1998 McCorry Christmas Letter

Christmas 1998
Dear All,

With this letter, the torch has been passed to a new generation of McCorry writers. Sr. Benedicta asked me to take over writing the annual Christmas letter to all of you. I’m a business reporter so forgive me if I lapse into expressions like secured creditor, amortization schedule and earnings-per-share! Seriously, I’m happy to do the writing.

Sr. Benedicta reached a milestone this year, her 80th birthday, on May 21. On May 17, her Milwaukee area relatives threw her a party at the Clarion Hotel, where Joe Mullins is assistant food and beverage manager. It was a wonderful afternoon of visiting, including a brief ceremony where several of those in attendance gave testimonials. Sr. Aquinice, who lives with Sr. B at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Prayer Center in Chicago, was also in attendance. In mid-December, Rita was hospitalized for tests, so keep her in your prayers.

Betty and Carroll Schield still split their retirement years between summers at their cottage near Neillsville and winters at their home in Florida. Betty says they sometimes hang out in Florida sports bars to watch a Packer game via satellite when it is not broadcast locally. She tells us Pat and her husband Jay live in northern California; their son Justin plays in a band, which aspires to tour in Japan. Wendy and her husband, Terry, are house shopping in San Francisco, where home prices rival state budgets. Their daughter Brittany works the help desk at America OnLine. Brittany’s grandparents, meanwhile, remain computer-phobic. Dan, the dentist, is the only Schield still living year-round in Neillsville. His son, Michael, got a hole-in-one in golf. Mary Alice still lives in Connecticut, but may spend Christmas in Florida. Jim still lives in San Diego working for the US Marshall’s office. (Guess all those years of playing “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” with his Mullins cousins paid off!) Joe also lives in San Diego. David and Becky moved to Farmington Hills, Mich., for his job with Stroh’s Brewery. Becky is returning to school to eventually teach computer science.

Mary Ann McCorry traveled to Delafield, Wis., in June to observe a tribute to her father, the late Dr. Herbert T. Barnes. He was honored as one of the pillars of the community where he practiced medicine. Children Brian, Colleen and Maureen made a surprise trip to be with her on that day. Son Dan lives outside Washington D.C., a colonel in the US Air Force. Dan’s daughter, Chelsea, has traded in ballet slippers for a harp to play alongside her violin- and cello-playing brothers, Davin and Gavin, in the Virginia Youth Symphony. Maureen and David Drabik took their four children on a 32-mile bike trip in New Glarus, Wis., this summer. Son Michael competes in Special Olympics. Mary Ann participates in a “Learning in Retirement” series through Quincy University, taking courses in everything from Shakespeare to computers to the Iran-Iraq conflict. “I don’t play bridge,” she said, “but I still gossip.”

The Mullins children traveled to Chicago in February for the funeral of Thomas Dwyer, the father of John’s wife, Linda. Tricia came to Milwaukee in August with daughter Erin and niece Maureen Gesley to attend Irish Fest and -- along with Joe and Betty -- drive to Chicago to see the nuns. Kathy, who lives near Berkeley, plans a Christmas time visit back home with middle child Brendan. Bill came to Milwaukee, from L.A., for the 40th birthday of John in October. The family went to dinner at a Milwaukee restaurant favorite, Karl Ratzsch’s. Robert hosted a party in May for the last episode of “Seinfeld.” Guests brought such Seinfeldian fare as a Big Salad, muffin tops and Snickers bars you eat with a knife and fork! John and Linda’s son, Casey, turns four in January. Niece Lizzie, 6, daughter of Mary and her husband Bill Van Pelt, attends a French Immersion school in Milwaukee. Eileen still sings for a living in New York City.

Teresa and Bud Jonas celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a mass July 5 at Gesu Church in Milwaukee. Their 10 children marked Teresa’s 70th birthday by each taking her out for a special celebration (a la the “Twelve Days of Christmas”). One took her out to dinner, another to a play, etc. Look closely at the next box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese you grab from the supermarket shelf. Tom and Sandy Jonas’s son, Connor, won a contest with Kraft and got his picture on some of the boxes. Relatives have reportedly spotted the boxes at stores in Florida and California. Anna and her husband, John, welcomed their daughter Eleanor McCorry Borden, into the world Jan. 25. In her nursery hangs her great-great-grandmother’s “What is a Prayer” sampler stitched in 1853. Her christening was May 17, the same day of the birthday party for her namesake, Eleanor (Sr. B) McCorry.

I hope all of you have a blessed Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year in 1999. Please stay in touch. For those of you computer savvy relatives, I am including email addresses that I am aware of on the attached list of addresses. If you would like your email address distributed, please send it to me (at mullico@gmail.com ) and I’ll send out an updated list to all of you in a few weeks.

Best wishes to all of you.


Yours,
Robert Mullins