THE GOLFER'S CREED - David R. Forgan

On a recent Find a Grave photo request trip to Rosehill Cemetery I found myself in front of a large stone slab:

Carved into the stone was a name "David R. Forgan" and a quote: "We Have Loved, We Love, We Shall Love Again".  Buried beneath the stone are David R. Forgan (Apr. 16, 1856 - Dec. 28, 1931) and Agnes Kerr Forgan (Dec. 6, 1863 - Aug. 27, 1943).  I figured that there was probably an interesting story under that stone, and I was right.

David R. Forgan was an internationally renowned banker, a world-class golfer, and a master storyteller.  What can we learn about this fascinating person?  Let's find out.

David Robertson Forgan, it was said, was born with a golf club in his hand.  First of all, he was born in the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews, Scotland on April 16, 1862.  His father was Robert Forgan a master golf club manufacturer; his mother was Elizabeth, nee Berwick.  Robert Forgan (1824-1900) was founder and owner of the Forgan Golf Club Company at St. Andrews, Scotland.  

In 1877 when David was fifteen years old, he applied for a job as messenger at the Clydesdale Bank in St. Andrews on the recommendation of his Sunday-school teacher who was an officer of the bank.  He stayed with the Clydesdale bank for three years, after which he left Scotland for North America.  Once he got started in banking his rise through the ranks was meteoric.  He went first to Nova Scotia where he was hired by the Bank of Nova Scotia.  He held several positions with the Bank of Nova Scotia, first at Halifax, then at Winnipeg, and finally at Fredericton, New Brunswick.  

On June 9, 1885, David Forgan married Agnes (Aggie) Kerr in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  In 1888, the Forgans moved to the United States, where David took a position as Assistant Cashier of the American Exchange Bank in Duluth, Minnesota.  In May of 1886 their first son, Robert, was born.  He was followed by Marion (December, 1887), Ethel (June, 1889), David Jr. (October, 1891), and James (March, 1900).   

In 1890 Forgan joined the Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis. In 1896 he came to Chicago as a vice president of the Union National Bank and was made its president two years later.  In 1900 the Union National Bank merged with the First National Bank where his brother, James B. Forgan was president.  David Forgan became its president from 1907 to 1925 when it merged with the National Bank of the Republic where he became Vice Chairman and continued after it merged with the Central Trust to become the Central Republic Bank and Trust where Forgan served with James E. Otis as co-chairmen of the board of directors.

When the Forgan family came to Chicago in 1896 they settled in Evanston.  They lived in a beautiful house that still stands at 1112 Greenwood:

1112 Greenwood, Evanston, Illinois

As well known as David R. Forgan was as a banker, he was equally well known as a golfer.  As mentioned above, he was born at St. Andrews, Scotland and his family owned the Forgan Golf Club Company.  Growing up in that atmosphere David Forgan took his golf seriously and did not neglect it during his rise in the banking profession. In 1899 he won the first annual western amateur golf championship at the Glenview Country Club.  

David R. Forgan is best remembered today as the author of "The Golfer's Creed" which was part of a speech he gave in 1899:

The Golfer's Creed

GOLF is a science, 

the study of a lifetime in which you may

 exhaust yourself but never your subject.

It is a contest, a duel or a melee, 

calling for courage, skill, strategy and self-control.

It is a test of temper, a trial of honor, and a revealer of character.

It affords a chance to play the man and act the gentleman.

It means going into God’s out-of-door, getting close to nature,

 fresh air, exercise, a sweeping away of mental cobwebs,

genuine recreation of tired tissues.

It is a cure for care, an antidote to worry.

It includes companionship with friends, social intercourse,

 opportunities for courtesy, kindliness and generosity to an opponent.

It promotes not only physical health but moral force.

David Robertson Forgan died on December 26, 1931 at the age of 69 at his home in Evanston after a three week illness.  A gall-bladder complaint led to pleurisy which brought about a heart attack early in the day of the 26th.  He succumbed at 1:15 p.m.

Joseph E. Otis said of David Forgan upon hearing of his death: "He always strove for those things that were to the best interest of all, and was beloved by all who knew him."

David Robertson Forgan - banker, golfer, storyteller.  May he rest in peace.

OUR BELOVED CHILDREN - David and Beatrice Lepavsky

I have mentioned before how moved I am whenever I encounter the grave of a child.  I am not a parent, but I cannot imagine a bigger tragedy for a parent than the death of a child.  This week we will look at a family that experienced this tragedy times two - the death of two children - eight days apart.

A recent Sunday afternoon trip to Jewish Waldheim Cemetery found me with a long list of Find a Grave photo requests.  I love doing these because it gives me an opportunity to help people and also takes me to parts of the cemetery where I would not normally go.  To those of you who are not familiar with it, Jewish Waldheim is a loose "union" of over 300 individual cemeteries from a time when Jews were either buried with other members of their synagogue or other members of a burial society, often from a particular village or region.

I was wandering through the rows of Gate #16 (Anshe Knesses Israel #2) when I came across the following tombstone:

 

The top of the stone said "Our Beloved Children" and marked the grave of 2 year old Beatrice Lepavsky who died October 17, 1918 and her almost-six-year-old brother David Lepavsky who died 8 days later on October 25, 1918.  I suspected that they were victims of the Spanish Influenza epidemic and I was correct.  Here is the death certificate for Beatrice:

And here's the one for David:

Both had been victims of influenza coupled with pneumonia.  In most cases it was not the influenza that caused death, it was the pneumonia that set in afterward.

What can we find out about the family of Beatrice and David Lepavsky? Let's look.  We can see from their death certificates that Beatrice and David were the children of Harry Lepavsky from Russia and his wife Esther (nee Lapping), also from Russia.  

Harry Lepavsky was born February 11, 1886 in Russia.  In the 1910 Census he said he emigrated in 1887; in the 1930 census he said he emigrated in 1890.  Either way, the 1900 Census found him living with his parents Isaac and Rachel (nee Soboroff) and his seven brothers and sisters:  Michael, Louis, Jacob, Malky, Lazar, Hody, and Moses at 177 West 12th Place, in the heart of the old Jewish neighborhood.  Harry listed his occupation as "Cap Maker".  

On January 26, 1912 twenty-five year old Harry Lepavsky was married to twenty year old Esther Lapping by Rabbi Ephraim Epstein, Senior Rabbi of Anshe Knesses Israel just before they moved into their magnificent new building on Douglas Boulevard.  

Esther Lapping was born in Russia in 1892.  In each of the 1910, 1920 and 1930 Census she said she emigrated in 1890(!!!)  She was the daughter of Isidore and Pessie (nee Grace).  Esther, too came from a large family.  She was one of eleven children.  Esther's siblings were: Anna, Ida, Abraham, Lena, Dora, Tillie, Meyer, Harry, Minnie, and Louis.  

Once Harry and Esther were married they started on their own family:  David was born on November 10, 1912 

and Beatrice was born on September 6, 1916.

When studying the history of this era, deaths from Spanish Influenza show up again and again.   In a question to the website Gapers Block: (www.gapersblock.com) about the Spanish Influenza on its effect is Chicago, the response was:

"It was the deadliest epidemic in recorded history, claiming as many lives in just one year as the Bubonic Plague claimed in four during the Black Death of the mid-14th century. And yet it is hardly remembered today. The Spanish Influenza of 1918-19 killed between 21 and 40 million people worldwide. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 640,000 people died while another 25 million were infected. In Chicago, more than 8,500 lives were lost to the disease in just eight weeks." Shockingly, the fatality rate for the disease was nearly 70 percent, and it took its biggest toll on the young.  Some research suggests that there had been a mild flu epidemic in the 1880s that may have caused people who were adults in 1918 to have a limited immunity from the Spanish flu.

And again from Gapers Block:  "Precautions against the disease were primitive and largely ineffective. In Chicago, public funerals were banned, and private funerals were limited to 10 people -- including the undertaker.  Bars, dance halls, and movie theaters were closed, but churches and schools remained open. Public spitters were arrested. Businesses were asked to stagger their working days to reduce rush-hour crowds on public transportation.

In the end, 300,000 people were affected by the Spanish Influenza in the state of Illinois. The last reported cases of the disease occurred in the first couple of months of 1920. The epidemic ended not because any cure had been found, but because the virus mutated again and the deadly Spanish Influenza strain ceased to exist (sort of)." 

Beatrice Lepavsky had been ill for only ten days when she succumbed, her older brother was ill for twelve  days.  Unlike many of their peers, both Beatrice and David had been admitted to Childrens Memorial Hospital but even that was not sufficient to beat the Spanish Influenza. David died at 9:20 in the morning, by sundown that same day he was in his grave.  Beatrice must have died later in the day - her death certificate doesn't say - but she was not buried until the next day.  The deaths were coming so fast that undertakers and gravediggers were stretched to the limit.  In some places people were dying so quickly they even ran out of caskets to put the bodies in.

But life goes on for us all, and it did for the grieving Harry and Esther Lepavsky.  They went on to have three more children:  Alter/Martin (1920-2000), Alvin (1923-1997) and Hazel (1925-2000).   Harry went on to become the foreman of the cap factory, and died in 1973 at the age of 86.  I was unable to find a death record for Esther Lepavsky.  She may have changed her last name as some of her children did (to "Lee") or she may have remarried.  I think it is safe to say that Esther has gone on to her reward by now.

May Beatrice

and David Lepavsky

and their grieving family rest in peace.

HE WAS THE HOWARD OF HOWARD STREET - Howard J. Ure

When people first started using roads the roads were not named.  They were just trails through the woods or to the pass through the mountains. As time went on, the roads had names that told where they were: Center Street, North Street, Lake Street, or the way they were laid out: "The street called Straight" from the Bible.  As towns grew up, the streets were often named after the first people to settle there:  Rand, Happ, Rogers, Ouilmette (Wilmette).  As more and more people settled into an area, the town fathers had to broaden their list of acceptable names for roads, so they started naming them after politicians or patriots:  Washington, Van Buren, Franklin.  After awhile they even ran out of names of famous people they could use, so developers often used names from their own families.

As you travel on local streets, do you ever wonder who they were named for?  Evanston, Illinois was  originally settled by Methodists so many of the streets were named after Methodist clergy: Asbury, Wesley, Garrett.  The streets of South Evanston were named after settlers or land developers:  Mulford, Rinn, Brummel, Dobson.  But there is one street in the area, whose namesake will surprise you:  Howard Street (formerly Howard Avenue).  Howard serves as the border between the city of Chicago (community areas of Rogers Park and West Ridge) and the city of Evanston.  It runs intermittently through several north and northwestern suburbs, near O'Hare International Airport, and finally terminates at Ridge Avenue in Elk Grove Village.

Who do you think Howard Street was named for?  A list of famous people with the last name of Howard gives us such names as Trevor Howard, Leslie Howard, or even the ever-famous Three Stooges:  Moe, Larry and Curly Howard.  When I was a child I think my older brother tried to convince me that Howard Street was named after the Three Stooges, but that is not the case.  In fact, Howard Street was not named after someone with the last name of Howard at all, it was named after someone with the first name of Howard - namely Howard J. Ure.

Who was Howard J. Ure and why was a street named after him?  Let's find out.

Howard J. Ure came from a family of early settlers to the area known as Rogers Park.  His grandfather, John Calder Ure, had moved to Chicago as a youth from his native Scotland and settled permanently in the Village of Rogers Park, buying up large tracts of land, some of which he planted for his use as a landscaper and florist.  He moved to 17 acres at the present day southeast corner of Howard Street and Clark Street in 1852.  John Calder Ure was married 4 times, and had a total of ten children, one of whom was his son, John Francis Ure.  John Francis Ure was born in 1869 in Rogers Park to John Calder Ure and his wife Margaret, nee Keyes.

John Francis Ure as an adult lived in Rogers Park on a farm between Rogers and Birchwood, east of Clark and operated a dairy business on this site.  He also helped convince the Village of Rogers Park to be incorporated in to the City of Chicago.  Rogers Park wanted to have the benefit of police and fire protection that incorporating into the City would provide.  As a part of that deal, in 1897 John donated the land east of Clark Street that is now Howard Street to the City of Chicago that they wanted for east/west access to Lake Michigan and in gratitude, the City of Chicago offered John the chance to name the street.  He agreed and named the street after his son, Howard Ure and so, the street dividing Chicago from Evanston became not Ure Avenue, but Howard Avenue.

John Calder Ure did not die until 1905, so he could have been involved in the Chicago transaction, but he gave his property at Howard and Clark to his wife Margaret at their divorce in 1871, and she gave it to her two sons John Francis Ure and Robert Arnold Ure when she died in 1889.

Howard J. Ure was actually born John James Ure on January 13, 1896 at 5138 (now 7527) N. Clark Street to John Francis Ure and his wife Sarah (nee Carney).  His parents already had a daughter, Ruth, born 2 years before.

John F. Ure listed his occupation as "Dairyman".  By the 1900 census John James Ure was known as John H. Ure and by the 1910 census as Howard J. Ure.  Why was baby John James Ure's name changed to Howard J. Ure?  The answer is lost in the mists of time, but Howard was not a common name among the Irish or Catholics of that time.

Although John Calder Ure was a Scots Presbyterian, he sent all his children to Catholic schools, and finally converted to Catholicism on his deathbed in 1905.  Unlike his son John Francis, and his grandson Howard who are buried in All Saints Catholic Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois, John Calder Ure is buried in Rosehill Cemetery:

In 1908 the Howard Avenue stop for the elevated trains (the "el") was opened in combination with the Chicago and Northwestern train station and the terminal for the Clark Street surface lines.  Howard quickly became a transportation hub and development of land along Howard started a land boom in the area.

One of the earliest building constructed on Howard was the Howard Theatre, built on part of the former Ure farm in 1918:

What was Howard Ure doing during this land boom along the street that carried his name?  After a stint in the military during World War I, Howard joined his father, who by that time had traded farming for land development.  Their first major project was the development of the Norshore Theatre building at 1749 W. Howard Avenue for Balaban and Katz.  The Norshore opened for business on June 17, 1926.  

The palatial Norshore Theatre seated 3,017.  Its outer lobby featured huge crystal chandeliers and the ceiling was decorated with Pompeiian motifs.  The theater also contained fine French antiques.

John Francis Ure did not live long after the opening of the Norshore - he died in a car accident on November 25, 1927.

Through the years Howard Ure remained active in the life of Howard Street.  He was one of the original members of the Howard District Business Men's Association and became a director of the Howard Avenue Trust and Savings Bank at the early age of 26.  Between 1953 and 1973, he served as a director of the North Shore National Bank of Chicago  But Howard Ure is probably best remembered as a restaurateur.  He opened and operated the Grill Restaurant, and the Ship Restaurant which was located in the Norshore Theatre building.

Postcard courtesy chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com

Unfortunately the Norshore Theatre building including the Ship Restaurant was razed in 1960.  I remember it well because my Mother used to shop at Davidson's Bakery across the street from the Norshore Theatre, and we used to park the car and walk over to the bakery right past the theatre every week.  In my mind's eye I can see it like it was yesterday (a little scary to think it was 52 years ago!).  I also remember that the scaffolding, the noise and the flames from the blowtorches used to scare me to death every time we went by.  I was afraid that the remains of the theatre were going to topple over on us as we walked by.  Not a chance - the building was so well built they literally had to take it apart with blowtorches, piece by piece.  Further east on Howard, the skeleton of the Howard Theatre is still there but it is being used as a shopping mall.

Howard Ure and his wife, the former Herdis Elizabeth Brink (1907-1998) spent most of their married life in Rogers Park at 1525 W. Birchwood:

1525 W. Birchwood, Chicago

Howard Ure was involved in Rogers Park affairs until his death in 1984 at the age of 88.  Here's a photo of him taken in front of his birthplace on Clark Street in the 1970s.  

The Chicago Tribune of November 18, 1984 noted the death of Howard J. Ure on November 16:

As I mentioned above, Howard J. Ure was buried in the family plot at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois:

So, that's the story of how Howard Street got its name.  The next time you are on Howard, say a prayer for the Ure family, Rogers Park pioneers.

May Howard J. Ure, for whom Howard Street was named, and all the Ure family rest in peace.

(all photos from author's collection unless otherwise noted)

A COMPANY MAN TO THE END, AND BEYOND - Harry H. Hall

For 24 years I was employed by The Washington National Insurance Company of Evanston, Illinois.  I started working for WNIC, as it was known, when I was in high school, and remained with the company until it was bought out in 1998.  I am still in touch with several of my coworkers from WNIC and we refer to those days as "the happiest days of our lives", and in many ways, they were.  I often still wear the service (Veterans) pin I received for twenty years of faithful service to WNIC and my former colleagues joke that I will probably be laid out in my casket wearing the pin as well.

But I must say that until now I had not considered putting Washington National Insurance Company on my tombstone - but that's not the case with the tombstone of Harry H. Hall.  Doing a Find a Grave photo search last Sunday at Rosehill Cemetery I happened upon Harry Hall's tombstone:

It says:

Harry H. Hall

Son Of

J.W. & A.L. Hall

Husband of

Cecile Howes Hall

1878-1909

A Prominent Clerk in

Com. Nat'l Bank.

Life's Duties Here Were Just

Begun, My Last Promotion

Is Heaven Won.

Let's see what we can find out about Harry.

Harry H. Hall was born in June of 1878 in Illinois, the son of John W. Hall and Almara Hall (nee Apthorp).

The 1900 Census already shows him as a "Bank Clerk" at the tender age of twenty-one.  On September 1, 1900, Harry was married to Miss Adaline Cecile Howes in Chicago by Dewitt C. Nye, a "Minister of the Gospel".

There is no more mention of Harry Hall in the newspapers until the announcement in the Chicago Daily Tribune of January 11, 1908 of his death on January 9th:

Harry died in the Garfield Park Sanitarium, where he had been for fifteen days, a victim of typhoid fever.

Postcard courtesy chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com

Obviously Harry was very proud of being a Clerk at the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.  Here's how it looked when Harry worked there:

Commercial National Bank, Chicago - 1909

Postcard courtesy chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com

The Commercial National Bank was formed during the Civil War and led by Henry F. Eames.  By the early 1870s Commercial National Bank had become one of the city's leading banks.  By the turn of the century, Commercial National had grown by absorbing several competitors.  In 1910, the merger of Commercial and The Continental National Bank created a new entity, the Continental & Commercial National Bank of Chicago, which had $175 million in deposits, making it one of the largest banks in the United States.  It continued to grow during the 1920s.  In 1929 it merged with Illinois Merchants Trust Co.; three years later, the bank's name became Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co.  During the Great Depression, the bank required a $50 million loan from Reconstruction Finance Corp. (a federal government agency) to stay afloat.  After World War II, the bank grew: by the beginning of the 1960s, Continental had over $3 billion in deposits and employed 5,000 people.  By the early 1970s, when it had 60 branches and affiliates around the world, the bank employed about 8,200 Chicago-area residents, many of whom worked at Continental's main offices on LaSalle Street in Chicago's loop.  During the early 1980s, after many of its large loans to companies in the oil and gas industries went bad, the bank experienced a sudden and unexpected crisis. Continental's Great Depression–era experience was repeated as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. came to the rescue.  In 1994, a diminished Continental was acquired by BankAmerica Corp. of San Francisco. 

Just as well that Harry didn't live long enough to see what happened to his beloved Commercial National Bank.

Harry H. Hall - faithful and prominent clerk of the Commercial National Bank of Chicago - May he rest in peace.

By the way, here are my Veterans pins.  Maybe I'll wear them in my casket after all.

MY MOTHER'S FIRST LOVE - Bernie Dording

I was having dinner this past Saturday evening with one of my friends at Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant in Lincolnwood.  If you haven't eaten there, you should - you're in for a treat.  Anyway, during dinner the topic of this blog came up and I was telling her how I go about finding stories that I think are interesting and informative but also yield enough information to make up a sufficient blog entry.  I also mentioned that it was a challenge, albeit a fun challenge, to come up with a new story every week.  She said, "Why haven't you told the Bernie story?"  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that she was right.  Here was a story, already at my fingertips that was interesting, and it also tells readers how I undertook one of my early genealogy searches. Each search is different by its very nature but it is still entertaining to follow the trail.  So, for your amusement and amazement is my story about Bernard (Bernie) Dording, my mother's first love. 

When you are growing up you hear your parents discussing events in their lives with each other and with friends and relatives.  When you are very young these stories are not interesting, but as you get older and begin to see your parents as people, you find the stories of their past interesting.  Through the years my mother would occasionally mention Bernie Dording as a fellow she was engaged to (before she met my father, she would hastily add) but who had died of cancer before they could be married.  My father didn't come along until after Bernie was gone, so he never had much to add to the conversation, although I'm sure he did not enjoy hearing about Bernie, his competition from the grave.

One day after my mother died in 2003 I was thinking about "The Bernie Story" and I wondered what Bernie had looked like.  My mother had not kept any photos of him, so I was curious as to his looks.  I decided to do whatever I could to find a photograph of the late Bernie Dording.

Because I am a "list person" I started out by writing down everything I could remember my mother had said about Bernie:  (Instead of referring to her through this entry as "My Mother" I will call her what everyone else called her: "Betty").

1.  Bernie Dording had been captain of the football team at St. George High School in Evanston.  St. George was an all-boys Catholic high school that had been run by the Christian Brothers but closed in the 1970s.

  

2.  Bernie had lost his right arm to cancer, and it was ultimately cancer that killed him.

3.  Even though she knew he was dying Betty still wanted to go through with the wedding.  Her mother (my grandmother) said no - she didn't want Betty to be a young widow - or even a widow with a child.

4.  Betty was not allowed (by her mother) to be at Bernie's bedside when he died, although she was permitted to go to the wake.  Betty was horrified that Bernie's sister was taking photographs of Bernie lying in his casket.

5.  Bernie had a brother who was a priest at a church "way out in the sticks".  Bernie's Mother used to travel out to stay with the priest and keep house for him.

6.  Bernie had at least one sister (the one taking photos at the wake). 

That's about all I had to go on to try to track down the Dording family. My objective was to find out as much as I could about Bernie, and ultimately if possible to find a photo of him (even one of the infamous casket photos) to satisfy my curiousity.

Like with most genealogy searches, I started with the census.  I always thought Betty was saying "Bernie Dougherty" so I started there, but none of the facts or dates seemed to line up.  One of the suggested entries was for a "Bernard Dording" and things seemed to line up, so I was off.

The 1920 Census shows the Dording Family in Iowa:

     

     Nicholas - Head of Household - Age 57 - Carpenter

     Mary Dording - wife - Age 47

     John Dording - Son - Age 14

     Catherine Dording - Daughter - Age 12

     Bernard Dording - Son - Age 6

It also shows that Nicholas had been born in Luxembourg.  Mary was born in Wisconsin, but her parents were born in Luxembourg.  The children were all born in Iowa.

There was also another brother, Paul Dording (1901-1972) who had already left home by 1920.

The 1930 Census shows the Dording Family (without Nicholas who died in 1927)

(the grave photos did not come until MUCH later, but I will put them in where they fit into the story).

now living in Evanston - at 130 Elmwood Avenue.

130 Elmwood, Evanston

Mary Dording - Head of Household - Age 57

Katherine (now spelled with a "K") - Age 22 - Registered Nurse

Bernard - Age 16

John "AB" (Abroad) - Age 24

(John Dording was at seminary in Austria from 1928-1932)

At the time I started this project the 1940 Census had not been released yet, but since my parents married in 1941, I assumed that Bernie had died before the 1940 Census. 

Based on the above information I continued my search.  The Social Security Death Index said that John Dording was living in McHenry County, Illinois at the time of his death, so I was able to get a copy of John's death certificate:

Based on the information on the death certificate I went to the Justen Funeral Home in McHenry and asked them for any information they had on the Dording family.  They told me that Fr. Dording had been the pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Johnsburg, and was beloved by all.  I went up to the church and looked for his burial site, hoping that his family might be buried in the same place.  I found his burial site:

but no other Dordings were in the parish cemetery.  The parish office suggested I go to the McHenry Public Library to find a copy of Fr. Dording's obituary on microfilm.  Here's what I found from the McHenry (Illinois) Plain Dealer of December 19, 1984:

Fr. John M. Dording

The Rev. John M. Dording, 79, pastor emeritus of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Johnsburg, died Saturday, Dec. 15, 1984 in Freeport Memorial Hospital.  He was born May 17, 1905, in West Bend, Ia., the son of Nicholas and Mary Dording.

Father Dording attended St. Francis Preparatory school, Milwaukee, Wis., and Conception High School and College in Missouri.  His seminary education was at Innsbruck University in Austria, from 1928 to 1932.

On March 13, 1932, he was ordained and assigned to St. Joseph Church until his transfer to Our Lady of Good Counsel, Aurora, as pastor.  hen then became chaplain of the Illinois State Training School, St. Charles.

He was appointed pastor of St. Patrick Church, Heartland, St. Catherine Church, Genoa, and St. John the Baptist Catholic Church from September of 1963 to July, 1970, when he was named pastor emeritus.

Surviving are two nieces, Mrs. Eugene (Camilla) Kocol of San Pedro, Calif. and Mrs. Patricia Windle of Chicago, a nephew, James Dording of Danvers, Mass., and seven grandnieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and a sister.

Visitation began at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. John's church, where an all-night vigil was held.  The Knighths of Columbus Fourth Degree Honor Guard assembled at 6:30 p.m. A wake service was conducted at 7:30 p.m. and the rosary was recited every hour until a Mass of the Resurrection was offered at 11 a.m. in the church with Bishop Arthur J. O'Neill of the Rockford Diocese officiating.  Burial was in the church cemetery.  Funeral arrangements were made by the George R. Justen & Son Funeral Home.

Based on Father Dording's obituary, I discovered the following heirs:

Niece:  Camilla Kocol of San Pedro, California

Niece:  Patricia Windle of Chicago

Nephew:  James Dording of Danvers, Massachusetts.

I checked various online phone directories and there was no listing for Patricia Windle of Chicago, so I assumed she was dead.  I did find a listing for Camilla Kocol and called her.  She was able to verify some of the information I already knew, but was really no help in providing anything else.  She suggested I call James Dording in Massachusetts because he was more knowledgeable about the family history.  I called James Dording and we had a very nice conversation.  He never knew his Uncle Bernie but remembered visting his grandmother in Chicago and that she lived right next to the "el" tracks.  He told me that he did not have any pictures of Bernie, but remembered seeing one many years ago.  The photo of Bernie he remembered was of Bernie at 17-18 years old.  He recalled "a very tall young man".  He was not aware of, nor had he ever seen, the infamous casket photos.  Dead end - again. He did tell me that Bernie was buried with his (Jim's) grandparents somewhere in Iowa.

Subsequent to the first time I called Jim Dording, I found out about the existence of the Illinois Online Death Index from the Mormon Family Research Cemetery in Wilmette, Illinois.  The people there are both very knowledgeable and very helpful.  They won't do your research for you, but will help you do your own research. 

Here are the Dording Family entries from the Illinois Online Death Index:

You can see that Nicholas Dording died in Evanston on October 15, 1927, Mary C. Dording died in Heartland on January 2, 1947, and Bernie died in Evanston on March 6, 1938.  I then requested copies of their death certificates from the State Archives (this was before Family Search) and it was then that I found that all three were buried in Marcus, Iowa (Holy Name Cemetery).  Nicholas' headstone was pictured above, here are Mary and Bernie's:

Nicholas Dording died of complications from prostate cancer:

Mary Dording died from a stroke:

And, as we knew, Bernie died from cancer:

When Bernie died, he was working as a salesman for a tobacco company, and lived at 1541 W. Fargo in Chicago:

1541 W. Fargo, Chicago

And, just as Jim Dording had remembered, 1541 W. Fargo is right next to the el viaduct.

All this information was fine, but it did not get me any closer to my ultimate goal, a picture of Bernie.  Remembering that Bernie had graduated from St. George High School in Evanston, I contacted the Christian Brothers Midwest Province to try to get a look at Bernie's yearbook, which would certainly contain at least one photo of him. They told me that one of the retired brothers had a copy in his office of every St. George yearbook ever issued.  So, one bright, crisp Fall day, I drove out to the Christian Brothers Provincial Office in Burr Ridge. The brother who had the yearbooks was not there that day, but he had left word, and they directed me to the yearbooks.  Bernie was part of the graduating Class of 1932.  The only 1930s era yearbook they had was for 1931, but all four years' students were pictured, so I figured I would find a photo of Bernie as a Junior.  Believe it or not, that year the Junior Class decided not to use photos, just a silhouette of each student! Boy, was I disappointed - a silhouette of Bernie did me no good whatsoever.  I asked what had happened to the other yearbooks from the 1930s and they told me that it was the Depression and no one could afford to buy a yearbook, so none were published.  

So there I was, at a dead end after my long and involved search for a photo of Bernie Dording.  The search that took me from Illinois to California to Massachusetts and back to Illinois had only yielded a silhouette of Bernie.  So I guess my hunt for a photo of the elusive Bernie was over - or was it?

Thinking that my unfinished quest would just have to go on the list as "incomplete" I put all my Dording family research away.  Jim Dording and I continued to trade phone calls and holiday cards, and he even sent me the memorial card for Fr. John Dording that had a photo:

and a photo of  Paul Dording and family in the 1930s on a trip to California that included a photo of Paul (and Bernie's) mother:

but no photos of Bernie.  

Several years later I was at my computer early one Sunday morning scrolling through listings on ebay.  One of my saved searches was for "Evanston" and as I was scrolling through all the listings for items relating to Evanston my eye stopped on a listing that offered:

1932 Yearbook - St. George High School, Evanston, Illinois

But that couldn't be - the Christian Brothers had told me that there was no yearbook printed for the Class of 1932 but there it was.  I immediately put a bid on the yearbook and fired off an email to the Seller telling them of my Bernie photo quest.  She emailed back, and offered to pull the listing and sell me the yearbook for $20.00.  In a flash I sent her the money via Paypal and she told me the yearbook would be on its way to me the next day.  Time slowed to a crawl as I waited for the US Mail to bring me the coveted 1932 yearbook that no one thought even existed.  Would my goal, a picture of Bernie finally be realized or had Bernie missed "picture day" or even decided he didn't want his photo in the yearbook?

After what seemed an eternity the package arrived.  With my hands shaking I flipped open the cover and started through the pages. "Seniors"...A...B...C...D...page thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine...DARST, Edward Daniel...DAY, Virgil Baldwin, Jr...DITTMAR, George Walter Jr...DOLAN, Henry Parker...and...DORDING, BERNARD NICHOLAS!!!!!!!

So, for the first time since 1932, here is a picture of Bernie Dording's yearbook page:

and here is dear Bernie:

So, after a long and involved quest, I was finally able to attain my goals of learning about the Dording family and seeing a picture of my mother's first love.

The lesson here is that to be successful in genealogy research you have to be persistent, and you have to have a little luck.  Not all of my genealogy quests have ended as successfully as this one did, but half the fun is "getting there".

While I was reviewing my research for this story I learned that Bernie's nephew Jim Dording of Danvers, Massachusetts who had been so helpful with my research, died on February 23, 2012.

May Bernard Nicholas (Bernie) Dording, my mother's first love, and all the Dordings, rest in peace.