What became of…?

Dot's life after October 1946, in five parts: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5

Some notes about Dot's friends and family, and what, to the best of my knowledge, became of them:

Sis (Louise): Dot’s sister, and my aunt Louise, married Vertus. Vert was an electrician. He and my aunt had three children, living for many years in the southwest suburbs of Worth and later Mokena. They retired to a very pretty, wooded community near Dixon, Ill.

Son (Louis, Jr.): Dot’s younger brother attended Kelly High School, played basketball there, and then served with the US Navy in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt. Afterwards, he became a geography teacher at Gage Park High School. He has two children and presently lives in the western suburbs.

Pauline and Louis: Dot's mother and father later moved from the Englewood neighborhood back to the Brighton Park area. Pauline became a registered nurse, but cancer took her life in late 1963, just a few months before Dot. Louis passed away in 1970.

Dave: My father remarried in 1965. I became stepbrother to two stepsisters, and we moved to a new, larger house on the south side. Dave's business success continued; eventually he owned several stores, before he became a part-time electrical inspector. His second marriage ended in divorce. He retired to southern Indiana, married again, and together with his wife built a peaceful, quiet home on a beautiful lake. My father passed away in 2000.

Me: I’d already started my freshman year at Morgan Park High School when my mother died. After graduating from Bogan High, the school I'd transfered to, I worked for my father, went to a community college, was drafted into the army, and served a year in Vietnam. After returning from the war relatively unscathed, I got married and began a career as a sales consultant and computer systems administrator. More recently, I worked as a graphic designer.

Sunny: Dot’s best friend married Bob Karpus. Sunny and Bob lived near Chicago until the late 1950s, when they migrated to St. Petersburg, Florida. They have two children. I had the chance to visit Sunny and Bob in Florida at the time they were celebrating their 60th anniversary.

Hal Totten: Hal, Dot’s good friend and confidant, lived in the apartment building next door to Dot. Hal joined the Navy in early 1946, and later became a skilled horse trainer. He and Dot apparently didn’t exchange many letters, at least during ‘46. Thanks to efforts by Dan, a loyal diary reader and Englewood neighborhood patrol boy (who remembered seeing my mother and Sis), I was very lucky to have met Hal in person, in 2007. His memory was a little foggy, but he recalled my mother and her family, and had quite a sense of humor. He’d lost touch with Dorothy, apparently, except for one time. He was in the Englewood neighborhood, probably in the late 1940s, and saw Dot walking his way. They stopped and chatted, but only for a minute. He remembered that she seemed in a hurry, and troubled by something. Troubled by what, remains a mystery. Hal passed away in early 2008.

Herb Martin, as you know, had asked Dot to marry him before he joined the Navy in January of 1946. Herb was stationed in Washington, D.C. when he met his wife, Dorothy Babington. They may have lived in Chicago for awhile before moving to Washington in 1955 with their their children, Herbert Jr. and Christine. Herb and Dorothy stayed until Dorothy's death in 1984. Herb passed away on Nov. 27, 1995, in Florida.

Jim Parks: I’ve tried, but have been unable to find any information about the fellow who was Dot’s steady boyfriend between late 1944 or earlier, and through a good part of 1945.

Helen Romanelli; Viola Fick: Unknown

Don Trotta, Larry Amato, Ralph Davis: Unknown.

Ginny: Dot’s friend Virginia Merigold married Bob Plant. Bob was a long-time employee of Chicago's Streets & Sanitation Dept.

Merle Lodding: I heard from Merle out of the blue in late 2007. Dot’s former Brighton Park neighbor still lived in the Chicago area at the time. She remembered Dot and Dot’s family.

Dee Kozack: Unknown.

Chuck: The man who was Dot’s friend, and then got Dave and Dot together, later got married himself and became my godfather. .

Stan Jennings: I spoke on the phone with Dot's one-time boyfriend and Merchant Marine Stan around 2008. He was a husband, father and grandfather to 13 grandkids who'd had a long, successful career as the owner of a pizzeria near the Candelight Playhouse in the west suburbs. One of his memories was recalling exactly how much he paid to the penny for the new suit he wore on that one day he surprised Dot by knocking on the front door of her home on Normal Blvd.

Marge: Lee and Marge, Dot’s aunt, moved to Michigan City, Indiana, and then Mattoon, Illinois. They both passed away several years ago. Lee, a very loyal White Sox fan, had his ashes placed within Comiskey Park. I’ve stayed in touch with their daughter.

Dell: Dot’s aunt Dell raised a family and lived in or around Chicago until her death.

Stratford, Linden, Ace, Engleewood, Empress, Southtown theaters: The neighborhood theatres are all gone, unfortunately. A couple survived into the 1970s, notably the Englewood and the Southtown. The latter became a Carr's department store, until being demolished in the early 90s. Downtown, the Chicago and Oriental (renamed the Nederlander in 2019) continue to operate as concert and live theater venues.

Parnell, Minuet’s, Karson’s, Hillman’s, Tasty’s, etc.: The restaurants and diners where Dot and her pals enjoyed many a Coke, hamburger, BBQ beef sandwich or “Three Graces,” have all disappeared.

Englewood High School: A new, technical school now occupies the site of the old “castle” structure Dot and Sis attended.

Kelly Library: Just down the street from Dot’s, this building still stands, and remains a Chicago Public Library.

63rd Street: The once bustling area at 63rd & Halsted streets is no longer the shopping destination it was in the 1940s and 1950s. Through hard times, and through residents’ determined efforts, the neighborhood seems to have turned a corner. Kennedy-King college is the centerpiece of the new “63rd Street”, and there are more new housing developments and new stores as time goes by.

Dot’s home: Although many houses and other structures in the Englewood neighborhood have succumbed to blight and were demolished as a result, the apartment building where Dot lived during 1945 and 1946 still stands, at 6107 S. Normal Blvd.

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