Adelaide Rose Nemick was born in April 1920 to Rose Adelheit Rist Nemick and Joseph Nemick in Newark, NJ. Rose was of German descent and Joseph was Polish as far as we can tell. Adelaide was the second of two children, her sibling was Stanley Joseph. In the 1920's the Nemick family owned a house just off of Clinton Avenue in the Clinton Hill section of Newark, NJ. Stanley and Adelaide's father abandoned the family in the mid 1920's and Rose divorced him in 1929. We know very little about the Nemicks. The family worshipped at Blessed Sacrament Church on Van Ness Place in Newark and Adelaide went to Blessed Sacrament School until she attended and graduated from Weequahic High School, Newark in 1937.
Just out of high school Adelaide started working for the Isenberg Tile Company in downtown Newark and her best friend introduced her to the man who would eventually become her husband, Erroll Raymond Birnie. Erroll lived in the Clinton Hill section of Newark too, not far from Adelaide, and his family also attended Blessed Sacrament Church.
Prompted by the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in January of 1942, at age 26, Erroll Birnie joined the US Navy and was based out of the Naval Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY. During leave from the Navy, on the 12th of December 1943, Erroll and Adelaide married. The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Church where Adelaide's brother Stanley and Erroll's sister Marie were witnesses. After the war Erroll and Adelaide lived for a few years in Newark where he went to work for New Jersey Bell as a repair man and installer, gradually working his way up to dispatcher. They had their first two children, Carol Ann and Joan Eileen, in Newark and then moved to Bloomfield, NJ where a third child, Richard Erroll, was born.
Growing up in Bloomfield, we lead a typical suburban life. Mom and Pop landscaped the property around the new house in Bloomfield, planting trees and shrubs, building a patio, adding walls and manicuring the lawn. Some of our favorite memories were piling into the 1959 Chevy station wagon (Aspen Green on top and Cream on the bottom) and taking road trips to places such as the Jersey shore, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., Gettysburg and Hazelton, PA to visit family. But most of all we were proud of mom's progress in the business world. When we were still in grammar school mom started working for the Development Fund office of Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, NJ. She was allowed to bring home a typewriter so that she could work at home and watch us kids. Next she worked, also at home, for General Business Service in Montclair, NJ, a printing company. I still remember the inky smell of the place when we would deliver jobs to the office. She moved up to Secretary to the Director of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair and finally became Bursar of the Museum.
In her late 50's, mom started having trouble with her legs and walking became increasingly more difficult. She persisted for years trying to find the cause of the problem but all doctors could tell her was that it was Multiple Sclerosis-like but not exactly M.S. Mom's walking and a stroke lead to her being moved into Winchester Gardens in Maplewood, NJ where she passed away in 2004 at age 84. We miss her, think about her often and we know she was proud of us too.
Just out of high school Adelaide started working for the Isenberg Tile Company in downtown Newark and her best friend introduced her to the man who would eventually become her husband, Erroll Raymond Birnie. Erroll lived in the Clinton Hill section of Newark too, not far from Adelaide, and his family also attended Blessed Sacrament Church.
Prompted by the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in January of 1942, at age 26, Erroll Birnie joined the US Navy and was based out of the Naval Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY. During leave from the Navy, on the 12th of December 1943, Erroll and Adelaide married. The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Church where Adelaide's brother Stanley and Erroll's sister Marie were witnesses. After the war Erroll and Adelaide lived for a few years in Newark where he went to work for New Jersey Bell as a repair man and installer, gradually working his way up to dispatcher. They had their first two children, Carol Ann and Joan Eileen, in Newark and then moved to Bloomfield, NJ where a third child, Richard Erroll, was born.
Growing up in Bloomfield, we lead a typical suburban life. Mom and Pop landscaped the property around the new house in Bloomfield, planting trees and shrubs, building a patio, adding walls and manicuring the lawn. Some of our favorite memories were piling into the 1959 Chevy station wagon (Aspen Green on top and Cream on the bottom) and taking road trips to places such as the Jersey shore, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., Gettysburg and Hazelton, PA to visit family. But most of all we were proud of mom's progress in the business world. When we were still in grammar school mom started working for the Development Fund office of Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, NJ. She was allowed to bring home a typewriter so that she could work at home and watch us kids. Next she worked, also at home, for General Business Service in Montclair, NJ, a printing company. I still remember the inky smell of the place when we would deliver jobs to the office. She moved up to Secretary to the Director of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair and finally became Bursar of the Museum.
In her late 50's, mom started having trouble with her legs and walking became increasingly more difficult. She persisted for years trying to find the cause of the problem but all doctors could tell her was that it was Multiple Sclerosis-like but not exactly M.S. Mom's walking and a stroke lead to her being moved into Winchester Gardens in Maplewood, NJ where she passed away in 2004 at age 84. We miss her, think about her often and we know she was proud of us too.
Adelaide Rose Nemick was born in April 1920 to Rose Adelheit Rist Nemick and Joseph Nemick in Newark, NJ. Rose was of German descent and Joseph was Polish as far as we can tell. Adelaide was the second of two children, her sibling was Stanley Joseph. In the 1920's the Nemick family owned a house just off of Clinton Avenue in the Clinton Hill section of Newark, NJ. Stanley and Adelaide's father abandoned the family in the mid 1920's and Rose divorced him in 1929. We know very little about the Nemicks. The family worshipped at Blessed Sacrament Church on Van Ness Place in Newark and Adelaide went to Blessed Sacrament School until she attended and graduated from Weequahic High School, Newark in 1937.
Just out of high school Adelaide started working for the Isenberg Tile Company in downtown Newark and her best friend introduced her to the man who would eventually become her husband, Erroll Raymond Birnie. Erroll lived in the Clinton Hill section of Newark too, not far from Adelaide, and his family also attended Blessed Sacrament Church.
Prompted by the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in January of 1942, at age 26, Erroll Birnie joined the US Navy and was based out of the Naval Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY. During leave from the Navy, on the 12th of December 1943, Erroll and Adelaide married. The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Church where Adelaide's brother Stanley and Erroll's sister Marie were witnesses. After the war Erroll and Adelaide lived for a few years in Newark where he went to work for New Jersey Bell as a repair man and installer, gradually working his way up to dispatcher. They had their first two children, Carol Ann and Joan Eileen, in Newark and then moved to Bloomfield, NJ where a third child, Richard Erroll, was born.
Growing up in Bloomfield, we lead a typical suburban life. Mom and Pop landscaped the property around the new house in Bloomfield, planting trees and shrubs, building a patio, adding walls and manicuring the lawn. Some of our favorite memories were piling into the 1959 Chevy station wagon (Aspen Green on top and Cream on the bottom) and taking road trips to places such as the Jersey shore, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., Gettysburg and Hazelton, PA to visit family. But most of all we were proud of mom's progress in the business world. When we were still in grammar school mom started working for the Development Fund office of Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, NJ. She was allowed to bring home a typewriter so that she could work at home and watch us kids. Next she worked, also at home, for General Business Service in Montclair, NJ, a printing company. I still remember the inky smell of the place when we would deliver jobs to the office. She moved up to Secretary to the Director of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair and finally became Bursar of the Museum.
In her late 50's, mom started having trouble with her legs and walking became increasingly more difficult. She persisted for years trying to find the cause of the problem but all doctors could tell her was that it was Multiple Sclerosis-like but not exactly M.S. Mom's walking and a stroke lead to her being moved into Winchester Gardens in Maplewood, NJ where she passed away in 2004 at age 84. We miss her, think about her often and we know she was proud of us too.
Just out of high school Adelaide started working for the Isenberg Tile Company in downtown Newark and her best friend introduced her to the man who would eventually become her husband, Erroll Raymond Birnie. Erroll lived in the Clinton Hill section of Newark too, not far from Adelaide, and his family also attended Blessed Sacrament Church.
Prompted by the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in January of 1942, at age 26, Erroll Birnie joined the US Navy and was based out of the Naval Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY. During leave from the Navy, on the 12th of December 1943, Erroll and Adelaide married. The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Church where Adelaide's brother Stanley and Erroll's sister Marie were witnesses. After the war Erroll and Adelaide lived for a few years in Newark where he went to work for New Jersey Bell as a repair man and installer, gradually working his way up to dispatcher. They had their first two children, Carol Ann and Joan Eileen, in Newark and then moved to Bloomfield, NJ where a third child, Richard Erroll, was born.
Growing up in Bloomfield, we lead a typical suburban life. Mom and Pop landscaped the property around the new house in Bloomfield, planting trees and shrubs, building a patio, adding walls and manicuring the lawn. Some of our favorite memories were piling into the 1959 Chevy station wagon (Aspen Green on top and Cream on the bottom) and taking road trips to places such as the Jersey shore, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., Gettysburg and Hazelton, PA to visit family. But most of all we were proud of mom's progress in the business world. When we were still in grammar school mom started working for the Development Fund office of Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, NJ. She was allowed to bring home a typewriter so that she could work at home and watch us kids. Next she worked, also at home, for General Business Service in Montclair, NJ, a printing company. I still remember the inky smell of the place when we would deliver jobs to the office. She moved up to Secretary to the Director of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair and finally became Bursar of the Museum.
In her late 50's, mom started having trouble with her legs and walking became increasingly more difficult. She persisted for years trying to find the cause of the problem but all doctors could tell her was that it was Multiple Sclerosis-like but not exactly M.S. Mom's walking and a stroke lead to her being moved into Winchester Gardens in Maplewood, NJ where she passed away in 2004 at age 84. We miss her, think about her often and we know she was proud of us too.
