The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

college. He worked at Otis
Lumber yard. There somebody
hit him with a piece of wood in
the back. He had to wear a
corset. During World War II he
wanted to go in the Army. He
went up to take his exam and he
took the corset off. They made
him bend down and he couldn’t
bend back up. He told them he
wore a corset, and they asked
him why he hadn’t told them.
He said, “It wasn’t for me to tell
you about it, it was for you to
find out.”
Eddie would go every
weekend to the market, and he
would pick up six or seven
bushels of something. Peggy
never knew what she was going
to be canning until he got home.
Up on Winton Road they had a
fruit cellar with a bout 500 jars of
canned goods. He also had a
refrigerator down there he
would put a deer in.
“He always had a big garden
on Grayson Avenue,” says
Nancy. “They have torn down
that house now. I always called
him, the boss. I was only 15
when he died. I had him on a
pedestal. He made all the decisions.
If he wanted you to do
something, he could nod his
head toward a corner and you
picked yourself up and stood
there.
Eddie had had a heart
attack in 1942 and 1946, and
may have figured he was due for
another by the time 1950 rolled
around, says Nancy. That year,
Eddie took Peggy and the girls
on a grand tour of their relatives,
visiting Connecticut, Vermont
and New York’s Thousand
Islands. On the trip, they visited
every one of the couples’ brothers
and sisters living at the time.
They started with a visit to
Aunt Ella and Uncle Ernest’s
farm in Sacket Harbor. They
saw Grandma Bird and all her
children living up there at the
time. They then went down and
saw Irene and Tom LaPlante.
They lived with Tom’s parents,
who the family called “Grandma
Blood. “ They lived in a great big
yellow and brown farm house,
Nancy recalls. They then drove
down through Connecticut and
saw their Aunt Ilene and Uncle
~ 51 ~
Roland. They also stopped in
Plattsburg, New York, and
visisted Grandma Bird’s four
sisters. “They all had the most
beautiful red hair,” says Nancy,
who went on to recall the downside
of visiting so many relatives.
“When we went up to
Thousand Islands,” says Nancy,
“(Margery)was young and very
pretty. She was flirting with
someone when Dad pulled up in
front of the house and parked
the car. He said “That’s your
cousin.” It was her cousin, only
she didn’t know it. He (the
cousin) was quite embarrassed
about that”
After only being married 16
The Callans and McClarys
Margie, Eddie, Peggy and Nancy Byrd, Easter 1949.
years, 6 months and 26 days,
there dreams and happiness
ended suddenly.
On the morning of May 09,
1951, Peggy went downstairs to
fix breakfast. When all was ready
she yelled upstairs, Eddie, come
and eat. With no reply she went
upstairs only to find him lying
across the bed sideways with one
sock off and the other sock on,
motionless. The medical report
showed he passed away at age 43
of a sudden heart attack, due to a
blood clot.
Margery recalls that her
Aunt Lorraine, wife of Peggy’s
sister Francis, had come to stay
with them because she was