Friday, April 27, 2018

Friday's Faces From the Past: Massmann Family Gathering, ABT 1946

My paternal aunt Marilyn Pape Hedger just sent me this GREAT photo of a gathering of the children and grandchildren of my Massmann great-grandparents, Frederick Henry Massmann (1875-1948) and Elizabeth Camilla Dienes Massmann (1876-1946).

Click on the photo to see it full-size:




From left to right, wrapping around the table:

  • Elizabeth Dienes Massmann
  • Paul Robert Pape Sr. (1896-1970), her son-in-law and my grandfather
  • Agatha Patricia Burke Massmann (1903-1979), her daughter-in-law
  • Geraldine Marie "Jerrie" Massmann, Agatha's daughter
  • Charles Leo "Bud" Hartnett (1929-2007), Agatha's then-future son-in-law
  • Jane Agatha Massmann Hartnett Mills (1928-2012), Agatha's daughter
  • Alfred John "Jack" Massmann Jr. (1926-1999), Agatha's son
  • Jeanette Ann (Jean) Massmann McKay (1929-2001), Agatha's daughter


And on the other (right-hand) side of the table, continuing the circle:



Below is a close-up of the right-hand side of the table, which is mostly my Pape-side aunts and uncles. I believe Uncle Bob is wearing his Navy dress uniform; he was in for his first tour from May 19, 1943, to May 24, 1948, further helping to date this photograph.




And here is a close-up of the first four people on the left-hand side of the table:  Great-grandma Massmann, Grandpa Pape, Great Aunt Agatha, and my dad's cousin Jerrie.



Since Elizabeth Dienes Massmann died on December 3, 1946, I think this photograph was taken sometime in 1946.  Jerrie would have been about age 10-11 that year and Marilyn about age 12-13.  I don't think the photo was taken any earlier than 1946, because those two girls don't look any younger than those ages.

The youngest Massmann child, Virginia Mary (Jinnie), was born in late 1945, so she would have just been an infant in 1946, which is probably why she is not in the picture.  Bud Streff and Betty Pape married in September 1948, and Bud Hartnett and Jane Massmann married in 1950, but obviously the pairs knew each other well before then.

Finally, I wanted to compare Aunt Agatha from the photo above with the woman I think is Aunt Agatha from the 1927-28 home movie.  On the left below is a still image from that movie, and on the right is the 1946 photo of Agatha.  Do you think it's the same woman?  I do.


  


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

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