The Original Owners, part 3, The Children

Louise Gale Fentress, 1921

When I last wrote about the original owners of our new/old house in Norfolk I had come across a family tree on ancestry.com that belonged to the granddaughter-in-law of the Fentress couple who first lived here.  Well, the granddaughter-in-law is Kathy and her husband Andy (Jr.) is the son of Louise above.  I have been in touch with them through ancestry and by email and they have been most gracious to help me out with their family information. They are super excited to be in touch with us, the people who own Andy's grandparent's house. We are hoping they will plan to visit us!

 

Both the Fentress children, Louise and William Kilby, Jr., grew up in our house and their children came to visit their grandparents here.  The senior Fentress' lived here from 1922 until their deaths in 1961 (39 years).  Because Andy is the son of Louise Gale Fentress (pictured above), the little girl who lived here, I have more information about her than her brother, William Kilby, Jr. Here is what I know about WK, Jr.: 

He was born in 1914 which means he was about eight years old when the family moved into this house.  He graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in engineering. He worked for Texaco, Virginia Electric & Power (VEP the predecessor of Dominion Virginia Power - my Mom worked for them too), and Westinghouse.  He lived  most of his adult life in Pennsylvania and he was married with three children.

 



 

Lou was born in 1920 and she was two when she moved into our house.  According to the 1940 Federal Census, she completed at least two years of college. When she was 23, Lou met and married a Navy pilot named Andy (Sr.).  Not long after they were married Andy (Sr.) was shipped out and served on aircraft carriers in both the Atlantic and Pacific during WWII. Andy ultimately became a Rear Admiral and he has a biography as deep and wide as, well, the ocean.

 

 



Back to Lou.  I have recently discovered that Andy and Lou were married right here, IN OUR HOUSE! There was a photo in the newspaper of the two of them at their wedding and I think it was taken in front of our fireplace.  Sadly, the quality is terrible so I can't reproduce it.  Lou was much loved and admired by her family. Here is what Kathy, her granddaughter-in-law, had to say about her: 

When my husband was about 3 years old, his mother, Lou became very ill. She had to be hospitalized for some time and was eventually diagnosed with MS. During her recovery period of about 6 months, her two boys went to live with their grandparents at the house (our new/old house in West Ghent). They have many fond memories of being there. Their mother, Lou was a very strong woman and refused to be confined to a wheel chair. She instead used a walker and developed some very strong arms to support herself on the walker since she had such limited use of her legs. I've never met anyone like her before. She was always the perfect southern belle! She believed in dressing formally for dinner and was always perfect in her hospitality and manners. And, she was always impeccably dressed. In spite of the fact that she was often in pain, Lou never complained and she never spoke ill of anyone. Lou also had a great sense of adventure and humor and we all loved her dearly.
 

Wow.

Mission: Connection
Still in pursuit of a connection between these Fentress' who were the original owners of our house in 1922 and the Fentress' in my family tree ...