Andrew Christopher Hollenbach

Jed married Heidi Alison Willett 28 Dec 1997, Tucson, AZ. Heidi (daughter of Thomas Leslie Willett and Elizabeth Ann Remington) was born 23 Aug 1973, Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Thomas married Elizabeth Ann Remington 28 Aug 1969, North Kingstown, RI. Elizabeth (daughter of Norman Chester REMINGTON and Edna Virginia BERRY) was born 27 Mar 1947, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I'm told that she was born on a Thursday.

Edward married Ruth Georgina Shea 19 Jun 1941, Syracuse, NY. Ruth (daughter of Adam Joseph Shea and Maude Mary Theodora Whitney) was born 18 Jan 1920, Houghton, NY; died 12 Jul 2015, GA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Obituary: Ruth Georgina Shea Willett, age 95, of Dahlonega, GA, died July 12, 2015, after a brief illness.

She was known and loved by many for her creativity, her hospitality, her wry sense of humor, her nurturing and encouraging spirit, her listening ear, her Christian wisdom, and her gifts of teaching, both of the English language and of the Bible.

Born in Houghton, NY, on January 18, 1920, of Canadian parents, she grew up in Ottawa, Canada, Jersey City, NJ, and Syracuse, NY. Her father, the Rev. Adam Joseph Shea, and her mother, Maude Mary Whitney Shea, served pastorates in each city. She graduated from Houghton (NY) College in 1941. That same year, she married Edward J. Willett of Syracuse, NY, who served in World War II. Following 20 years in business, the family moved to Houghton, NY, where Edward became Professor of Economics at the College from which both of them had graduated.

Four children were born to the family: Daniel Starbuck Willett, who married the former Karen Mikesell (now Mrs. Wally Lorimer) and worked for Syracuse University until his death at 47 in 1989; Thomas Leslie Willett, a linguist now based in Tucson, AZ, who with his wife, Elizabeth Remington Willett, has served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 40 years; Rev. Christine W. Greenwald, Assistant Pastor at the Dahlonega United Methodist Church, who came to Dahlonega in 1997 with her husband, the Rev. Gary Greenwald (now retired), upon his appointment to serve as Director/Manager at Camp Glisson; and Holly Beth Willett Gillette, who was a faithful pastor's wife to the Rev. John R. Gillette (now pastor of the Mooers, NY, Wesleyan Church), until her death at age 41.

In addition to her parents, husband, son, and daughter, Ruth was also predeceased by her seven siblings: Pauline Shea Lusk, Gerald Whitney Shea, Mary Shea Robinson, George Beverly Shea, Alton James Shea, Lois Shea Wright, and Grace Shea Baker.

A sister-in-law, Karlene Shea, of Montreat, NC, eleven grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces survive.

Notes:

I have two different copies of his birth certificate, one a card issued at Coventry, RI, and the other a paper from the RI Dept. of Health. I am told he was born on a Tuesday.

My dad Norman was born on the family farm off Knotty Oak Rd. in Coventry, RI. We have some pictures of the farm (see Remington section of the photo gallery, "Remington brothers together," at our web site). Tragically, the two-family farmhouse burned down when my dad was six years old. After this, his family moved into a shanty and stayed there for a while. Quoted below are some reminiscences from my dad Norman about his grandmother Angeretta (Whitford) Remington, about the big farmhouse, and about the fire there. They always believed the fire was set. The adjoining farm belonged to my dad's uncle, John Francis (we called him Uncle Fran), who kept cows there even when I was a child in the 1950s. We used to go blueberrying there, and I was afraid of being confronted face-to-face by a cow, which did actually happen once! In very recent years that property has passed out of our family, and part of it is now a new plat. One of the streets is Remington Farm Drive. On an old map, I've seen that another Remington may have owned that land adjacent to my great uncle.

About the farmhouse: "There were two front doors. The first one as one approached from the road led into a long hall way extending the width of the main section of the house. At the end was the door opening into the ell kitchen. Doors on the left were to my Grandmother's bedroom (used whenever she was with us) and to a downstairs bedroom. At a right angle to that was the door to the cellar stairs. The stairway to the upstairs rooms began near the door to the kitchen. From the right side of the hall were doors to the parlor (as it was called in those days) and the dining room.

"Grandma's bedroom windows were between the front doors. The second one was Aunt Velna's front door, which opened into a small entry, from which a door to the left led into her parlor.

"My grandmother [Angeretta] was a practical nurse, attending women about to give birth and for some time afterwards. Confinements lasted several days at that time. Between work opportunities she would be on the farm, sleeping in her room in our house, where the furnishings were hers. So my earliest memories are that she was with us from time to time. When she was there she was a great help to my mother. Later on she also worked as a housekeeper/cook. When I was in the second grade she kept house for a Mrs. Maynard (or Menard), who was legally blind. This was on Boston Street, Anthony, which is off the main street directly opposite the big mill.

"The fire destroyed the house December 27, 1924. It was discovered some time before daybreak, when my mother thought my father was trying to waken her. Later, she always said she thought it was an angel. Anyway, she smelled smoke, and woke my father. Our collie dog, Major, usually was in the kitchen overnight (no doubt, during cold weather), and he pushed open the door to the hall, again no doubt because of flames and heat. All of us were out of the house, and in my father's truck, in the big meadow across the driveway from the house, while it was still dark."

Dad enlisted at Providence, RI, on 29 Aug 1942, as a Private in the US Army. He was a resident of Providence, married, an insurance clerk with 2 years of college; height 74 inches and weight 158 lbs.

Norman married Edna Virginia BERRY 6 Sep 1941, Providence, RI. Edna (daughter of John Holland BERRY and Ellen COLEMAN) was born 25 Mar 1918, Providence, RI; died 20 Nov 2010, Warwick, Kent Co., RI; was buried 24 Nov 2010, Woodland Cemetery, Washington & Knotty Oak Sts., Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

My Mom says:
Until I was about ten years old, the only heat we had as I remember was the kitchen stove. On Saturday nights we took our baths in a big tin tub such as we have in our back yard here. We had our hair washed and fine combed to see if we had acquired any critters during the week at school. My parents slept in a room off the kitchen, but the rest of us were upstairs in two bedrooms where there was no heat. I think we closed off the parlor most of the time. It was a very small house.

Mom noted in her birthday book that she was born on a Monday.

Notes:

I have a copy of their marriage certificate. They were married three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought America into World War II.

Dad & Mom were engaged on 27 Jan 1941.