to think I used to criticize "women drivers!"

    Dad did occasionally drive, but he got a couple citations for different things, and it was all because he couldn't hear well. But driving with Mom was probably more hazardous—bless her soul!

Dorothy

    All this while my sister Dorothy lived with my folks, fitting in quite well as a companion and helper to Mom and Dad. I remember that Mom used to shop for the bargains as they were advertised, and Dorothy got pretty experienced at finding the ads in the newspapers for her. There was always extra of everything stored in their pantry and on the back porch shelving.

    In case you've forgotten, Dorothy had suffered a setback mentally when she got the high fevers and infected glands on her neck way back while I was assigned to my ship in Boston in 1943. But the handicap wasn't easily detected until getting into extensive conversation with Dorothy. She was always jolly and outgoing when we visited my folks from Hoffman Estates, a distance of about 33 miles.

A Car Accident - After 1962

    We were out driving leisurely through the outskirts of town [on Higgins Road as I recall], when a traffic light changed, and I applied my brakes. I was watching the car behind us which didn't seem to be ready to do the same. As he got closer and closer, I realized he wasn't going to stop soon enough to avoid hitting us. I couldn't move forward because of the cross traffic which had the green light, so all I could do was to reach toward Eleanor and Jack who she was holding in her lap.

    I may have yelled to Daniel and Timothy in the back seat, but I'm not sure. And in those days seat belts weren't used as they are today, so Daniel and Timothy came flying over the front seat as the impact occurred. We were shaking from fright for a minute before we collected our thoughts.

    Opening my door and getting out of the car, I walked toward the guy who hit us to see if he was OK. He was fine as far as I could tell, but his English left a lot to be desired, so I couldn't be certain.
    He was a Hispanic who had no insurance or driver's license. The police took a report but gave me little hope I'd ever be reimbursed for my damages. But the guy seemed to be saying he'd take care of it.
    I got his address and a written I.O.U. stating he'd pay for my costs involved, though that had little real value.
    As it turned out, sometime later I did get a check to cover most of my costs, and I was thankful for even that.

    I can't tell you how many times over the years many similar accidents took place where the ones who banged into the rear of my cars didn't have insurance coverage. [Curiously,] this accident was almost identical to another one we had in Elgin, Illinois.

    The car I was driving was a 1962 Chevrolet we bought after we were in Hoffman Estates for a short while, a nice four door with convenient accessories. [It lasted for quite some time, and became the car which Eleanor used for shopping, errands and later, her job at Pure Oil; and eventually, the one which Daniel used as well.]

1964

    On January 13, 1964, our second son Timothy had his tonsils removed. He was about 9½ at the time, but Eleanor and I again faced the hospital struggle of having to leave him there as we'd done with Jack for his hernia operation. For some reason, and I don't recall what it was, we disliked this even more than we did Jack's ordeal. Tim, too, came out of the surgery in good shape!

Becky

    Some short reports: Rebecca Joy Edgren was born to Betty and Bob Edgren [in] May, 1964 (my brother-in-law). She was the fourth and last child in that family.

    On October 15th of 1964 Eleanor transferred from the billing department to Accounts Payable at Pure Oil (soon to be name-changed to Union Oil of California).

Ice Storm (JAN '65)

    In January of 1965 we had an ice storm in Hoffman Estates (and all over the western suburbs of Chicago) which pulled down power lines, trees, etc., even causing some roofs to collapse. Our heat source in the house was our natural gas stove, and that lasted for several days!

Mother-In-Law Married Again

    On July 17, 1965, my mother-in-law, Erana, married another Clarence, Clarence Lind. He was a man who Erana and her husband Clarence Edgren had known years earlier. Clarence Lind and his wife visited with Erana's sister and husband, Caroline and Jim Delwey, and oftentimes my in-laws would be there at the same time. Mrs. Lind died, and shortly after he began dating Erana who had kept in touch with Clarence while his wife was ill. They dated a couple of years.

    Clarence Lind had retired from the moving business and had adequate retirement benefits which kept them going financially. That was one thing Erana most sought when she lost her first husband. They ate out a lot and traveled here and there, though Mr. Lind didn't like to take long trips.

    The story goes that as far as romanticism is concerned, he wasn't that interested, and he really did become more of a companion and supporter than anything else. They even slept in separate beds, I'm told, in order not to bump into Erana's varicose veins (supposedly). She really had legs which resembled a crowded highway map with interchanges all over the place, this in spite of the fact she'd had her veins "stripped" in earlier years.

1965-1966

    Grandma Vagasky became ill in June or July of 1965, the diagnosis being that she had "restriction of the bowels." The doctors wanted her permission to operate and remove the restriction. But Baba, having her old fashioned ideas about removing anything from one's body, refused. The family couldn't convince her, either, and she died on August 5, 1966, just seven days short of her 83rd birthday. I really felt bad about that!

Daniel (1966)

    On April 3, 1966, our son Daniel was confirmed at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, IL. [Editor's Note: He was sick with a fever that day, but didn't want to be absent. However, he briefly 'passed out' while having to stand for a long time. It should also be noted that although he obviously went through the confirmation classes (and had participated in other church activities such as being an altar boy, lighting and putting out altar candles during Sunday services), while in some of the school's religion classes in earlier years, he sometimes said things such as: 'Why should I have to memorize these statements, if I'm not sure whether I believe them or not?' which certainly got his father irritated; especially when one time he was told that by a teacher who likely informed others on the school board. So Daniel was 'lectured' at least once that he should never 'speak his mind' in class! In the end, he simply 'went along with it all' since he was not entirely opposed to the concept of God. In his later high school years, he'd simply 'walk out' of many services (and all the way home), finding them too boring. And in his early college years, he refused to attend most of them, claiming he needed every moment to study. But everything changed in 1971.]

    On June 10, 1966, Daniel graduated from St. Peter's Lutheran School (8th grade). [The graduation pictures at that time were taken inside the church as seen in the photo below, where one of his teachers, Mr. Fechter, is standing next to Daniel:]

Chapter 27

TOC

Chapter 28 (Part 2)

¹[Return to Text]   As odd as it may seem to us today, some people did use the phrase 'inward measles' at that time to refer to a condition where most of the symptoms of measles were present, but without the usual skin rashes (which could still appear later on). But if Howard never had any rashes, even though it's now believed that about 25% of measles cases are without them, it's also possible he may have had some other type of virus. (Regarding what happened, we couldn't help but first wonder if Howard may have had ended up with Reye's (Ryes) syndrome; which although rare {not even described until 1956}, may somehow be related to a child with a virus being given aspirin. [It's often said, "Children with measles should never be given aspirin, as this has caused the fatal disease Reye's syndrome in the past."] But without a list of all his symptoms, we'll never know if that was even a possibility.)