An Early Christmas Present - A Biological Grandmother

DNA is a wonderful thing.  It holds the secrets to who we come from.  It is both amazing and terrifying at the same time.

My maternal grandmother's first cousin, Dorothy, was adopted.  She looked for her biological parents but did not find them in her lifetime.  Dorothy passed in 2011.  Dorothy was born Joann Vitiello.  Her name was later changed to Dorothy Jean Martian by the parents who raised her, Catherine McQuaid Martian (AKA Aunt Kitty) and George E. Martian.

Dorothy's daughters Cathy and Terry, wanted to find their biological grandmother.  They started their journey with DNA testing earlier this year they got their results.  Through DNA matches, building out their family trees, Dorothy's notes and obituaries we were able to piece it all together and find Dorothy's biological mother!  Dorothy's birth certificate listed Rosalie Vitiello as mother and Fred Murray as father.

We hit gold with a 3rd - 4th cousin DNA match to N.D. who shares 117 centimorgans shared across 8 DNA segments with Cathy & Terry.  Thanks to the wonderful tree they had attached to their account, I was able to look up his grandparent's obituaries and discover that his grandmother's maiden name was Vitiello!  I think we're on to something! We also discovered that she married Michael Belangio in 1954. Then I was able to build a mirror tree and built out the family tree collaterally.  A trip to Trenton uncovered N.D.'s great grandparent's names on his grandmother's death certificate.  They are the common ancestor which makes N.D. a second cousin to Cathy & Terry.  He was easy enough to find on Facebook.  I sent him a message.

N.D. was quick to respond to my message.  He confirmed that his grandmother had a sister that went by "Ronna".  He shared: "She was special. Lol. She use to rob my pennies when I was a kid while playing poker. Haha".  He was unsure what cemetery she was in, but would check with family and get back to me.  He also was going to look for photos of her as well.

Now that we knew she went by "Ronna" we had another name to go on and found her obituary.  Unfortunately, it did not list her entombment.  Another trip to Trenton and I was able to find her death notice and published obituary. The death notice was not available online and this was key to finding the cemetery.

Death Notice

Obituary

 During that same trip to Trenton, I was able to look up her birth record as well.

The parents matched N.D.'s grandmother's parents. This is her!

Due to Cathy's awesome google search skills, she found a book that was written by N.D.'s father.  Naturally, both Terry and Cathy ordered the book.  This photo was in there. Standing in the center of the back row is Ronna with her siblings and parents.

Ronna is entombed in Hollywood Memorial Park in Union, NJ.  Visiting her grave revealed one extra surprise...she is with her parents.

 

The icing on the cake, she is less than 4 miles from Dorothy who is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Kenilworth, NJ.

 

Rest easy Dorothy; they found her!

Edith June Weller Turner - A look at her first 34 years

Thirty years ago today my paternal grandmother, Edith June Turner, passed away.  She was 73 years old.

When I look at Grandma Turner's time line with both genealogical events and historical events, it makes me see her differently.  I had no idea how many ups and downs she had in the 30's and 40's.

June 1, 1914           Born in Manhattan to Charles and Edith (Wegener) Weller.

Nov. 16, 1916         She was 2 years 5moths old when her brother Charles Weller was born.

April 6, 1917          At age 2 years 10 months The United States enters World War I.

Nov. 11, 1918         Age 4. World War I ends.

1920                       Age 6. Prohibition Starts.  Her maternal grandfather owned a bar in NYC at this time.

June 25, 1928        When she was 14, her paternal grandfather dies - Charles Weller buried at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in Queens, NY.

Oct.29, 1929          She was 15 on Black Tuesday - the stock market had crashed for the 4th time kicking off the start of the great depression that lasted 10 years.

Dec. 5, 1933            Age18, prohibition ends.

July 1934                 Age 20, she takes a cruise with her aunt and meets her future husband.

Dec 20, 1936          At 21, her maternal grandfather dies. He is buried in Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in Queens, NY. There is no marker on his grave.

Feb 26, 1939          When she was 24, her father Charles Weller dies in Summit, NJ and is buried at Lutheran All Faiths in Queens, N.Y.

Oct. 6, 1939           Eight months later at age 25, she married Hugh D. Turner.

April 22, 1940       She was 25 when her paternal grandmother dies - Anna (Panzer) Weller buried at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, Queens, NY.

December 7, 1941    She was 27 when she received the news that Japan attached Pearl Harbor. The United States enters WWII.

April 22, 1943           When she was 29, she gave birth to her first son.

June 6, 1944             D-Day happened 5 days after her 30th birthday.

Feb 27, 1945            Still at age 30 when her brother Charles Weller KIA. Buried in Holland. He was only 29 years old.

Feb 26, 1946          At 31, she gives birth to her second son.

December 4, 1946  She was 32 when her father's body is moved from Queens, NY to Restland Memorial Park, East Hanover, NJ.

December 11, 1948    She was 34 when her brother was moved to Restland Memorial Park, East Hanover, NJ.

 

For me, it comes in to focus why she didn't like to talk too much about the past. Remembering her today and will try to keep the tears in check if I hear Fleiz Navidad on the radio today. It was one of her favorite Christmas songs.