When I looked at the Wilmerding home page memories of my life there came back and I got homesick.
Below is a little background of my life in Pennsylvania.
I was born in Marianna, West Bethlehem Township. My brothers Floyd,Joseph,Frank attended grade school in
Marianna ,Pa. My sister, Joann was born here in Marianna, but was too young to attend school in Marianna. After graduating from elementary
school and my father retiring from the Marianna coal mine he worked
for, we moved in early 1942 to Wilmerding.
I resided in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania from 1942 to 1953. During
that time I attended Westinghouse Memorial High School until 1947. That same year I got married in St. Aloysius Catholic church to Victor Wallace. Two children were born out of this
marriage, Alexander V. Wallace and Frances Ann Wallace. My sister Joann attended the
elementary school on Middle Avenue.
My dad, Frank, who passed away in 1985, had several occupations
including being a policeman on the Wilmerding Police Force, and
being a brakeman for Westinghouse Electric in Turtle Creek.
Of the three bothers, Floyd, Joseph and Frank. They all attended
and graduated from Westinghouse Memorial High and also played
in the Junior & High school band.
We lived on one side of a yellow, brick, double-wide house at 172 Watkins Avenue. We were the OSTRUH's. The Prementine�s, (Barbara, Joseph and Josephine) owned the house and lived next door. Barbara, Joseph and Josephine were also quite active in Westinghouse Memorial High.
Every morning we would walk down Watkins Avenue to Bridge Street around the corner, to cross the bridge. We would always look to see if a train was coming. And, if we saw one, we would run as if the devil was after us to get across the bridge before the train got there. We didn�t want to be covered with the black soot from the train!
I can recall the many times we would stand across from the VFW to catch a bus to go up the hill to McKeesport or East McKeesport to do some shopping. We also used to catch
that bus to McKeesport and board another bus to Dravosburg to go to work at the Fisher Body plant.
My mother, Ann, and I bowled on two bowling teams at the YMCA and every day we would walk past the Westinghouse Airbrake
Building on the way to school or to bowling.
How well I remember going grocery shopping with mom at Gagetta�s Market on State Street!
Another thing my mother and I really enjoyed was riding the trolleys to East Pittsburgh, Turtle Creek, Braddock, Pittsburgh, etc.
When I married, I lived in the apartment above the A. J. Trenga�s Agency on Bridge Street. My father, Frank, used to take me to Nastarie's Grill on Station Street for their hot Italian sausage on
French bread with my favorite soft drink, which was orange soda at that time.
I really used to love browsing in the five and dime store on Bridge Street for various school supplies and even cosmetics. Most of all I loved going to the movies at the Wilmer Theatre on Herman Avenue.
So you can see that I loved living in a small town like Wilmerding. It had a lot to offer: a good school, many businesses, excellent places to work like Westinghouse Airbrake, where my husband and father worked. It offered easy access to wherever you needed to go to.
It was a beautiful place, especially when it snowed. It looked just like a Christmas card. (I now live in Mesa, Arizona, where it never snows and, being born in Pennsylvania, I especially miss the snow at Christmas.)
Wilmerding is a small, warm, friendly, family-oriented community and I loved every bit of the time I lived there. I hope the town realizes this and
tries to keep it as it once was.
