Meet the Schirfs, updated
Beginning with my paternal grandparents, we move on to my parents, my dad’s family, and my brother — characters, each and every one. Arranged roughly in chronological order.
Cast of characters:
- Nicholas Peter Schirf and wife Anna Marie Shank, married c. 1910
- Children Mildred, Ralph (my dad), Marietta, and Thelma, plus a possible appearance by Harold
- Thelma’s husband John Conner and granddaughter Erin
- Daisy (my mother), Virgil (my brother), and yours truly
- Possibly a few unidentified family members and/or third parties
72 photos
You’re fortunate to have so many pictures, and going so far back.
Your dad shows real style. The belt and suspenders — I’ve seen it often, but I’ve never figured it out.
My dad gained a lot of weight in his fifties, mostly in the stomach. My impression is that neither belt nor suspenders (braces) alone did the job. After he lost weight, he went back to wearing a belt only. He also went through an overalls/coveralls (Green Acres?) phase. What I don’ t have here is a photo of him in a felt hat with feather that he wore quite often, or the fluorescent orange hat he sometimes sported. By the way, his thick hair was the envy of all his sisters, especially Marietta, who had very fine hair. His hair went dramatically white in his late forties or early fifties. I was born when he was 48, and at the laundromat he’d get comments on his adorable granddaughter. “She’s my daughter!” he’d say gruffly. I bet that got the ladies’ attention. 🙂
Meant to add that when he was packing up to move to Pennsylvania to be closer to family, he went on a disposal tear and told me he was throwing all the family albums and photos out. I made him promise not to do anything until I could get there from Chicago. I have maybe five albums in a suitcase and two shoeboxes. If I dig around a bit more, I may find a few more. The one of Dad with the guitar and dog is my favorite. It was in a shoebox, and I had never seen it until recently.