A Closer Look (Part 36)

Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois, 1924. This is Mr. Irene's maternal Aunt, Martha, at the wake of her sister.

Here's the original post.

Related by Marriage: Ceremony

Probably Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois, about 1924. A relative of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents commemorates her Catholic-church confirmation.

Related by Marriage: Wake

threatened children's lives. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, Anna and Stanley, lost three offspring during that decade. Here, the family mourns the loss of Baby Jean, who died at three-and-one-half months of age. The family wakes Baby Jean at home. A portrait of family members who stayed behind in Lithuania hangs on the wall. Baby Jean's siblings, Benny and Martha, fold their hands in prayer. Petra, Stanley, and Anna stand on the left.

Ringlets

Lithuania, November 9, 1924. This is another friend of Ron's family. This woman looks modern, unlike many subjects of early-twentieth-century portraits.

Thanks to my friend Ron for making this photo available to us.

Related by Marriage: Loss

Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, the first-waver immigrants Anna and Stanley, lost their three middle children. Only their eldest daughter, Martha (to whom I referred as "Aunt M" before her death), and their youngest daughter, Mr. Irene's Mom, survived.

I wrote about the death of brother Benny here.

Today, I post a photo of Baby Jean. She survived only her first three-and-one-half months.

Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois, 1924. The Godparents of Baby Jean pose with the child on her christening day.

Eyes

Soviet Union, 1924. Great-Grandmother Nina K. sat for this photo seven years after the death of her husband, Pavel.

It's hard for me to look at her face without being overcome by her penetrating sadness.