V. Bert J. Dobson (1875–1911) was born in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois, in 1875, when his father, Joseph, was 37 and his mother, Lucina, was 28. He died on 18 November 1911, in Rockford, Illinois, at the age of 36. His death was caused by rheumatism.Death of Bert Dobson Tue, Nov 21, 1911 – Page 4 · The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois) · Newspapers.com
There is no indication that Bert married or had children.
VI. Flora Luella Dobson (1877–1960)
Flora was born on 22 September 1877 in Burritt, Winnebago County, Illinois. On 6 April 1897, she married Henry James "Jim" Homan (1876–1942), the son of Henry Alexander Homan (1851–1930) and Jane L "Jennie" Jones (1851–1929). Jim was born on 12 May 1876 in Milan, Rock Island, Illinois.
Jim and Flora lived in Mayfield, De Kalb County, where Jim farmed until sometime after 1910 when he found work as an engineer in a gas plant. The family moved to De Kalb, which is where they were according to the 1920 and 1930 Census records. Jim died on 23 December 1942 after an illness of several months. He was 66 years of age. Flora lived in De Kalb until her death at age 82 on 24 June 1960. They were buried in the Fairview Cemetery in De Kalb.
A. Claude Carl Homan (1900–1981) was born on the auspicious date of 23 April 1900 and grew up in Mayfield, De Kalb County, Illinois. He married Olga Sophie Hegland (1903–1957) on 28 July 1920. Olga was the eldest daughter of Norwegian immigrants Ole O Hegland (1872–1950) and Anna Olson (1883–1952). She was born 5 May 1903 and grew up in La Salle and De Kalb counties.
Claude and Olga raised two daughters in De Kalb, both of whom are still living. Claude worked in a number of different jobs over the years: he retired as an employee of Nehring Electrical Works, worked as a janitor at the Moose Lodge, and as a driver. Olga was active in the local community, serving as an officer and organizer in the lodge. Olga died in De Kalb on 9 February 1957 and was honored by the community.
Claude married the widowed Mrs. Alma Stevens in DeKalb on 11 November 1957, and the following year, they opened the Homan Cafe, which they ran together for about a decade.
Claude died 13 February 1981, at age 80, at the Rockford Memorial Hospital. Alma died Sunday, July 24, 1983, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital.
B. Gladys M Homan (1903–1993) was born on 7 August 1903 in Mayfield, Illinois. She married Robert J Bodda (1902–1963) and they had one son together, but divorced in 1925. According to the Daily Chronicle of De Kalb, Gladys cited his frequent drunkenness as the reason for wanting to dissolve their union.
Robert was born 12 March 1902, the second son of Charles R Bodda (b. 1871) and Mary Jane Ferguson (1880–1955) - as near as I can tell, no relation to our other Ferguson families. He seems to have settled in San Francisco, where he shipped out as a sailor, appearing on the roster of the U.S. Army Transport "Sea Cat" in 1944, sailing to Pearl Harbor and back. He died on 23 September 1963 in San Fransisco County, California.
Gladys married Frank Alphonzo Howard (1904–1993) on 3 November 1928, and they raised her son, Robert, together in De Kalb. Frank was born 1 August 1904, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, the son of Edward and Etta (Elliott) Howard. He worked at the Nehring Electrical Works for over 60 years as an electrician machinist, was a member of the DeKalb Moose Lodge as a life secretary, and attended the Cortland Methodist Church.
Frank died Wednesday. 23 February 1993 at Pine Acres Care Center in De Kalb, at the age of 88. Gladys died at the age of 90 on 10 December 1993, also at Pine Acres Care Center in De Kalb.
1. Robert Norman Bodda (1920-2003) grew up in De Kalb, Illinois, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on 5 March 1941. Thanks to numerous news bulletins in the Daily Chronicle, we know more details about his life and career than usual.
In his first thirteen months in the Army, young Robert Bodda was promoted four times, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. In May 1942, he was in Camp Forrest, Tennessee, training recruits; on 19 October that year, he graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. During the war, he was stationed in the Aleutian Islands, in Alaska.
After the war, Lieutenant Bodda married Carrie Ann Concidine (1923–1993) on 12 November 1948, and they soon had a daughter - still living. In November 1949, he was sent to Japan, but when the Korean conflict began, he was deployed there with the 24th Signal Company of the 24th Infantry Division. In August 1950, he was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in Korea.
Carrie was the daughter of Stanley Roy Concidine (1891–1939) and Gladys Ava Mosher (1895–1963), and during the war, she and her baby daughter lived with her widowed mother near Elva, Illinois. She and Robert divorced at some point, and she remarried in June of 1944. She would go on to have another daughter, and to work as an administrative secretary for Vice-President Dr. Oeigle in the alumni office at Northern Illinois University.
Major Robert Bodda Sat, Aug 17, 1963 – Page 2 · The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois) · Newspapers.comMajor Robert Bodda retired from the U.S. Army Signal Corp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in 1963, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. By this time, he and Josephine had a son, still living, and they retired with their family to Sacramento, California. He died in Sacramento on 4 October 2003, leaving behind his wife, children, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Josephine died in 2014, and they are buried in East Lawn Elk Grove Memorial Park, Sacramento County, California.
C. Chester H Homan (1906–1988) was born 6 August 1906 in Illinois. He married Dorothy Lenore Trowbridge (1908–1979), probably in 1925. Dorothy was born 4 September 1908 and grew up in Hickory Hill, Wayne County, Illinois. She was the daughter of Fredrick Raymond Trowbridge (1879–1973) and Daisy R Myers (1885–1973) - no relation to our other Myers families, as far as I can tell.
Chester and Dorothy lived in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, where Chester worked in the steel mills for many years. They had one daughter, still living, and Chester worked as a security guard in the mills during the 1940s. Dorothy died 22 February 1979 at a nursing home in Joliet. Chester died Tuesday, 27 December 1988 at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet. They were survived by their daughter, two granddaughters, and two great-grandsons.
D. Grace Jennie Homan (1908–1999) was born 22 July 1908 in De Kalb, De Kalb County, Illinois. She married Stanley D Dreska (1902–1967) on 14 Aug 1926 in Sycamore, De Kalb County.
Born on 20 September 1902, Stanley was the son of Joseph Dresczka (1851–1938) and Magdalena Przygoda (1863–1938) and grew up in Perry County, Illinois. His parents were immigrants from Germany and Poland who came to the U.S. in the early 1870s.
Stanley and Grace had three daughters, two of whom are still living. Stanley was employed as a factory worker in De Kalb; Grace worked for Nehring Electrical Works of De Kalb and then was an operator for DeKalb-Ogle Telephone Company.
Stanley died 11 December 1967 in De Kalb at the age of 65; Grace died on Sunday, 2 May 1999 in Sycamore, at the age of 90. They were buried in the church cemetery of in St. Mary's Catholic Church of DeKalb.
1. Geraine Mary "Geri" Dreska (1936–2017) was born 16 October 1936 in De Kalb, Illinois. After graduating from St. Anthony dePaula in Chicago, she was a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, Illinois.
Geri married in the 1950s, and she and her husband raised three sons and two daughters, most of whom are still living. At some point, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Geri worked for Total Home Health Care. She died on 9 May 2017, survived by her husband, two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren.
a. Patrick David "Pat" Wells (1963–2010) was the son of Geri Dreska Wells; he was born on 29 November 1963, in Aurora, Illinois, and at the time of his death, he had been a 16-year resident of Seminole, Florida. Pat graduated from Saint Leo College in Florida. He worked as a carpet installer for his father's carpet business and eventually started his own installation crew, subcontracting for Home Depot. Patrick was survived by his parents, a young son, his longtime companion, siblings, and niece and nephews.
E. Russel Leverne Homan (1920–2002) was born 5 September 1920 in De Kalb, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 29 September 1942 and served in the European-African and Middle Eastern theaters with the 28th Division infantry. He was able to return home to see his father in November that year, before Jim died on 23 December 1942.
Russel married Marie Antoinette Giartonia (1924–1992) on 10 November 1945 in De Kalb County, Illinois. She also went by the name Marion. They were still married in 1963, but it appears they were divorced later, and his obituary indicated that they had no children.
Russel was a machine operator for 28 years at Anaconda Wire Co., retiring in 1981. He was a lifelong resident of DeKalb. He died Tuesday, 19 November 2002, at DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center in DeKalb.
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We're almost there, everyone! One more post and I'll have finished all of the basic research. Then I can work on the book!
Welcome to any new cousins who are related to the James Callin descendants through this family. As always, if I've made any mistakes, or if you think I should include a story about your grandparents or parents, please reach out and let me know. There is a Callin Family History Facebook group you can join if you want to comment privately to a group of James Callin's descendants, or you can email me (I'm callintad at Gmail.com), or you can even comment below.
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