Diœcesis Chicagiensis

So far as I know, nobody ever called my mother "Loretta" nor did she ever use that name in her signature. I recall hearing one of my siblings ask my mother (circa 1931) why she had not given her daughter Loretta the name "Laura". Her answer was that "Loretta" and "Laura" were really the same. Very likely, my mother’s mother (Mary "Mollie" Finan Curran) called her new baby by the nickname of "Laura" from the day of birth. Thus, it was not incredible that my mother would be given the formal name "Loretta" at baptism and yet have the midwife enter the name as "Laura" on the birth certificate.

Mollie was attracted to the name "Loretta" because she knew Loretta McGrath (1890—1984), the daughter of Teresa Payne McGrath (1861—1942) who lived across the street from Mollie. Mollie said that she was going to have a Loretta. Hence, my mother was named Loretta.

Teresa always took care of Mollie Finan Curran and Mollie Curran Harper [DS.4.6] when they had babies. Teresa was not a midwife. She took over for about ten days after the midwife finished and before the new mother was permitted to get up. That activity is consistent with my discovery that Teresa was the godmother of about a half dozen children in the Curran and Payne families. Teresa, by coincidence, was also my father’s godmother.

Teresa was the aunt of Mollie Finan’s husband, Thomas Curran [DS.4.5]. "Aunt Tees" always made the doll clothes for the girls in the family.

[Photo of Laura as a young child.]

CHILDHOOD

When Laura finished the eighth grade (probably at St. Pius School), she decided that she wanted to help her mother keep house instead of going to high school.

One of the few hints that I have of her [DS.4.5.7] teenage personality is a remark frequently made by a German boyfriend: "Du bis frick" (meaning "you’re crazy" in the colloquial German most common in Chicago). My mother also remembered one young man who was much talked about because the police had to shoot him five times before he fell to the ground.

Laura was 18 years old when her mother died on 14 Feb 1918.

MARRIAGE

Circa 1917, Laura was taking a class in sewing at the "Howell House", located at 1831 South Racine Avenue in  Chicago.  (The building is now occupied by  "The Casa Aztlan Community Center".) When a session of the class was canceled unexpectedly, Laura went to a party at the home of a girlfriend and first met my father, John Aloysius FitzMaurice.

Each of them apparently spent a fair amount of time at the home of the other. One had grown up drinking green tea while the other had grown up drinking black tea. After they had gone together for a while, the green tea drinker developed a preference for black tea and the black tea drinker developed a preference for green tea.

John went off to war in Europe in May 1918. While John was away in the Army, Laura’s friends often teased her by singing the popular song, "Oh Johnny". John never actually proposed to Laura. When he went off to war, he said "We’ll get married when I come back" and that was that.

835293

Marriage may be Celebrated in the County of Cook and State of Illinois,
between Mr. John A. Fitzmaurice of Chicago, in the County of Cook and
State of Illinois, of the age of 25 years, and Miss Laura Curran
of Chicago, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, of the age of 20 years.

Witness, Robert M. Sweitzer, Count Clerk of the County of Cook and the State thereof,
at my office in Chicago, this 21 day of July , A.D. 1919
Robert M Schweitzer County Clerk
=====================================================
I, H. STERLING POMEROY, serving in the Superior Court of Cook County
hereby certify that Mr. John A. Fitzmaurice and M Laura Curran
were united in Marriage by me at Chicago in the County of Cook and State of Illinois,
on the 21^st day of July , 1919.
H. Sterling Pomeroy
Address 226 County Bldg. Chicago, Ill.

Laura [DS.4.5.7] married John Aloysius FitzMaurice (23 Jul 1893 — 27 Nov 1954) on 21 July 1919, just two months after his return to the United States from Europe where he had served in the 33^rd Division of the U.S. Army during World War I. Laura and John eloped and were married by a judge. Their first child, Mary FitzMaurice, was born 9 months 27 days later. John and Laura were subsequently married in Sacred Heart Church on 9 August 1919. Laura had admired a suit that Lena Mattes (Healey) had made for her daughter Ruth. It was black faille, dull with a satiny stripe, with a white lace blouse. Laura asked Lena to make one like it for her [DS.4.5.7] but in blue instead of black. Lena made the suit. Laura wore the suit at her church wedding. She also wore a straw hat with a flower on it. The hat had been made by Elsie, the wife of Laura’s brother Ray [DS.4.5.3].

Loretta also told me that Laura’s sister, Mae Curran, had wanted to have a double wedding but that, for some unremembered reason, married Edward Healey on 25 Jun 1919 and did not wait for Laura to join her at the alter. This story conflicts with the statement of Sister Mary Healey that Laura was the matron of honor at Mae’s wedding (which preceded both of Laura’s weddings).

[Photo of Laura (age 20) at Mae's wedding.]

John worked for a short time as a milk man and then joined the Chicago Fire Department as an "engineer". An engineer was responsible for driving the fire truck and operating the pumps. Since John did not yet know how to drive a car or truck (the milk wagon had been horse drawn), he was initially assigned to a fire boat.

Laura [DS.4.5.7] and John lived with her father, Tom Curran [DS.4.5] and family until about the time that Tom Curran [DS.4.5] remarried circa 1923. The FitzMaurice family then moved out and made room for Tom’s new wife and step-daughter. My sister Loretta once said that the new home in Berwyn was built in 1923 and first occupied in 1924. She also said that our sister Dolores (b. 23 Nov 1923) never lived with Tom Curran and family. I think it likely that the move was late in 1923.

DEATH

Laura died 2 October 1971 (at age 72) in the Loyola University Hospital, Maywood, Illinois.

Next child: Thomas-1 Curran [DS.4.5.8]

Curran Table of Contents

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