Ancestral Profile # 2: Dennis Joseph McHugh

Ancestor Name:                  Dennis Joseph McHugh       AKA's:Mac, Denny, Dennis the Menace
Relationship to Me:           Father
Date of Birth:                      17 Jan 1937                      Place:  Nanticoke, Luzerne County, PA
Parents:                               Joseph Dennis McHugh
                                            Mary Hodick

Date of Marriage:                 6 Jun 1959                       Spouse:  Regina "Jean" Ann O'Rourke
Number of Children:                  3                                 Date Widowed: 13  Nov 1988    
Number of Grandchildren:        3
Number of Great-Grandchildren: 4; 1 in Heaven, a fifth due in February 2012

Date of Marriage:   Mar 1992                                      Spouse: Frances Smith
Number of Step-Children: 2                                          Date Widowed: 21 Jul 2007  
Number of Step-Grandchildren:5


Date of Death:                    15 Feb 2010      Place: Tucson, Pima County, Arizona
Buried:                                27 Feb 2010       Place:  Queen of Heaven, Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona

Schools:   

Trott Vocational School, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY

Employers:
Carborundum  (Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY)
Countryside Disposal    (Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY)
Schlitz (Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ)
Brown Tire (Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ)


Special Interests:
Bowling into young adulthood.
Volunteer Firefighter for Lewiston #2 Fire Co., Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY
Camping
CB Radio User (hence the "nickname"/"handle" Dennis the Menace" listed above)

Notable Notes:

•  Dennis survived childhood polio

• Dennis spent many years as a volunteer firefighter and served as captain in 1969.

• Dennis also spent many years coaching his children's football teams for the  Niagara Wheatfield Athletic Association (NWAA).

• Dennis was once a member of a CB Radio Club known as "the Buzzards".  One of his CB contacts was partially responsible for our family settling in Tempe, Az after moving from Niagara Falls in 1977.

• Dennis and a buddy in Tempe once started their own solar water heating company -- called Valley Solar -- long before the Green movement began.

• Contrary to his obituary, Dennis died 15 Feb 2010 in Tucson, Az  His last days (as well as his wives') were a testament to the blessings that Hospice can bring to a family in crisis.

Photo Gallery:

Ancestor Profile #1: Regina "Jean" O'Rourke

Ancestor Name:                  Regina Ann O'Rourke       AKA's: Jean, Jeannie, Jean Ann
Relationship to Me:            Mother
Date of Birth:                      18 Jan 1938                      Place:  Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York
Parents:                                James O'Rourke
                                              Regina "Jean" Doyle

Date of Marriage:                 6 Jun 1959                       Spouse:  Dennis Joseph McHugh
Number of Children:                  3
Number of Grandchildren:        3
Date of Death:                         13 Nov 1988                 Place: Tempe, Maricopa, Arizona
Buried:                                      16 Nov 1988                  Place:  Queen of Heaven, Mesa, Arizona

Schools:   

Catholic School for Elementary
North Junior High School, Niagara Falls, NY
Niagara Falls High School

Employers:
Colato's, now known as Regal Tip by Colato; Niagara Falls, NY  http://www.regaltip.com/
Greyhound Exposition Services, Phoenix, Az

Special Interests:
Bowling into young adulthood. Even bowled with a broken right thumb at one point.
Tap dancing
Sewing, crocheting and macrame
Gardening
Drawing (a talent I first learned about only a few years before her death)

Notable Notes:

• Jean was an excellent writer, and could argue her point very effectively. This was shown in one example in a Letter to the Editor she'd written, defending the role volunteer firefighters played in fighting the Grief Bros. fire in Niagara Falls, NY in 1968. (Article can be found via http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html and searching the terms 5951 Garlow Road). 

• Jean hated Catholic school. She told tales of being thought "dumb" when she asked why 2 + 2 = 4, and walking in the front door and right out the back door of the school when dropped off in the morning.

• Jean wasn't always a practicing Catholic, but she always valued the Catholic Church and its teachings. 

• While she loved the guitar and once tried to learn to play one, she was less than thrilled when she first  heard a guitar played in Mass as part of the regular Sunday Choir at Holy Spirit Church in Tempe, Az.

• Jean once fell asleep while floating on water. She suffered a severe sunburn.

• Later, in Arizona, Jean would sit poolside with a sweater on when it was 90° outside.

• Jean was a leadfoot behind the wheel, and was the primary reason we once drove from Buffalo, NY to Des Moines, IA in ONE DAY.

• Jean refused to wear a seatbelt unless mandated by law, and she never locked her car door if she was inside it. 

• Jean knew how to dress to the nines. She was stylin'!

• Jean was an excellent cook, though she never seemed to really enjoy it.

Photo Gallery: (all photos in the collection of Colleen McHugh).