Giraffe Lady

She was tall. Over 6ft. Size 11 shoes. She was Jessie of course, my great-aunt.

Jessie around 1912.

East Tech HS.

Aunt Jessie died about 6 months before I was born but it's possible for me to say that - I feel like I knew her. I've heard about her from everyone. 

When I was younger I was given some of her jewelry and we even have her hope chest in our house.

Aunt Jessie never married and I do not believe she ever worked. My father once described her to me like this, " Jessie tried. She tried really hard and really wanted people to like her but she just had kind of a bad way about her. ". Later I asked my mom about the "bad way" comment and was told Aunt Jessie , could be, quite nasty at times.

My cousin Cher talks about Aunt Jessie's back pack. As she didn't work, my grandfather likely supplied all of her funds, and she ALWAYS had a backpack full of gifts. 

L to R: (Back) Unknown Male, Dorothy Leisenheimer, Jessie Miles
(Front) Estelle Holan, Sterlie Abraham Miles, Sterlie Arthur Miles

Lois Sullivan McBride

Lois was, technically, my grandmother's niece; however, they were about the same age. She and her sister Anna Mae grew up very close to "Marge" aka my grandmother! I've been told the girls were much like sisters.

I MUST have met Lois once and it was likely at Anna Mae's funeral. At the time, I was about 10 years old and don't recall significant details. Her son, cousin Jim, was kind enough to send me some photos her.

Lois was quite a beautiful woman and Jim said the three girls looked quite a bit alike:) She and her husband raised two boys together. Lois passed away in 2001. 

I see the resemblance to my grandmother here!

With her husband and boys.

The Kind Soul of Uncle John

John Evans was my mother’s Uncle.

As a child he fell ill and the Pazderski’s nursed him to back to life. He was reportedly never the same or “right” in the head.

Chauffeur's License (he looks rather Johnny Cash in the first photo!)

Photo Booth Uncle John

Death & Birth Certificates 

Uncle John lived with the family his entire adult life at the house on Cassisus. He worked a variety of jobs and helped contribute to the family. One job included working as a chauffeur. According to cousin Jim, he bought the first color TV. The first one on the street!

My mom says Uncle John was a kind man, he always took care of the family even though he was independent (although still living with them). 

Friends and family  - share with me your best Uncle John stories in the comments! 

The Gassman

The letter from him always concluded “ Love your much (underlined 4x) older cousin Joe & Bernie “.

Joe was my mother’s cousin from her Aunt Katie. He was an only child. Quite a mix you could say. His mother, Katie, was Ukrainian and his father was Italian. That made Joe, Italian Ukrainian. Quite a mix, quite a mix!

He was about 20 years old than my mother but never treated her inferior or provided any less love. 

Mom says he travelled to Asia at some point and Joe let her borrow his outfit for her performance. 

Joe when he graduated High School.

This must have been the winter of 1984 when Grandma Leota died. As my parents have received some inheritance they replaced the windows in the house. Unsurprisingly, the gas bill dropped due to the new energy efficient windows. Unknown to my family, it alerted the gas company that we might be cheats. Thus, the relentless checking of the meter began. Cousin Joe was an executive with the gas company and mom gave him a call.

After my mother had enough and enlisted Joe’s help, it stopped. We all laughed they never took the time to ask or consider that the house may have changed.

I never personally met him but corresponded with him several times until his death in 2008 from Parkinson’s. His wife Bernie (Bernadette) had passed a few years prior.  He always sent me congratulation, birthday, milestone, etc cards. He had his own family of growing kids and grandkids but I found it endearing he took him to remember us as well. Mom says he learned Aunt Katie's skills. He was Aunt Katie 2.0 , he learned her unnatural ability to convey love and warmth. 

Raise a glass to cousin Joe, he was one of the greats!

Beer here!

Martha Polachek Lynch (the only photo I've ever seen or have of her).

Martha Polachek Lynch was my Grandfather's older sister.  She married but had many still born babies. From what I've been told, she was extremely close with her older sister, Katie. She died in 1977. 

I wanted to share the story my mother always recalls about her: 

Aunt Martha would ask the kids to go get the beers out of the basement fridge. (Typically, at a family gathering while the adults were discussing and carrying on in the sitting room.) Uncle Frank (my mother's brother) & my mom would shake the hell out of Aunt Martha's beers and each time - they blew up in her face when she went to open them. Aunt Martha never complained and would laugh at the top of her (probably drunk or tipsy) lungs.

Uncle Archie & Brownie

Archie Alexander Miles was my Great-Great Uncle. He was born on November 6, 1876 in Lynchburg, OH. He died on January 29, 1942.

Just this past year my Aunt Linda sent me a cool article about his death.

Faithful Dog Keeps Vigil as Master Dies

Cleveland Plain Dealer
January 30, 1942

Faithful unto death and still at her post even afterward. Brownie, a large brown mongrel dog, held police at bay while she stood guard over the body of her master last night.
Brownie had been the constant companion and guardian of her master, Archie Miles, 65 a cripple and when Miles died in his sleep some time yesterday morning the dog could not understand that her job of protecting her master was over.
Miles, a former teamster for the Excelsior Cartage Co. 1200 W 9th Street, who was crippled in an accident six years ago, lived alone above a blacksmith shop at 7212 Quincy Ave SE.
A grocery clerk who customarily brought Miles his supplies was unable to rouse him yesterday noting that smoke was not rising from the chimney, called the owner of the blacksmith shop, Frank W. Bauer 11332 Revere Avenue S.E.
Receiving no answer, Bauer called police, who gained entry despite Brownie’s protests. At the threshold of the bed room where her master lay dead in bed, the dog’s fiercely bared fangs forbade further approach.
Even when Miles’ sister, Mrs. Jennie Wheatley, 9524 Marah Avenue S.E. was called. Brownie refused to let anyone touch her master. Finally, Mrs. Wheatley managed to coax the dog into an adjoining room with food and shut the door.
Miles was the grandson of Abraham Miles, who settled on a farm at what is now Richmond Rd just north of Mayfield Rd. His maternal grandparents were Alexander and Jesse Hill who established a farm east of Green Road when Indians were still a familiar and sometimes fearsome sight to the settled pioneers.
For the last six years, since he had been injured, Miles who loved animals, had lived alone. Mrs. Wheatley said, where he could keep his pets without anyone objecting in the years. Miles kept pigeons and only a few days before his death he had bought a couple of injured birds into the kitchen to care for them.
“A home will be found for Brownie.” Mrs. Wheatley said today, “but the biggest problem facing us is what to do with a pet skunk. You don’t know anybody that wants one, do you?”.
The little black and white animal had been brought to Miles by friends who had found it injured in a trap. Through kindness, he had tamed it until it would follow him around and would permit him to fondle it like a pet tabby, but it still does not trust strangers.
Miles is survived by his son, Archie Jr. 13406 McCracken Rd, Garfield Heights and a daughter Leola, 22 who lives in Chicago. Also surviving him are another sister Mrs. A.M. Porter 2252 E 69th St and a brother. Sterlie A. Miles 8109 Force Ave, University Heights.

Brownie

The End (for now)

Before I launch into the story I thought it best to explain a bit about each person. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list.

Gerald - He was 18 years old on June 6, 1944 and was the soldier that shot Nick.

Jules Levavasseur  - He was 18 years old when Nick, badly wounded, & Gerald came to the farm.

Cecile Levavasseur - The sister in law of Jules who was not at the farm that night but knew the story.

Marie-Therese Levavasseur - The daughter of Jules.

Jocelyne - A Fresville local I found online that guided us.

Bobby - Jocelyne's neighbor. He is very active in the Normandy area and was a teenager during the invasion. He worked at the first temporary cemetery. Bobby was a friend of Jocelyne's grandfather.

Rene - Our Normandy guide. His father was a member of the French Resistance captured and survived Dachau. He lives in Caen.

Dutch Schultz - A fellow soldier (depicted in The Longest Day) that served with Nick & Gerald.

Ellen - The daughter of Nick's late widow, Melba.


____________________________________________________________________

My immediate question was, how did they they get Nick to the farm? What happened as he died? Who was there? I wanted to know everything.

Before we left, I talked to Ellen. I asked her about Nick's burial flag & medals but she never answered. She did tell me she knew nothing of Nick except he and her mother were very much in love. I then shared with her some of Melba's letters.

Unfortunately, Facebook is not permitting me to share the (poor) quality videos but seeing where Nick died answered many of these questions.

On June 5, Rene picked us up from our hotel in Paris for the 3 hour car ride to Bayeux. Upon arriving in Bayeux we were taking the train to Carentan to meet Jocelyne. We were not sure what to expect and with only a bit of language barriers with locals, we bought our tickets. The ride was 2 stops, 30 mins total.

Immediately, we saw traffic was crazy. We drove to Sainte-Mere-Eglise to meet Cecile. She and an older gentleman met us. They live across the street from the historic church John Steel was stuck on. Jocelyne translated. Cecile pulled out the article on Jules that Jocelyne had written, we all laughed. Cecile had the version of events that Nick was 18 and shot by a German bullet. Indeed Marie-Therese had emailed me this version; however, by Jules' (and Gerald's) own account this wasn't the case. Nick was also 28 and not shot by German fire. Perhaps time or a game of telephone caused this miscommunication.

None the less Cecile pulled out a map and sheet to show us Nick's grave. She had been to visit him at the American Cemetery at least 4 times and had a rubbing of the grave. At the end of the visit we gave each other awkward air/cheek kisses and I presented her with a photo of Nick. She was very pleased to have it.

From there we snapped a few photos of the church as a procession marking a new historic marker instillation was leaving. It was wall to wall people. As we were early on time, we went near Utah Beach. We walked in the sand and collected shells. Then we went to meet Bobby.

On the way Jocelyne turned and said , " Do you think you will come back? ". At that moment I knew the answer was yes. She told me I'd love to look into all the local archives which might even have more about Nick. We stared at the country roads that she wound with ease - one lane roads with brutal blind spots.

Fresh off of leaving the church ceremony, we met Bobby at his home in Fresville.

Approximately 15 years ago he got a call about an American wandering around the area with a sketch  (that he had made) of a building he was trying to find. Bobby was called in to translate and learned this man was trying to locate a farm he had shot his friend Nicholas on in 1944. It was Gerald. They searched in vein for several days and Gerald left empty handed.

Several years later Gerald returned and the search resumed. As they were heading near a chateau (used as a medical rally point and the site of fierce fighting by a soldier named Turnbow) they came across an elderly man using clippers to trim the hedges. They pulled up and asked the man and said the story. He said nothing and kept cutting his hedges. Finally he said, I think I might know the place. " Can you ask the man that was there if there was a young man there that night and what did he ask him?". Confused Gerald answered yes there was a young man there and he asked him how old he was. He remembered the young man was 18 because they were the same age. With that the man identified himself - it was Jules Levavasseur.

Gerald then told him that when Dutch Schultz was dying he called Gerald and asked him to come see him - he had something important to tell him. According to Gerald they talked about Nick (or just Polachek as they called him). Nick, Gerald, and Dutch were all gambling together before they left for Normandy. Gerald still owed him money and insisted on paying him. Dutch refused and they agreed to send it to their company chaplan. Gerald left and realized he didn't know what it was Dutch wanted to see him about but when he walked back in, Dutch had died.

All three (Bobby, Jules, Gerald) later went to the farm.

Jocelyne bid us adieu at this point and we headed with Bobby to the farm.

Nick & Gerald landed approximately 20 ft behind the house in a hedgerow. One on each side. Nick was shot on his left side in the lower part of the stomach as he tried to pass the radio. Therefore, it's assumed he landed on the side of the headrow closest to the house. The Levavasseur's took him into the home and placed him on a mattress. Somehow, they were able to find a medic. He said if the bleeding was not internal Nick would be ok, one look at the wound and they knew he was doomed. Nick didn't survive for long and Gerald stayed with him as he died.

I wonder if Nick said anything - tell my family I love them? Take my tags home to my family? Did Gerald beg Nick's forgiveness?

The family wrapped Nick in their linens and with the help of Gerald buried him in the back garden. A plum tree stands there today. Rene told us that the Levavasseur family took a great risk at burying Nick. Luckily it was a private burial so it was not discovered but had it been discovered by the Germans, they could have paid a heavy price.

Gerald has not been returning calls or messages and Bobby feels he is busy trying to forget. I have strong feelings about this but will omit them for now.

As we were talking about coincidences - Nick's grave is C-28-28. Nick's grave location was randomly selected by ABMC. My grandfather is buried in section 23-23 of Calvary and was 5 years younger than Nick. The graves are each 5 apart. Coincidence? Not to mention my mother shares a birthday with Nick's wife and I share a birthday with Nick's father. Someone upstairs orchestrated all of this. How or why, I'm not sure but I know in my heart we will be back to France. My mom feels it in her heart too. Our main mission is accomplished but cementing Nick's legacy is my new focus.

As Bobby dropped us off at the train station he mentioned that he saw flowers at Nick's grave a few days ago. He believes a professor nearby had adopted his grave and would make inquiries for us.  We promised Jocelyne & Bobby we would all keep in touch. I hope to return to France and see them both. They kept saying don't thank us, this is a honor.

The next day started at 3am. We finally got to meet Uncle Nick at Normandy American Cemetery. I will make another entry but I placed my hand on his grave, fought back tears, and just kept thinking " I'm so sorry this happened to you - you should have come home - we all love you - we are so proud but so sorry this happened to you.". Mom later told me she kept saying the same thing too - she was so sorry it happened to him. I know without a shadow of a doubt my Grandma Marge & Grandpa Frank were there in spirit. They would be so proud, I can hear my Grandpa saying " Nick, meet my girls." with a big grin on his face.

I will try to double check this later for typos and such. My mac is running slow and freezing up - that includes my patience at this point!