March 11, 1956, after suffering from malignant
melanoma for 2 years, Walter passed away from Overwhelming Toxemia
at the Wissahicken Nursing Home in Philadelphia. His cousin Dorothea
Hagenbucher arranged for his burial in the same plot with his
parents in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Although she didn’t arrange for a headstone, years later his
children purchased a flat marker with Walter’s name and those of his
parents, Nathan and Genevieve, and had it installed on the
Hagenbucher plot.
Walter’s death
certificate. Ancestry.com.
When Kitty learned of Walter’s death she
immediately made arrangements for she and Dick to marry in the
Catholic Church. Father Edward R. Maloy married her and Dick at
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fayetteville in May 1956. However,
their daughter Bonnie recalled that they only celebrated their
original wedding anniversary date.
Kitty, Dick and the family lived at 391 Fletcher
Street, at the intersection of Lafayette and Mission Roads,
Fayetteville from May 1952 until 1963. While living there, Kitty
decided that she wanted a window in the rear wall of the kitchen so
she could watch the birds and the squirrels in the yard. The
resulting three-pane window brought her great joy since she very
much liked to watch the birds and other creatures in the yard. They
also built an apartment in the basement for Fran Haggerty, a very
good friend of Kitty’s, who had lived on Wilde Street in Manayunk.
Fran had followed them to Fayetteville and lived with them until she
moved back up north when Bonnie was born.
Dick, Kitty with Joyce-Ann, 1964.
Eventually they moved to a brick house at 2201 Berry
Street. By that time their daughter Bonnie was the only child living
at home.
The house on Berry Street in 1966. Courtesy of Bonnie Steele Strode.
One of the first jobs Dick had in Arkansas was as
superintendent of the construction team that built the Methodist
Hospital on Dixon Street in Fayetteville. He also was the timekeeper
on the Central Methodist Church, Fayetteville High School and the
University of Arkansas Student Union construction projects of his
brother’s firm, Davidson - Steele Construction Co. of Ft. Smith,
Arkansas. He later served as construction superintendent on the
sewage/water treatment plant project the company built in Tulsa
Oklahoma. After that he wanted to be closer to home so he accepted
small contracts in Fayetteville, managed a Mobile gas station and
sold used cars. Dick also worked for the Oklahoma Tire and Supply
Company on the Square in Fayetteville. While waiting for a position
to come open with the US Post Office he worked at Anchor Paint in
Fayetteville. He was subsequently employed by the U S Postal Service
from 1960 until his retirement in 1985.
Dick was very active in the American Legion and
other veteran organizations. He was the founding director of the
Northwest Arkansas Air Museum located at the Fayetteville Airport
and a member of the Elks Lodge. Although he didn’t speak of his
wartime experiences at home he likely did with some of his fellow
vets at the American Legion Post.
At one point a friend and fellow veteran,
suggested he do an audio interview of Dick to document his wartime
experiences and to provide a record of those experiences for his
family and friends. That effort resulted in an audiotape, paper
transcript and typed account of his experiences during the war.
The following was obtained from the transcript of
the interview. Although Dick signed up to enlist in the service July
3,1942, due to a backlog of enlistees he wasn’t inducted until
January 3, 1943. A highlight of the interview project was Dick’s
account of May 11, 1944, the day his fighter aircraft was hit by
20mm anti aircraft ground fire over occupied Dijon France during his
13th and final combat mission. He described his thoughts on being
hit and exiting the aircraft; being found and assisted by the French
underground; his capture by Germans and being transported to the
prison camp near Barth, Germany and experiences during the year he
was a POW. At the time of his capture Dick was assigned with the 8th
Air Force, 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group.
Although as mentioned above, Dick didn’t discuss
his wartime experiences, on Marty’s 18th birthday Dick stayed home
from work and Marty from school and Dick spent 8 hours describing in
great detail his wartime experiences to Marty. At the end of the
session he told Marty that he was not to discuss the events and
definitely not with Kitty. That was a very memorable event for Marty
and the accounts were not discussed again.
Dick and Kitty
Kitty was a mainstay of Saint Joseph’s Church, which
was founded in 1887 and located at Lafayette and Walnut Streets
in Fayetteville. She was a very active volunteer in the parish
for many years and a good friend of the pastor Father Edward R.
Maloy. He was the longest serving pastor of the parish (1951-1973).
Kitty frequently had Father Maloy and his assistant, Father Louis Cooper,
to the house for dinner. She also acted and directed plays in the
parish hall as she had done in Philadelphia. When the parish was
going to have a church supper Father Maloy would call Kitty and ask
her to prepare her usual 40 loafs of bread and a lot of spaghetti,
which she gladly did.
Like his
mother, Marty was also active in the parish. He served as an alter
boy from the time he was in the second grade until he left the area
to join the Marines. He served at Mass every day before school while
he was a student at Saint Joseph’s.
When Father Maloy’s elderly mother moved into his
residence at Saint Joseph’s Kitty and Marty helped care for Mrs.
Maloy. Father Maloy gave them each a prayer book. Years
later, after Kitty passed away, Marty who had lost his
prayer book while serving in Vietnam, was given the
prayer book and rosary that Fr. Maloy gave Kitty.
Years before Marty graduated from the Army Amour
Officer Advanced Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was the
distinguished graduate of the class and the first and only marine
since to have earned that honor. For that accomplishment he was
presented an army officer cavalry sword which he gave to his mother
and which was returned to him along with the prayer book and rosary.
Throughout her adult life the theatrical agent Nibs
Costello corresponded with Kitty. She came to know him when she
worked in community theatre at the Family Playhouse and with the
Holy Family Actors. Costello served as business agent for many of
the famous Hollywood Stars including Theresa Brewer and Kitty
Kallen. He had offered Kitty the opportunity to play the Blessed
Mother in a television play. The two communicated via Christmas
cards, occasional letters and exchanged photos. In the 1950s Nibs
frequently sent Kitty newly released phonograph records of singers
for which he was agent.
When
they moved to Arkansas Kitty didn’t work until the children were
grown at which time she worked in the medical records unit at
Washington Memorial Hospital in Fayetteville. She then worked in the
private practice of Dr. James Patrick M.D. Her daughter Bonnie said
that she could do almost anything the doctor could do. While working
with Dr. Patrick one of her tasks was to assist interns from the
University of Arkansas Medical School who did part of their training
at his office. When she was 66 years old she retired and to her
great surprise learned that she would receive a monthly check of
$1.56 from the state for the time she worked with the interns. Kitty
was totally devoted and committed to the patients she served while
working with Dr. Patrick and they were uncommonly appreciative of
her. In discussing that period, Marty vividly remembered the many
times that patients would show up at their house with baskets of
vegetables, fruit and other home grown and prepared food items,
tokens of their appreciation and the high esteem in which they held
her.
She also worked for a time as a waitress in the
cafeteria of the Mountain Inn near the square in downtown
Fayetteville. Although Dick had taught her to drive and she had a
driver license she didn’t drive and usually walked the 2 or 3 miles
to and from work. After the Mountain Inn and Bonnie’s arrival Kitty
opened a child daycare center in their home.
Her son John recalled that Kitty also ran the Gulf
Café
across the street from the Ozark
Theatre while he was in school at Coffeyville, Kansas. He said she
regularly sent him food boxes that his football teammates would
clean out in a hurry.
Although Kitty didn’t have the opportunity to see
her son Marty rise to the 3 star rank of Lieutenant General in the
United States Marine Corps, Dick did and it must have been a source
of great pride to him as a veteran. When Marty made comments
following his pinning to the rank of general he spoke of his mother
and her influence on his life.
When she was about 70 years old Kitty was
diagnosed with boarder line diabetes. She also had a coronary
condition from which she eventually passed away. Her final illness
lasted two years. Dick took care of her at home for about 15 months
before it became necessary for her to be cared for in a nursing home
in Springdale, Arkansas. When she went into the nursing home her
daughter Joyce-Ann made her a collage of family photos that she
could see from the bed.
Remembering those visits, Joyce-Ann said that
Kitty sometimes called her by her sister Isabella’s name Pat
although Kitty usually recognized Joyce-Ann and talked with her
about her children.
One day her son John brought Dick to see her and
Dick was upset throughout the visit about Kitty being there. Kitty
said to John and Dick “Joe Tinneny came to visit me last night.”
Joe Tinneny, Kitty’s first cousin and Richard Tinneny’s godfather,
of course was far away in Philadelphia. Then, when Dick was sitting
at the bottom of the bed she said to Butch “I really didn’t see Joe
Tinneny."
While in the nursing home Joyce-Ann visited
her regularly from Kansas and on one occasion brought her a
Teddy Bear for her birthday. The bear had a heart pinned to it
with a photograph of Joyce-Ann’s family.
At
Christmas Joyce-Ann brought Kitty a little decorated
Christmas tree for her room, which they both decorated.
At Christmas every year since, Joyce-Ann takes the tree
out of storage, adds one decoration and puts it on her
bookcase for the holiday.
Kitty was in the nursing facility for about 9
months. April 3, 1992 she was transferred to Springdale Memorial
Hospital. The hospital called Bonnie who was a nurse at Saint Mary’s
Hospital, it seemed Kitty had taken a turn for the worse and the
staff wanted permission to put her on a respirator. Bonnie denied
permission based on a living will in which Kitty had documented her
wishes.
As the family gathered at the hospital for their
final visit, Kitty could still recognize and greet each of them. At
one point she reached out for Dick and he looked down and said
“Kitty, I guess this is your last show.” Kitty past away surrounded
by her family at 5:00am April 4th.
The funeral was April 6,1992 at Saint Joseph’s Church. Marty
delivered the eulogy followed by Kitty’s granddaughter Cyndi singing
Danny Boy, which Kitty taught her when she was 11 years old. The
Mass was followed by burial at the National Cemetery in
Fayetteville.
To their surprise, while
visiting her parents' grave sometime later, Bonnie and her husband
Lynn realized that Lynn’s parents are buried five graves from her
parents.
Kitty’s marker is on the reverse of Dick’s in
accordance with Department of Veterans Affairs
policy. Photos from Findagrave Website
Following
Kitty’s death, Dick continued to live in the family home at 2201
Berry St. In April 1995, was admitted to the Veteran’s
Hospital, Fayetteville in a comatose state. From there he was
transferred to the Washington Regional Medical Center then to
the nursing home of the Fayetteville City Hospital.
On November
10th he was near death and they notified the family
and the Red Cross was requested to contact Marty who was
on assignment
in Asia. When
attempts to reach Marty appeared to be unsuccessful Bonnie
called their cousin Rich Tinneny in South Carolina, a retired
Air Force Chief Master Sergeant, and asked for his help
contacting Marty. Rich called Camp Lejeune and had them patch
him through to the HQ Marine Corps Command Post and requested
they contact Marty in Korea, which they did.
On the 11th,
although he couldn’t communicate,
the family said that Dick was holding on waiting for Marty.
Marty called the hospital and with his siblings gathered around
Dick, John put the phone to Dick’s ear and Marty spoke with him.
Dick could not speak but those in the room said, it was
obvious from the expression on his face that he heard Marty.
As Butch hung up the phone Dick passed away surrounded by his children and having heard
Marty.
Dick’s
remains were cremated and buried with full military honors,
including a 21-gun salute, at the National Cemetery in
Fayetteville. Marty, then a Major General in the Marine
Corps delivered what his sister Bonnie described as an eloquent
eulogy. Dick and Kitty had completed their long journey from Manayunk and were reunited.
As she did at her grandmother’s funeral, Cyndi
sang Danny Boy.
Catharine
was the daughter of
Mary Jane Tinneny
and John McColgan and the granddaughter of Margaret
Malloy and
Patrick “Yankee Pat” Tinneny
of Goladuff, Newtownbutler, county Fermanagh, Northern
Ireland; Greenock, Scotland and Philadelphia.
Note: All
photographs are from the McColgan/Steele family collection
courtesy of Joyce-Ann Roff unless otherwise attributed. Some
were modified and enhanced by Rich Tinneny.
