Irene Baranski and Beth DeCarbo

00:04 Hi, I'm Beth decarbo and I'm 43 years old. Today is November 15th. 2008. And where in lower Manhattan New York and I'm with my husband's wife, Sorry. My husband's Aunt Irene and that I consider her my aunt that that I adore her very much. And so I think of her as my aunt to when introduce yourself Irene, I buy Reef Redskins h80 for today's date November 15th location map lower Manhattan.

00:40 My nephew's wife.

00:45 So Irene tell me when and where you were born was born New Castle, Pennsylvania, July 6th 1924. So tell me about New Castle back then.

00:59 Was it a rural area? Did you live in a Polish neighborhood? Our lives are polish neighborhood and your parents were polish, right? They immigrated from Poland. That's right. Did they know each other back in Poland? They came here separately and met in America. Did they come through Ellis Island? Do you know?

01:20 I think I did and do you know how your mom and your dad met?

01:27 I have no idea. It was a long time ago. So tell me your father's name. And then your mother's name Josephine kimyatta and I know they had you did. They have any other children this legit how many kids there were seven children seven kids right now. I know Walter was the oldest child. Tell me a little bit about Walt Walter joined the US Navy when he was very young like 18 and then he joined through the war was in the Navy by serving on the USS side to know that's right. And what happened to that while he was killed in World War II was the five Sullivan Brothers. That's right where the whole family was it was Fiji Island Fiji Island, and you had a sister an older sisters at raging. That's right. And Jane was more than just a

02:27 Stir in your family. Yes. Yeah. She's like a mother to Richard motherhood rheumatoid arthritis invalid most of her life. So right and do you also had some brothers tell me their names I had kids was two years younger and there's Julian there were three boys, right and Julian goes by the name Schultz. Why is that because my brother Waldorf nickname of so tell me a little bit about had and what he was like today was a very nice brother and we were just two years apart. So we did a lot of things together.

03:14 And your brother Schultz? What was he like was he fun or was he what was he like your little boy? Yeah. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. And then you had sisters in addition to Jane you had Lola with us here today. Tell me a little bit about Lola. I remember when she was born. That was 9 1/2 years old when she was born and she was born at home and my sister Jane and I share a room together.

03:46 And I wasn't pretending that I heard this baby crying. So I want to see who was crying. And I tried to do it like pretended like I have to go to the bathroom. And so I was going to sneak into my mother's ruin. My sister called me when let me go in and stars in first thing in the morning. I read in my brother's room and there was my sister I call her Lola overheard. My mother named her Clara Clarence. And how did you get the nickname Lola? Why do you like Claire are so I called her little one is stuck with that. So and you haven't had another sister Mary Lou Marylou. You tell me about Mary Lou is it was a very nice little girl. You're very short. She look people said she looked a lot like me and my older sister Jane and Mary Lou work the telephone company.

04:36 And she got married and moved away and had one son and that's your fault. That's my husband. That's so let's just go back and talk a little bit about your parents and when it's growing what it was like growing up with seven kids in the family. What what did your father Stanley do for a living? It was roller to steel mill in that part of Pennsylvania part. That's right. And so he was with u s steel and your mother did she work outside the home? Well before she got married to work to The Gin Mill and she also worked as a housekeeper first that you worked units in real and they're both polish. So they spoke polish in the home. And did you grow up speaking polish as well? If I give it my youngest younger siblings didn't already spoke English. So we spoke a little bit of English a little bit of Polish not always polish.

05:35 And I love the Polish language is beautiful and the songs. I know that you love us both of us a child and when I grew up, so what was your father like as a father?

05:54 He's a wonderful man. He's very strict with me that my younger sister got away with a lot more. So how is he strict with you, or he does allow me to date a tall in high school, but he did allow her to go to school dance where I wasn't allowed to do that. Right? So he kind of that mellow. Does he Grew Older right? And did he send to your mother was ill and we'll talk about that in a bit. Did he help around the house? So you did and what did he do? He washed clothes and he did a lot of cooking for us brands.

06:30 Empires had a lot of energy and you sure he didn't fall and did he work a long time at u.s. Steel while he retired at age 48 because they close the steel mills in a Newcastle.

06:44 And with your family considered poor or middle-class or wealthy at the time. It's a middle class middle class and you were telling me earlier that your house was the first to have a refrigerator is that right are the only ones that had a car so big family that you had some Comforts in life and not lavish but you had some Comforts in life. He he was able to retire young why what made him choose to retire young to work for self? I forgot the name of Electrolux vacuum cleaner. How many did he sell?

07:29 He only sold one and then he was able to buy one for himself and he quit right? So so he was a Salesman of one vacuum cleaner. It was to himself. So so tell me about your mother.

07:43 Well, she didn't do too much because she had that rheumatoid arthritis. They were my dad was always trying different treatments to treat her but they never came up with anything. He took her to dr. They went away to the bathroom on Clemens, Michigan. I don't know if you remember you wouldn't remember those but they had those I was 9 months old when he took her and I stayed with my aunt and then when he came back, she wasn't any better though. She always lingered on she walked a little bit. But by the time the last three were born she didn't Walker was she in pain or I'm sure she was in pain, but she never complained. Are you close to her? I liked I was really close to her. Right? Well with your dance is not always going to talk to her. Right? Right. So you your mother and your father and seven children, but you have a family of your own tell me about your husband how you met.

08:42 We met at a dance at Cascade Park in New Castle. What's his name Francis J. Bretsky Francis bransky. Now. Is he polish to a skatepark? How old for you to remember? I was 24 24. What and where were you working at that time? It's a new Castle Refractories. What did you do there? I was a player so like an office manager type so you met him was it love at first sight?

09:15 I think it was what was he doing? What was his occupation at that time? He just got

09:23 Released from the Navy and that he was planning on going to college. So we were married the first year that he went to college room married for four years while he was going to college.

09:36 And then when he graduated we moved to Youngstown right? See you left, Pennsylvania and you move to Youngstown know why Youngstown because she had a job there. What did he do work at Republic still as an industrial engineer?

09:51 And did you have any children with Frank is Elijah died? Two sons are the most handsome tell me a little bit about Mark as a little boy.

10:07 Oh, he was very rambunctious and he loves to run a lot and he loved belonged to a baseball game for little ones that little league little league and Evie launcher the Cub Scouts and where is he now? What did how did he turn out your doctor? And I have electric oil engineer and he works at Baxter Delphi Packard in Warren, Ohio, Warren, Ohio, and he's going to retire soon and he asked her this December that he get married married a very nice girl Donna and they have kids just have two daughters describe your grandchildren. It's Trina write Kara and Trina right. All right, so just tell me a little bit about them, you know Kara first.

11:07 Healthcare finished college and she's working for a company that sells MRI machine and she works in Aurora, Ohio. She has her own apartment. Now, she loves it there and she's are still going to call and she's in her last year. She doing student teaching.

11:28 At Bowling Green Green Green

11:32 In Bowling Green, Ohio and you have another son to my aunt Michael Wright Michael and so tell me about him is a child. What was he like, he was very serious is very he loved to play the guitar. He's interested in music and he still plays in a band right? He's married and also your brother and his brother also plays in a band musical family also was very musical guitar also, so Mike is married and he has children. He has a son MJ right? Tell me about MJ your grandson a very intelligent young man and he's doing he's teaching now in North Carolina just graduated from why is she

12:32 Rain in Youngstown, Ohio and what's his personality like a wonderful personality? Everybody likes of the instant. They meet him. He's very nice. Everybody says it's the way I brought him up he live with you for a while, right? So tell me a little bit think back to a childhood memory that really sticks in your mind. Do you think of something did I tell you about my sister you told about your sister and how she always got the house she was born. That's right you that you were there when she was born. How about if you told me about a difficult time in your life and how you got through it. I remember when my brother Walter was killed in World War II have a refurbished for the news. It was very hard to handle it the first person in our family to die and my mother cried and cried cuz he he came to visit us.

13:32 6 months before he was killed and she wouldn't let go of him. She just hug them and kiss them.

13:39 Why she had to leave cuz she was going to have to go to battle. Do you have to wait till the ship was finished? They were just building it.

13:48 So, how did the news come?

13:51 Well a telegram without a person from the service delivered it and they told my parents right and the family. I know ticket very very hard. It was so tragic. How did you get through it? How did you work through this? It was hard very hard but somehow through companionship with the family. We don't happen to get over sooner than later right family is a real theme with your life. I hear that over and over would you say that your family has gotten through gotten you through a lot of tough times. I know that when your husband Frank died that was another very hard time. It was tell me a little bit about that.

14:42 Well, I was working and my son Mark was at home with his father and

14:50 I guess they were talking about something the car Honda had a flat tire. It was in the garage and my husband asked Mark to go and check on it could be out in a few minutes Wellmark when I took the tire off and he's waiting for his dad. You never came.

15:09 So he's knocked on the dining-room window and no response. So he went. Oh, no when he ran in the house and he found his father on the living room floor card, and he was very young at the time. Your Frank was 5350 years old. So how did you get through that are difficult time? You took me five years before I go out even with anybody but I buy Sunmark have died after me and Michael and I finally broke the ice and start going out with other girls to dances and Ciara sleep right now. I know two things about you and that you'd love to dance I do. I've always known that about you you're so I didn't even as a child like polkas and square dances.

16:09 Or not so much square dancing but a lot of Poker and I learned in high school. So I learned to do that. I thought a lot of boys out of jitterbug. I was thinking it was at the height of that era to because we had our church had a Halls if they built and then it has doing for youngsters. They have bands near Inwood go dancer weather in high school. It was a lot of fun. Now. The other thing I know about you is that you're very fashionable. You're always very put together. Is that something that's been in an interest for you is your clothes and how you Mozart's interested clothes. I like nice clothes and you also we worked in an office place. It was a professional environment nice clothes. Right right. Now you also work for pennies for a while taste. It was after my husband died after your husband died and was that in Ohio to that was in Liberty Township.

17:10 What's close to Youngstown? So you're you're in Ohio, you're with your two sons and they're growing up. Tell me a little bit about your life. Then what you did what you like where you like to go what you like to eat?

17:26 Oh, my son of Michael was single for quite a while. So we used to go out to eat a lot would like to eat fish if this place and stare and I can't remember the name of that night. And I know you Bo leibold like to bowl and I always will I start going line dancing to is I love the line dance, right? And do you line dance with your sister? She's an instructor. Should I go with her sometime now, you're always the big sister and she's the little sister has that feel with her teaching you had a line dance. That's okay. Now. It's a lovely person. I love her very much. I know you're very close now Clara told me about a pastor your priest telling you that you look at the world through rose-colored glasses and you laugh a little bit about that. Tell me that story.

18:20 Well, we both went to church in West Middlesex. And this priests came up to me and he's talkin about people evil people and he asked me if if I saw author evil people in the world I said no.

18:35 And he couldn't believe it but it looked at my sister and said well she she knew more than I did cuz she was a nurse so she was out more than I was she said there's a lot of evil people in the world, but you still believe that everyone is basically good everybody. That's right. And do you feel like that's an attitude you carried all your life. I never saw the evil in anybody right? I also see that you're very open to other ideas and people and ways of thinking that what people believe they're entitled to believe. You know, how did have you always been so open and tolerant or is this something that with time you've learned? So all my girlfriends were like that? That's where I learned to be. That way we talked about religion is all different sorts of subjects and

19:31 Everybody seems everybody knows how to believe their own way right now. And I just say they believe one way and I believe her daughter. That's okay, too.

19:41 And do you still go to church today? Just under what church do you go to the st. Patrick's Church in Hubbard, Ohio. Say you're Catholic and tell me a little bit about your face what it means to you. Well, I've been brought up as a Catholic from when I was a little girl. So I always believed in everything that I taught me. But in those days when I was little girl, it was a little bit different than it is today how so well, they made you believe that wear their way was the only way

20:16 And you think they're you feel that there are other ways if there's other ones right tell me about some of the lessons you've learned over these 84 years some of the things that you take away. Nice to get along with your neighbors. No matter how they think or how bad they treat you you still treat them as lot of love and compassion and I have a next-door neighbor. That's very good to me when I was still she always came over and helped me out.

20:50 So you spend a lot of time with you have another friend. Now if you want to tell me a little bit about Okie, I have a friend. Now we go out together to eat fish. We should dance a lot for some hour oreillys don't take us there too much anymore, but I do my line dancing. So I get my dancing in every like to go to casinos. That's nice. So that's all I'm time. Not long ago. You got very very sick and tell me about that whole experience when you fell ill

21:31 Well, I went to the doctor and I have asthma so he told me that my ass while was worse. So he's giving a new medication. I told him I didn't think that's what it was. You didn't listen to me. So he gave me the medicine and I didn't get any better. So about 2 or 3 days later. I called my son Mark and I told him that I was not feeling good. I couldn't get up and get ready to go to church. So I knew something was wrong. So I called my son and they took me to the emergency room and they kept me in for a week. They said I had the monia did they release me again, and I came home and my sister.

22:15 Well, I was over at my house visiting me and I was running a high temperature so she called my doctor and they took me back by ambulance. So then I have to have

22:30 Can I have inserted in my lungs? He had a tube inserted that's right to drain the fluid that I had to have an operation on my left lung because they had couldn't put a tube in their right to take the pasta off a long time because I was so did you think maybe you might not get better? I just think I was going to make it. I can't believe I'm here today is it's a it's a blessing that I think that a lot of people were worried about you and then who knew we would be sitting here today at 6 o talking about those. I'm not even a year later. I had that problem with my back when I get out of bed one morning. I couldn't feel my right leg. Right and then I called my doctor and my daughter-in-law took me and he just gave me a shot to help me a month later. I'm still not good. So I went to a specialist if gave you injections for pain epidural.

23:30 Write read every 3 of the durrell's and I start getting better. So today I'm walking it is and we've done a lot of walk-ins in Manhattan. So in those times when you were sick and and thinking well, I may not make this. Did you look back on your life first? Did you have any regrets? Is there anything you would have done differently if I didn't all I did was praying. I did a lot of frame right? And did you tell everyone how much you love them? I tell my son every time I talk to them they mean a lot. That's right. So as it happens with all of us that someday it's our time to and we hope for you it'll be many many years from now, but when that day comes how would you like people to remember you they'll say Irene was what that was?

24:30 Wonderful mother and love my sons and my family and all my friends that she was a lot of fun to be around wouldn't you say I hope so. Yeah. Yeah, you're very involved with people in your church and Senior Center. That seems like not only do have a theme of family that you have a theme of a friend looking out for them. So is there anything that you would like to tell your son's right now that that they can listen to this someday?

25:05 Already told him I want to be cremated. How about how you feel about them or tell them every day, I told him from the day. They were born how much I love them. I was older when I got married. So I appreciated my family more I see right and I always told him that I was so proud of them.

25:26 And I love them dearly I couldn't ask for any better sons and they are they're very thoughtful take me out to lunch and call me on the phone all the time. So that's all I'm saying for for that because they have their own families. They have a niece who's also like a daughter to use Kathy and she's you're very close with her until she calls us every Saturday. We have long conversations that while she lived in Florida. We still go down every year to visit her and my sisters and I as if she got married so we don't go out. It's often us has our life with her husband, and she seems to be very happy. So I'm glad for that.

26:17 Is there anything I've forgotten about growing up and as a young girl and would you describe is a happy life a happy childhood like to have a good time and I always went to him. So you got to love to dance. I can dance for an hour or two. Sometimes it be two hours before the dance was over and I never was allowed to stay out late. My dad was very strict with me. I have to be home exactly at 12 no later and I was allowed to go out laws and high school. I have to stay home. I have to be home by 9 with it important that you date boys who were polish or my father and mother like you boys that were foolish and I really didn't take anybody except polish boys.

27:07 And we listen to polish neighborhood. So I knew there were other people that existed that's not good either but that's how they lived in that day and age. It was a nice neighborhood. The people were beautiful people and we should just walk into their houses. We never knocked. That's how good friends we were and you you remember your address there where you grew up the street and it was on sheephill. Why do they call it sheephill? Do you know why they called that you feel so it said it was just what somebody named with that and stay with everybody nice polish neighborhood. It was a nice polish neighborhood, very nice. And then I was active with the Polish Falcons, which wasn't too far away. So we had all kind of activities with them gymnastics and we should go away and do the z l o t. I don't know how to pronounce it. Anyway, it's like they do with exercising things and we do our Polish dance.

28:06 What are polish costume song it was a lot of fun?

28:16 So is there anything else you'd like me to know or anything? You'd like to tell the world that here? We are in 2008 and so much has changed her mind Ducksters loveliest wives. I love her dearly. I love you too dearly and will thank you Irene. I really appreciate you telling me your story.