Family & Friends

History: Many of these older photos come by way of Sheri Bock Slattery, a cousin, by way of Arlene, an aunt.

Sheri & Arlene and families: she's also sent me some recent pics of her household.

History

Frank and Lucy Bonadio

This is a picture of my grandparents (!) on my father's side, their wedding photo. From what I was told, Frank and Lucy Bonadio were wed in Utica, NY, on December 27, 1911, and got on a train to Watertown, with a chaperone (!), for their honeymoon. I guess they stayed, because the rest is history - the building that Frank bought, maybe about that time, is now a historical landmark in Watertown, the Bonadio Building, so marked in public square, though it's not owned by the family anymore.

There are actually several Frank Bonadios - Frank was a common name for Italian immigrants to take back then, to conceal their Italian origins, as if Bonadio wasn't a big hint. In fact, one of his brothers also chose Frank as a first name!

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The above picture was taken in 1941, "The Bonadio Family & the new Chrysler". Left to right: George, Virginia, Arlene, Margaret, Lucy, Frank. Arlene and Margaret are twins. George is my dad.

Here's my Dad again, George Bonadio, when he was a lieutennant in the army. Dashing, huh? Lessee... must be age 24.

Although this was apparently in California, he settled in Watertown NY a decade before I was born. I came out to the bay area in 1981.

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This is Frederick, an uncle I never knew. He apparently died from pneumonia before I was born. I remember my dad telling me that they didn't have enough medicine for him because of the war (WW2).

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This was taken at the local beach two years after I was born. Sylvia my sister, Melanie who now lives in SF, George my dad, and the kid with the pot belly and the bucket of sand is me.

I couldn't figure out why the waves at that beach weren't big enough for surfing. I guess Lake Ontario just didn't have it going on.

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Hmmm... where would this be, maybe in Syracuse NY? No, I bet this is Winslow St where my grandparents lived. Andy, my uncle, and his kids Margie and Rhoda (nowdays Marge and Rho). Then there's Georgie and Sheri, then me and my sister. 1961.

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1962. Thank goodness the names are on the edge of the photo, I can't recognize anybody, including myself. Nor the rocks - I grew up with those rocks in the back yard. Those two pine trees grew to be huge - 40 feet - and I ended up supervising their being cut down in June 2004. No, the one on the left was already gone by then - there's another tree on the far left, off the side of the picture here. Wait - there was another rock, a big pink one - maybe that was smaller back then too.

Me, Sylvia, Melanie, Bonnie, Brenda and Sheri. Sylvia is my sister, the other four are all siblings of each other and cousins of me and Sylvia. There's the pink rock, Melanie is standing on it.

This was taken in our back yard - the park hill is in the background. There's now a huge church that would appear in the upper right corner, where the field was. I used to play 'army' in the field with my friends. Twelve years later I'd be launching model rockets in that field.

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Same back yard, same park hill, different year, different angle, the rocks and white house are off to the left.

My immediate family, Aug 16, 1971. I was 14, me on the left. Already looking geeky. That suit? Kept it until after college graduation. We're talking, clip-on tie. Then there's my sister Sylvia, she still looks pretty much the same except for shorter hair. Then my dad, who looks the same except for lighter hair. My mom and my brother Steven in the front. Steven looks different.

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This one simply says "The Bonadios". That sortof covers my grandparents and everybody on down. Looks like, at the spur of the moment, someone said "Wait, the sun is going down, let's gete everybody together and take a picture!" So the only piece of sunshine left was in the street, with the sun directly over the camera so nobody could look in that direction without squinting.

Back: grandma and grandpa, my dad, my mom, Georgie holding Steven, my brother, who is now taller than all of us Front row: me, Sheri, my sister, and Melanie.

Sheri & Arlene and families

Sheri's my cousin, she lives out in Texas.

Heather, Sheri's daughter.

Heather and her dad, Sheri's husband.

Frank Straka (Arlene's son, my cousin) and children with Arlene, Melanie (Sheri's sister), Sheri, and Heather.

This one is George and Virginia Bock, Sheri's parents, and my uncle and aunt.

More pictures... as they arrive.

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