Seasons Greetings to All!
This year, the descendants of Charles and Bridget McCorry, who settled in the U.S. about
100 years ago, continued to grow and spread their heritage, energy and love across the
country. Despite the advances of the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and Alexa (see, Alexa,
another gadget you have to get!), there’s still not enough time or bandwidth to keep up with
all the McCorry news, so here’s what I’ve been able to gather up.
Teresa Jonas and Sr. Mary Acquinice
These are the two surviving members of the six McCorry children -- the first generation born
and raised in the U.S.
Sr. Mary Acquinice -- Rita McCorry -- remains at the Mercy Circle facility at 3659 W. 99th St.,
Chicago, IL, 60655. Her most recent visitors were sisters (not to be confused with Sisters)
Wendy Smail and Pat Werth of the Schield family.
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| Sr. Acquinice with Wendy Smail (L) and Pat Werth |
Meanwhile, the Jonas family gathered in October to celebrate the 90th birthday of their Mom, Teresa (McCorry) Jonas, at a retro supper club called the HobNob in Racine.
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| Aunt Teresa Jonas with daughter Sarah |
Aunt Teresa took a fall a few weeks ago and required therapy for a while. But she will soon be back at her home, Franciscan Gardens at 1000 Williams Ave., Room 104,
South Milwaukee, WI, 53172.
I’ve included snail mail addresses for these two because they’re harder to reach by email.
Betty and Carroll Schield
This year’s Schield news starts with the Dec.1 wedding of David and Rebecca Schield’s
daughter, Grace, to Luke Virnig in Middleton, Wis.
Enjoy the photos, says Father-of-the-Bride David: ”None, however will mean as much as
this one during my father-daughter dance. Love you Mrs. Virnig!!”
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| David Schield with daughter Grace |
It’s been over a year since wildfires destroyed the home of Pat and Jay Werth in Santa Rosa, Calif. Pat told me “I have some good news to share” that they finally received a permit to rebuild their home, although they’ll need a second permit to rebuild their barn.
That’s “good news,” Pat explained, because other neighbors have only begun the
permitting process for their homes.
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| Wendy,Pat and Megan in 2017 |
Pat’s been helped by sister Wendy to focus on design and planning of the new house. They drove to San Francisco once to look at cabinet designs. Jay Werth was busy building a new pool at the home of their daughter Megan and her husband Nino Rabbaa. Their home was spared in the fire, as was the residence of Pat’s sister Mary Alice. But frequent smoke and haze in the area from this year’s fires has kept Megan and Nino’s two girls -- Juliana and Daniella -- in school during recess many days.
Dan and MaryAnn McCorry
The next-generation McCorry family continues to grow. Brian and Betsy McCorry’s second
youngest child, Andrew, and his new bride, Kristina (who were married June 24, 2017) are
expecting their first child this coming spring. Also scheduled for a maternity ward visit around
the same time are Patrick and Erin McCorry, who are expecting their third child. Both are
expected to be boys, says Andrew and Patrick’s sister, Liz McCorry Koesterer, of Chicago.
Maureen (McCorry) and David Drabik have only one of their four children still living at home.
Son Michael is busy.volunteering with the Special Olympics. This photo is of Michael with
Tim Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, at an event this past summer at Soldier
Field in Chicago.
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| Michael Drabik (l) with Special Olympics chair Tim Shriver |
Meanwhile, Dan McCorry, Brian’s and Maureen’s older brother, retired from the Air Force this year and is busy supporting a business venture of his wife, Robin, who has launched Ladybird Tea, a Website promoting her line of “Splendid Loose Teas.” Note the teas named for McCorry family members, such as Mary Ann’s Afternoon (Dan’s Mom), Rena’s Garden Decaf (Robin’s Mom), Chelsea’s Irish Morning (their daughter), and Laura’s Silver Needle (their daughter-in-law).
Mary and George Mullins
Wedding bells also beckoned Mullins family members to Oakley, Calif., on Aug. 18 for the
wedding of Tricia (Mullins) Freer’s daughter, Erin, to Mike Ewing of Seattle. The backyard of
Tricia’s home was transformed into the wedding venue, including knocking down the fence
between her yard and that of longtime neighbors and friends, the O’Neills. Music was
selected by the bride and groom and played on a sound system borrowed from another
neighbor. A CD of the music was given to guests who brought a wedding gift. Food was
contributed by the ladies from both families.
Among those toasting the bride and groom were Lizzie Van Pelt (daughter of Mary Mullins
and Bill Van Pelt.) and my brother Joe Mullins. In addition, Mike’s dad, Michael Ewing, Sr.,
Aunt Elaine, and Uncle John said a few words. But none could top the surprise performance
by Tricia singing “In My Daughter’s Eye,” recorded by Martina McBride. Afterwards, Erin
told her Mom “Only you could take a crowd of liberal urbanites and bring them to tears over
a country music song.”
Also attending were Bill, Betty and Robert Mullins, Casey Mullins, son of our late brother
John “Moon” Mullins, and Brendan and Maureen Gesley (two of Kathy’s three kids). Erin’s
brother, Robert Freer, gave away the bride for Erin’s father, Ken Freer, who died in 2007.
The couple resides in Venice, Calif., where they both work. Any free time is spent on the
beach or exploring the great museums and restaurants of LA.
Erin and Mike’s honeymoon to Thailand isn’t scheduled till next year, but Erin and Tricia
embarked on what you might call a “Mommy-moon?” to Iceland in October. An airline
offered discounts to fly via Iceland to Europe or North America, but Erin and Tricia elected
to get out right there. They rented a camper and drove around the tiny island taking
amazing photos.
Teresa and Bud Jonas
The year 2018 started off on a somber note with the way-too-soon death on Jan. 9 of
Sarah Jonas’s husband Scott Przybylowski, 49, of esophageal cancer. A memorial
service/celebration Jan. 16 drew cousins and other friends of Scott to Cafe Lulu’s, the
bar/restaurant Sarah owns in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood.
But Sarah felt Scott needed more of a tribute. To mark his 50th birthday June 21, she
sent t-shirts to friends and relatives, including to me in San Jose. The shirts bore the sign
“P-11,” the letter P followed by 11 letters is short for Przybylowski. We were invited to pose
for photos wearing the shirts and post them on social media. Here’s a sample:
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| Sarah (2nd from right) widow of P-11 |
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| Robert Mullins and sister Tricia Freer |
This year marked the 60th Anniversary of the Jonas tradition of the Toilet Bowl football game.
The game earned a spot on a newscast of the Milwaukee Fox News channel.
Jane (Jonas) Williams’ son, Luke Shaner, and his wife, Marielena, have finished construction
of their “off the grid” cabin near the Apostle Islands “way, way up north” in Wisconsin.
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| Luke Shaner and his new family in Wisconsin |
Hammers and saws were also deployed to remodel the vacation cabin of Mary (Jonas) and her husband Mike Groth on the shore of Kettle Moraine Lake. Among the most anticipated visitors will be Mary and Mike’s new granddaughter Zoey Elizabeth Groth, born July 30 to Jeremy Groth and his wife Krystal. Zoey’s big brother Jacob turns 2 next February. Zoey made her first family visit to the Cousins Summer Picnic.
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| (L-R) Jeremy, Jacob, Krystal and newborn Zoey Groth |
Lastly, Anna (Jonas) Borden and her husband, John Borden, flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina,
to visit their daughter Elle, who was there studying Spanish.
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| (L-R) Elle, Anna and John Borden in Buenos Aires |
They also visited Uruguay and were accompanied by Anna’s sister, Sarah Jonas.
Epilogue
A final note, this one from Pat Werth, who still tends to her garden near their burned out
home. You may recall that a Meyer Lemon tree on their property survived the 2017 fire.
One day this past June, she and her sister Mary Alice were weeding in the garden and
discovered a Bells of Ireland flower. Pat said she had never planted such a flower, but that
high winds during fire season were blowing seeds all over the place.
“Anyway, I told Mary Alice that Mom must be watching out for us,” Pat said.
I wish you all the best Christmas Holiday this year and an enjoyable and fulfilling 2019!
Sincerely,
Robert Mullins
P.S. Special thanks to contributors to this year’s letter, including Jane Williams, Mary Groth, Tricia Freer,
Dan McCorry, Pat Werth, Liz Koesterer and others.
