The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys
Eddie Byrd Memorial card, 1951
expecting her daughter Edna
Mae.
“Mr. DiGenaro next door,
my best friends father, took me
home. I walked up on the porch
just in time to hear the coroner
and police talking about what
time “he” died. I had to go with
the undertaker and help them to
pick out the clothes and all that
stuff. And walk by their side as
they carried him out.
“I made all the funeral
arrangements and took over the
family. We had him laid out at
home. Mom wanted him laid out
at home. He was a member of
the Knights of Columbus, they
all came for the home services,
all the relatives came of
course.
“I can remember
everybody sitting around.
My mother was completely
out of it. They had
given her some kind of
medication. My grandmother
(Bertha Starks)
Messier was there. She
said, “Marge you need to
call Jack.”
“I was going with him
then. I was a junior in high
school at the time. My
mother wanted me to quit
to support the family. All
the neighbors were bringing
in food and the relatives
were taking it out of
the back door. My dad
had this huge china
cabinet. Rounded with
lion-claw feet. When he
was out of work in 1941
with a heart attack, he
collected stuff from all over the
world. He had antique stuff, and
that cabinet filled, and when
everyone left, there wasn’t a
piece left. Except one little jade
statue that disappeared when we
moved to Florida.
“Dad’s uncle Carl brought
him over. He didn’t get a license
until after we got married. The
only one that had a car was Rudy
Napadano. Dad’s Uncle Carl
took us down to the only drug
store in town. I hadn’t cried or
anything. We came back and I
just couldn’t face going into the
house. I started crying.
When I walked in the
house, my Aunt Julie and Aunt
~ 52 ~
Thei girls leave home: Above, Margery (Byrd) Callan and Jack Callan, on their honeymoon in
Newcastle, Penn., August 1953. Below, Nancy Byrd and George Nunamaker, mid-1950s.
Ella said, “You would think they
would have more sense than to
sit out necking in the car at a
time like this.”
After Eddie’s death, Peggy
started her life again. Peggy and
her two daughters moved in with
her sister Catherine the day after
Eddie was buried. Catherine
lived on Blossom Road, next to
St. John’s Convent in Rochester.
She did her best to raise their
two daughters, but in many ways,
never got over the loss of Eddie.
Margery married just a few years
later, leaving Nancy at home for
Peggy to raise alone.
“When I was about 18,”