John F. Campagna b. June 21, 1918, the youngest of 12 children born to Antonio and Maria “Mary” Concetta (Sansone) Campagna, was the only child to be born in Ashtabula city on a dead end street close to the tracks on West Ave. His parents moved to a house on Strong Ave. that they owned (this house was half way up the street closer to Rt. 20), andthis is where he spent his first years that he can remember. John remembers starting first grade here. After Mike died, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan for about 6 months, but Ma didn’t like it there and wanted to come back to Ashtabula. When they moved back from Detroit, they rented a little house on West Avenue close to Route 20 while their home was being built (in 1926) on Strong Ave—4717. This is where Ma and Augie remained the rest of their life. They had owned this last property before they moved to Detroit. Augie and Salvatore had bought this property together and put it in their mother’s name.
Originally Antonio and Maria “Mary” possibly had an arranged marriage when they moved to this country from Termini Immerse, Sicily. They met in Cleveland, possibly through relatives who already lived in Cleveland. They lived there after their marriage and both Augustino (August “Augie”) and Eleanore were born there before they moved to their farm on the-corner of Route 84 and Blake Road, Ashtabula. Their house was an old stage coach depot at one time. This was located closer to the corner at the top of the hill and the property went almost to the railroad tracks on Blake Road. The rest of the family was born here.
Antonio worked at the Tannery on Tannery Hill but wasn’t really happy with his job. They didn’t have very good working conditions. This is possibly how he ended up with stomach cancer and died at the age of 46.
On Sundays, Antonio’s family would come from Cleveland to their farmhouse to get away from the city, and Mary would have to cook for the whole group plus everything else. They didn’t have much money so she would make spaghetti and beans — pasta fasule, as well as other macaroni dishes. During the depression, Mary would put out mousetraps on the porch with bread as bait to catch sparrows to make sparrow soup.
They ended up going bankrupt and losing their farm. Mary wanted him to put the farm in her name but Antonio wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t a woman’s place. They had also owned some property in Girard, PA, that they possibly lost. John didn‘t remember too much about this. He wasn’t sure how they acquired it either.
One Sunday morning while walking to St. Joseph Church from their Strong Ave. house, a bird pooped on Ma’s hat. She had a really good laugh out of that. They didn’t get their first car until 1929 when Augie and Salve pooled their money — between $600-$700. This was a new car. Salve never did drive the car.
Eleanora “Eleanor” liked a man, Alfred Kester, but got in trouble talking to him. She wanted out of this area and ended up going to Hudson, OH, where she met and married Camillio “Camill” Calderari. They had a son, Emelio “Emil” who was close to the age of John. John said that Alfred probably would have been a better husband to Eleanore than Camille.
When Emil grew up he was also in the Army. He later married Angelino “Angie” Berardi and they had a daughter, Alice b. Aug. 25, 1949. Angie ended up getting sick and was in a nursing home. Emil divorced her and married Adeline Edelburg on July 12.
When Augie was 17 year old, being the oldest boy, he had the “head of the family” thrust onto his shoulders as his father passed away. He had to quit school in the eighth grade. He went to work in Archie Tickner’s greenhouse. While working here he ended up getting some sinus problems. He would sweat quite a bit and drank warm water. He thought this would help his sinuses. He never did drink as much water as he should.
In 1935 he took a job at the Ashtabula Bow Socket, which is where he retired from. He was in the nickel-plating department. He dipped bicycle handlebars and other items in the hot solution. Just before he retired, something went wrong with the machine and some of the hot nickel splashed on his face. It left a few scars—but not too bad once they healed. He was also active in the 4″ Degree of the Knights of Columbus. In his later years he ended up with prostrate problems. He also ended up on dialysis before he passed away in 1985.
Augie, Michael and Salvatore “Salve” had to work and give their paychecks to Augie and Ma also. Michael and Salve didn’t have much of their life and they died in their late 20’s. Salvatore was 25 when died. he died of tuberculosis and had a contributing factor of dementia praecox. tuberculosis could go travel. it’s suspected it went into his brain.
Michael was 19 and died in 1925 Death certificate states cause of death was mild carditits and toxemia. He died when John was preschool age so he didn’t know him very well. John didn’t know too much about Mike also, only what Augie told John.
Salvatore had “midnight blue “hair. It was so dark black that it had a bluish shine. John had always admired him. Salvatore also had to only look forward to work and handing over his paycheck. Mike and Salve would have liked to go to a show or dance or something but were never allowed to do this either
These were fraternal twin death On April 24,1909 cause of death for the girl was lack of nutritionnand premature birth the boy had no cause of death given.
John also had a sister Mary who died at the age of 13. He didn’t know much about her as this happened before he was born .Mary lived in the instituion for feeble minded in columbus ohio. she died of tb.
Rose was a sister that John felt close to. She and her sister Carsma worked during their summer packing apples to help make a little money. Rose was content to stay at home and help her mother.
In 1944, when John came home on a furlough from the Army, during World War I, Eleanor came to the house when she found out he was going to be home. She saw Rose and she didn’t look very good. Her legs were so swelled — she had elephantitis (dropsie), or water on the legs. John didn’t know that she was sick. When Eleanore saw her, she said that Augie should get her to the hospital, as there was something very seriously wrong with her. That night she passed away at the hospital. They had her funeral while he was at home. She was 36 years old.
Carsma Marie wanted to be a beautician, so Augie and Ma took her to Cleveland to attend school there. They checked everything out and found an apartment for her to live She met George Stanwood, who was a truck driver. They would have had 5 children, but only one survived, Judith “Judy” Marie. There would have been a set of twins also among these children. Carsma had toxemia with the first and no one knows what happened to the others at birth. They lived in Cleveland.
Italian families typically had a favorite son. In the Campagna family, this was Joe. Joe was a cute baby. All of the children went to free public schools. But Joe went to private school through the church. Much of the little extra money there was went to Joe’s tuition.
Joseph was a prankster and loved his baseball. He always tried to get the best of everyone. He was married three times. His first wife was Peggy Gates. They had a daughter but he didn’t know for many years. No one knows what happened. With his
second wife, she had a son from a previous marriage. Apparently, he was the kind of person who couldn’t put up with kids. So this marriage was in jeopardy from the beginning. We don’t know anything about his third wife.
Joe was obsessed with baseball when he was younger. He did embroidery on bowling shirts for many years. He had a nervous breakdown from having to do so much lettering and John and Norma finished the lettering and took over the business. John made the patterns and Norma did the embroidery.
Joe also worked for the Dill Manufacturing Co. in Cleveland. Here he started to get involved with bowling. This also became an obsession for a while. He later went back into baseball and started the Old Timer’s League. He had worked at many jobs. He really liked a neighbor girl, but may gave them the evil eye and that was that.
Joe had been married three times. His first wife was Margarite “Peggy” Gates. They had a daughter together but no one knew about her for many years. No one has ever met the daughter. Their marriage didn’t last very long. The second wife, had a son that was brought into their marriage, but their marriage was doomed from the start. Joe didn’t know how to handle having a child around. He wasn’t very good at handling being a father. This marriage didn’t last long either. His third wife was Julia N. Kirby. They were married Dec. 5, 1950 in Gallipolis, OH. She had moved to this area and that is how they met. She was the youngest of his wives.
Again, this marriage didn’t last very long. He later dated Olga Urbanowitz from Parma Heights,
OH. The family all liked her and they also planned on getting married. She wrote the Bishop to
get Joe’s last marriage absolved so they could marry in the church, but it was denied in 1962 from the Diocese of Cleveland. So they never did marry and they went their separate ways. Olga married someone else from Ashtabula and they had an apple orchard.
Throughout his years he suffered from manic depression. In his earlier years we never knew what the matter was and made it embarrassing for all of us nieces and nephews who lived in Ashtabula. He would call out our name at the top of his voice when we entered a bowling alley, restaurant, or anywhere he happened to be that we went in. He didn’t care if we were with someone or not. He’d grab us and introduce us to people he was acquainted with and it was rather embarrassing to us, especially since we were in high school and college and our early dating days.
There was another story where kids would cherish their tasty food and Joe would snatch it and put it in his mouth. John Anthony knew of this, so we took a perfect bite of an Oreo cookie, then cleaned out the filling and replaced it with Ivory Soap. With the bait ready, he went in front of Uncle Joe and was about to really enjoy his second bite and Joe would snatch the cookie and stuff it in his mouth. Joe told John to get after John Anthony for this, but John was too busy laughing.
Anthony “Tony” was the closest in age to John and they were both a lot alike as being quiet and gentle. They liked to do the same kind of things together. Tony did enjoy playing baseball also. Before he went to the service, he worked at the Ashtabula Bow Socket. Tony also enjoyed playing ball and was on some of the same teams as Joe.
Tony also got called to the service during World War II. He was a Pvt. in the Army Quartermaster Corps (mechanic in the service) and served his time in the British Isle’s. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky. He was overseas and ended up in battle and shellshocked during the Blitz Kreig — when Hitler was bombing England. He ended up having a lobotomy, as that was the going thing in those days to help them medically. He spent the remainder of his life in Washington Court House — a Veterans Hospital im Chillicothe, He could only remember certain parts of his life before the war. He ended up being a chain smoker and passed away in 1969. He never did have much of a life after the Service.
Their mother never spoke English but could understand it. She was a happy go lucky type of person. She was always jolly when we visited her. When she got older, the grandchildren from Ashtabula would “Grandma sit” while Augie would go to his Knights of Columbus meetings. John said that she seemed to be happy and easy going—but she did have a stubborn streak. When she was younger she was goimg to try to learn English, but Carsma and Joe would make fun of how she pronounced words—she had enough and said that was it. So she never did learn to speak English. Dad said that if you made her mad, you didn’t want to be near her — she had a mean temper.
She did live to see her granddaughter, Judy, get married to Michael DiCicco and see and hold her first great-granddaughter, Rose Marie.
Back to John—who was also known as the “blouse baby” as Ma had told Eleanor to go to the store and get some protection so she wouldn’t have any more children, but instead she came home with a new blouse. Consequently, John came along.
When he was about 14 months old, his father passed away, leaving the older brothers to help with raising him as well as the others and taking care of their mother. John said that when he was a young man that he was in front of his house talking to a neighbor girl and Ma didn’t approve of this and gave both of them the evil eye also. He wasn’t allowed to talk to a “female.”
John said Augie was like his “Dad” as he didn’t remember his real Dad. John worked at Grisel’s farm during his summer vacations from school in 1935 and 1936, doing hoeing and some work in the greenhouse. He also worked at Tickners’ on Samuel Avenue and Luce’s greenhouses about a block away from Tickner’s in Ashtabula after graduation. These were on the south side of the tracks on Nathan Avenue. You can’t see them from the road. They are no longer there.
In 1941 he worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad doing section work — repairs on the tracks. The people doing this were nicknamed “ganny dancers.” He also worked in Hudson for about 6 months on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
During this time he lived with his sister, Eleanore. John moved back to Ashtabula and decided to sail the lakes, which only lasted about 4 months on the Emory L. Ford. He had to leave this job as he got drafted into the Army, when World War II started. He found out that there was a little time before he had to leave, so he worked on the New York Central Railroad until he left on Oct. 9, 1941.
John and a friend, Sam Scharelly, were both called to the service and both sent to Fort Hayes, Columbus, OH. where they were sent to two different ways– John in the Medical Corps and Sam to the Signal Corps. Sam was sent to Italy and was killed in action. From Fort Hays, John was sent to Rockford, Ill for basic training–but it was cut short because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was then sent to Kelly Field in San Antonio, TX and put into a pool of soldiers.
When in the Army Air Corp (what would become the Air Force) they were asking for volunteers for training to become a physical therapist. The soldier next to John nudged him to do this so they wouldn’t have to go to war. It also helped that John was a strong typer, he could document injuries better and be useful here rather than go to war. (Later in life, he encourage his boys John Anthony and Paul to learn to type, saying it may save you from war in Vietnam)
From there, John was sent to Lubbock, TX at a station hospital where he was working for a while. He was sent to Amarillo, TX, as well as Sheppard Field, TX for studying physiotherapy, then back to Lubbock for more training. He was there for about 2 % years doing physiotherapy also. Lubbock was John’s regular base before VE Day (Victory in Europe). After training, he was sent to San Antonio Aviation Center (SAACC—pronounced SACK) He was discharged from here on Dec. 8, 1945. While stationed in Amarillo, he saw Donald O’Connor (a movie actor), who was also in the service, stationed there. Donald learned to fly there.
Norma Olga Ottmers was born Nov. 9, 1920, the daughter of Helmuth and Alma (Koennecke) Ottmers. She was the fourth of their six children. She was born at their farmhouse in Cave Creek, Texas–about 12 miles from Fredericksburg.
Helmuth bought the property his farm was on from the Wcyershouscns. When he was younger, he worked in a land quarry where they dug the white limestone—like a soft rock—they melted in kilns to make blocks to build the rock houses. It’s like a concrete. The people down there called it “deck”. No one is sure of the proper name of it. If you look at the hills—you will notice they look white. (It may be like a bit of clay.) Clifton gave the information to Diane and said that when he was young he remembered hearing his parents talk that Oma and Opa were well off until Aunt Minna got sick with her appendix bursting and having to have surgery. She also had Polio.
Their father may have acquired the money to buy his home with the money he made in the quarry. He had a working farm as his children grew up. He had cows, horses, pigs, sheep and chickens. He also grew oats, cotton, and the essentials to live on for the family. They all pitched in with the butchering and making the sausage they needed for the winter. They made their own sauerkraut and kept these items in stone crocks in their little cellar. They hung their sausage in the smokehouse until it had cured and they were placed in crocks with lard around them to keep them from spoiling during the winter.
Opa always said that you’ve heard the saying, “Dumb as a sheep.” This came about because sheep will only try to do something once and if it didn’t work, they won’t try again. They could be stuck in mud and they would die before attempting to get out of it again. He had to count his sheep at night when he went to gather them up to make sure that all were accounted for—otherwise, he’d have to go looking for any missing ones.
Clifton said that he and his brothers would spend time at Oma and Opa’s house in the summers and help shuck the corn and when Opa laughed it reminded him of Santa because his belly would shake. Also, it was Oma’s job to season the sausage — everyone had to be quiet when she did this. They each had their own jobs. Some had to mix the blood with their hands for blood sausage.
After school, the children had to go out into the cotton field and pick the cotton before supper and homework after supper. Norma said that the rows were long and by the time you picked one row and back, your sack was filled and fingers raw from the hard shells that the cotton grew inside.
Norma’s job was milking the cows before school. She said that at one time her hands had gotten so sore that she could no longer milk them. She was told not to milk them till her hands cleared up. She went back to milking when they cleared up and she broke out again on her hands. She was allergic to the cows.
Norma’s oldest brother was Guenther Frederick Edward, born Feb. 29, 1912. He was married to Clara Vogel on June 1, 1935. They had three sons, Clifton Paul, Kenneth Alvin, and Guenther George, Jr. They owned a house on the corner of Mistletoe and Creek Road. This property was originally owned by Oma and Opa (Fred) Koennecke—Guenther’s grandparents. The boys went to school at St. Mary’s School in Fredericksburg.
Guenther was part owner of Fredericksburg Implement Co., which was a plumbing shop. He had his father work for him so he (his father) could later get Social Security for his retirement. Opa mainly worked his farm as his children were growing up.
Clifton married Marjorie “Margie” Ann Oehler on Sept. 2, 1961. They did not have any children. Clifton worked at the Post Office and Margie at Bowing, which made airplanes.
Kenneth married Carolyn Cathleen Wayland, Nov. 18, 1971 in Bloomington, IN. They had a son Michael Kenneth born May 8, 1973. Kenneth and Carolyn later divorced but stayed good friends. Kenneth worked for RCA Television after getting out of the Army. He moved to Bloomington after the service and remained there.
Guenther Jr. married LaVerne Alice Duecker on June 1, 1963. They have two children. Leah Nicole, born May 9, 1975. They adopted her, and then had a biological son, Guenther “Trae” George, born April 10, 1978.
Leah married Jared Itz. They have two children, Kaiden and Jaley Grace, born March 7, 2006.
Norma’s sister Minna Meta was born April 5, 1915. She married Alvin Joseph Novian on Aug. 16, 1939. They were unable to have children of their own and wanted to be parents. They were able to adopt a daughter, Carol Ann, born Feb. 28, 1952. They said she was a sickly child at first and they hovered over her and watched her constantly. They were strict with Carol. She wasn’t allowed to go to friends’ houses or seldom have friends over.
Carol married Richard “Rick” Hartmann on Oct. 11, 1969. They had two children, Dennis Ray born April 9, 1970 and Jennifer Sue, born April 1, 1971. Carol and Rick divorced while he was in the service and stationed in Killeen, TX. Carol married Clifton “Cliff’ Osborne in 1972. They had a child, Jeremy Jason , born May 10, 1977. Carol and Cliff also divorced and Carol then married Donny Wade Moellendorf.
Minna and Alvin lived next door to Oma and Opa Koennecke–(Minna’s grandparents) until they built their house on the San Antonio Highway. They lived here until they were unable to physically take care of the place and had to go to Knopp Nursing Home in Fredericksburg. Alvin ended up having a stroke about a month before their 50th Wedding Anniversary. He was unable to walk and talk and was confined to a wheelchair. After this, they moved into the nursing home. Their grandchildren helped them as much as possible. They spent the remainder of their life here. They are buried at the St Mary’s Mausoleum in Fredericksburg.
When Minna was young, her appendix burst and her parents had to bring her to St. Louis by train to have surgery. She was sent home when she was able to leave the hospital. When she returned home, her stitches burst from infection and they had to bring her back.
She also had polio, which affected her leg hip and leg. She was in an iron lung for a time.
Alvin was in the Navy during World War 11. When he came home he worked at the Fredericksburg Implement Plumbing for his brother-in-law, Guenther. Later he worked as a plumber for Nixon Plumbing from where he retired.
In 1957, Minna was doing her wash—which she heated up the water in the back yard in a brick fireplace and carried it in buckets into her washroom. This was in a room added onto her house behind her garage. The fireplace was in a sandy area. She had to walk up a little knoll above the sandy area into the crabgrass, which had runners. She got her foot caught in a runner and bucket of scalding water came rushing downhill towards her arm and side and scalded her. She managed to make it into the house and to the phone to call for help. Iler wet dress had to be cut off her. The skin came off with the dress. She had some scars in this area. She had her sister, Norma pick up her daughter from school that day. Carol stayed at Norma’s house till Minna was out of the hospital.
Gilbert Armand was next in line. He was born at home in Cave Creek Community,. Gilbert married Irene Emma Meta Oehler Nov. 23, 1941. They had a daughter, Carolyn Ruth, born April 23, 1943 in Fredericksburg. He was in the Navy during World War II and stationed in California. During this time, Carolyn Ruth got polio in her hip and was in an iron lung. After the war, they moved back to Fredericksburg. Gilbert was part owner of Fredericksburg Machine and Appliance. Irene worked as a waitress at the Deluxe Motel & Restaurant. Carolyn went to Austin to a business college. She enjoyed watching boxing and the Texas A & M football games. She also enjoyed doing embroidering.
Gilbert was the first in his family to finish school. His parents let him travel into town to attend grades eight through twelve. He also attended a business school. He sold his part of the business when he retired. They lived in town for many years and then owned property just outside of town that had acreage for cattle. They also had pecan and peach trees and a nice size garden. They built a beautiful home overlooking the hill country towards town. There was an old farm house on this property that they let family stay when they came to visit from out of state. They also had people from Germany stay there when they had the German Fest in town.
Norma and Minna worked at a bakery in San Antonio when they were in their later teen years and early 20’s.
Question: How did people get horses in the old days?
Answer: You would shoot them in their neck, up high, just below that lump where the mane grew. The horse would act drunk so you could walk right up and put a rope on them. If you shot too high, they would run away and wouldn’t let you get close enough to get another good shot. But if you shot too low, you would kill it. Afler you shot and tied it up, you would doctor it back to health, and it would think you are a good friend.
When asked if he would get on a wild horse to break them, he said that was too dangerous. He would hook a wild horse to a wagon and have it pull the wagon around all day collecting rocks out of the fields. By the end of the day when the horse was tired, he would get on the horse to break it to ride.
The first time Oma and Opa saw each other was in the one room schoolhouse. Oma was having her first day in first grade. Opa was a little older so he was in a higher erade, but she remembered him because he got a spanking.
When Opa was a young boy, he didn’t like to go to town. He said the American boys would pick on him and call him Dutch. He said he would always end up in a fight when he went to town.
When asked if he ever had trouble with Indians, he said no, but he said that the people before him said that sometimes when an Indian would walk by a house, they would get curious and sometimes look into the windows and the people would show them a butcher knife and the Indians would just leave.
Opa told me that his brother was killed by a tractor. The rear tires went into a ditch and the front end of the tractor went up in the air and the tractor flipped over, upside down, pinning his brother to the ground with the tractor seat. The weight of the tractor killed him.
Opa told me about two brothers that were killed by the same rattlesnake years apart. The older bother was bitten by the snake and died. He was wearing boots which were kind of expensive. The snake bit the boot and a tooth broke off in the boot. The boots were then passed onto the younger brother. When he was big enough to wear them, the tooth cut the younger brother and he died also.
Question: Were there ever any antelopes in this area?
Answer: A long time ago there were some antelopes. They were referred to as wild goats. They caused trouble and we couldn’t keep them fenced out. We were happy to get rid of them all.
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What comes to mind when 1 think of Oma and Opa as we only lived in Fredericksburg for four years..
I can still see her sitting in the wooden chair by her dresser and combing her hair in the middle of the afternoon. It would hang down her back past the scat of the chair. She would first take down her braid and comb her long hair. Then she would part it down the middle to the back of her head. She would bring one half to the front and with the other half start braiding it without looking in the mirror. From time to time she would dip her fingers in a glass of water and run it down the long strands of hair and continue braiding. I don’t remember how she finished the ends to keep them from unbraiding. When both braids were done, she would wrap the braids in opposite direction, tuck the ends under and use those open hair pins to secure her braid.
One time when we were in Texas visiting, I tagged along with Opa, Uncle Alvin, Dad and John Anthony on a walk through the property looking for squirrels. (Squirrels were a pest eating pecans out of the pecan orchard) Opa’s dog, Rover, was also with us. Rover meandered ahead of us and then all of a sudden he started to yelp and rub his head on the ground and anywhere he could. A skunk had sprayed his face. Opa just told us not to let Rover get near us or rub against us — which he would have liked to do.
Another story that I could remember was at the last Christmas that we were living in Fredericksburg. We were all sitting around Oma and Opa’s kitchen talking and Carol Ann was acting up. Aunt Minna and Uncle Alvin were trying to get her to settle down, when the kept telling her that she’d better be good because Santa was coming soon and would see what she was doing. All of a sudden there was a knock on the back window that we heard and we saw Santa calling “Carol Ann.” She straightened up in a hurry! We later found out it was Uncle Genther
I remember one get-together when we lived at Tasch’s rental house — I think it was Lynnette’s baptismal day. Carolyn Ruth and I were against Junior and John Anthony and the guys would always try to get the best of us. All I can remember was John and Junior had put a rope above the door to have it drop down on us and scare us.
John also liked to chase me with the horned toads that he would carry by the tail.
We always looked forward to our trips to Texas and spending time with all our relatives.
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Also included in the Ottmers side of the family are two more brothers and their families of Norma are James Elgin Ottmers and Harold Ottmers. Norma said her job was to keep an eye on these two for her mother. She said that her mother had rheumatoid arthritis and she couldn’t move around too well.
Harold was born Dec. 25, 1926 in Cave Creek, TX and later married Joyce Elisa Mueller on April 24, 1949 in Trinity Lutheran Church, Twin Sisters, TX. They lived west of Fredericksburg and when we would go to visit them, we would go through an area where some oil fields gave off a horrible odor. Mom would give us a “clean” diaper (as Lynnette and Pat were babies at that time) to hold over our noses. We didn’t make that trip too often as we only lived in Fredericksburg for four years.
Harold and Joyce had four children, Marilyn Kay, Carey Wayne, Merle Jean and Neil Craig.
Marilyn married Richard Henry Weidmann and they have a daughter, Cara who married Joel Lee Hurst, Jr..
The youngest brother, James married Gladys Helen Jenke on June 7, 1953 in Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kerrville, TX. They had five children: Michael James, Kathy (who died at birth March 17, 1958), Karen Sue, Steven Wayne and Linda Kay. James owned
City Auto Parts in Fredericksburg and always had a good business. He later built and moved his business from Main Street to Granite Ave. His sons Steven and Michael run the business.
James and Gladys moved from the city to James’ parent’s home in Cave Creek where they raised their children on the family heritage farm. They raised pigs, chickens, and cows and had a horse. Mom would get “letters” from them from time to time telling about their new litter of piglets. She enjoyed the “news” from home.
While in San Antonio, he met Norma Ottmers during the summer of 1945 at Hermannson’s Dance Hall. This was a public dance hall. At one point they were sitting at a table and John asked her if she was Nora Schmidt. She said, “No.” In play he bit the tip of her finger and it started to bleed. She wrapped her hanky around it. This must have not scared her away as they started dating. After he was discharged at the end of the war, he stayed at the USO for a week. He had gone to a jewelry store to check out the engagement rings, as they had talked about getting engaged, while he was waiting for her to get out of work. She worked at a bakery. He had found a set of rings that he really liked but didn’t buy them, as he wanted her input first. When she got off work he said that he had been to the jewelry store and wanted her to go with him, which she did. He asked her which rings she liked. She picked out the same set that he had his eyes on first.
Norma went to the train station with John as he left to go back to Ohio to look for a job and to ask his brother Joe to be his best man at his wedding. — Joe didn’t accept. Norma said to John that if he wanted to see the rings again he’d have to come back — which he did. They married March 17, 1946 at St. Mary’s Rectory in Fredericksburg, TX. Since John was Catholic and Norma Lutheran, at that time, they weren’t allowed to get married in the church itself, but were allowed to in the rectory. They only had 16 dates before they got married.
On John and Norma’s wedding day, he ran a red light and got fined $2.00 in Fredericksburg. He didn’t realize that the stoplights were on the side corners rather than in the middle of the street. He was in Alvin Novian’s car on their way to the bus depot to pick up an army buddy, who lived in Dallas, and was coming to their wedding. John and Alvin stopped at the Court House to pay John’s fine and then Alvin drove the car. They found his army buddy walking because they were late in picking him up at the depot. They then proceeded to St. Mary’s Catholic Church rectory for the wedding. They stayed with Norma’s folks over night and the folks had a chivalry for them. This was an old custom with the traditional banging of pots and pans in the middle of the night.
After they married they took the train back to Cleveland, OH where John worked in a pump factory operating drill presses. Then he switched jobs and worked at the American Stove Co. where they built Magic Chef stoves. He used the punch press there. While living in Cleveland, he went to the National Radio School on Euclid Avenue at night for about a year.
John & Norma living together
Their first apartment was on Quimby Ave. off East 55″ Cleveland. They lived in a 3- story apartment. Norma had to open the stove oven in order to sweep or mop the kitchen floor. It was so small. The landlady said that if she got pregnant, they’d have to move. When she was pregnant with Diane, they moved to East 65″ St., Cleveland. Both places were in walking distance for John to go to work. The landlady at this place also didn’t want any new arrivals here but one of the other apartments had a young couple living there and she talked the landlady into keeping them there. When it was time for Diane to arrive, John didn’t have a car and the landlady and her boyfriend took them to the hospital.
When John finished his radio school, they moved to 914 West 38″ St., Ashtabula. This was off West Avenue. While they lived here there was only one black family living across the street. They were really a nice family. John and Norma lived here till Nov. 1953. John worked at Reliance Electric in the assembly department — assembling electric motors—that were used in industry. He worked here for 6 2 years. John took a correspondence course to learn Black and White TV repair during this time.
In Nov. 1953, they moved to Fredericksburg,Texas, where they lived for 3 1/2 years. When Minna Novian, Norma’s sister, found out we were moving there, she arranged for them to rent this house from Opa Tatsch. While renting, they were building a house for Themselves.
John Anthony remembers Opa Tatsch would shoot black birds with a 410 shot gun, and the casings were a perfect fit for his cork gun. John Anthony also remembers that Opa Tatsch had a nice barn with a windmill and a crank to pull in water. There was a fire and the barn burned down. Opa Tatsch got some burns trying to save it.
John worked at Duecker Electric and worked on radios and TV’s. In the evening, he took a correspondence course for learning how to fix color TV’s — the new and upcoming technology.
The first Easter there, his nephew, Kenneth Ottmers, gave Diane, John and Paul each an Easter chick, Diane’s was red, John’s orange and Paul’s yellow. They all grew up to be roosters. Once in a while Opa Tatsch’s hens would wander into the yard and the roosters would take off after them. They got a kick out of watching this.
John Anthony remembers when one of the roosters were ready to chop the head off. John F was supposed to hold the rooster down while Norma built there. But he was a too squeamish. He would be scared and pull back on the chicken. Norma kept trying to swing faster to get the head, but she’d just get the top of its beak.
In the spring or early summer of 1954, their new house was ready for them to move into. This was a new territory and there were only a few houses built there. There was an open field that Cross Mountain could be seen from the house. The address was 108 Mulberry St. This house was one street north of Tatsch’s house. The family lived here for 2 years. Both Lynnette and Patricia were born while they lived here, at the Fredericksburg Clinic.
In June 1957 they moved back to Ashtabula, as John couldn’t make a decent living down there. They rented a house on East 47″ Street for about 3 months. In the late fall, they found a house at 4017 Lake Ave. to buy. They lived there for 19 years before moving to 1919 E. 42″ St.. It was May 8, 1976 when they purchased this house.
John and Norma had five children: Diane Elaine b. Feb. 18, 1947; John Anthony b. Aug.17, 1949; Paul Wayne b. Dec. 21, 1951; Lynnette Marie b. Aug. 21, 1954; and Patricia Ann b. Jan. 7, 1956.
He sold the boat in 1997 when it was becoming a chore for him as Norma ended up getting Alzheimer’s and it was too much to handle for himself. There was approximately 12 years of dealing with Alzheimer’s before her passing away. John and Norma were married for 55 years before her passing on July 18, 2001. John had been going to lunches with classmates once a month and there one of his classmates—Charlotte (Dow) Baylor—who grew up a couple of streets from him (on Hope Ave.}—started sitting next to him. They started to date and ended up getting married Jan. 25, 2003. They were very happy together. They enjoyed doing things together.
On Dec. 24, 2004, they were heading to Charlotte’s daughter, Norma, and son-in-law, Bob Cooper, for Christmas Eve dinner when Charlotte didn’t feel well. John stopped back at his house and heading into the house trying to help Charlotte walk, but she had no strength to walk and John couldn’t hold her weight also, so he laid her on the ground. John went for help at his neighbor’s, Sheila Scott. Sheila and her boyfriend helped her into the house, sat her down, and then called 911. Sheila is a registered nurse at the hospital. She was brought to the ACMC, (the hospital–Ashtabula County Medical Center) and then she was life-flighted to the Cleveland Clinic, where she was clinically dead. She had brain aneurisms. She was on a respirator until the next day when her family–as well as Charlotte’s last wishes, was not to be on a respirator–wanted her to be taken off. She passed away peacefully at 2 p.m. Dec. 25, 2004, with her family present.
Diane married Lynn Dow Stright b. June 3, 1947, on Sept. 8, 1973. They had four children; Bryan Christopher b. Nov. 5, 1974; Kevin Lee b. Sept. 2, 1977; David Lynn b. Sept. 27, 1980; and then were lucky and blessed to adopt a daughter, Liana Marie b. Nov. 8, 1982, she was 5 weeks old when she joined the family.
Bryan married Vicki Lynn (Andel) Cartner, Feb. 8, 2001 by the Justice of the Peace with a formal wedding on Oct. 6, 2001 at United Methodist Church, Saybrook. Vicki had a son, Jacob Allan Cartner by a previous marriage who Bryan welcomed with open arms. They have two children together, Travis-Lynn Christopher and Tiffany Marie. Kevin married Rachael Ann Cipra, Jan. 18, 2001 by the Justice of the Peace, Jefferson, with a formal reception held on Oct. 7, 2002. Rachael had a son, Dominic Stephen Prosser, who Kevin welcomed with open arms. Kevin and Rachael had two children together, Leslie Kathryn-Elaine and Madalynn Nicole. Kevin and Rachael divorced Aug. 26, 2005.
David married Lori Marie Pryor on March 25, 2005 by the Justice of the Peace, Jefferson. They had a formal wedding on their first anniversary at the First Christian Church, Ashtabula. Lori had a daughter, Mackenzie Ann Kotnik, who David welcomed with open arms. David and Lori have two children together, Riley Elaine and Kestin David-Alan.
John married Joyce Elaine Thomas b. Feb 18, 1950, on June 16, 1973. They had two children; Melissa “Lisa” Joy b. March 15, 1975; and Arvin John b. June 7, 1978. Arvin later legally changed his first name to Vincent. Melissa married Brian Jeffers on June 24, 2000 at Glendale Presbyterian Church in Toledo. They have two children together—Autumn Elizabeth and Braden Michael.
Vincent “Vinnie” married Melissa “Missy” Corkrean on May 28, 2005 at the First Church of the Nazarene, Ashtabula. They have two children, Alaina Noelle and Anthony John
Paul married Vicki Jo Stillwell b. Sept. 8, 1953, on April 30, 1977. They had a daughter, Renee Lindsey b. Aug. 6, 1980. Paul and Vicki divorced July 24, 1992. Paul then married Tamula “Tammy” Kay Keesler b. Feb. 24, 1967, on Sept. 9 1995. They were divorced Aug. 2, 2005.
Paul passed away very unexpectedly July 22, 2007. The coroner wrote a heart attack, but he didn’t have all the information to get this conclusion. There was no autopsy performed. Paul had been having trouble with his thyroid. His physician had taken him off his synthroid and he was due for a checkup the week after he passed away. He had attended Ryan and Tiffani’s wedding a few hours before this happened. His girlfriend, Cindy Phillips, was with him when he complained of his throat not feeling right. As he laid down his head went back against the wall and Cindy called 911. He was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.
Lynnette married Donald Lee Lillis b. Oct. 28, 1951, on Aug. 25, 1973. They had four children; Daniel Lee Lillis b. July 17, 1974; Donald Leslie b. April 27, 1977; Jaime Lynn b. Sept. 30, 1979; and Katherine “Katie” Christine b. April 6, 1981. Danny married Debra Crouch on June 21, 1995. They were divorced June 1996.
Donny married Andrea Winkler on Oct. 30, 1996 and they were divorced July 13, 2003. He is with Stephanie Heridge and they have a daughter, Chrystabella Marie b. 4-27-2010. Donny and Stephanie have a second child, Alessa Noele born Dec 13, 2013.
Jaime married Nicholas Wester on June 22, 2002 and they divorced June 22, 2004. She then married Brian Mills, her high school sweetheart, July 16, 2005. They have two sons, Alic Jaxon and Mason Wallace and they have a daughter Kaylee Paige Mills. She was born 4-20-2011.
Katherine “Katie” married Bryan Shoecraft on May 15, 2010. Bryan has a daughter Kristena Michelle Shoecraft, born Feb 14, 1993. Granddaughter Lucillia “Luci” Ivy Gonzalez born April 4, 2013, grandson James Michael Uvalles born Sept 21, 2020.
Patricia married Paul Joseph Hyland b. Oct. 25, 1953, on Aug. 12, 1978. They had three children; Justin Eric b. Aug. 4, 1980; Ryan Francis b. June 21, 1982; and Jacqueline “Jacqui” Marie b. Feb. 25, 1987.
Justin married Amanda Burton on June 12-2010 at St. Luke Parish in Lakewood, OH. Ryan married Tiffani Smith on July 21, 2007 at an outdoor wedding at Chagrin Valley Athletic Club in Chagrin Falls, OH. They have a daughter, Alison Lee. Jacqui is a nurse and married Chris Kopas September 22,2023 in Ravenna, OH
Addendum
Through the birth certificate of Concetta Sansone, we found out that she didn’t have the name Maria or Mary listed. We don’t know how that came about other than it may have been a nickname. Also, we found out that her birthday was not Dec. 8, 1879, as we have always celebrated it, but rather Nov. 29, 1879.
Name |
Birthday |
Marriage |
Divorce |
Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Campagna | 8-15-1873 | 7-13-1899 | 8-12-1919 | |
| Concetta (Sansone) | 11-29-1879 | 7-13-1899 | 2-7-1972 | |
| Eleanora “Eleanor”(Campagna) Calderari | 1-1-1900 | 6-11-1969 | ||
| Camillio Calderari | 11-4-1893 | 2-8-1962 | ||
| Emilio “Emil” Calderari | 1-3-1920 | 12-17-1992 | ||
| Alice (Calderari) Stahl | 8-25-1949 | |||
| Adeline (Edelburg) Calderari | 12-15-1924 | 7-12 | 1-31-1999 | |
| August Campagna | 1-7-1902 | 2-18-1985 | ||
| Mary Campagna | 12-8-1903 | 6-12-1917 | ||
| Michael Campagna | 2-17-1904 | 1-11-1925 | ||
| Salvatore Campagna | 6-6-1906 | 5-13-1932 | ||
| Rose Campagna | 3-23-1908 | 11-29 -1944 | ||
| Boy Campagna | 4-23-1909 Stillborn | 4-23-1909 | ||
| Girl Campagna | 4-23-1909 | 4-24-1909 | ||
| Carsma [birth name was Cosmo but this may be a spelling error] (Campagna) | 11-13-1911 | 9-14-1940 | 11-30-1984 | |
| George Frank Stanwood | 1- 23-1900 | 9-14-1940 | 12-31-1982 | |
| Judy Marie (Stanwood) | 4-20-1945 | 10-28-1967 | ||
| Michael C. DiCicco | 3-5-1944 | 10-28-1967 | ||
| Rose Marie DiCicco | 9-8-1968 | |||
| Michael Frank DiCicco | 8-2-1969 | 8-31-1997 | ||
| Annie (Miles) DiCicco | 7-9-1981 | 8-1-2014 | ||
| Brianna Marie DiCicco | 8-23-2001 | |||
| Anthony Nicholas DiCicco | o1-31-1976 | 8-1-2014 | ||
| Annie (Miles) DiCicco | 7-9-1981 | 8-1-2014 | ||
| Joseph Campagna | 5-25-1913 | 1937 | 11-9-1997 | |
| Anthony Campagna | 5-12-1915 | 6-2-1969 |
||
| John Campagna | 6-21-1918 | 3-17-1946 | 11-30-2014 | |
| Norma (Ottmers) Campagna | 11-9-1920 | 3-17-1946 | 7-18-2001 | |
| Charlotte (Dow) Baylor Campagna | 10-21-1917 | 1-25-2003 | 12-25-2004 | |
| Diane Elaine (Campagna) Stright | 2-18-1947 | 9-8-1973 | ||
| Lynn Dow Stright | 6-3-1947 | 9-8-1973 | ||
| Bryan Christopher Stright | 11-5-1974 | 2-8-2001 | ||
| Vicki Lynn (Andel) | 5-17-1974 | 2-8-2001 | ||
| Jacob Allan Cartner | 5-17-1974 | 12-31-1996 | ||
| Travis-Lynn Christopher Stright | 6-28-2001 | |||
| Tiffany Marie Stright | 5-4-2003 | |||
| Kevin Lee Stright | 9-2-1977 | 1-18-2002 | 8-26-2005 | |
| Rachael (Cipra) Stright | 12-26-1976 | 1-18-2002 | 8-26-2005 | |
| Madalynn Nichole Stright | 8-16-2002 | |||
| David Lynn Stright | 9-27-1980 | 3-25-2005 | ||
| Lori Marie (Pryor) Stright | 7-2-1983 | 3-25-2005 | ||
| Liana Marie Stright | 11-8-1982 | 7-5-2014 | ||
| Robert Schaffer | 2-27-1964 | 7-5-2014 | ||
| John Anthony Campagna | 8-17-1949 | 6-16-1973 | ||
| Joyce Elaine (Thomas) | 2-18-1950 | 6-16-1973 | 3-11-2022 |
Name |
Birthday |
Marriage |
Divorce |
Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa Joy (Campagna) Jeffers | 3-15-1976 | 6-24-2000 | 7-30-2012 | |
| Brian Jeffers | 11-30-1977 | 6-24-2000 | 7-30-2012 | |
| Autumn Elizabeth Jeffers | 3-20-2003 | |||
| Braden Michael Jeffers | 9-14-2006 | |||
| Vincent “Vinnie” John Campagna | 6-7-1978 | 5-28-2005 | ||
| Melissa (Corkrean) Campagna | 10-13-1976 | 5-28-2005 | ||
| Alaina Noalle Campagna | 3-26-2007 | 3-26-2007 | ||
| Anthony John Campagna | 11-23-2011 | 11-23-2011 | ||
| Paul Campagna | 2-21-1951 | 4-30-1977 | 7-24-1992 | 7-22-2007 |
| Vicki Jo (Stillwell) Campagna | 9-8-1953 | 4-30-1977 | 7-24-1992 | |
| Renee Lindsey Campagna | 8-6-1982 | 6-11-2011 | ||
| Takula “Tarnmy” Kay (Keesler) | 2-24-1967 | 9-9-1995 | 7-2-2005 | |
| Lynnette Marie (Campagna) | 8-21-1954 | 8-25-1973 | ||
| Donald Lee Lillis | 10-18-1951 | 08-25-73 | ||
| Daniel Lee Lillis | 7-17-1974 | 6-21-1995 | 6-1996 | |
| Donald “Donny” Leslie Lillis | 4-27-1977 | 10-30-1996 | 7-13-2003 | |
| Andrea (Winkler) Lillis | 10-30-1976 | 10-30-1996 | 7-13-2003 | |
| Chrystabella Marie Lillis | 4-27-2010 | |||
| Jaime Lynn (Lillis) Wester | 9-30-1979 | 6-22-2002 | 6-22-2004 | |
| Nicholas Wester | 6-20-1980 | 6-22-2002 | 6-22-2004 | |
| Jaime Lynn (Lillis) Mills | 9-30-1979 | 7-16-2005 | ||
| Brian Mills | 8-36-1980 | 7-16-2005 | ||
| Alic Jaxon Mills | 3-11-2008 | |||
| Kaylee Paige Mills | 4-20- 2011 | |||
| Katherine “Katie” Christine | 4-6-1981 | 5-15-2010 | ||
| Bryan Shoecraft | 2-27-1974 | 5-15-2010 | ||
| Lucillia Ivy Gonzalez | 4-3-2013 | |||
| James Michael Uvalles | 21-09-2020 | |||
| Patricia Ann (Campagna) Hyland | 1-7-1956 | 8-12-1978 | ||
| Paul Joseph Hyland | 10-25-1953 | 8-12-1978 | ||
| Justin Eric Hyland | 8-4-1980 | 6-12-2010 | ||
| Amanda Dawn (Burton) | 8-23-1982 | 6-12-2010 | ||
| Nora Lynn | 5-16-2014 | |||
| Ryan Francis Hyland | 6-21-1982 | 7-21-2007 | ||
| Tiffani (Smith) Hyland | 1-21-1982 | 7-21-2007 | ||
| Alison Lee Hyland | 10-27-2009 | |||
| Ethan Jame Hyland | 11-30-2011 | |||
| Owen Scott | 7-2-2014 | |||
| Jacqueline “Jacqui” Marie (Hyland) Kopas | 2-25-1987 | 9-22-2023 | ||
| Chris Kopas | 9-22-2023 |