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Received letters written to my Aunt Joyce from Edna back
in late 1950's. Aunt Joyce had given them to my sister
Nancy before she died. Edna indicated that she was
living with a couple named Arthur and Hattie Hauri in
Forestville, NY.
On Aug. 15, 2001, I looked up Forestville, NY on the
internet and found Millie Becker listed as the 'Town
Historian'. Wrote an email to her asking her if she
either knew Edna or the Hauri's. She wrote back on Aug.
16, indicating that the Hauri's were now deceased, but
they used to take in patients from the Gowanda Psychiatric
Center. The Hauri's later moved from Forestville to
Perrysburg, and their Grandson moved into their original
house. The Grandson and his wife since moved to Tennessee,
and she suggested trying to contact their Grandson Charles
Hauri in Lafayette, TN. I wrote a letter to him, and his
wife Donna emailed me back, indicating that they did not
remember Edna, but that they knew of a person that used to
visit the patients at the Hauri's home. Her name was Nancy
Hintz.
I called directory assistance for Hintz's in the area and
obtained 5 different phone numbers. Finally, on the 5th try,
I actually talked to Nancy Hintz. She said she remembered Edna
and that she had been a patient at Gowanda Psychiatric Center.
She also said the Gowanda Center had since closed and all records
had been transferred to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. She
suggested contacting them if I wanted to find out more information
about what happened to Edna later on.
I wrote to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center and eventually
they wrote back indicating that Edna's last know address
was Lakeshore Health Related Facility, Irving, NY, and
that I should contact them for the information I was
seeking. I then sent a letter to Lakeshore, requesting any
information they had on Edna.
After not hearing back from Lakeshore, I looked up their
phone number, and talked to someone in their medical
records department. The only information they were able to
tell me was that Edna was a patient there, and that she
died there on December 31, 1990. I was also told that the
obituary would most likely be in the Dunkirk Free Observer.
I then called the Dunkirk Free Library to see if they saved
copies of obituaries on microfilm, and they indicated that
they did. Within a couple days, they were able to fax me
Edna's obituary.
11/17/01:
Looked up Hugh Briggs (son of Luva) on internet, and found
his phone number. Living in Dunkirk, NY. He said he is 80 years old
and was married twice. Most of the information he gave me is on the
'Luva' link on the main page of this web site. (He had 2 brothers and
4 sisters).
I had previously put a message out on the Chautauqua County
Genealogy Web site, requesting information on relatives of Edna
and/or Luva (since Edna's letter had mentioned her sister Luva),
but hadn't received any responses. Now with the obituary, I had
the names of a few more of her brothers and sisters. I put another
message out on the Gen Web site, and this time I heard from:
Carolyn Ames Simons, a distant relative of Florence May Hooker,
Edna's brother Edwin's wife.
Calvin Hooker, who was a nephew of Florence May Hooker Johnston.
Calvin informed me that Edna was in fact 1 of 11 children of Fred and
Loie Belle Johnston. Calvin was visiting Joanne Mansfield, also a
relative of Florence, in Fredonia, NY when he responded to me. I have
since been in contact with Joanne, and she kind enough to send copies of
pictures and obituaries of Edwin and Florence, and their son Robert E.
Johnston.
Joanne was also able to give me the address of Ruth Elaine Johnston,
widow of Robert E. Johnston. I wrote to Ruth Elaine in Kentucky, but
didn't hear back, so I wrote again and this time she called me back.
She said she would send me some family pictures, including ones of Edna.
(Talked to her on 12/06/2001).
Ruth Elaine was also able to give me the names and addresses of 2 of Edna's
brother Jean Paul's daughters, Muriel Townsend of Veradale, WA, and
Shirley Malloy of Kenmore, NY. I wrote to both of them on 12/07/2001,
and received a response back from Shirley on 12/10/2001. My sister Nancy
also called Shirley a couple days later, as Shirley gave me her phone number
in her letter.