On
August 21, 1927 Jane and Joan McGonigle entered into this world. Their
parents, Loretta Kelleher and Joseph McGonigle already had 1 year old
Ann Marie when the twins were born. The family lived in Scranton,
Pennsylvania on the same street as Loretta's mother and several of her
siblings. When they were very young the three girls came down with
Scarlet Fever. While Jane seemed to have overcome it without much issue,
the fever severely affected Joan's eyesight, and worse yet it did severe
damage to Ann Marie's heart, leaving her weak and sickly for the rest
of her life.
In 1929 Loretta became pregnant again. It should have been a joyous time when they welcomed baby Joseph into the world on May 14, but joy turned to sorrow. Loretta suffered a mesenteric embolism which sent her into shock and she passed away. Joseph was now a widow with 4 small children depending on him. Joseph wanted to do the best by his children. His niece, ironically also named Loretta, came and stayed with the family for a while to help but ultimately taking care of a newborn, a sickly 5 year old, and 2 rambunctious twins was too much for him.
One of Loretta's sisters, Catherine, and her husband agreed to take the girls in and raise them. Catherine and Arthur (who I wrote about previously) did not have children of their own. So the twins were brought to Clifton, NJ and their baby brother and big sister stayed behind in Scranton with Loretta's other sisters and mother. Sadly in 1938, at age 11, big sister Anne Marie died from endocarditis.
Jane and Joan were fraternal twins, and were truly opposites in both personality and looks. However they had a very strong bond, probably made stronger by the tragedies in their young lives. Jane, the first born, was very protective of her sister and often took the brunt of their aunt and uncle's punishments. Catherine was said to not be the most loving of women, she was very demanding and cold. There could be many reasons for this, maybe they reminded her of her sister, maybe she resented that she never had her own children, maybe she just was not a nice person, we will never really know. Catherine was a strict disciplinarian and made the twins do all the house cleaning. If they didn’t do a chore or didn’t do it to her satisfaction they would be punished, which could have been a whacking or being grounded to their rooms. One time on their Birthdays there were no presents so Joan asked where there their birthdays presents were and Catherine said "remember that underwear I bought you a few months ago? That was your Birthday present."
The girls were enrolled in kindergarten at just 4 year old and were made to walk to school alone, which was quite a distance for 4 year olds. It was at school where they met Doris, Delores, and Anne who they would remain friends with for the rest of their lives. Jane and Joan both had the "Irish gift of gab" and made friends easily. Growing up during the depression and WWII they didn't have much but they still managed to have fun. The girls loved to play Jax, shoot marbles, and jump rope. As they got older they learned to roller skate and ice skate. They also had to ration many items we wouldn't even think about, such as tinsel on the Christmas tree. For most of her life Joan would save the tinsel every year til one year her youngest daughter pointed out that there was no longer a shortage and they could just throw it away.
Growing up Jane and Joan still got to see their father "Daddy Joe" and their younger brother occasionally. They also were very close to their mother's side of the family. Their mother came from a big Irish family and they had many cousins, they were especially close with their cousin Leo Fallon, whom their little brother was being raised with.
Leo was a big prankster, though sometimes maybe too much of a
prankster. One year Jane was in a play where she had to go back stage to
change in between scenes. Leo set up a mirror back stage so when she
went to change the whole audience could see her and howled with
laughter. Another time the cousins were swimming in a lake near their
grandmother's house and Leo dunked Joan under water. He must have held
her a little too long and she panicked thinking she really was going to
drown. For the rest of her life she was terrified of being under water,
even taking a shower and washing her hair was scary for her.
In high school Jane and Joan along with their three girlfriends were what you might consider the "mean girls" of today. They loved to gossip, tease, and play pranks on other student. They also really loved boys and were always flirting with them or talking about them. They girls also enjoyed trips to Asbury Park and going to the beach. One night the friends were out and decided to hitch hike. A good looking fellow offered them a ride in his brand new car. While they were all laughing and having a good time, Jane laughed a little too hard and ended up peeing her pants! She backed out of the car so the drive wouldn't know. That poor man's car.
After high school the girls both got well paying jobs. One day Catherine and Arthur came back from visiting the Kelleher's in Scranton and announced to the girls that they would have to quit their jobs because they had signed them up to attend East Stroudsburg University on their way home. The girls weren't thrilled, neither of them wanted to go there or become teachers which is what Catherine wanted them to be but neither felt they had a choice. So off to ESU they went. Both girls graduated, became teachers, and started families..but that's a story for another time.
Part 2 of Joan - Love is in the air
Part 3 of Joan - Here comes the baby carriage
Part 4 of Joan - Life After Love
Part 5 of Joan - The Gates of Heaven
You may also like -
Leo Fallon - Part 1 (Jane and Joan's cousin); Part 2
Arthur Gallay - Their adopted father
Mayme Kelleher - Their aunt
Joan is my mom's mother making her my nana, and Jane my great aunt.
AnnMarie, Jane, Joan and their mother Loretta (also cousin Leo Fallon on the back step)
In 1929 Loretta became pregnant again. It should have been a joyous time when they welcomed baby Joseph into the world on May 14, but joy turned to sorrow. Loretta suffered a mesenteric embolism which sent her into shock and she passed away. Joseph was now a widow with 4 small children depending on him. Joseph wanted to do the best by his children. His niece, ironically also named Loretta, came and stayed with the family for a while to help but ultimately taking care of a newborn, a sickly 5 year old, and 2 rambunctious twins was too much for him.
One of Loretta's sisters, Catherine, and her husband agreed to take the girls in and raise them. Catherine and Arthur (who I wrote about previously) did not have children of their own. So the twins were brought to Clifton, NJ and their baby brother and big sister stayed behind in Scranton with Loretta's other sisters and mother. Sadly in 1938, at age 11, big sister Anne Marie died from endocarditis.
Jane and Joan were fraternal twins, and were truly opposites in both personality and looks. However they had a very strong bond, probably made stronger by the tragedies in their young lives. Jane, the first born, was very protective of her sister and often took the brunt of their aunt and uncle's punishments. Catherine was said to not be the most loving of women, she was very demanding and cold. There could be many reasons for this, maybe they reminded her of her sister, maybe she resented that she never had her own children, maybe she just was not a nice person, we will never really know. Catherine was a strict disciplinarian and made the twins do all the house cleaning. If they didn’t do a chore or didn’t do it to her satisfaction they would be punished, which could have been a whacking or being grounded to their rooms. One time on their Birthdays there were no presents so Joan asked where there their birthdays presents were and Catherine said "remember that underwear I bought you a few months ago? That was your Birthday present."
The girls were enrolled in kindergarten at just 4 year old and were made to walk to school alone, which was quite a distance for 4 year olds. It was at school where they met Doris, Delores, and Anne who they would remain friends with for the rest of their lives. Jane and Joan both had the "Irish gift of gab" and made friends easily. Growing up during the depression and WWII they didn't have much but they still managed to have fun. The girls loved to play Jax, shoot marbles, and jump rope. As they got older they learned to roller skate and ice skate. They also had to ration many items we wouldn't even think about, such as tinsel on the Christmas tree. For most of her life Joan would save the tinsel every year til one year her youngest daughter pointed out that there was no longer a shortage and they could just throw it away.
Joan and Jane
Growing up Jane and Joan still got to see their father "Daddy Joe" and their younger brother occasionally. They also were very close to their mother's side of the family. Their mother came from a big Irish family and they had many cousins, they were especially close with their cousin Leo Fallon, whom their little brother was being raised with.
Jane, Joseph, and Joan
Jane and Joan at the beach
In high school Jane and Joan along with their three girlfriends were what you might consider the "mean girls" of today. They loved to gossip, tease, and play pranks on other student. They also really loved boys and were always flirting with them or talking about them. They girls also enjoyed trips to Asbury Park and going to the beach. One night the friends were out and decided to hitch hike. A good looking fellow offered them a ride in his brand new car. While they were all laughing and having a good time, Jane laughed a little too hard and ended up peeing her pants! She backed out of the car so the drive wouldn't know. That poor man's car.
Jane and Joan with several of their girlfriends
After high school the girls both got well paying jobs. One day Catherine and Arthur came back from visiting the Kelleher's in Scranton and announced to the girls that they would have to quit their jobs because they had signed them up to attend East Stroudsburg University on their way home. The girls weren't thrilled, neither of them wanted to go there or become teachers which is what Catherine wanted them to be but neither felt they had a choice. So off to ESU they went. Both girls graduated, became teachers, and started families..but that's a story for another time.
Joseph Sr, Joan, Catherine, Jane, and Arthur
Jane and Joan
Part 2 of Joan - Love is in the air
Part 3 of Joan - Here comes the baby carriage
Part 4 of Joan - Life After Love
Part 5 of Joan - The Gates of Heaven
You may also like -
Leo Fallon - Part 1 (Jane and Joan's cousin); Part 2
Arthur Gallay - Their adopted father
Mayme Kelleher - Their aunt
Joan is my mom's mother making her my nana, and Jane my great aunt.
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