Arthur and Victorine Die

Arthur, Sr., died in Marietta on Friday, May 23, 1930, close to age 58, of a brain tumor after an illness of two months. Since he had to blow glass from a lead pipe, this might have been a contributing factor. According to his obituary, Arthur, Sr. belonged to Marietta Lodge No. 744, Loyal Order of Moose, and to a French Society that had its headquarters in Indiana.

In 1937 the family grocery store was hit by a flood. Various records show that the flood hit 55 feet on Jan. 23. This was nearly 20 feet above flood stage. According to my mother, it was a terrible tragedy. They had moved all the groceries and equipment up the stairs to the second floor, but the flood went to 55 feet, and was well into the second floor. When they were able to get into the building, everything was ruined. Mud was everywhere. Sacks of flour and sugar were ruined. Canned goods were rusted and the labels had come off. Mrs. Andris was devastated. Mother said that she would set for hours scrubbing rusted cans with steel wool and try to identify them for reduced sale. The anguish of the loss and the worry of financial ruin probably contributed in large part to her death on March 4, 1937.

Again according to my mother, she promised Torinne on her death bed that she would "Take care of Squee." "Squee" was Fernand's nickname. He and Lorene were married 5 months later on August 16, 1937.

I was born the next year, on December 3, 1938.

Some time later, the grocery store was move down the block to the corner at 312 Greene Street. In fact, Torinne left the store to my father and Alphonse, and this caused enormous hard feelings between them and the other children, especially the eldest half-brother, Arthur.

But now we are moving into the next generation.