The Roaring Lion on the Movie Screen

A marvelous memory: I never hear the opening of a movie without thinking of the following: Going to the movie theater as a kid. It was at the RKO Bushwich or the Loew’s Gates on Broadway in the Bushwich section of Brooklyn. My Aunt Anne O’Donnell use to take Cousin Sharon O’Donnell and me and then we would go either to the Ice Cream Parlor for hamburgers and a chocolate malt ( in a large frosty metal container from which you could pour more and more delicious malted into your glass - it was like being in Heaven! )or up the stairs to a Chinese restaurant next to the elevated train on Broadway. We saw such movies as “ Dial M for Murder” with Grace Kelly, “Singing in the Rain. “ and “ The Seven Little Foys” as well as others. We would walk in at anytime during the movie and stay until we got back to the point at which we walked in. Sometimes it would be a double feature or at least a cartoon or a “short”.

Anne R. McCarthy-a adolescent’s memory

Another wonderful memory involving Anne Purtell occurred when I was 12 years old. My Dad drove my mother and me to Hoboken, New Jersey, where we boarded a train by the name of “ The Phoebe Snow” and headed to Binghamton, NY. We were on our way to attend Anne’s wedding to Mr. Eugene McCarthy. My mother absolutely loved her younger Coleman cousin, Anne, and on several occasions Anne shared with me the loving feelings she had towards my Mom, her older cousin, Rita Mary O’Donnell Fries whom she admired and viewed as a role model. A bit of family pride was the fact that the 8 Coleman children born to Hannah Byrne and G. Francis Coleman produced a whopping 46 first cousins. For me, Anne was a link between her generation and mine. We were 10 years apart in age - Anne was born in 1935 and I came into this world in 1945. As my mother taught me, I was Anne’s “first cousin, once removed “. As I got older Anne became a mentor, role model, non-judgmental sounding board, and a true spiritual soul mate. I am filled with gratitude for Anne Purtell McCarthy and I will carry her love in my heart eternally.

Anne Purtell McCarthy-my first memory

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jTjQvBRhJbnX5w1G7 My very first memory involving Anne McCarthy occurred during the summer of 1951 when I was 6 years old. My family and I were staying for a little vacation at my Great-Great Aunt Bridge’s farm ( Bridget Byrne O’Reilly was my Great Grandmother’s (Hannah Byrne Coleman)sister in St. Joseph, Pennsylvania. Coming from the hot city streets of Brooklyn, this time on a farm in the country seemed like heaven. Being 10 years older than me, Anne was a teenager and still “Anne Purtell “. At that time, she was living at the farm with her mother, my Great Aunt Norene Coleman Purtell. They had moved into the farm to help Norene’s Aunt Bridge who was quite elderly and incapacitated. When my mother brought me into a bedroom behind the staircase in the old farmhouse to meet my Great Great Aunt Bridge, I remember seeing a frail, ancient woman sitting in a bed, a big old cat lying on on the blanket beside her. At that time in her life, Anne appeared to me to be a popular and socially involved teenager. Even as a 6 year old I took notice of Anne “fancying herself up”, leaving the house, and jumping into the front seat next to a young man in a pickup truck. One rather clear memory from a truly magical vacation was this interaction: When my cousin, Anne, invited me into her room I noticed and admired a little canvas Indian teepee and canoe that she had recently acquired at a local county fair. When she saw my wide-eyed excitement, she picked up this treasure, handed it to me, saying “Here, you can keep it. “ The fact that she was willing to give it to me “for keeps” impressed me beyond words and I knew, then and there, that I would love her forever.