My sister, Sharon M. Doherty Longworth, and my brother-in-law, Christopher Longworth, enjoyed a good visit with us last month. On Thursday afternoon, October 14, 2021 we had a beach walk at Orient State Park. The weather was picture-perfect. We even found beach glass for Sharon. Chris made a video which captures that most beautiful memory of that day.
Orient Beach Video 101421
Mom and Dad’s Burial
Three years ago this week, on June 14, 2018, we buried Mom and Dad in Rosedale Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey. Both my parents had originally been cremated, but my sister, Sharon, and I decided to bring them back home to New Jersey for burial. Mom and Dad both grew up, met, married, and started a family in Elizabeth, a town about five miles away. There is a special closure in coming...
Frank Burton Doherty, Jr.
Frank “Doc” Doherty was my father’s older brother. He was born on July 19, 1920 in Hammond, Indiana. I’m guessing the “Doc” nickname comes from the pronunciation of “Doherty” as “Docherty,” from the original Irish, “O’Dochartaigh.” Frank Doherty was a big bear of a man: handsome, charming, with a wonderful smile. He was, like my father, a “man’s man.” One story my father told me...
Edna Nason Doherty
Edna Nason was born in Hammond, Indiana on April 24, 1898. Her father, Fred R. Nason, was born on July 27, 1861 in Girard, Pennsylvania. Her mother was Florence Curtis, or Curtiss, born in 1864. Her grandfather was David Nason, born on November 26, 1820 in Otego, New York. His wife was Eunice Godfrey of Girard, Pennsylvania. Family names were important to my grandmother. Her oldest son...
Frank Burton Doherty
Frank Burton Doherty was born on March 5, 1886 in South Boardman, Kalkaska County, Michigan. He was the son of Albert Burton Doherty and Rosetta May Rossman. He was the grandson of Alexander Andre Doherty, the immigrant from Ireland who settled in northern Michigan in the 1840s. Frank Doherty grew up on a farm near Fife Lake, Michigan. He was the oldest child and son. His brothers...
Alexander Andre Doherty
Alexander Andre Doherty came to America from Londonderry, Ireland in 1830. He was born on February 18, 1812. He married Mary Elizabeth Van Buren. Their children included Joseph Alex Andre; Nancy Ann, Alice Cornelia, Louisa Jane, Albert Burton, George Brinton McClellan, Thomas Francis Meager, Evelyn (died at the age of three or four). His children had numerous children. I am descended...
Mina Tran Irwin
Mina Tran was born in Perth, Australia on February 14, 1985. Valentine’s Day could not be a better symbol for her loving heart and kind nature. Her parents were born in Vietnam and immigrated to Australia in the aftermath of the “American” or “Vietnam” war. Eventually they made their home in Sydney and were successful entrepreneurs. A boy I went out with in high school, Brian Orr, was killed in...
The Chinese Wife
My mother told me that Dad, Eugene Nason Doherty, married a woman when he lived in China. Her father sold her to him, and he married her in a “Chinese ceremony.” She was about 13 or 14. Dad was stationed near Peiping, (Beijing) China in 1945-1946. He left the young woman in China when he was shipped backed to the United States. He went home to his wife, Helen Anderson Doherty, who he married...
The Nasons and the Monarch Slide of 1907
My father, Eugene Nason Doherty, was a wonderful storyteller. But not all of his stories were the same. Family stories could be rich and encompassing. They could also be grim with scanty details and trail off to a dead end. One such story was about my grandmother, Edna Nason Doherty, who survived an avalanche that killed her parents and orphaned her brothers and sisters. Family stories about the...
Dad’s China Knife
My father brought this knife home from China. He was a U.S. Marine stationed in China in 1944 and 1945. The Marine base was near Peiping (Beijing). Dad hired a man to cook, shop and keep his place neat. His name was Hun Yen Kai. Dad met him when he came to the Marine base looking for a job. This was the knife he used for cooking. Dad told me the knife was Japanese. At the time, I thought that...