| Parents: Education: Occupation: Marriage: |
Joseph Peter Anthony Stimmler Anna Hennessy High school graduate Salesman for gas station hydraulics and tanks Life insurance salesman for Metropolitan Life for 32 years Margaret M. Kenny June 4, 1930 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Children: | Margaret L. | July 12, 1931 | † June 4, 2015 |
| Widowed: | Christmas Eve, 1932 |
| 2nd Marriage: | Louise Viola Smith |
| May 16, 1936 | |
| Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| Children: | Paul T.J. | Feb. 10, 1939 | † May 6, 2013 |
| Leo Vincent | Nov. 17, 1942 | ||
| Francis "Frank" X. | Aug. 17, 1944 | ||
| Joseph J. | Aug. 18, 1946 | ||
| Mary Louise | Mar. 31, 1948 | † June 30, 1948 | |
| Mark Stephen | Oct. 25, 1949 | † Oct. 5, 2018 | |
| Notes: | As of the April 22, 1910 federal census, Leon was 4 years old and living with his parents, five siblings and a 17- |
| year-old servant, Maggie Krafenbury, in Philadelphia Ward 21,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In the April 4, 1930 federal census, Leon was living with his parents and four of his siblings (with the exception of second eldest brother John) at 323 Roxborough Avenue in Roxborough, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a three-story, 2,130-square-foot house built on a 2,407-square-foot lot in 1900 with eight rooms, five of which were bedrooms. The family owned their home which was valued at $10,000 (or $100,000 in current 2001 dollars; however as of 2011, this property has a market value of $67,600 and an assessed value of $21,632). The family had a radio. Leon was 23 years old, single, and a salesman for Oil Station Engineering Company of Dallas, TX. He sold welded steel tanks to farmers and filling stations, and hydraulic lifts to filling stations. Unfortunately, the company went belly up during the Depression, around 1931 or 1932. At the time of the Apr. 1, 1940 U.S. Census, Leon V. was 34 years old and living with his wife Louise and children Margaret and Paul at 620 Gerhard St. in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family had been living in the same location in April 1935. Leon was working as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He worked a 60-hour week, 52 weeks a year in 1939 and earned $2,200. His wife stated that both he and she were high school graduates. Daughter Margaret was attending school and had completed the 3rd grade. Paul Stimmler regarding location of Stimmler family in 1940 U.S. Census: "I think it was #620 Gerhardt St. in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. In 1942 my Dad and Mother bought a run down vacant, rat infested big old 3 story mansion at 105 Rochelle Ave. in the Wissahickon section of Philly that they converted ino 5 apartments. We would be found there in the next census released in 1950 I suppose." [from an e-mail to Rae Bordua, April 4, 2012] Mark Stimmler's memories of his parents: "My parents worked very hard - my father sold life insurance in Manayunk - very stressful - at the time it was a door to door kind of business. Manayunk is very steep hills. . . . . Anyway, he got sick with heart and kidney problems at a young age - my mother then had to go out and work. They both died fairly young - my father 1905-1964; my mother 1909-1977. They were big on education for their 6 kids. Because of that, I can say we have the luxury that they never had - choice - we work only with people we enjoy. . . . We have a great life thanks to them." Leo Stimmler reminisces on his father to his sons: "Colin and Chad: "Tomorrow, Fri Sept 8 is my father's birthday. He was born in 1905 and died in 1964. His twin brother, Val, had polio at age two. In my father's honor, I will tell you one of my favorite stories about him. In early November, 1952 or 1953 Notre Dame was scheduled to play football against the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field. We had a big snowstorm the day before the game and a friend of Uncle Dick and Aunt Anita gave up their tickets to the game. We lived in Philadelphia in a section called Wissahickon and Uncle Dick and Aunt Anita lived in Roxborough which was about two miles away and at the top of a hill. Dick and Anita called our house and asked Leon, your grandfather, if he wanted to join them at the game. They offered dad two tickets. Dad said yes and invited Paul who declined saying he wanted to earn money shoveling sidewalks. I was about 9 or 10 years old at the time, next in line and accepted. The problem was how would dad get the tickets. It was getting close to game time when dad started walking up the long 2 mile hill from our home at 105 Rochelle Avenue in Wissahickon to Roxborough. Roxborough Memorial Hospital was about two blocks from Uncle Dick's house so he flagged down a police car and made up a story that he was having chest pains and thought he was having a heart attack. The police car drove him up the long, steep hill to the hospital and he told the police officers he could go in alone to the emergency room. As soon as the police car pulled away, my father turned around and walked the remaining two blocks to the Baffa home. We got the tickets and made it to the game on time. I still have the ticket stubs to that game. Johnny Latner was the star fullback for Notre Dame and my first sports hero. Just about two years after that date, dad had his first heart attack at age 49. I can't remember what hospital he was treated in but it may have been the same Roxborough Memorial Hospital (Paul will know for sure.) . What irony!" |
| Ancestry: | The Hennessy Line |
| The Stimmler/Stimler Line | |
Stimmler/Stimler-Kampa Family Album
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