Sunday Adventures

Anna, Billie, Helen, Frank, Tootsie, Alice and Walter and kids would often go on Sunday outings together. They often would take a picnic lunch to a variety of spots. One of the more popular spots they visited was Peach Lake.







There were a variety of pictures taken. Some of the other spots were:
Yonkers, Grangville and Brooklyn.

Close Knit Friends

Anna moved to an apartment building with her sister and her husband Frank, Frank's brother Billie and his wife Tootsie and another couple, Alice and Walter Gillispie. These people were very involved in each other's lives and were a support for Anna. They would take day trips together on Sundays.

Here is a picture of Kathryn at Saxon Woods in 1936. She would have been three at the time.

Growing up, I remember Tootsie, Alice and Walter Gillispie. Alice and Walter were around until I was in my early twenties. (In the mid 1980's) Uncle Walter, as we called him, was a great musician.

Life on Her Own

After Andrew died, Anna was faced raising two children on her own. She did not like taking help from others. She worked cleaning people's houses and would take Kathryn with her. My mom (Kathryn) would tell me growing up that this impacted her greatly. She swore that she would do all in her power not to clean other people's houses and not to have people come into her house to judge how she was doing, like those people did to her mom.

Andrew was in school at this time and was the man of the house. Anna suffered from migraine headaches that at times would incapacitate her. One story I remember hearing, was that one of the times that Anna had a migraine, Andrew had arrived home and found his mom on the floor. He was scared and jumped on his bicycle to fetch the doctor. Anna would continue to battle migraines throughout her life.

Anna and Helen

Anna and Helen were close sisters. They were close in age and after they both married both families,  did a lot together. In their late teens early 20's, Anna and Helen would go out in the family car. Helen would drive and quite often they would run out of gas. Back in those days there was no fuel gauge so you had to use a stick or other means to know when you might run out of gas. Helen and Anna were not very good about this part of driving.

Losses for Anna

In 1934, Anna lost not only her husband but also her mother. Her mother died on December 16, 1934. Anna was left with her two kids and part of her support system gone. Anna lived in an apartment building in the Bronx. She lived there with her two children, her sister and her husband Frank, her sister's brother-in-law William Grunenthal (Uncle Billy) and his wife Tootsie and another couple, Walter and Alice Gillespie. Anna's sister married Frank Grunethal on July 21, 1927.

These three families were very involved in each others lives. Uncle Billy and Aunt Helen had a baby boy a few months after Kathryn was born. His name was Frederick. The three children grew up very close, especially Fredrick and Kathryn.

The picture above shows from right to left: Walter Gillespie, Alice Gillespie, Anna Dunn and Tootsie Grunenthal.

Mixed Blessing

Andrew continued to live in the Asylum while Anna continued with her pregnancy. On February 10, 1933 Kathryn Ann Dunn was born. While Anna was dealing with a new baby and the illness of her husband, she did not worry about the birth certificate. Anna and Andrew had decided to name the baby Anna but that was not to be. Anna's sister-in-law Tootsie took it upon herself and named the baby, Kathryn Ann Barbara.

In March, Anna took her children to the Asylum to show Andrew his new daughter. Anna was not able to physically see Andrew because of the kids. Anna and the kids stood outside the building while Andrew stood at the window. This was the only time Andrew was able to see his daughter Kathryn.


The picture above is a picture of Kathryn. She was a Kodak baby in the 1930's. This particular picture was used for advertising. We did have a copy of the advertisement, but over the years it was lost.

A Growing Family

Anna and Andrew senior were married a little over a year when they discovered that they were going to have a baby. On January 19, 1927 Andrew J. Dunn Jr. was born. I am sure that my grandparents were happy to have a baby boy. They were a family of three until 1932.

Sometime during 1932, Andrew was working in a factory supporting his family. He smoked along with Anna. In those days it was acceptable to smoke. During one of his shifts, Andrew was smoking and laid down his cigarette. A coworker picked up the cigarette and took a drag. Unfortunately for Andrew, the coworker had tuberculosis. Andrew contracted the disease and took sick. In those days people with tuberculosis were sent to asylums to be treated and Andrew was no different.

Anna carried on at home with her five year old son. She continued to work to support the family. Shortly after Andrew was admitted to the asylum, Anna found out that she was pregnant again. I am sure that she leaned heavily on her mother (pictured above) during this trying time.

Anna's Siblings

Anna had seven brothers and sisters. They are listed below with dates. Anna was very close to her sister Helen. Helen and Anna used to ride around New York in one of their mother's cars. Their mother it was told to me had a moving and taxi business.I heard stories that they often would run out of gas and have to walk to get gas for the car to get moving. Back in those days, cars did not have gas gauges.

Anna had another sister Josephene, who was named after her father's sister. My grandmother, Anna, never really talked about her sister Josephene. Josephene was engaged to be married in September 1921. On September 12, 1920 she was walking on a cliff, fell and died. There was some question on whether it was an accident or if it was suicide. Here is a link to the newspaper story from the Daily Argus in 1920.

Anna and Andrew

Anna and Andrew were married on June 7, 1925 at Sacred Heart Church. The church was located at 5th Avenue and 2nd in Mount Vernon, New York. Here is a copy of their wedding invitation.


Andrew J. Dunn was born on May 10, 1898 in Mount Vernon New York. His mother's name was Anne. I remember hearing that Andrew was very interested in Anna who at first didn’t care about him. I guess she figured she would be an old maid since she was 25 years old when she married. They were married during the depression and money was tight. Andrew would save his money and sacrifice his well being to take Anna to the movies on Saturday night.