Bernadine was adopted by Harry and Martha when very young.
Frank Dumm wrote just a little about her parents and her:
"Harry’s wife was ______ Klatty. Had one son. Adopted 2 girls--first one selected was poorest child physically in orphanage; was a “child no one else would take” was her reason for choice. Girl committed suicide at age 16." (He must have only heard Harry's wife's name once, and mis-heard it. What little Josephine wrote about her is on her father Harry's page.)
Such a short, sad life she had...or so it would seem. On the other hand, maybe she was able to have fun as a child, playing with her brother and sister, then with her nieces when she was a teenager.
As noted in the caption of her picture, by 1926 she was living with the whole family in the big house on Fayette Street. But then that winter her nephew Billy--who, being about the same age, must have seemed more like a brother--died.
The move out to the "barbecue stand" in White Oak should have been a good move for the whole family--a new start, leaving the grief of five dead children back on the North Side. But then with Prohibition still on it's hard to know if things were wide open and the police paid off, as in most areas of the country, or if there was a lot of sneaking around going on.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, their lives must have settled into a pretty good routine. As noted on her brother's and father's pages, she and her sister worked as waitresses there, with what seems to have been a decent income for 1939.
After both got off work on August 25, 1940, her sister Pauline, William Anderson, and Elwood Schmitz (brother of Ruth Mary Evanchak) dropped her off at 1821 Eaton Street in McKeesport about 10 P.M. and she went upstairs to the apartment she and her sister shared. Pauline then went with Elwood to take William home--he lived in Buena Vista, on Boyds Hollow Road with his sister, mother, and brother Ralph and his family.
Elwood then dropped Pauline off about 11 P.M. and went home to 1611 1/2 Fifth Avenue in McKeesport, where he lived with his parents and sister Ruth Mary. But Pauline found Bernadine unconscious and foaming at the mouth on the floor of their bedroom. So she undressed her and put her to bed, then went downstairs to use the phone to call Elwood. He came back and they tried to get Bernadine to drink some coffee and orgo starch (sic.--likely Argo cornstarch) to try to revive her. But that didn't work, so she called Dr. S.A. Flaherty, who came and examined her, then had her taken to the McKeesport Hospital, where she died about 12:40 A.M.
Frank Dumm wrote just a little about her parents and her:
"Harry’s wife was ______ Klatty. Had one son. Adopted 2 girls--first one selected was poorest child physically in orphanage; was a “child no one else would take” was her reason for choice. Girl committed suicide at age 16." (He must have only heard Harry's wife's name once, and mis-heard it. What little Josephine wrote about her is on her father Harry's page.)
Such a short, sad life she had...or so it would seem. On the other hand, maybe she was able to have fun as a child, playing with her brother and sister, then with her nieces when she was a teenager.
As noted in the caption of her picture, by 1926 she was living with the whole family in the big house on Fayette Street. But then that winter her nephew Billy--who, being about the same age, must have seemed more like a brother--died.
The move out to the "barbecue stand" in White Oak should have been a good move for the whole family--a new start, leaving the grief of five dead children back on the North Side. But then with Prohibition still on it's hard to know if things were wide open and the police paid off, as in most areas of the country, or if there was a lot of sneaking around going on.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, their lives must have settled into a pretty good routine. As noted on her brother's and father's pages, she and her sister worked as waitresses there, with what seems to have been a decent income for 1939.
After both got off work on August 25, 1940, her sister Pauline, William Anderson, and Elwood Schmitz (brother of Ruth Mary Evanchak) dropped her off at 1821 Eaton Street in McKeesport about 10 P.M. and she went upstairs to the apartment she and her sister shared. Pauline then went with Elwood to take William home--he lived in Buena Vista, on Boyds Hollow Road with his sister, mother, and brother Ralph and his family.
Elwood then dropped Pauline off about 11 P.M. and went home to 1611 1/2 Fifth Avenue in McKeesport, where he lived with his parents and sister Ruth Mary. But Pauline found Bernadine unconscious and foaming at the mouth on the floor of their bedroom. So she undressed her and put her to bed, then went downstairs to use the phone to call Elwood. He came back and they tried to get Bernadine to drink some coffee and orgo starch (sic.--likely Argo cornstarch) to try to revive her. But that didn't work, so she called Dr. S.A. Flaherty, who came and examined her, then had her taken to the McKeesport Hospital, where she died about 12:40 A.M.
Bernadine was adopted by Harry and Martha when very young.
Frank Dumm wrote just a little about her parents and her:
"Harry’s wife was ______ Klatty. Had one son. Adopted 2 girls--first one selected was poorest child physically in orphanage; was a “child no one else would take” was her reason for choice. Girl committed suicide at age 16." (He must have only heard Harry's wife's name once, and mis-heard it. What little Josephine wrote about her is on her father Harry's page.)
Such a short, sad life she had...or so it would seem. On the other hand, maybe she was able to have fun as a child, playing with her brother and sister, then with her nieces when she was a teenager.
As noted in the caption of her picture, by 1926 she was living with the whole family in the big house on Fayette Street. But then that winter her nephew Billy--who, being about the same age, must have seemed more like a brother--died.
The move out to the "barbecue stand" in White Oak should have been a good move for the whole family--a new start, leaving the grief of five dead children back on the North Side. But then with Prohibition still on it's hard to know if things were wide open and the police paid off, as in most areas of the country, or if there was a lot of sneaking around going on.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, their lives must have settled into a pretty good routine. As noted on her brother's and father's pages, she and her sister worked as waitresses there, with what seems to have been a decent income for 1939.
After both got off work on August 25, 1940, her sister Pauline, William Anderson, and Elwood Schmitz (brother of Ruth Mary Evanchak) dropped her off at 1821 Eaton Street in McKeesport about 10 P.M. and she went upstairs to the apartment she and her sister shared. Pauline then went with Elwood to take William home--he lived in Buena Vista, on Boyds Hollow Road with his sister, mother, and brother Ralph and his family.
Elwood then dropped Pauline off about 11 P.M. and went home to 1611 1/2 Fifth Avenue in McKeesport, where he lived with his parents and sister Ruth Mary. But Pauline found Bernadine unconscious and foaming at the mouth on the floor of their bedroom. So she undressed her and put her to bed, then went downstairs to use the phone to call Elwood. He came back and they tried to get Bernadine to drink some coffee and orgo starch (sic.--likely Argo cornstarch) to try to revive her. But that didn't work, so she called Dr. S.A. Flaherty, who came and examined her, then had her taken to the McKeesport Hospital, where she died about 12:40 A.M.
Frank Dumm wrote just a little about her parents and her:
"Harry’s wife was ______ Klatty. Had one son. Adopted 2 girls--first one selected was poorest child physically in orphanage; was a “child no one else would take” was her reason for choice. Girl committed suicide at age 16." (He must have only heard Harry's wife's name once, and mis-heard it. What little Josephine wrote about her is on her father Harry's page.)
Such a short, sad life she had...or so it would seem. On the other hand, maybe she was able to have fun as a child, playing with her brother and sister, then with her nieces when she was a teenager.
As noted in the caption of her picture, by 1926 she was living with the whole family in the big house on Fayette Street. But then that winter her nephew Billy--who, being about the same age, must have seemed more like a brother--died.
The move out to the "barbecue stand" in White Oak should have been a good move for the whole family--a new start, leaving the grief of five dead children back on the North Side. But then with Prohibition still on it's hard to know if things were wide open and the police paid off, as in most areas of the country, or if there was a lot of sneaking around going on.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, their lives must have settled into a pretty good routine. As noted on her brother's and father's pages, she and her sister worked as waitresses there, with what seems to have been a decent income for 1939.
After both got off work on August 25, 1940, her sister Pauline, William Anderson, and Elwood Schmitz (brother of Ruth Mary Evanchak) dropped her off at 1821 Eaton Street in McKeesport about 10 P.M. and she went upstairs to the apartment she and her sister shared. Pauline then went with Elwood to take William home--he lived in Buena Vista, on Boyds Hollow Road with his sister, mother, and brother Ralph and his family.
Elwood then dropped Pauline off about 11 P.M. and went home to 1611 1/2 Fifth Avenue in McKeesport, where he lived with his parents and sister Ruth Mary. But Pauline found Bernadine unconscious and foaming at the mouth on the floor of their bedroom. So she undressed her and put her to bed, then went downstairs to use the phone to call Elwood. He came back and they tried to get Bernadine to drink some coffee and orgo starch (sic.--likely Argo cornstarch) to try to revive her. But that didn't work, so she called Dr. S.A. Flaherty, who came and examined her, then had her taken to the McKeesport Hospital, where she died about 12:40 A.M.
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