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 1921 - 1989 (67 years)
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| Name |
QUINN, Irene Marie |
| Born |
29 Dec 1921 |
Duquesne, Pa.  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Died |
19 Jul 1989 |
Altamonte Springs, Fl. |
| Person ID |
I3142 |
Hans Georg Spang |
| Last Modified |
2 Aug 2015 |
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| Notes |
- Irene was a lover of a good time and she could organize a party at the drop of a hat. She had many good friends and was a very compassionate person. She was very family oriented and would do anything for her children. A favorite expression of hers was `Don`t spit in my ocean`,referring to her family. Another was `You take care of your shanty and I`ll take care of mine.` She was extremely happy when we made the move from Pgh. to Fla.,and after we were settled in,she said `I`ll never be lonely again`. That pretty much describes her philosophy of life and her personality. As her husband of 47 years,I can honestly say that when we were together,there was never a dull moment. When I had to travel in my work,things did not go so smoothly,however. I have not remarried since her death because,as I always told her,`I couldn`t take the time to break another wife in`. This gave her a good laugh. I have so many good memories of Irene [My Bride] that I really feel she is still by my side and always will be there. Continued from More Bill!!!!! We looked for a new house in Pleasant Hills and were about to buy it when the owner sold it to someone else. Then we decided to add on to our home rather than buy. Charlie Senic,Bill Herrmann,John Ritter and I made up our construction crew. Charlie had building experience,working with his uncle,so we deferred to his judgement in all matters. We dug out the rear of the house down to the basement level and put in a cement footer,then laid cement block up to the first floor level. I ordered steel joists to span across the family room to the outside wall. We placed them,hooked up a wire mesh floor,tying the mesh to each joist,and ordered the concrete. We poured it without mishap,except that the ties on one joist came loose and dumped about a wheelbarrow full of cement on the dirt below. I felt we had just created a bomb shelter as a part of the house. The next step was to pour the basement floor and John and I tackled the job of finishing the cement. I wore boots which partly filled with cement as I moved around in the wet cement. This cement started curing in my boots and rubbed both my ankles raw by the time we finished. Ethel reported later that John was very sexy that night and if we had any more cement to pour to please let her know and she'd send John right in to help us get the job done. I assume she had ulterior motives in mind. We finished up putting in windows and doors in the basement,and then built a brick wall around the porch with pillars to support the roof,added the roof and shingled it. I think that after we finished,we were ready to build anything. I finished the basement family room interior myself laying an asphalt tile floor and paneling the walls. We ended up with a 12x25 family room and a great back porch the same size. From then on,our daughters were happy to stay home rather than hang out somewhere else. Irene had worked after high school, but not after we married until the girls were in their teens, and Irene needed something to keep her busy. She did volunteer work at Pgh. hospitals, and took a job at a Park drug store,then got a job at the local Pgh. Nat'l Bank, working in the safe deposit section. Irene did well there but she felt too alone to be happy with the job. She complained to her boss and they transferred her to the credit dep't. A short time later,we had what they called Black Thursday at the Homestead Steel Works and many supervisors were forced into early retirement, some even laid off, as the company tried to pare expenses and stay in business. At the time similar cutbacks were made in other businesses, including the bank where Irene worked. Since she was the least senior employee in the credit section, she was laid off. She wanted to keep busy and Rose Kaye started to beauty school at the Pgh. Beauty Academy. This looked like a good idea to Irene, so she signed up also. For a year, Rose and Irene went to Pgh. every weekday until they graduated. We set up a single beauty chair,a shampoo bowl, and closed in the section to assure privacy and Irene started working at home. I figure we spent about $1500 doing this. I liked to have Irene travel with me when possible, and as a result, some of her regular customers looked for another beauty shop. One good thing about it all was that my family saved a lot of money that would have been spent on beauty parlors. We used to vacation in Wildwood,NJ for a week every summer with John and Ethel, and Ginnie and Genie who both attended Point Park. Of course Jackie was with us also. We stayed at a hotel where you got two meals a day as part of the deal, so we learned to drink our lunch. I think we put them out of business, because I would eat eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and toast for breakfast and a similar diet for dinner. The only bad times at Wildwood were when it rained. Following years we stayed at motels and didn't eat as much. One year Bill Herrmann came to Wildwood while we were there and he stayed in the same motel. We decided to go for a ride and find a new bar. We also decided to let Ethel drive. She only had one problem; she couldn't see too well, and it created problems when we came to intersections. Well I always say "The Lord takes care of drunks and babies" and it was certainly true that day. We must have crossed five major intersections without hardly slowing down, and after we got back to the motel, Bill said we were all crazy and he left to go home the next morning. It was shortly after that we started going to Conneaut Lake for our free time and gave up on Wildwood. In 1957, I had a job to do in St. Louis in the summer, and the family went along. It was very hot at the time and my hours were long, so we didn't see too much of each other. Irene and the girls spent most of their time in the pool, and Jackie learned to swim and dive. While we were there, I phoned our fighter group Flight Surgeon, and we went to dinner with him and his wife at a German restaurant and really enjoyed ourselves. I'm glad we did this because Doc died a few years later. The summer season at Conneaut Lake extended from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The winter time population was about 6000 and in summer it was about 25000. After Labor Day ,the permanent residents would breath a sigh of relief and "take back their lake". Labor Day weekend was a memorable time because everyone went sort of wild in their pursuit of a good time. One year I'll never forget, the group at the Last Resort decided to form a group of dancing girls and go around the lake putting on a show at their favorite bars. I was recruited, along with George Nester, Tom Hardington and Al Kubancek to be the dancing girls. We were dressed in bras and short skirts and the female members of our group applied the make-up and adorned our heads with multi-colored wigs. We practiced our routine dancing to the Madison and we got to be pretty good, in my opinion. As we went from bar to bar, starting at the Cow Shed, our entourage grew, with everyone wanting to see what we did next. Of course, we were feeling no pain, as our drinks were "on the house", wherever we went. I was driving our Impala convertible, full of people, and having a ball, when it dawned on me that one older woman was very attentive and went with me wherever the group went. I finally gave her the slip, and later, at The Last Resort, Tom Hardington confessed that he had told the "Lady of the Lake" that I had the hots for her. She was a well known working girl at the lake. One July 4th weekend, Al had a party, and after a lot of booze was consumed, Al decided to go swimming in the lake. Another older gentleman, who was an excellent swimmer, went with Al into the dark of the night. Some time later, this person,[ I'll call him John ], came back to the cottage and told Lil that he couldn't find Al. Panic set in quickly as everyone stood around with a drink in their hand, speculating about what might have happened to our host. Lil called the State Police, who had jurisdiction over that area, and soon we had cops joining our group wondering what happened to Al. I remember Lil standing on the dock and berating Al, that she was tired of his shenanigans and if he didn't come back immediately, she'd kill him. Well, it worked, and Al came out from under the dock, and then Lil really berated him, while the rest of us were laughing our heads off. If Al did his vanishing act to find out how loved and admired he was, it turned sour for him. There were several groups at the lake, similar to ours, and some rivalry existed between them. Also, they indulged in horse play at each other's expense. One example was Tommy George's group, who rented a cottage a block away from Al's. We had to pass it on our way to the golf course. It was the July 4th weekend, and Al stopped the car in front of Tommy's place, got out of the car, went up to the open bathroom window, lit the fuses on some cherry bombs, dropped them into the window, and walked back to the car. The explosion brought out one memorable exclamation which I'll never forget, " Oh my God, my husband's here." Al cranked up the truck and we went on our way to the golf course. The next day, a cherry bomb was dropped down Al's chimney and another one cracked the glass in the living room window. We had a very co-operative group spending our holidays at Al and Lil's. We would each contribute to a kitty from which funds were withdrawn to buy the food and booze for the cottage, and if we exceeded the fund's capability, we would each contribute a like amount to replenish the kitty. Al had a lot of friends, who each liked to eat and drink,along with their entourage, and when they stopped to visit, our funds in the kitty would be used up quickly. This required that new assessments be levied. One Sunday, we planned to have chicken for dinner, and Lil prepared it in her roast pan, when King Farouk and his group arrived by boat, and joined in our party. Lil was proud of her roast chicken and showed it to members of the visiting group. After they left, we all prepared to eat, and Lil brought out the roast pan, opened it and found the cupboard was bare. The visitors had absconded with our dinner. I don't think we ever got even for that. One story about Farouk worth telling involves Irene. The girls had hit the track one Saturday afternoon and ended up at Silver Shores. Farouk arrived in his boat and his group joined the party. Later, as the people began leaving, Farouk invited them to join him in a boat ride. Irene was nuts about boat rides in those days, so she volunteered to go along. When they were out on the lake, Irene noticed what looked like a pair of panties on the flag pole and inquired about it. When she was told why the panties were there, she started screaming to get off the boat. Farouk took her back to Silver Shores and let her off the boat. He could have let her off at Al's dock, but I'm sure he wanted to avoid a possible confrontation. Irene was left at the dock, with no ride, so she walked back to Al's, about a mile, crawled in bed with me and hugged me unusually hard. The next day she told me the story and that was the end of her boat ride experiences until we got our own boat. Another funny story is about John Ritter. He and Ethel were with us at the lake over a holiday weekend and after playing golf and partying, we all retired to the upstairs dormitory. Later, one of our group staggered home and went to bed upstairs. There was only one bathroom, downstairs, and this person had to relieve himself, so he went toward an open window, but missed it. John woke up just in time and directed this fellow to the window. There were two bedrooms downstairs, and Wilda and Tom used the second one when Al's kids weren't there. Wilda had a habit of staying up after the rest of us went to bed, and she kept everyone else from sleeping. One evening some of us decided that Wilda was going to bed like we did, so we tied her to the bed. She made lots of noise but at least she stayed in her bedroom. One point of note; It took several of us to hold her still enough to tie her to the bed and in the end she freed herself by breaking the bed frame. It had one good side, Wilda went to bed at the same time we did after that. In 1962, I had to go to Fort Lauderdale on a job and I missed our 20th wedding anniversary. The anniversary was celebrated regardless of my presence and the finale was that Al painted a white line through the center of the kitchen, and he told all of Lil's friends to get on one side and his friends on the other. He was alone! Al was planning on a complete renovation of the cottage that year. We had a good friend named Doc Pope who had a cottage a half block away from Al's. Doc was a chiropractor and he had an interest in a bar on Liberty Ave. in Pgh. He had a lot of very good looking girl friends and it seemed he had a different one every weekend at the lake. He loved a party, and he was usually involved in the parties we had at Al's. His sister took over his cottage along with his mother, so he built a new one about a block away. We had a lot of good parties there. Later on Doc had a stroke, and was somewhat immobilized up until he died in Feb.,!972. I remember one striking blond girl he had and one weekend she was driving home to Pgh. and ran head on into a street car on East St. and was killed. What a waste that was! When we first went to Conneaut no one played golf, but since there were two golf courses there it seemed prudent to try to play golf, rather than spend all of our time in a bar. We were a pitiful mess when we started, but as time wore on, we got better, and the next thing you know we all joined the Park Golf Course as members and played regularly with our own foursomes and in their Scotch Golf tournaments. The scotch golf was particularly good because it involved the women playing with the men, and drinking. No one worried about the score and we had many very relaxed outings. Tommy George came from Cleveland and he owned a large houseboat, on which we had many a great time, doing what we liked, partying and swimming. His landlord quit renting his cottage, so Tom arranged to rent a house on the west side of the lake year round. He called it the Farm and he had a full house most weekends with non-stop parties. Tom was always around holding a water glass half full of Bourbon; no ice or water, just Bourbon. I don't know how much he actually drank, but he sure put on a good show as a boozer. One story about my daughter, Jackie, has to be told. When she was a junior in high school, she had a boyfriend named Jim who was the son of a lay preacher who worked for W. Apparently their family was dead set against the consumption of alcohol in any quantity, and Jackie adopted their attitude. It was New Years Eve, and Irene and I were getting ready to go out for the evening, but I opened a bottle of champagne to have a toast before we left. Jackie was downstairs in our family room with her guests when she heard the cork pop. She immediately came up stairs and berated us for embarrassing her. We apologized, had our drink, and left for the evening out. This is the same girl who went to college the following year and by Thanksgiving was having beers with her sorority sisters. Needless to say I commented on her change of attitude. One fringe benefit of my travelling job helped Irene's career, even if she wouldn't admit it. I took her with me on two jobs, one in New York City, and the other in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. When we were there at the jobs, a Beauty Operater's convention was being held nearby and Irene was able to attend them both, which she would never have been able to do otherwise. Another story about Irene and our granddaughter Cindy is worth telling. Irene took Cindy with her to Al's bar and put her on a bar stool beside her while she had a drink with her hosts. Cindy was rambunctious and fell off the stool, breaking her arm. When we were renting the Baldwin cottage for our family summer vacations, Cindy would stand on our small front porch and invite anyone who walked by to come in and have a drink because Her Grandmother was home. We were at the lake for the weekend, and on Saturday, the girls went out to "hit the track" while the men played golf. For some reason, not disclosed to me, Irene came home before the other girls and took a nap. When Al & I returned from golf and found Irene sleeping, Al started haranguing her about the other girls not being home and, of course, Irene couldn't sleep. I guess I joined in with Al, and finally Irene got up and headed for the door, rather than listen to any more of our tormenting. She headed for my car in Al's parking lot and proceeded to start the engine. I asked her where she was going and she said "HOME". I said she couldn't leave with my golf clubs, and she stopped the car, opened the trunk, and threw my heavy golf bag about 20 feet in my direction, then left. I made arrangements to go home Sunday night with the Hardingtons, and went back to drinking with my friends. Irene returned about 6 hours later, and acted like nothing had happened. Al started needling her about where she had been, and she said "I went home to take a shower". Of course no one believed she had done that; After all, going 200 miles to take a shower is pretty unusual in the best of circles, so we all had another drink, and continued to discuss it. Irene confessed that she was mad as Hell, and she did go back to Munhall, take a shower, and calm down enough to realize she was only hurting herself, got back in the car and came back to the lake, trying to act like nothing had happened. We all had a good laugh over it, and that was the only time anything similar ever happened at the lake. Another incident occurred several years later when we lived on the west side of the lake. Irene had been out with her girlfriends for the evening, and when she came home the Cadillac ran off the road into a ditch near the amusement park. Irene didn't know what to do except leave the car and walk home which was about three blocks away. She was locking up the car when a car loaded with Pitt football players stopped and asked if she needed any help. She said "Yes, can you get me back on the road so I can go home" and they all piled out of their car, picked up the Caddie and put it down on the road. Irene thanked them and offered money, but they said "We're just glad to help out a damsel in distress", and went off down the road. You can imagine something like that happening in today's society without hitting the headlines. In 1965, we started renting the grey cottage for the summers. It was a nice place and we had room for our growing family. It was also close to Dorothy and Frank Baker's cottage. Genie came to visit us more often and Jackie brought friends with her, when she visited. During the period when we rented the grey cottage, Lil threw Al out, and they separated for about 6 months. As a result, Al spent a lot of time at our place. It was obvious that the two of them didn't want to be separated, but neither one would admit it. During this time Al told Irene and me about the time Lil took a shot at him and he didn't want it to happen again. There were a lot of funny incidents during this separation, but the best is when we tricked them into getting back together by inviting each of them to a party, without the other one knowing it. It worked and the lake resumed it's peaceful atmosphere. Al told our landlady that the house had termites, assuming that she would sell it to us cheap, but the following spring, when I tried to renew the lease, she said the place was sold. We were fortunate to find a cottage over a garage owned by Mr. Baldwin, just a block away and we rented it for several years until his son returned to the lake and lived over the garage. Then we moved into a Spanish architecture cottage across the road up to 1971. That was sold and we decided to get our own place year round by buying a 12x70 mobile home and putting it in the Jo-win trailer park on the west side of the lake between the golf course and the amusement park. We had an excellent location on the canal going out to the lake, so we bought a boat, built a dock, and installed a 10x30 aluminum porch roof. The trailer was air-conditioned and oil heated, so we had no problems staying there throughout the winter. With only 2 bedrooms,we still had no problems sleeping the whole family. It helped that Jackie and Al could sleep at the Abrams cottage across the lake. We were part of a group of celebrants numbering about 30, and we all loved to have and attend parties. It was confusing at times because more than one couple would want to have a party at the same time. Al Kubancek came up with a very workable solution; we would each draw a Saturday Party date from a hat, and if problems developed, switch dates with someone else. That way, we were able to have scheduled parties every Sat. from May to Sept. This arrangement continued until the group started breaking up around the late 1970's. Members of the group that I can remember are: Al and Lil Kubancek; Dorothy and Frank Baker; Doc and Arlene Hoffman; Wally and Gloria Books; Tom and Wilda Hardington; George and Lavina Meister; Joe and Rose Kaye; Gene and Jane Urish; BJ and Doris Mae Lynn; Sally and Vern Cantelope; Helen and Jim Starn; Wilma Nester; Irene and I; and two other couples, whose names I can't remember. In 1969, I decided to take the exam for a Professional Engineer license. For almost a year, everywhere I went I spent my spare time reading my college texts and working on sample exam problems. In March,1970, I took the exam and passed it, so, from then on, I was a P.E. To me, it was amazing that I passed, since I had been out of school since 1953, and it's easy to forget. I consider that to be one of my major accomplishments in my life. One of our favorite recreations was to load up the boat with people and booze, and cruise out on the lake to the sandbar. It was located on the west side of the lake and consisted of about 5 acres of water with a depth of about 3 feet. We would drop anchor and get in the water with our booze and proceed to visit with all our friends who were there. It was the best and cheapest bar at the lake. George Meister had a boat, and we shared the dock behind our trailers. During one of our parties, the two of us were discussing whose boat was faster, and as the talk turned into action, we decided to have a boat race the next day. The race was to start at Al's dock, proceed North on the lake to the inlet canal, round a race judge in a boat serving as a pylon, and then head South back to the finish line at Al's dock. I was very confident, so Irene went with me in the boat. George was alone to take advantage of the weight edge. Amid lots of cheering we were off and running to the North. The race was close most of the way, but George pulled into the dock ahead of me and collected the $2.00 wager we had on the race. I noticed that George hadn't crossed the finish line, and therefore had not won the race, and I tried to take the 2 dollars from his hand. The way he reacted, you would have thought it was 2 thousand dollars, and I dropped the issue. After all, it was only a race and hardly worth losing a friend over. Al's daughter, Darlene, and the Baker's son, Biff were dating and planning to be married. It was going to be perfect in every detail. Dorothy Baker planned and arranged the wedding as though it was her own. We privately referred to it as the wedding of the painted dolls, because of all the perfect details planned. The reception was held at a well known bar on Route 51, that I can't remember the name of, but I do remember that the bar was owned and operated by an acquaintance of Al's. Al knew him from the late 1950's, when he visited Al and Lil in Florida, went swimming in their pool, injured himself, sued Al, and collected damages. I understand he offered to provide a barrel of beer for the reception and Al refused the offer. Hooray for Al. Our crowd arranged a bus trip from the lake to South Side, Pgh. to attend a party being held at Dale Kubancek's friends' house. We had a full bus, including a well stocked bar, and the trip was like a party on wheels. When we arrived, the street was so narrow the bus couldn't turn around, but the bus driver found a wide spot and accomplished the feat without incident. The house where the party was being held was about 3 stories above the road and one story below it, built into the side of the hill. It had been completely remodeled and had an interior decorator's touch. All of the girls were beautiful air line stewardesses, and they made sure we all always had full glasses in our hands. It was a memorable party, including the bus trip each way, and for quite a while, other similar trips were suggested by members of the group, but we never took any more bus trips. Wally Books had a cottage near Al's. It was an A frame, with a loft, and we had many a good party there. Wally was a cookie salesman, distributor, for Stella D'Orio in Pgh., and he was a fun guy. His wife,Gloria, was very attentive, and she watched how much Wally drank, because he was a diabetic. It seemed to be a running game between them, because Wally loved to hit the track, without Glo and come home feeling no pain. He died around 1984, of diabetes complications. Another member of our group, that I overlooked was Freddy Rogers, and his wife Rita. They bought the Fairway 12 Motel from Al, and as far as I know, Rita still runs it with her son. Freddy died around 1980. Well, I think I have exhausted my memory bank, but if anything else comes to mind, I'll write it up and add it on. A happy 21st century to all.
Signed Bill Craig
As an update to this epistle, I would like to advise you that Rose Kaye [Kubancek] died on Jan. 20, 1999, at the age of 81. Her obituary states that her husband, Joe Kaye, preceded her in death. I should also mention that Al Kubancek died in July, 1997. Lil Kubancek lives in Titusville, Fl., and we exchange Chistmas cards every year. Ethel Ritter died about 5 years ago, and I still correspond with John, who lives in Charlotte, Nc. Ginnie Ritter lives in Delray Beach, Fl. Both Doc and Arlene Hoffmann have passed on. Vern Cantelope died many years ago, while eating spaghetti at the Pit and Pub. Chuck Hoffmann died shortly after his parents, when his boat exploded on Lake Erie. His wife and her parents were also killed, but their son survived and now lives in Denver Co. with a cousin of his mother. I heard that George Meister died around 1992. Lavina still lives in Fort Lauderdale near Dorothy and Frank Baker's condo. I haven't heard any recent news from or about Doris Mae Lynn, but the latest had her living in Fort Lauderdale, and caring for her daughter, who has Mucular Distrophy. BJ Lynn died of a heart attack while riding in a golf cart at Conneaut Lake, about the early 1980's. Gene Urish died about the late 1970's and the last news I've had about Jane placed her piloting her own plane and keeping company with another pilot. Also,Wilda told me that Rita sold the Fairway 12,when Genie & I were there for my 60th Munhall high school reunion in Sept,1999.
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