No Obituary Found for my Grandmother's Sister Alvira Fister

Alvira Fister, January 28, 1918 - July 29, 1924.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

Four years ago I posted about my great aunt Alvira Fister, my grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley's sister, who died at 6-years-old of whooping cough in Plano, IL in the summer of 1924.  I have not found an obituary for her yet.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes on Ival Lenard Fister (1915-1984)

Ival Fister was one of my grandmother's brothers. Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

Ival Lenard Fister (April 4, 1915 - July 6, 1984) is one of my grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley's brothers.  Most of what I know about him, unfortunately, revolves around his criminal record.

The only personal anecdote from my father about Ival was that Ival once came to San Diego (in the 1960s probably), looking for money, and my grandfather George Hartley Jr. gave him some with the stipulation that he not come around anymore.

Ival's Christmas card, date unknown, probably 1930s.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

Ival did make the papers.  I don't know what problems he had before these newspaper stories, but it struck me that they happened only 9 months after his mother Mette Karine "Mary"s death (his father Ben Fister had died a year earlier):

Daily Illinois States Journal (Springfield)
8 Sep 1935, Sunday
Page 9, col 4
from GenealogyBank 

Escapes Jail
Ival Fister, 20-year-old prisoner charged with housebreaking, escaped from the Morgan county jail this morning by hiding behind a cell block and taking his bid for freedom while the turnkey and assistant turnkey were serving the morning rations.
A search was soon started for the youth, who in July confessed to several house robberies here.  He was being held under bond awaiting action from the November grand jury.

Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield)
21 Nov 1935, Thursday
Page 19, col 8
from GenealogyBank

Ival L. Fister, 21, who escaped from the Morgan county jail on Sept. 7, has been arrested by police at St. Joseph, Mo.  His identity was established by means of fingerprints sent ot Washinton, D. C. previous to Fister's jail break here.

The fugitive was arrested at St. Joseph, Mo., on charges of attempted robbery.  State's Attorney W. B. Absher stated today that if Fister secured an acquittal in Missouri, he will be returned here to face a charge of house burglary.

Daily Illinois States Journal (Springfield)
12 Dec 1935, Thurs
Page 13, col 8
from GenealogyBank 

Morgan Sheriff Takes 2 Men to Penitentiary
Jacksonville, Dec. 11. - Clarence Miller, Jacsonville, recently sentenced to an indeterminate term at the Menard penitentiary, and Ival L. Fister, confessed burglar, were taken to Menard today by Sheriff Kenneth Woods.  Miller was found guilty of a part in the recent shooting of Sheriff Woods.

Daily Illinois States Journal (Springfield)
22 Apr 1939, Saturday
Page 4, col 1
from GenealogyBank 

to receive hearing on Monday by the states parole board:
"Morgan county.--Kenneth Busch, Ival L. Fister."

Daily Illinois States Journal (Springfield)
27 Apr 1940, Saturday
page 3, col 8
from GenealogyBank 

to receive hearing states parole board:
"Harry Wilson and Ival L. Fister, both of Morgan county,"

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
9 Aug 1942, Sun
Page 4
from Newspapers.com 

Watch Girl's Home and Catch Convict
Philadelphia, Aug. 8. (AP) - A Washington girl's love for a fugitive convict unwittingly brought about his capture, detectives testified today. 

The story was told to Justice of the Peace Howard C. Meredith, who ordered Ival L. Fister, 27, turned over to Virginia officers. 

Recently Arlington county authorities learned that a young woman known to be friendly with Fister had quit her Washington job and come to Philadelphia, gaining employment as a domestic in a suburban Merion home. 

They followed and with local officers took up watch outside the place the girl worked.
Last night, the detectives said, Fister alighted from a bus and came to the apartment house.  He was arrested. 

Police added they understood he also was wanted in Oregon on a homicide charge.

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
15 Aug 1942, Saturday
Page 16, col 4
from GenealogyBank 

Arlington Jail Fugitive gets 30-Year Sentence
Ival L. Fister, 27, yesterday was sentenced to 10 years each on three counts of burglary by Judge Walter T. McCarthy in Arlington County Circuit Court.  The sentences are to run consecutively. Fister will serve his sentence in the Virginia State Penitentiary.
The prisoner, who previously had pleaded guilty, escaped from the Arlington County jail in January by cutting through his cell bars with several razor blades and then soaping his body to squirm through a narrow space.
He was seized August 7 by Detective Capt. Hugh C. Jones in Ardmore, Pa., after Capt. Jones had trace the man through a Washington girl.  The girl, police said, gave up her job here and went to Philadelphia where she was employed as a domestic.  Fister was taken into custody at the girl's apartment by police who were watching the place.  

Daily Illinois States Journal (Springfield)
6 Jul 1961, Thurs
Page 9, col 1
from GenealogyBank 

granted parole
"Ival L. Fister of Morgan County, who has served 5 years and 10 months of 1 year to life sentence at Menard,"

Ival died in Chicago, Cook, Illinois on July 6, 1984.  It is unknown to me if he had any wives, girlfriends, or children.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Obituary For My Grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley

Me and my grandmother, Margaret Alvide (Fister) Hartley (1912-2000), circa 1981.  From my personal collection.

I've been posting my grandmother's siblings' obituaries in birth order, and she was next.  I knew Grandmother all my life, and I wish I had asked her more questions about herself (isn't that always the way?):

San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA)
July 29, 2000
Editions: 1,2,7
Pages: B-7:2,7 B-9:1
HARTLEY, MARGARET 

Margaret Fister Hartley 88, died on Wednesday July 26, 2000, at Scripps Memorial Hospital, following a heart attack. She had been in good health until her death. She was a resident of Pacific Regent in San Diego.

Mrs. Hartley had resided in San Diego for 55 years. She was the widow of the late Dr. George Hartley, Jr., a prominent physician who served as Chief of Staff at Scripps Memorial Hospital in 1959. Dr. Hartley was a member of a pioneer San Diego family which has been involved with the growth and leadership of the city. 

Mrs. Hartley took an active roll in cultural organizations. She served on the boards of the San Diego Symphony Association, the Globe Guilders, the Assistance League of San Diego County, and the San Diego Medical Auxiliary.

A Memorial service will be held in the sanctuary of La Jolla Presbyterian Church, 7715 Draper Avenue, La Jolla on Saturday, July 29, at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow at Pacific Regent, 3890 Nobel Drive in San Diego. Survivors include a daughter, Margaret Ann Hartley of McLean, Virginia, sons Robert F. Hartley and George G. Hartley, both of San Diego, three grandchildren, Julianna Dudas, Alexandra Dudas and Christine Hartley. Also survived by two sisters.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Edith F. Bornhoeft Dies

Edith Fister (1910-1985), a sister of my grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley.  Image courtesy of Tom Cairns.

I didn't know Aunt Edith as well as I knew Aunt Fern, but I do have a memory of her as a health nut.  A search in Chicago newspapers in the late 1950s/early 1960s shows she was a regular participant with various week-end hikes associated with the volunteer organization Prairie Club of Chicago.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
July 18, 1985
page 11 (Sports Final edition)
from GenealogyBank 

Services for Edith F. Bornhoeft, 75, a retired Atomic Energy Commission employee, will be held Friday in San Diego. 

Mrs. Bornhoeft, a former Western Springs resident, died Tuesday in a San Diego nursing home. 

She had been a technical employee of the commission at the University of Chicago and at Argonne National Laboratory near Batavia. 

She was active in the Prairie Club of Chicago and was a member of the San Diego Chapter of the Sons of Norway. Survivors include four sisters and a brother.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fern Evelyn Fister, 1907-2003

Fern Evelyn Fister (1907-2003), my grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley's sister.

Finally, a Fister that I knew!  She was my great aunt, although I just called her Aunt Fern.  She was one of the nicest people I've ever known, and always sent birthday and Christmas cards and a family newsletter (how I wish I had a copy now).

Me and Aunt Fern, circa 1980.  From my personal collection.

Her obituary doesn't say it, but she was a secretary for author Norman Maclean while they were at the University of Chicago (some time between 1940 and 1973):

San Diego Union-Tribune, The (GenealogyBank)
October 25, 2003
Edition: 1,2,6,7
Page: B-6:7 B-4 B-10:6 B-8:2 

FERN EVELYN FISTER
Dec. 4, 1907-Oct. 20, 2003 Fern Evelyn Fister, 95, of San Diego died Monday. She was born in Newark, Ill., and was an administrative assistant at the University of Chicago. She was a member of the American Association of University Women and the Pacific Beach Garden Club. 

She is survived by a sister, Doris Shulkin of San Diego. 

Services: 1:30 p.m. Monday, Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church, 1675 Garnet Ave., San Diego. 

Entombment: El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego. 

Donations: Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church, 1675 Garnet Ave., San Diego, CA 92109. 

Arrangements: Pacific Beach Chapel.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

No Obituary Found for Myron Fister (yet)

My great-uncle Myron Benjamin Fister (1905-1986), posing with his saxophone in this undated picture.  Image courtesy of Tom Cairns.

My grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley's brother Myron was unknown to me until recently.  I haven't found an obituary for him but here is what I know about him so far:

• He (and a twin sister Glady May Fister, whose fate is as yet unknown) were born August 20, 1905, to Benjamin and Mary Fister (likely in LaSalle County, Illinois, alternately in Newark, Kendall, IL).
• He grew up in the Plano/Newark area of Kendall County, Illinois, which is just west of the larger Chicago metropolitan area.
• He married Linnea Ruth Hedwall (1904-1993) on September 1, 1928 in Chicago.
• He was living with his wife at his mother-in-law's house in Chicago near Washington Park in the 1930 Federal Census. He was working as an agent in an insurance office.
• His only child, daughter Ruth Elaine Fister, was born on July 5, 1930, in Chicago.
• 10 years later he and his small family were still living with his mother-in-law Hilda in the same place.  He was working as a service worker for the Root Bros manufacturing company.
• As of July 1966 he was living at 9316 50th Ave, in Oak Park, IL, a little less than 10 miles west of his previous home.
• His daughter Ruth Elaine Fister Johnson died October 12, 1969, at the young age of 39 in Midland, Michigan (she had one surviving daughter).
• About 1971 he was made assistant band leader of the Valley of Chicago Shrine Band.  I think that further research on Myron should include information about his membership with the Scottish Rite/Shriner organization.
• He died in Illinois on December 21, 1986 (likely in Lake Bluff, Lake, Illinois, midpoint between Chicago and Milwaukee, WI).
• I find a record in the United States Public Records, 1970-2009 database of Myron Fister living in Traverse City, Traverse, Michigan, as of July 13, 2001.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

No Obituary for Russell Gayhardt Fister?

My great uncle Russell G. Fister (left), with his wife Winona Kathryn Simons (1911-1996), sister Margaret Fister Hartley (my grandmother), and brother-in-law George Hartley Jr., (my grandfather), likely in Arlington, VA in 1939. From my personal collection.

This guy must have had an obituary, but so far I can not locate one.

Things I know about great uncle Russell Fister (1903-1975):

• He was born in Illinois (probably in LaSalle county) on August 14, 1903.
• When he was 17 he joined the Marine Corps as a private first class
• the 1920 Federal Census shows him as a living in the Marine barracks on Parris Island, Beaufort, South Carolina.  He would reenlist in 1921 and go to the Marine Barracks Navy Yard in Washington D.C. where he was at the Clerical School detachment/clerk for the post quartermaster(?).
• By the late 1920s he was in Poplar, Roosevelt, Montana (Fort Peck) working as an Indian agent, and he married Winona Kathryn Simons in December 1929 at Wolf Point, MT (she was 1/8 Assiniboine). They had one daughter in 1939.
• In the 1930 Census he was living with Winona in Poplar, MT, and was a Lease Clerk at the Fort Peck Indian Agency.  He appeared in several Indian censuses in the 1930s.
• The 1940 Federal Census indicated that he and his family lived in Washington, D.C in 1935.
• In the 1940 Federal Census he, Winona, and their daughter lived in Arlington, VA.  He was working as an Indian Bureau Administrative(?) Assistant for the Department of the Interior.
• In late 1943 he and Winona divorced.
• 1943-1947 I find record of him acting as Director of Credit in Chicago for the Office of Indian Affairs - Extension Division in Montana.
• In Oct 1948 he married his second wife Laurine Grantz in Chicago.
• About 1953 he was in Window Rock, Apache, Arizona.  My father has told me that he met him during a family vacation in the area.  I don't know if Russell just met them there or if he was working there?
• 1955-1957 (and possibly more years before/after) he was working as Superintendent for the Anardarko area/field office in Pawhuska, Oklahoma (I think he was in Chicago during this).
• About 1959 Russell retired and opened a coin shop Numismatics:

Berwyn Life Newspaper
abt August 1959
page unknown/clipping
courtesy of Ancestry user mlecuyer25  

Numismatics (Coin Shop) Opens 

Numismatics is the new sign on an establishment just opened at 6733 W. 26th st. Numismatics, the science of coins, tokens, medals, paper money and objects closely resembling them in form or purpose, is more often referred to as coin collecting. 

R. G. Fister, who owns and operates this new coin shop, recently retired after more than 37 years of the U.S. Government, 32 of which he spent living and working among Indians in various parts of the United States.  His main hobby over these years was coin collection.  He is a member of the Chicago Coin Club and the American Numismatic Association.

According to a photocopy (courtesy of Ancestry user mlecuyer25) of R. G. Fister's business card/letter heading the following type of products were available at Numismatics: U.S. coins, foreign coins, medals and medallions (sales, purchases and appraisals), accessories and supplies, vari-colored plastic coin holders, and commemorative medals, badges, wooden nickels, etc. produced to order. 

• A family group sheet that I personally own had him living at 1350 N. Astor, Chicago, IL in July 1966.
• Russell died on February 13, 1975 in Chicago**:

Name: Russell Gayhardt Fister
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 13 Feb 1975
Event Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
Event Place (Original): Address: 1350 N Astor
Residence Place: Gender: Male
Age: 71
Age (Estimated): Marital Status: Married
Ethnicity: Race: White
Occupation: Executive
Birth Date: 14 Aug 1903
Birth Year (Estimated): Birthplace: , , Illinois
Death Year (Estimated): Funeral Home: Lain And Son Inc
Burial Date: 17 Feb 1975
Burial Place: Chicago, , Illinois
Cemetery: Graceland
Father's Name: Ben Fister
Father's Birthplace: Mother's Name: Mary Anderson
Mother's Birthplace: Spouse's Name: Laurine Grantz
Spouse's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Gender: Informant's Name: Rhodora Hopkins
Certificate Number: Record Number: Entry Number: 604290
Source Reference: GS Film Number: Digital Folder Number: 101276894
Image Number: 01075

**"Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MN-XBVR : 18 March 2018), Russell Gayhardt Fister, 13 Feb 1975; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Obit for Lyla Maria Fister Miller, 98

My great aunt Lyla Maria (Fister) Miller, 1901-1999), probably in the mid-1920s when she was a nurse at Washington Park Hospital in Chicago.  Image courtesy of Tom Cairns.

My grandmother's sisters Edith and Fern lived out here in San Diego, but the rest of her siblings were unknown to me, except for Lyla, who I met briefly in the late 1980s.

She was my grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley's oldest sister:

Corry Journal (Corry, Erie, PA)
Friday, August 6, 1999
page 2 

Lyla Maria Fister Miller, 98 

Lyla Maria Fister Miller, 98, formerly of 218 E. Smith Street, Corry, died Thursday, Aug. 5, 1999, in Corry Manor Nursing Home. 

Mrs. Miller was born June 29, 1901, in Newark, Ill., a daughter of the late Benjamin and Mary Corina Anderson Fister. 

She was raised and educated in the Newark area where she graduated from Newark High School in 1919.  Following high school, she attended and graduated from Washington Park Hospital with a nursing degree.  After graduation, she worked for Washington Park Hospital for several years.  In 1926, she had been a surgical floor supervisor at the Illinois Central Hospital. 

Mrs. Miller moved to Marinesco, Mich., after her marriage and resided there for many years.  She had also resided in Cicago, Ill., and later in Youngstown, Ohio.  In 1987, Mrs. Miller moved to Corry to be near her daughter and grandchildren. 

Mrs. Mller attended St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Corry.  While a resident of Youngstown, Ohio, she had been a member of the Eastern Star there. 

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Jesse LeRoy Miller Jr., in 1987.  They were married August 16, 1927, in Chicago, Ill.  Also preceding her in death was a daughter, Kathryn M. Keller, in 1990; a sister, Edith Bornhoft; and five brothers, Roy, Lyle, Russell, Alvin and Myron Fister. 

Survivors include a daughter, Susann E. Rozelle of Corry; a son, Eugene LeRoy Miller of King George, Va.; three sisters, Fern E. Fister, Margaret Hartly and Doris Cairns Shulkin, all of San Diego, Calif.; and three grandchildren, Eric John Rozelle of Glenham, N.Y., Jay Thomas Rozelle of North East and Suzanne Janine Baron her husband, Michael, of Rock Springs, Wy. 

No calling hours or funeral services will be observed.  Correspondence is welcome and can be addressed to Susann Rozelle... 

Burial will be made in Greenhaven Cemetery in Canfield, Ohio. 

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, Corry Unit, 2 South Center street, Corry, Pa. 16407. 

Funeral arrangements are under the director of the Bracken Funeral Home, 315 North Center street, Corry, PA. 16407.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

The Search for My Great-Uncle Alvin Reginald Fister's Obituary (updated with obituary)

My grandmother Margaret Fister's brother Alvin Reginald Fister (1899-1976).  He lived most of his life in the areas outside Chicago, but some time after 1966 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he died.

After spending a good part of the day looking in historical databases (both subscription and free, even public library and community college subscription databases) for an obituary or death notice in Memphis for Alvin Fister in the 1970s, I came up empty-handed. I didn't find any obituary mention of him in Illinois, either.    This is quite a blind spot--hopefully there will be Memphis newspapers available in the 1970s and 1980s sometime soon.

The few things I know about him:

• He served in the Army during WWI
• He married Ilona Elizabeth Michalez in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois
• in the 1930 Federal Census he was working as a Planning Engineer in the manufacturing industry
• in the 1940 Federal Censu he was "Labor Rate" Engineer in the telephone manufacturing industry
• he and his wife had 4 children: Mary, Alvin Jr., Paul Michael Fister, and Russell Benjamin Fister

I need to contact my Fister relations and see if they have an obituary for him.

EDITED TO ADD:  Found it!  The image for his obituary is a little blurred so a direct search didn't work, but a search for his sister Edith (Fister) Bornhoeft kicked out his obituary in the Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois)
25 Nov 1976, Thu
Page 67, col 4
from Newspapers.com 

Alvin R. Fister Sr., of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Downers Grove, beloved husband of Lilly, nee Michael,; fond father of Mary (Theodore T.) Jansey, Alvin R. Jr.(Susan), Paul Michael (Nelda) and Russell B.; brother of Myron B., Lila Miller, Fern Fister, Edith Bornhoeft, Margaret Hartley and Doris Cairnes; grandfather of eight; great-grandfather of one.  Service Friday, 10 a.m. at the Adams-Winterfield Funeral Home, 4343 Main St., Downers Grove. Interment Clarendon Hills.  Visitation Thursday 7 to 9 p.m. 968-1000

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Liel Fister Dies

My grandmother Margaret Fister's older brothers: Liel Fister (right), with his brothers Roy Fiester (left) and Alvin Fister (center). Image courtesy of Tom Cairns.

According to the Fox River Lutheran Church records, Liel Fister was born Jun 28, 1897 in LaSalle County, Illinois, to Ben and Mary Fister.

He appeared in the 1900 Federal Census with his family in Mission Township, LaSalle, Illinois.

According to family story little 4-year-old Liel died August 18, 1901.  I don't have an additional source for the place or reason of his death.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

A Reminder That Not Everything is Online

The only adult picture I have of my great uncle Roy Alexander Fiester (1895-1972), son of Mette Karine and Ben Fister, and oldest brother to my grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

I intended to blog my great uncle Roy Fiester's obituary today, but discovered that despite a search through GenealogyBank, NewspaperArchive, Newspapers, and Google Newspaper Archive, I couldn't find it.  Fortunately there is at least a reference to the obit's existence at the Aurora Public Library in Illinois (he lived in Aurora most of his life):

Roy had an obituary on the 18th and 19th of February, 1972, in The Beacon.  His wife's obit is also listed, but I already have that obituary.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Mrs. Mary Fister Dies at Plano

My great grandmother, Mette "Mary" Fister, with her youngest daughter Doris Fister (my grand aunt), probably in the late 1920s.

The Aurora Beacon-News
Tuesday, 8 Jan 1935
page 2(?) 

Mrs. Mary Fister Dies at Plano 

Plano, Ill., Jan. 8.--Mrs. Mary Fister, widow of the late Ben R. Fister, a resident of Kendall county for 40 years, died yesterday at her home in Plano.  She was born at Stavanger, Norway, Nov. 25, 1876.  Her maiden name was Mattie (Mary) Crina Anderson.  She was married Oct. 18, 1894.  Mr. Fister died May 2, 1934. 

Surviving are five daughters, Lila, Fern, Edith, Margaret, and Doris***, five sons, Roy, Alvin, Russell, Myron and Ival, nine grandchildren, three sisters and one brother.
Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon from the home at 1:30 o'clock and from the Plano Lutheran church at 2 o'clock.  Burial will be in the Plano cemetery.

***The daughters are pictured here, around the time of Mette "Mary" Fister's death.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Remembering My Uncle Bob

Bob is on the right, around the time he served in Vietnam, abt 1966.  From left to right: his sister-in-law Pat (Slater) Hartley (my mom), his brother George G. Hartley (my dad), and his mother Margaret (Fister) Hartley (my grandmother).  From my personal collection.

The Uncle Bob (far right) I remember, circa 1986.  With his aunt Fern Fister, me, his mother Margaret (Fister) Hartley, and brother George G. Hartley.  From my personal collection

I think about my Uncle Bob a lot.  He was interested in genealogy and I think he would have gotten a kick out all the things I've discovered so far about our ancestors.

His plaque at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, CA.  Image courtesy of Ancestry user LSHamlin4604.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

FindAGrave Has Made Citation Easy

My great uncle Roy Alexander Fiester's FindAGrave entry.  The source citation can be found by clicking "View Source".

I'm on the fence about FindAGrave's new look, but I was pleased to see that they now have a way to quickly generate a source citation:

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Posthumus Invitation: Dr. George Hartley (1907-1977) Invited to the 1990 Candlelight Ball

My grandfather George Hartley, Jr. (1907-1977), San Diego pathologist.  From my personal collection.

My grandfather did not attend this event because he had been dead for 13 years, but it is possible that my grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley (1912-2000) went in his place--the scribbling at the upper left indicates this.  The address was hers, and far as I know he had never lived at that address (they had divorced back in 1971).  From my personal collection.

I was surprised to see this event got a write-up in the Los Angeles Times Society column:

SOCIETY

Candlelight Ball Proves a Glowing Event
December 06, 1990, by DAVID NELSON

SAN DIEGO — The Candlelight Ball treated its 511 guests gently Saturday by offering the calm, easily digested music of the Bill Shreeve Quartet during dinner. But no sooner had the plates of filet mignon been cleared than the Mar Dels took the stage to kick-start the party with their revved-up brand of nostalgic rock 'n' roll.
This change in tempo was but one of the many presents offered the guests by the sponsoring La Jolla Auxiliary of Scripps Memorial Hospital, which made "Gifts" the theme of the ball to honor both the chiefs of staff who have led Scripps' medical corps over the decades and the ball's beneficiary, the Patient Family Library.
The Candlelight, given this year in the Aventine Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, ranks as the city's most venerable ball after the Charity Ball (which also benefits a medical facility, Children's Hospital and Health Center). Its perennial appearance on the first Saturday of December has made it the traditional opener of the Christmas season, although competing organizations have begun seeking a share of the fruits of the season's charitable urges. 

Even though the Candlelight's Christmas trees and holiday decor no longer are the first harbingers of the season, they still reliably put ball patrons in the mood. An implicit feature of the Candlelight is candlepower measurable in multiples of 1,000 units. Saturday, the seasonal glow was supplied by double coronas of votives, both spaced around the table-tops and supported by branching centerpieces that also held gatherings of evergreens, tied with purple and crimson ribbons that cascaded down to the gold-wrapped gift boxes that set the party's theme.
The red and purple motif continued around the ballroom in the form of pennants, apparently inspired by the Middle Ages (or so it was said), while the holidays were stressed by grandly dressed trees spaced around the ballroom's perimeter.
Although gifts would seem rather an obvious theme for a Christmastime event, the idea has not been seized upon in recent memory, which gave a pleasant air of novelty to the Candlelight Ball. The theme actually was used in the abstract, in any case, as a reference to twin gifts made to Scripps Memorial by its chiefs of staff and by the La Jolla Auxiliary. 

Rae Merhar, who chaired the event, said the gifts memorialized by the ball's name were two: the gift of service exemplified by the chiefs of staff, and the gift of knowledge represented by the ball's beneficiary, the new Patient Family Library in the equally new Schaetzel Health Science and Education Building at Scripps Memorial-La Jolla.
Hospital President Ames Early said the library "will add a dimension of health care previously unavailable, which will be a tremendous resource for patients and families." It will stock titles relating to specific illnesses, diagnostic tests and medications and their side effects. Patients and others seeking specific medical information of the type not readily available to laymen will find the library arranged for "user-friendly" research. Marie Olesen, who co-chaired the event, said it would raise about $100,000 for the library. 

"The patient library is a terribly important extension of what we do in our offices," said Dr. Clyde Beck, Scripps Memorial-La Jolla chief of staff. Beck and the 11 former chiefs of staff in attendance served as the ball's honorary chairmen and wore medallions noting their service. In this group were Drs. Ernest Pund, John Cherry, James Whisenand, William Doyle, John Wells, Richard Tullis, Phillips Gausewitz, Robert Reid, F. Bruce Kimball, Everette Rogers and Donald Ritt. 

The guest list included Handy Bacon, Scripps Memorial Foundation President James Bowers, Helen and Herman Froeb, Karen and Orrin Gabsch, Lyn and Stephen Krant, Colin and Cathleen Haggerty, Kitty and Julian Kaufman, Carol and Robert Wolf, Bibs Kearney, Anne and Frank Mayer, Sandy and Peter McCreight, Pat Wade, Jacque and Roger Stewart, Jane and John Murphy, Kathleen and Peter Pieslor, Joan and James Peck, Carol and Harold Shively, Marcia and John Trombold, and Alexis and George Wesbey.
People wishing to assist needly families of military personnel stationed in overseas may participate in radio station Y-95's "Secret Santa" program by bringing new toys and articles of clothing to the Holiday Super Party to be hosted by the station this evening at the Sheraton Harbor Island hotel. 

The event, which commences at 5:30 p.m. and concludes at 9:30 p.m., will include holiday refreshments and entertainment by Jimi Jamison, lead singer of Survivor, who will perform several of his hits, including "Eye of the Tiger." The dress code is informal. "Secret Santa" donations are not required for admission, but those gifts brought will be distributed to military families by the Armed Service YMCA. For further information, call KKYY-FM at 453-9595.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Nope, Not a Figment of My Imagination

Indelibly marked in my memory.  My bottle was smaller, but the image is the same.  Image taken from the Maja perfume Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/coletah/maja-perfume/

When I was a girl perfume samples would get passed on to me, either by my mother or my paternal grandmother Margaret.  I think Grandmother would get a ton of these samples at at the upscale cosmetic counters she frequented.  I loved these little things--I pretended they were fancy liquor bottles for my Barbies.  One that I always remember had a Spanish lady in red and black on the label.  Looking up "perfume Spanish lady" today on Google brought up the exact image I was thinking about.  Maja perfume.  I'm not sure how that smells when still good. I have some dim memory of it smelling like all the others by the time it got to me--old perfume past it's expiration date.

The blog Myrurgia Perfumes has more info.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: My Wedding Anniversary

A few minutes ago I happened to look at today's date and realized that it's the 51st anniversary of my marriage to Christine's father.

[From my personal collection]

From left to right, the parents who raised me: Harold D. Currey and Bernice E. Grenfell, me, George G. Hartley, and his parents Margaret A. Fister and George Hartley, Jr.

How time flies when you're having fun!


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: My Dapper Great Uncle Myron Fister

Myron Benjamin Fister (1905-1986), one of my grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley's brothers.  Inscription to brother Russell.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

I knew my grandmother Margaret had family back in Illinois, but for some reason never thought it strange until recently that I had never met any of her brothers.  My understanding is that Myron was a saxophone player (what little info I have on him indicates that he was made assistant band leader of Valley of Chicago Shrine Band in 1971), although I don't think that was his profession.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Great Aunt Fern

Fern Fister (1907-1993), probably 1920s.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

I always think of my grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley's sister Fern as an elderly woman (she was already 63 when I was born), but of course she was young once.  I was delighted when I received this undated photo of her.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

The Family about 1974

Dad (George Hartley), me, and mom Pat, I think for my 3rd birthday (I'm pretty sure this polaroid was taken at Grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley's home in La Jolla).  From my personal collection.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.