Peter and Marilyn Carroll Biggins FamilyPeter and Marilyn Carroll Biggins FamilyIndex Family Tree Descendants Home Page
Peter Born in 1939Birth Certificate The Story of My Y
Peter was the second child of John Alfred and Jane Drueke Biggins, who lived at 916 Normal View (now 916 Lee Barton Court). Peter was born 364 days after his sister, Emily Jane. Peter was baptized November 19 at St. Augustine Church by Father Raphael Dunigan. His godparents were Jack Covington and his aunt Marian Drueke. In 1951, a new church was built and, in 1971, Kalamazoo became a diocese and the church became St. Augustine Cathedral. Peter's father was a corrugated box salesman for Container Corporation of America. He had a company car: a 1938 Chevrolet Master Business Coupe. The list price new was $648. Specs: 85 horsepower, 6 cylinders straight, 80 mph top speed, 17 mpg fuel economy.
Peter is half German and half Irish.Peter's paternal grandparents, Leslie and Emily Foy Biggins, lived in the Lincoln Park community of Chicago in an apartment building they owned at 2318 N. Sheffield Avenue in St. Vincent DePaul Parish. Leslie was a third generation American of Irish descent and had his own waterproofing business. Emily was a second generation American of Irish descent.
Peter's maternal grandparents, William and Rose Smith Drueke, lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan in a house they owned at 120 Grand Avenue NE, about 50 miles north of Kalamazoo. William was a second generation American of German descent and owned a game manufacturing company. Rose was a fourth generation American of German descent.
In 1940 or 1941, Peter's family moved a mile and a half south to another house in Kalamazoo at 1518 Evanston Avenue. Peter's brother, James Alfred, was born at Borgess Hospital on July 15, 1941. Glendale, 1941-1942. In 1941, Peter's father was transferred to St. Louis, and the family moved to Sappington Road in Glendale, a suburb of St. Louis.
Kirkwood, 1942-1944. Not too long after that, the family moved to a newly-built house at 400 Fairwood Lane in Kirkwood, another suburb of St. Louis. Peter's sister Sarah Jane was born on February 6, 1943, while they were living there.
Webster Groves, 1946-1948. At some point between 1946 and 1952, Peter's father joined Union Bag & Paper Corporation. In any event, his job took him to St. Louis. Peter's parents bought a home at 200 Parkhurst Terrace in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis. The house was across the street from a plant wildlife sanctuary.
The family lived in Holy Redeemer Parish. The children went to Holy Redeemer School. Peter went to second and third grades there.
He became a St. Louis Cardinal fan when they had Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Red Schoendienst, Marty Marion, and Harry the Cat Brecheen.
On June 7, 1947, Peter's brother, William Alfred, was born. On hot days in the summer, the family would go swimming at Treecourt, along the Meramec River at 2499 Marshall Road in Valley Park, 7 miles southwest of Webster Groves. They also spent time at the St. Louis Zoo in Forest Park. Wilmette, 1948-1963. In 1948, Peter's father was relocated to Chicago. His parents sold the house in Webster Groves and bought a house at 806 Oakwood Avenue in Wilmette, a suburb just north of Chicago. Peter went to St. Francis Xavier School, starting in fourth grade there. Peter was in the Boys choir in 1950 and 1951. He was an Altar Boy from 1949 to 1953.
Peter played football and basketball at St. Francis Xavier School. In basketball, he was a second string forward. He was a good set shooter but not a good dribbler or jump shooter. In football, he was third string center. In February 1952, Peter's father was promoted by Union Bag & Paper Corporation to Western Division sales manager of corrugated containers. His biggest account was Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis.
In 1953, Peter and four others from his eighth grade class at St. Francis Xavier went on to study for the priesthood at Quigley Preparatory Seminary. Quigley, the seminary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, is located at 103 E. Chestnut Street on the Near North Side of Chicago. There he took, among other subjects, three years of Latin, English, and religion; two years of Greek; a one year of German and general science. In his sophomore year at Quigley, he won the basketball shooting contest.
At Quigley, Saturday was a school day, but Thursday was a day off. One Thursday, May 17, 1956, a fellow student arranged for a group of students to be Andy Frain ushers at Comiskey Park for a game between the White Sox and the Yankees. Peter, a Cub fan, was ball boy on the left field line. The Yankees won 10-3. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, and Billy Martin were playing for the Yankees. Casey Stengel was the manager. Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, Minnie Monoso, and Sherm Lollar were playing for the White Sox. The Yankees went on to win the World Series that year, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3 in the 7th game. The White Sox finished third in the American League. The fellow student was from Queen of All Saints Parish, also the parish of Andy Frain. One day after lunch, Peter was out on Chestnut Street with a number of other students, and they saw Danny Thomas. He smiled and waved to them.
In 1956, after three years at Quigley, Peter decided he did not want to be a priest. Quigley had a standing arrangement with Notre Dame and Loyola University to accept three-year students without graduating from high school. Peter chose Loyola because it was cheaper. He took the el train from Wilmette to the Lake Shore campus of Loyola University at 6525 N. Sheridan Road in the Rogers Park section of Chicago. In his sophomore year of college, Peter decided to study industrial engineering and went on to Northwestern University in Evanston, where his father had received a degree in civil engineering. He did not do well at engineering and missed friends at Loyola, so he returned to Loyola for his junior and senior years, receiving a BS in Social Sciences in June 1960. Peter attended the 50th reunion of his class in June 2010, with Mass at Madonna Della Strada chapel and a brunch afterward where he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Durability. On January 18, 1956, Peter's grandfather, William Francis Drueke, died of an abdominal aortic aneurism at age 72 at Berea College Hospital in Berea, Kentucky. He and Peter's grandmother Rose were driving to Florida for a two-month vacation. Following a funeral mass at St. Stephen's Church in Grand Rapids, he was buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
Peter had a succession of foreign cars. In 1954, he learned how to drive on his parents' used red 1951 Hillman Minx drop-head coupe. In 1955, he bought a new Volkswagen Beetle.
In 1956, he bought his parents' used green 1951 Rover 75. The Rover had an engine and side panels made of aluminum. With his friend Bob Ford as navigator, he participated in a number of sports car rallies and concours d'elegance, winning various dash plaques.
In 1957, he bought a new blue Triumph TR3. In 1958, he bought a used black TR2. In 1960, he bought a used Beetle. In 1964, he bought a used white 1962 Rover 2000.
For several Christmases, Peter was a mailman in Evanston. On May 25, 1959, Peter's grandfather Leslie Biggins died at age 82 in Chicago. Peter's grandparents were living in an apartment that their son Richard had built onto their house. Following a funeral Mass at the Church of St. Juliana in Chicago, he was buried in the Foy plot in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Section B, Block 2, Lot 19. In April 1960, Peter was a Federal census taker in Rogers Park (his pages will be made public in 2032).
Peter's Uncle Richard Biggins got him a job as a driver at the Convention. He happened to be assigned to the Administrator of the Convention, Hal Short (1911-1984) from Oregon. He received an Assistant Door Keeper badge for admission to the convention. Despite his work with the Republicans, Peter voted for John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic to be elected president of the United States. He just happened to turn age 21 and become eligible to vote on election day, Tuesday, November 8, 1960. His birthday was to fall on election day every 7 elections (28 years): 1960, 1988, and 2016. In addition to voting for the winner on his birthday in 1960, he also voted for the winner in 1988 (George H. W. Bush), and 2016 (Donald Trump).
In 1961, Peter received an autographed picture of President John F. Kennedy with best wishes. The cover letter said it was sent at the request of Dave Powers. A fellow student at the University of Chicago had requested it through his uncle Dave Powers. On April 28, 1962, Peter's sister Emily married John David "Jack" Williams at St. Francis Xavier Church in Wilmette. After graduation from the Business School, Peter joined the Army reserves for six years to avoid the draft. He joined the 374th Convalescent Center, 85th Regiment, 85th Division (Custer Division) on the south side of Chicago at 71st Street. In August 1962, he went on six-months active duty for training. He took eight weeks of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Rolla, Missouri. The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred while he was there, causing some concern from October 16 to 29, 1962.
After basic training, he took eight weeks of Medical Corpsman training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was discharged from active duty in February 1963 and joined a driver training detachment of the 85th Regiment on Kedzie Avenue on the north side to be closer to home. There he commenced weekly meetings and annual active duty for two-week summer camps. Upon reading this page, Peter's second cousin Bill Donahue wrote that during his service in the Korean War he worked with the 7th Cavalry Regiment on the DMZ. The 7th Calvary Regiment and the Custer Division both have connections with Custer but they are not related organizationally. Bill noted that the Custer Division was so named because it was activated at Camp Custer (Fort Custer after 1940). This was in 1917 in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Camp Custer wass named after George Armstrong Custer, who came from Michigan, fought for the Union in the Civil War, and was present at Appomattox for Lee's surrender to Grant. After the war, Custer led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Custer and all of his detachment, including two of his brothers, were killed. The battle is known popularly as "Custer's Last Stand." On March 23, 1963, Loyola University Chicago won the NCAA basketball tournament, defeating No. 1 ranked Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime. Peter saw the game with fellow graduates at the home of Bob and Mary Jane Bailey. Chicago, Edgewater, 1963-1964. After completing his six months of active duty in the Army, Peter found a job at the headquarters of Allstate Insurance Company at 7447 Skokie Boulevard in Skokie, Illinois (now Lincoln Pointe condominiums and townhouses). He worked in Corporate Planning and then Operations Research.
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Marilyn Born in 1940
Marilyn is 3/4ths Irish and 1/4th Swiss. Marilyn's paternal grandparents, David and Emma Starke Carroll, lived a few miles away at 2730 W. Jackson Boulevard in Most Precious Blood Parish. David was born in Ireland and was a retired Chicago policeman. Emma was a second generation American of Swiss descent.
Marilyn's maternal grandparents, James and Charlotte McDonald Kenny, lived a few blocks away at 4715 W. Maypole Avenue. James was a second generation American of Irish descent and was retired from the railway postal service. Charlotte was a second generation American of Irish and Scottish descent. She was 15 years younger than her husband. During World War II, she worked as an assembler for a manufacturing company as part of the war effort.
The year Marilyn was born, her family moved around the block to a 4-unit apartment building they purchased at 200 N. Lamon Avenue, at the corner of Maypole Street.
Marilyn's only sibling, Maureen (Micki), was born on June 19, 1942.
Marilyn went to kindergarten at Spencer School and then went to grammar school at St. Thomas Aquinas. In second grade, Marilyn wanted to maximize the effectiveness of her class picture. So she practiced smiling in front of a mirror the night before the pictures were to be taken. It worked. The result is the smile in the picture shown here.
In April 1948, when Marilyn was age 8, her grandmother, Charlotte Mae McDonald Kenny, fell down a flight of stairs at the neighbor's next door and died suddenly. The man next door was sick, and she was going to visit him. The hallway was dark. She opened the wrong door and fell down the stairs. The coroner certified that the cause of death was a "skull fracture" and that "the deceased fell down a flight of stairs striking her head on the basement floor." Following a funeral Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Lottie was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Charlotte lived on the other side of Cicero Avenue, three blocks east, at 4715 W. Maypole Avenue. Marilyn remembers walking to the bakery at Maypole and Cicero Avenues to get jelly doughnuts and freshly baked bread and waving to her grandmother standing across Cicero Avenue waiting for a bus to go to work. One day, in fifth grade, Sister asked the children to write an essay on what they wanted to do when they grew up, with perhaps a slant toward the religious life. Marilyn's essay states: When I Grow Up Wing Lake, 1952-1955. In March 1952, when her parents were just about to move in to a new house on Arbor Street in Glenview, Illinois, Marilyn's father was named manager of the Detroit Branch of the Kohler Company. In July the family moved to 6385 Thurber Road in the Wing Lake section of Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Marilyn went to Holy Name School for eighth grade and then on to Bloomfield Hills High School. While at Wing Lake, Marilyn became an excellent swimmer.
In April 1954, the union struck Kohler in what was to be one of the longest and bitterest strikes in United States labor history. The company hired and trained replacement workers, but production slowed significantly and the inability to fill customer orders made Marilyn's father's life very stressful. In the summer of 1954, Marilyn and her family went on a vacation to New York City. Her father drove and they stayed for a week in a hotel. The highlights were walking around Times Square, going to Ripley's "Believe It or Not," and eating at the Automat. The Kohler district manager took them to the Aquashow in Queens with synchronized swimming and clowns on the diving board.
In April 1955, Herbert Kohler Sr. traveled to Detroit and met with Marilyn's father at the Detroit branch. At night, he took her parents to a fancy party in the area. Afterwards, he returned to their home and was introduced to Marilyn and and her sister Maureen (Micki). On May 16, 1955, Marilyn's father, Edward William Carroll, died suddenly of a heart attack at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, at age 49. Marilyn was age 15. The funeral was held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church back in Chicago. Herbert Kohler Sr., the chief executive of the Kohler Company, attended the funeral. Marilyn counted 50 cars in the funeral procession. Marilyn's father was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
Glenview, 1955-1962. After the funeral, the house on Thurber Road was sold, and in August the family moved back to Illinois. Marilyn's mother Bunny bought a new house at 338 Nordica Avenue in Glenview. After 21 years as a housewife and mother, Marilyn's mother was left with two teenage daughters to support. She started working again as a secretary. First she worked at the research laboratories of Kraft Foods Company, 923 Waukegan Road, Glenview. In 1961, Bunny started work as a secretary at Milwaukee-Golf Development Co., owner of the Golf Mill Shopping Center at Golf Road and Milwaukee Avenue. Marilyn finished high school at Niles Township High School (now Niles East). At age 16, after babysitting for five years, Marilyn got a job working part-time and summers as a waitress in the tea room at Marshall Field's in the Old Orchard Shopping Center. On Spring break in her junior year, she went on the school trip to Washington, D.C., and Colonial Williamsburg. In her senior year, she went on the trip to New York City.
After graduation from high school in 1957, Marilyn applied to and was accepted at several colleges. She decided on Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she majored in English and Speech. Marilyn joined Phi Mu Sorority, where she met her friends Nancy Kurfess and Joanne Jemison (now Leilich). While at Purdue, she worked summers as a secretary. Marilyn graduated from Purdue in 1961.
With the help of Ralph Gust a friend of the family and President of the Proviso School Board, Marilyn got a job teaching English and Speech at Proviso West High School at 4701 Harrison Street in Hillside. Marilyn met her friend Fran Baumgartner at Proviso West.
After her first year teaching at Proviso, Marilyn went on a 10-week tour of Europe with her sorority sister Nancy Kurfess and Nancy's friend, Gail Dent. While in Rome, Marilyn took a side trip by herself to Castel Gandolfo to see Pope John XXIII.
Park Ridge, 1962-1964. In 1962, the family moved to an apartment at 1306 Carol Street in Park Ridge, and the house on Nordica was rented out and eventually sold. Marilyn continued to teach at Proviso West High School. She lived with her mother and sister in Park Ridge until she got married. On October 31, 2007, Peter received this e-mail from one of Marilyn's former students, Linda Leffler Simpson. This email is actually for Marilyn. First, let me say that I came across your website purely by accident (while researching churches of all things). However, you have no idea how ironic this is for I have been thinking about my old high school teacher, Ms. Carroll, a lot recently. I've always talked about her off and on, but lately she's been on my mind more often. This is so bizarre.
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Peter and Marilyn Marry in 1964, Have 4 ChildrenPeter and Marilyn met for the first time on Memorial Day in 1963 at Illinois Beach State Park. The occasion was a picnic for college graduates sponsored by the Sheil Club, a Catholic club at Northwestern University. Marilyn went on to summer school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Peter called in the Fall. They began dating and in March, Peter said "I think I ought to get married." Marilyn said "I have to go to the bathroom." Sometime after that they decided to get married.
Peter and Marilyn were married by Father John Dussman on August 22, 1964, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview, Illinois. Marilyn was given away by her uncle, Bob Witherell. Peter's brother James Biggins was best man, and Marilyn's sister Maureen (Micki) Carroll was maid of honor. The reception was at the Orrington Hotel in Evanston. Marilyn and Peter spent their honeymoon at the Iroquois Hotel on Mackinac Island, between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. On the small plane up to Mackinac Island, they saw the pianist Van Cliburn. Arlington Heights, 1964-1966. After their honeymoon, they moved into a one bedroom apartment at 809 East Miner Street in Arlington Heights. Peter was an analyst at Allstate Insurance Company in Skokie. On August 15, 1965, Marilyn's sister Mickey married Johnny Varro in Miami. They were married by a Miami councilman at the Roney Plaza Hotel on Miami Beach. Mickey was given away by Harold E. Rainville, friend of the family and special assistant to Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, minority leader of the U.S. Senate. Mickey, age 22, was an actress appearing in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Music Man" at the Deauville Hotel. Johnny, age 35, was a pianist with Phil Napoleon on the Jackie Gleason Show. (In 2004, Johnny's first marriage was annulled, and Micki and Johnny were married in the Catholic church by Father Barry Furey at St. Thomas More church in Darien, Connecticut on December 23.) Their first child and only daughter, Carroll Kathryn, was born on September 10, 1965, at Northwest Community Hospital. She was baptized on October 18, 1965, at St. James Church by Father James Murphy, who went to grammar school and Quigley seminary with Peter. Godparents were Robert Ford and Marilyn's sister Maureen (Micki) Varro (stand-in was Marilyn's cousin Carroll Fultz).
Marilyn quit teaching English and speech at Proviso West High School to become a full-time mother when her first child was born. She had taught for four years. Peter continued working at Allstate Insurance Company in Skokie. In July 1966, Peter left Allstate to join the Chicago and North Western Railway Company at 400 W. Madison Street. He was director of financial planning, working for a person whom he had worked for at Allstate. Just before going to Chicago and North Western, Allstate had appointed him Corporate Economist in a new research center in Menlo Park, California. He and Marilyn had rented an apartment there, and Tom and Donna Kuehne had given them a going away party. But a last minute offer from C&NW convinced them to stay in the Chicago area. At C&NW, Peter worked on a project with consultant W. Edwards Deming. The CEO of the railroad was Ben W. Heineman, Sr. (1914-2012).
Evanston, 1966-1968. In October 1966, Peter and Marilyn moved to a two bedroom apartment at 503 Sheridan Road in Evanston, a half block from Lake Michigan and the beach. They joined St. Nicholas Parish. Carroll got her own room and no longer had to sleep in a crib in the dining area. On August 24, 1967, Peter's grandmother, Emily Foy Biggins, died at age 89 in Milwaukee. Following a funeral Mass at the Church of St. Juliana, she was buried in the Foy plot in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Section B, Block 2, Lot 19. In 1966, Emily had moved to a nursing home in Milwaukee to be near her daughter Kathleen. Peter and Marilyn's second child and first son, Edward Peter, was born at Evanston Hospital on February 26, 1968. He was baptized by Father Robert Maier on March 31, 1968, at St. Mary's Church. Peter went to Quigley seminary with Father Maier. Godparents were James Scallan and Peter's sister Sarah Biggins. Wilmette, 1968-1972. In September 1968, Peter and Marilyn bought their first house at 2231 Greenwood Avenue in Wilmette for $25,000. The down payment came from money they invested at $7 a share in American Express Company after the salad oil scandal and sold for $35 a share.
The house was originally part of the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition at the Chicago World's Fair of 1933-34 sponsored by the Stran-Steel Corporation of Detroit, Michigan. Steel was used instead of two-by-fours. The house, designed by Chicago architect G. L. Tucker, was called the Garden Home, and it was said to be done in the manner of a New England cottage. In the 1940 U.S. Census (Image 1 and Image 2), the house was owned by Daniel K. Strassheim, a food broker, born in Illinois in 1907. The house was valued at $15,000. Dan was a high school graduate and had an income of $4,000 in 1939. He lived with his wife Nathalie, their 6-year old son Daniel III, their 6-month old twins Janice and David, and a maid Theresa, age 21. In February 1969, Peter's godfather, Jack Covington, died at age 60 in Arlington Heights, Illinois. On July 5, 1969, Peter's sister Sarah married Elroy "Kelz" Kelzenberg in Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago. In October 1969, Peter became godfather for Stephen, the son of James and Eileen Scallan. In October 1969, Peter's job at the railroad was eliminated as a result of the merger of Northwest Industries and a conglomerate named Philadelphia and Reading. He decided to seek a job in management consulting. He was allowed to stay on until the end of the year while he looked for a job. A week before year-end, he received an offer from Hewitt Associates. Hewitt had 125 employees at the time and specialized in employee benefit consulting. Peter worked at the headquarters which was housed in the former summer home of Joseph Medill Patterson (1879-1946) on Milwaukee Avenue at Route 60 in Libertyville, Illinois. Patterson, founded the New York Daily News in 1919. John Cuneo Sr. (1885-1977), who lived next door, bought the house and grounds in 1946 and rented the house to Hewitt from 1951 to 1971. Cuneo sold the Patterson property in 1971, and it became part of the Westfield Hawthorne Shopping Mall. Hewitt then rented space in an office building on Wilmot Road in Deerfield. The Cuneo property, acquired from Samuel Insull (1859-1938) during the Great Depression, is now The Cuneo Museum.
Peter and Marilyn's third child and second son, Christopher Peter, was born at Columbus Hospital in Chicago on June 10, 1970. He was baptized on July 12, 1970, at St. Joseph's Church. Godparents were his uncle and aunt, Elroy and Sarah Biggins Kelzenberg. Peter and Marilyn's fourth and last child and third son, Brendan Peter, was born at Columbus Hospital in Chicago on April 11, 1972. He was baptized on May 7, 1972, at St. Joseph Church. Godparents were Marilyn's cousins James Hennessey and Carroll Fultz. Darien, 1972-1978. In August 1972, Hewitt Associates transferred Peter to their New York office at 600 3rd Avenue. Peter and Marilyn bought a newly-built "raised ranch" at 3 Revere Road in Darien, Connecticut. The house in Wilmette sold for $50,000. The new house in Darien cost $68,000. The family joined St. Thomas More Church. where Father Edward Howley was the pastor and had Mass at 10:00 am every Sunday especially design for the children. The children attended Hollow Tree School and Happiness Pre-School at St. Thomas More.
On August 13, 1973, Peter's grandmother, Rose Viola Drueke, died at age 91 in her home at 1624 Seminole Road SE in Grand Rapids. She had been a widow for 16 years. Following a funeral mass at St. Stephen's Church, she was buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery next to Peter's grandfather. In August 1973, while working on a flexible benefits project for a client at Xerox Corporation, Peter left Hewitt Associates to work for his client at Xerox and became manager of employee benefits. At Christmas time in 1975, the family traveled to Florida. Shown is a photo Peter took of his youngest on his grandfather's shoulder at Monkey Jungle. In 1976, Marilyn appeared as an extra in a made-for-TV movie about John F. Kennedy, entitled "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye." It starred Brian Dennehy and was directed by Gilbert Cates. In June 1977, the family attended a reunion of the Al and Jane Biggins family hosted by Kelz and Sarah Biggins Kelzenberg at their home in South Bend, Indiana.
In 1977, Peter became a member of the parish Council at St. Thomas More and editor of Dialogue, a quarterly parish newspaper. One of his writers was John Cotter, a professional newspaperman who worked for Newsday and the New York Post. On Thanksgiving 1977, the family visited Plymouth Rock. In 1978, Peter decided to leave Xerox to take a job with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. Pat and Anne O'Malley gave Peter and Marilyn a going away party and gave them a plaque with a poem signed by 32 friends in attendance.
John Cotter died in 1991 at age 48, just before he was to become managing editor of the New York Daily News.
Birmingham, 1978-1980. At Ford, Peter became manager of salaried employee benefits and foreign service administration at Ford's headquarters in Dearborn. His office was on the fourth floor of the "Glass House," eight floors below Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca. (In July 1978, Henry Ford II fired Lee Iacocca.) Peter and Marilyn bought an existing house at 2720 Bradway, Birmingham, Michigan. This was in the Bloomfield Village section of Bloomfield Township, Michigan. It cost $175,000. They sold their house in Darien for $139,000.
The house was three miles from the Wing Lake home that Marilyn grew up in from 1952 to 1955. The children attended Westchester elementary and Covington junior high schools. Carroll completed her freshman year of high school at Birmingham High School. During the summer, all the children were on the swimming team the Cranbrook Swim Club. For Christmas 1978, the family drove to Miami, visiting Marilyn's mother Bunny and Marilyn's sister Micki and family. On December 13, 1979, Peter's father, Al Biggins, died at age 69 of acute myelogenic leukemia at City of Hope in Duarte, California. Jane's brother William hosted the family at his home in Grand Rapids. The funeral was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Grand Rapids. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids. Just three months before Al died, he toured the country visiting his family. His granddaughter must have lifted his spirits with her colorful sign proclaiming: "Welcome Grand Ma/Pa." For Christmas 1979, the family drove to Miami again, visiting Marilyn's mother Bunny and Marilyn's sister Micki and family. Dallas, 1980-1989. In 1980, after just two and a half years at Ford, Peter left to join The LTV Corporation, a conglomerate in Dallas, Texas. He was hired by the client who had hired him away from Hewitt at Xerox, and he became manager of employee benefits. Peter and Marilyn sold their house in Birmingham for $215,000 and bought a newly-built house at 6532 Copper Creek Drive in Dallas for $205,000. They had a swimming pool built for relief from the Dallas summers. Only two years before, the subdivision had been a cotton field. The neighborhood was very friendly, consisting of families who had all recently moved into the subdivision. There were block parties and frequent pool volley ball contests. Long lasting friendships were made, especially with the Engelskirgers, who subsequently moved to Darien, and the Morrices, next door neighbors in Dallas. The family joined All Saints Church. The children attended Brentwood Elementry School, Parkhill Junior High School, and J.J. Pierce High School. The boys played basketball andfootball at Pierce. All four children graduated from the University of Texas.
Marilyn appeared in a new film "Word of Honor" starring Karl Malden. Alex Karras was Executive Producer.The film was shot in the Detroit area. Marilyn plays a policewoman. She does not have a speaking part, but she is in many scenes. The film was the CBS Movie of the Week on January 6, 1981. The family drove to Los Angeles for Christmas 1981 to be with Marilyn's family. In 1982, Peter put in a new flexible benefit program for LTV employees. Roger Staubach appeared in a film announcing the new program. Staubach had retired from the Dallas Cowboys in March 1980. The family drove to Los Angeles for Christmas 1982 to be with Marilyn's family. The family drove to Estes Park, Colorado, in the summer of 1983 and stayed at a Y camp in the Rocky Mountains. While at LTV, Peter testified in 1984 on flexible benefits before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. See: Senate Finance 1984 Hearings on Fringe Benefits, pp. 231-256 and 278-279. Senators Dole, Packwood, Chafee, and Symms were present. In 1985, Marilyn gave Peter a hot-air balloon ride for his birthday. He was surprised and a little worried about the present. Everything turned out alright, and he enjoyed drifting 1,300 feet in the air. In 1986, it looked like LTV might go bankrupt, and Peter was interested in going back into consulting. He rejoined Hewitt Associates in their Dallas office. For the first time, he had a computer on his desk. It was a dumb terminal tied in to a mainframe at Hewitt headquarters in Illinois, with access to Supercalc spreadsheets and PROFS mail. Mail names were eight characters with the first two being initials for one's first and middle names and the last six being the first six letters in one's last name, hence pabiggin. He could communicate with anyone within Hewitt Associates and people within a few client companies. As part of the Hewitt hiring process, he filled out the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The result was INTP. Sometime later, Marilyn filled out the MBTI and found she was ISFJ. Marilyn worked for several years as an instructor for Weight Watchers. In June 1988, one week apart, her first child received her bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Texas in Austin and Marilyn received her master's degree in counseling at North Texas State University in Denton. Bill Moyers was the commencement speaker at both graduations. As part of her degree, Marilyn interned as a guidance counselor at R. L. Turner High School in Carrollton.
Next door neighbors, Bruce and Marge Morrice, gave them a going away party. They sold their house in Dallas for $320,000 in November 1988 and rented an apartment temporarily in Dallas. In January 1989, they moved to Darien and rented a house temporarily at 337 Brookside Road in Darien. In May 1989, they moved in to a newly-built house at 230 Old Kings Highway North that they bought for $600,000. The house backs up on the Five Mile River and is built on the site the The Red Mill. An historical marker on Old Kings Highway two miles south of the house reminds passers-by that George Washington went by in 1756, 1776, and 1779. Old Kings Highway was originally The Kings Highway between Boston and Charlestown, South Carolina. It was called the Country Road in Colonial times. It was part of the Boston Post Road between New York and Boston.
The family rejoined St. Thomas More Church in Darien. Father Edward Howley was still the pastor.
In August 1989, Peter and Marilyn celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Italy. They flew to Zurich on American Airlines points, rented a small Fiat Panda, and drove down to Rome with stops in Verona, Ferrara, Bologna, Florence, and Venice. In Rome, they visited St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican museum, the catacombs, and the Pantheon. They stayed in a pension near the Spanish Steps and had dinner at Alfredo's and at the Canova Café on the Piazza del Popolo.
Marilyn's mother, Henrietta Kenny Carroll, died November 1, 1989, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut. She was 81 years old. The funeral was at Divine Infant Church, the parish church of Ralph and Gertrude Gust, in Westchester, Illinois. Bunny was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, next to Marilyn's father. On October 15, 1994, Carroll married Roger Byrne at St. Thomas More Church in Darien, Father Edward Howley officiating. A reception was held at Cobb's Mill Inn in Weston, Connecticut. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, Carroll and Roger settled in a house at Beacon, a town on the Hudson River in New York State.
On October 18, 1995, Marilyn received a master's degree in social work from Columbia University. As part of her work at Columbia, she interned as a social worker at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven. She worked as a social worker at Parents Foundation in New Haven, Smith House Health Care Center in Stamford, and Mediplex of Westport.
Rock Ledge was once the home of James Augustine Farrell (1862-1943), son of Irish immigrants and president of the U.S. Steel from 1911 to 1932. In 1910, he built a Tudor revival mansion here. It burned down in 1913 on the occasion of his daughter Theresa's wedding to Joseph Bradley Murray. In 1916, it was rebuilt in granite with a slate roof. The Farrells and their five children used the estate as their summer home and later made it their year-round home. The Farrell family maintained a fully consecrated Catholic chapel on the second floor in Rock Ledge. Mr. and Mrs. Farrell died in 1943. In 1945, Rock Ledge was bought by Remington Rand. In 1951, Remington Rand developed the UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) in the Rock Ledge stable across Highland Avenue. In 1955, Remington Rand was acquired by Sperry, which then became Sperry Rand. General Douglas MacArthur became Chairman of the Board and had his office in Rock Ledge. In 1964, Rock Ledge became the Thomas School for Girls. In 1974, it was purchased by Continental Can, but never used by them. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1979, Hewitt Associates bought Rock Ledge. In 1981, Rock Ledge became Hewitt's Eastern regional office. In 2003, Hewitt sold Rock Ledge to Graham Capital. The stable across Highland Avenue has been the Rowayton Library since 1966. In December 1995, Peter and Marilyn's first grandchild, Mary Byrne, was stillborn at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1997, Peter had an annual physical and the doctor suggested he exercise regularly. As a result, Peter started walking four miles a day. His normal route is down Raymond Street to the mail boxes near the end of Five Mile River Road, and back. For the first 10 or 15 years, the walk took an hour. After 20 years, it was up to an hour and 15 minutes. In 2020, he started a web page on the Five Mile River. On May 18, 1998, Peter's mother, Jane Drueke Biggins, died at age 83 in Florence, Oregon, where Peter's sister Emily lived. She had emphysema, but she was doing fairly well and had just bought a brand new house in Florence. There was a Memorial Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Florence. Her ashes were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, next to Peter's father.
In October 1998, Peter's group at Hewitt moved from Rowayton to the 201 building at Merrit-7. In October 2001, they moved to 45 Glover Avenue, a new Hewitt building in the Merritt-7 office complex in Norwalk, Connecticut. On June 12, 1999, Edward and Kerry O'Brien were married by Father Jack Hamilton at Saint John Vianney Church in South Bulington, Vermont.
In September 1999, Peter and Marilyn went to France. They spent a week in Paris on the Left Bank. They visited the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Picasso Museum, and the Musée d'Orsay. They went to Montmarte and and dinner at a restaurant to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.They then rented a car and drove up to Normandy. In Normandy, they visited the Memorial Museum in Caen and stayed overnight at Mont Saint-Michel. They also visited the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer and Omaha beach.
Peter and Marilyn celebrated the millennium, which was called Y2K, at the home of Paul and Mariann Knag in Darien. On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists caused two Boeing 767 passenger jets to crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, a half mile south of where Ed and Kerry lived on Duane Street in Tribeca. Kerry was still at home. Ed had gone to work at 24th Street and Madison Avenue. The North Tower was hit at 8:46 and collapsed at 10:28. The South Tower was hit at 9:03 and collapsed at 9:59. After the first tower was hit, Kerry went up on the roof of their building . She saw the second tower being hit. Ed walked the four miles home from work, and the two of them walked the three miles up to Grand Central Terminal and took the train up to Darien to stay with Peter and Marilyn. Ed and Kerry were OK, but Kerry was shaken by what she saw from the roof. There was debris on the street in front of their building. Dust reached as far as the Empire State Building. In March 2002, Peter and Marilyn took a vacation to London, England. The saw their son who was living there at the time. They went to the Imperial War Museum and took train/walking tours of Bath, the Cotswolds, and Oxford. They stayed at the Cranley Gardens Hotel in South Kensington. They went to Mass at the London Oratory. Peter visited the statue of St. Thomas More at Chelsea Old Church. On June 27, 2002, Peter's employer Hewitt Associates converted ownership shares to stock and made an initial public offering of its stock at $19. Peter's ownership value quintupled. Each owner was given a free share in a frame. On July 12, 2010, Aon Corporation purchased Hewitt with cash and stock. On September 30, 2002, Peter retired at age 62, with no particular plans--other than to pretend like it was a weekend or a vacation. He began to look into his and Marilyn's genealogy and never stopped. He also started going to the Darien YMCA three times a week. At the invitation of Bob Towne (1918-2008) of Stamford, he joined the Darien Senior Men's Association. Peter and Marilyn went to Vermont to visit Ed and Karry and spend their 2002 Thanksgiving at Dan and Sandra O'Brien's house. This was the first of many Thanksgiving dinners with the O'Briens. In May 2003, Peter and Marilyn went to the Sacramento Jazz Festival. Micki's husband, Johnny Varro, was the Emperor of the whole festival. There a husge Memorial Day parade and Micki and Johnny got to lead the parade in an open white car as they waved to the crowd. From there they went to Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe. In July 2003, Peter and Marilyn attended the reunion of the Philip and Olive Taylor Biggins family at Valcour Island, near Plattsburg, New York. In June 2004 and July 2006, they attended reunions of the Minogue/Kane families in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In Fall 2003, Peter took a course in James Joyce at Norwalk Community College. In 2004, the class morphed into a classics book club that meets biweekly at NCC. In June 2007, he began mapping the books and placing links to the maps on the Wikipedia pages about the books. The following year, Maps of the Classics was started to catalog the maps.
In June 2004, Marilyn and Peter went to Chicago and drove by places where their families had lived. They went by 952 West Altgeld Street, where Peter's father had lived until age 15. Not knowing exactly who lived there now, Peter rang the bell, and Patricia Donahue Schwake opened the door and invited them up. It turned out that Pat is Peter's second cousin. Originally, the building had two entrances, 950 and 952 Altgeld. Each entrance had two floors, with one apartment on each. Peter's father lived with his family at 950. The 950 half of the building had been torn down when Marilyn and Peter visited in 2004. The 952 half was torn down in 2005. Genevieve Gier Donahue and James and Patricia Donahue Schwake were the last to live in 952 Altgeld. They also went to Romeoville , where Peter's great great grandparents, Patrick and Bidget Biggins, had lived on a farm. While browsing in a book store in nearby Lockport, Marilyn discovered an 1873 DuPage Township plat map with Patrick's farm named on it. See: The Biggins Farm in Romeoville. In August 2004, Marilyn and Peter celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in the best room of the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York, with all expenses paid by their children. Marilyn went swimming. Peter walked the carriage paths. It doesn't get any better! In Fall 2004, Peter took a course in Web site development at Norwalk Community College, then started PetersPioneers. In 2005, Peter and Marilyn went to Heidi's wedding in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After the wedding, they visited Mount Rushmore with Micki and Johnny Varro and Marilyn's cousin Carroll and Mike. They met Michael McDonnel, Marilyn's third cousin, once removed, who happens to live in Sioux Falls. In 2006, Marilyn retired after 16 years as a part-time ESL teacher at Norwalk Community College. In Spring 2006, Marilyn went to Napa Valley with the same friends that she went to Europe with in 1962, Nancy Kuffess Abrams and Gail Chelius. At the same time, Peter took his first trip to Ireland.
In Summer 2006, Marilyn and Peter visited his Drueke cousins in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and had a mini-reunion. They then took the ferry across Lake Michigan to look for Marilyn's Flannery cousins in southwest Wisconsin. They went to the library in Monroe and looked at old plat maps that showed where some Flannery farms were. Then they drove out in that direction. They stopped and asked the first farmer they saw, a young guy perhaps in his upper 20s. They asked if he knew of any Flannerys in the area. He said "I'm a Flannery." He was Brandon Flannery. He sent them to his grandmother Marilyn Flannery farther down the road. Marilyn said they wanted the "other" Flannery family and sent them down the road to Mary Jo Dammen. Mary Jo took them in, gave them some fresh-baked brownies, and introduced them to her three daughters who were getting ready to go camping. Then she got her mother Audrey Wilhelmson on the phone, who promised to send them information about the Flannery family history. Mary Jo offered to show them around the farm, but they declined because they had to meet someone in Chicago. It was a great day! Marilyn, who grew up in Chicago, had never met any Flannery relatives. As a budding genealogist, this was a major find for Peter. They also attended the third annual Kane/Minogue reunion in Arlington Heights, Illinois, including a mini reunion with Biggins cousins. At the end of that trip, Marilyn discovered a Frances Foy mural while browsing at a gift shop in the Chicago Cultural Center in the old Chicago Public Library on Michigan Avenue. She picked up a book entitled A Guide to Chicago’s Murals by Mary Lackritz Gray published in 2001. There it was—a picture of the Frances Foy mural in the Chicago main Post Office on West Harrison Street. We went to the post office the next day, and there it was. Marilyn and Peter spent the week after Christmas 2006 at Death Valley in Eastern California. It is one of the hottest places on Earth. In January 2007, Marilyn and Peter flew to Florida. They went to places in Fort Lauderdale that Marilyn visited with her family as a young girl, including Cap's Place, which is only accessible by a boat shuttle. They also visited Key Colony Beach in Marathon, where Peter's parents had lived. In Spring 2007, Peter and Marilyn took a trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The first week was spent in Germany visiting small towns where Peter's ancestors were from. Included was a trip to Schönholthausen and Ostentrop, where we met with Pastor Franz Rinschen of Maria Himmelfahrt Church, who had written a history of a house in Ostentrop where Johann and Elisabeth Bitter Drüecke lived. The second and third weeks were spent with Marilyn's sister Maureen (Micki) and her husband Johnny Varro in Waiblingen (near Stuttgart), Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Johnny was touring the Stuttgart area with a Jazz band. Their son flew in from Liverpool to meet up with them in Rome.
In Fall 2007, Marilyn went to China with her friends Nancy Kurfess Abrams and Gail Chelius. Marilyn sent this email to her family. While Marilyn was in China, Peter took a second trip to Ireland and discovered the Foy farm. He also took a side trip to London, England, to visit with Chris, who had just moved there from Liverpool.
In September 2007, Peter redesigned the Web site for St. Thomas More Church in Darien and assumed maintenance of the site until June 2017. In July 2008, Peter had his Y chromosome DNA tested. His DNA is kit #127469. This was done at the request of Daniela Maneta, who started the Biggins DNA Project. Eventually he figured out that he was related to the Three Collas who lived in the 4th century. In May 2009, he started a web page called DNA of the Three Collas. In June 2009, he became the first member of the Clan Colla DNA Project and a co-administrator with Josiah McGuire.
In July 2008, Marilyn and Peter paid another visit to the Chicago Main Post Office on West Harrison Street to see the Frances Foy mural Marilyn discovered two years earlier. This time Marilyn suggested we visit the Postmaster. We phoned up from the lobby and were thrilled when Musette Henley, customer relations coordinator, came down to meet us and took us up to meet the postmaster, Gloria E. Tyson, who was very gracious and discussed efforts to preserve murals in post offices around the country. Mikal J. Sutherlin, communications specialist, took us back down to the East Lobby and took the excellent photograph seen on this page. In February 2009, Peter redesigned the Web site for the Middlesex Genealogical Society in Darien and assumed maintenance of the site. He also became a Director of the Society. In September 2015, he became President of the Society. In October 2009, Marilyn went to Egypt and Jordan with her friends Gail Chelius and Nancy Abrams. She floated in the Dead Sea, which is eight times saltier than the ocean. She also went to Petra (Jordan). It was very special to see the huge rocks and have armed guards wherever they went. She felt like a celebrity. Peter took the opportunity to return to Ireland. He met Patrick McMahon in Dublin and the two of them had lunch with Katharine Simms at Trinity College Dublin. Patrick is a geneticist and fellow administrator of the Clan Colla project at Family Tree DNA. Katharine teaches Irish History at TCD. He saw the Book of Kells in the TCD Library. He took a rented a car and drove to Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, where he revisited Gerard Beggan. Gerard subsequently had his Y-DNA tested and matched Peter. Peter went on to Cavan town in County Cavan. He met with Concepta McGovern of Cavan Genealogy at the Cavan Town Library. He then met his third cousin Gerry Lee. Gerry contacted a local farmer John McCabe, who took Peter to the Beggan farm in Drumgill townland where his great great grandfather almost surely was born (see Patrick Beggan of Drumgill). Peter then visited Charlie and Theresa Kerrigan in Killadeer, County Mayo. Charlie is a third cousin, once removed. They are descended from (see Thomas and Mary Tracy Foy). The next day, at the suggestion of john Bigginbs at Biggins Bar, Peter visited with the Patrick Biggins family in the townland of Cornfield, four miles north of Ballinrobe. Patrick's son John was there along with John's girl friend Tracy Murray. John wwas a salesman for McHale, a manufacturer of balers in Ballinrobe and traveled in the U.S. Tracy was from Carrickmacross and worked for CIE Tours. On his way home, Peter stopped in Berlin to see Chris. In February 2010, Peter and Marilyn visited Emily and Jack Williams in Henderson, Nevada, and went on to a snowy Grand Canyon and to Death Valley.
In June 2010, Marilyn and Peter went to Chicago and visited with his godson, Stephen Scallan. They also went to Peter's 50th college reunion at Loyola, visited Marilyn's cousin Carroll in St. Charles, and attended a reunion of Marilyn's distant Flannery cousins in Argyle, Wisconsin. On August 29, 2010, Brendan and Erin Gallgan were married at St. Joan of Arc Church in the town of Orleans on Cape Cod.
In October 2010, Peter made a presentation at a meeting of the Middlesex Genealogical Society on "How to Test Your DNA and Why." In November 2010, Peter became an administrator of the Biggins DNA Project. In January 2011, Peter became administrator of a new Ely Carroll DNA Project. The Ely Carrolls include the descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Marilyn's cousin Michael Patrick Carroll had his DNA tested in March 2011 and found out that he was related to the Ossory Carrolls instead of the Carrolls of Ely Carroll. Nevertheless, Peter continues to administer the Ely Carroll DNA project. The Ossory Carrolls have Breassal Breac DNA. In May, 2011, Peter and Marilyn took a trip to Turkey and Greece with Paul and Maryann Knag and toured with their son in Athens and Corinth. They visted the House of the Virgin Mary, which had been visited by four Popes, and the ruins of Ephesus, the second largest city in the Roman Empire in the first century. In Greece, they went to Athens, with a day trip to ancient Corinth and a side trip to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos. In Athens, they stayed in the Parthenon Hotel and the Phaedra Hotel. The latter had a view of the Acropolis from the balcony and the rooftop garden. In addition to the Acropolis, they visited the ancient Agora, Areopagus, and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. One of the highlights was the new Acropolis Museum. Marilyn fell at the top of an escalator in the Athens airport and outside the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. In November 2011, Peter and Marilyn attended a two-day conference on genetic genealogy sponsored by Family Tree DNA in Houston. Peter made presentation on the DNA of the Three Collas. With them at the conference were Tom and Hilda Roderick. Tom, a geneticist and fellow administrator of the Clan Colla project at FTDNA, arranged for the presentation. Following the presentation, Peter and Marilyn visited the Leilichs in The Woodlands and Bruce Morrice in Dallas. In March 2012, Peter and Marilyn took a trip to the Holy Land with Paul and Maryann Knag sponsored by the Yale Divinity School. Our leader was the Dean, Harry Attridge. Harry was retiring as the Dean of the Yale Divinity School, but he was to continue on as Sterling Professor of Theology, which was announced just before our trip. They described their trip in emails sent at the end of each day on the iPad that the children gave them at Christmas. They visited Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tiberias, Haifa, and Jaffa. See Sacred Land: Common Ground?. Marilyn fell at Caesarea. Gerontologist Dr. Leo Cooney, who was on the trip with us, recommended that Marilyn walk with a cane. At his urging, Marilyn went to see him at his office in New Haven in August. In May 2012, Peter became administrator of a new Drueke DNA Project with his cousin Paul Drueke. In August 2012, he became an administrator of the Carroll DNA Project. In July 2012, Peter's friend Bill Quarterman died in Plymouth, Michigan. Bill and his wife Gilli had been friends of Peter and Marilyn when they lived in Birmingham, Michigan, from 1978 to 1980. Peter and Bill were fellow students at the University of Chicago from 1960 to 1962. In June 1962, Peter visted Bill's family in Amarillo, Texas. Bill's father was Episcopal Bishop of Northwest Texas from 1958 to 1972. Bill worked for Ford Motor Company from 1962-1997. In October 2012, Marilyn fell on her face in the middle of 7th Avenue at 54th Street in New York. 2013 was Marilyn's last Christmas letter. She started in 1977. She noted in the last letter that she has to use a cane to help her with her balance. On February 28, 2014, Marilyn fell backward after setting her cane down to get into a chair in a classroom at Norwalk Community College before the start of a lecture on "Confessions of an Urban Archeologist" that was to begin at 12:30. There was a 27-day rehab stay at Wilton Meadows, a laminectomy on April 17, and a two-and-a-half month rehab stay at Regency Heights in Stamford. On August 22, 2014, Peter and Marilyn celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Grand Isle in Vermont. Father Brian Cummings of Saint Anne's Shrine and Saint Michael's College officiated as they renewed their marriage vows in the presence of their children and grandchildren and Dan and Sandra O'Brien. A dinner followed at Shore Acres.
On September 15, 2014, Marilyn fell and hurt her shoulder. She was in the main hallway at home with her walker trying to reach for her pik-stick in the bathroom so she could get bread on a lower shelf in the refrigerator. She went to Stamford Hospital for a week and then had a rehab stay on Long Ridge in Stamford. On October 6, 2014, Peter's sister-in-law, Anne Roarty Biggins died at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a two year journey with lung cancer. A Memorial Mass was celebrated Monday, October 13, 2014 at 11:00 am in Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Solomons, MD. Anne and Jim had been married for 45 years. Peter went alone as Marilyn was in the Long Ridge nursing home for rehab following a fall on September 15. Emily came from Davis, CA. Bill and Chris came from San Francisco. Sarah and Kelz came from Sun Lakes, AZ. Jim and Anne's boys were there with their families. Anne's sisters and brother were there with their families. On October 17, 2014, Marilyn was discharged from Long Ridge nursing home, where she was doing rehab following a fall on September 15. The next day, Marilyn and Peter flew to Miami for a one-week cruise with Marilyn's sister Maureen (Micki) and husband Johnny Varro aboard the ship MSC Divina. Johnny was playing piano with Jazz Fest at Sea. In 2015 we installed an elevator and a roll-in shower. In September 2015, Peter became President of the Middlesex Genealogical Society, a position he was to hold for three years. Dr. Resor referred Marilyn to Dr. Jeremy Schmahmann at Harvard medical School for his opinion. He met with her twice. In September 2015, he wrote that Marilyn seemed to have leukodystrophy. In October 2015, Peter started the Breassal Breac Project at Family Tree DNA. Based on the Y-chromosome DNA of Marilyn's cousin Michael Patrick Carroll, her Carroll ancestors descend from Breassal Breac, who lived in the ancient Irish kingdom of Leinster around 200 or 100 BC. On July 31, 2016, Peter's brother-in-law, Jack Williams, died at home in Davis, California. He had congestive heart failure. He was 78. Jack and Emily had been married 54 years. On September 9, 2016, Marilyn was admitted to Stamford Hospital for heart problems, then transferred to Long Ridge for a 16-day rehab because she was unable to walk. On November 18, 2017, Peter made a presentation to the Middlesex Genealogical Society on "Understanding DNA in Genealogy." On January 16, 2018, Marilyn's sister Maureen (Micki) died of cardiac arrest at home in Palm Court, Florida, after a flu-like illness. She was 75. See: The Hollywood Reporter. Peter and Marilyn went to the Funeral Mass on January 26 at Saint Michael the Archangel Church in Clearwater. Micki was buried at Bay Pines National Cemetery. On July 29, 2018. Marilyn had a seizure. Her arms and legs were jerking. She then became limp and seemed to be asleep. The symptoms were gone after a half hour except that she was quite confused. She was in Stamford Hospital for eight days. She had had grandiositiy and a heightened level of confusion for the previous 10 days or so.
On October 6, 2018, Peter made a presentation to the Middlesex Genealogical Society on "Y-DNA and Genealogy." In November 2018, Peter retired as President of the Middlesex Genealogical Society. On April 4, 2019, Marilyn entered Sunrise Senior Living, an assisted living facility in Stamford (next to High Ridge Park, where Peter worked 40 years earlier). Marilyn was sleeping a lot and calling for her father (who died when she was 15). She was not eating much. She was having a hard time picking up the food with a fork or spoon and getting it to her mouth. Sometimes she did not want to get up or refused to eat when she did get up. She was getting harder to transfer into bed, which was higher than her wheelchair.
On February 3, 2020. Marilyn was admitted to Stamford Hospital for 15 days to adjust her hydration. A feeding tube was recopmmended. She did not want a feeding tube, but she did not want to die. On February 12, Father Michael Clark visited with Marilyn and Peter and Brendan. Father said that a feeding tube was the right thing to do morally in Mom's circumstance. The feeding tube was installed on February 14 and feeding commenced. From December 2018 to February 2020, Marilyn dictated Mar's Memories to Peter. She was never happier than when she did this. On February 18, 2020, Marilyn entered Ridge Crest at Meadow Ridge in Redding because she had to have a feeding tube, which required a skilled nursing facility.
On March 1, 2020, Marilyn's brother-in-law, pianist Johnny Varro, visited Marilyn at Ridge Crest and played her favorite song. Three days later he recorded it at Flux Studios in New York City with a special introduction: Have You Met Miss Jones? Peter and their children and their families were all at the recording sessions at one time or another. The songs are at Johnny Varro at Flux Studios. On March 7, 2020, Ridge Crest was closed to visitors because of the corona virus pandemic. In May 2020, Ridge Crest opened back up for outside visits every two weeks, then once a week, then, for Marilyn because of her condition, twice a week inside. On the morning of September 16, 2020, Peter was doing the crossword puzzle at home in the family room. He heard Marilyn say "Peter" calmly and clearly from upstairs. He thought he must be hearing things . . . or maybe it was real. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peter Widowed in 2020The children wrote a beautiful obituary for their mother and helped Peter in making arrangements with the funeral home, the cemetery, and the Church. After attending the Funeral Mass and burial, Peter settled down to a life without Marilyn, except for walks to the cemetery on Saturday mornings. Peter continued to work on PetersPioneers and Y-DNA. The children and grandchildren took him to the Bronx Zoo for his birthday and invited him up to Grand Island, Vermont, for Thanksgiving. In November 2020, he was elected Secretary of the Middlesex Genealogical Society. In December, he had an article published in the MGS Newsletter on "Relating Y-DNA to Ancient Genealogies." "Amazing!" That's what ophthalmologist Elizabeth Siderides said in November 2020 about the effect of Oxervate on the cornea in Peter's left eye. For eight weeks starting April 23, 2020, Peter put a recombitant human nerve growth factor, called Oxervate, in his left eye six times a day. It successfully stemmed the loss of nerve function in the cornea (neurotrophic keratitis) caused by shingles (herpes zoster virus) that occurred in February 2019. The cost of $95,000 was funded by the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Neurotrophic keratitis affects less than 5 people in every 10,000. Vials arrived every two weeks in dry ice from Accredo Health Group in Memphis, Tennessee. Dompé Pharmaceutical in Milan, Italy, received priority approval of Oxervate as an orphan drug in 2018. Rita Levi Montalcini received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in 1986. From 2001 until her death at age 103 in 2012, she served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life, for her significant scientific contributions. In June 2021, he had an article published in the MGS Newsletter on "Fourth Cousins." Carroll's husband Roger died at age 59 on August 15, 2021, at Danbury Hospital. There was a Funeral Mass for Roger at St. Edward the Confessor Church in New Fairfield. Roger's ashes were in a nice wooden box in front of the altar. Daniel read the Epistle. Sean spoke about his father's life at the end of Mass. The last time I had been there was for Daniel's confirmation about 10 years ago. Carroll hosted a dinner afterward for family and friends at Barbarie's Black Angus Grill in Danbury. Carroll and Roger's friend Mark Gurliacci had put together an extensive slide show of pictures of Roger's life. In June 2022, Peter saw the white dot over Daniel's right shoulder in the August 2018 photo of Peter and Marilyn's family at Emerald Point on Grand Isle in Lake Champlain, Vermont. See: Jay Peak?. In September 2022, he had an article published in the MGS Newsletter entitled "From Tirkeeran to Kalamazoo." In March 2023, he had an article published in the MGS Newsletter entitled "Analysis of a Family Tree." On St. Patrick's Day in 2023, Peter's granddaughter sang at Carnegie Hall with The Fairfield County Children's Choir, and the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland. The orchestra is a youth orchestras based at the Dundalk Institute of Technology. Members are from both sides of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Dundalk is in County Louth, 34 miles east of the Beggan farm in Drumgill, County Cavan.
In July 2023, Peter received a letter from Paul McHugh, one of a close group of friends from Loyola University Chicago. Peter had not seen any of this group for over 50 years. They sat at the same table in the Loyola Union. On Saturday nights they met at John Maloney's or Bob Ford's apartment. They sang folk songs with Pat Bresnan playing his guitar. They went through a few quarts of Schlitz beer. They listened to the Midnight Special on WFMT. Paul had found this page on the Internet. He retired from Allstate after 50 years as an insurance agent. He and his wife Francine have four children, nine grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He gave up playing the cornet and for many years now has played the bagpipes. Paul and Fran live on a golf course in Barrington and in a house in Naples, Florida. He told me that Pat Bresnan lives in Los Gatos, California, with his wife Beth. He had taught for 42 years at De Anza College Cuperiino. He taught history and had written a popular textbook titled Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. |
Marilyn Dies in 2020 at Age 80Obituary Funeral Mass Program Funeral Mass Marilyn died peacefully on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, at Ridge Crest Health Center in Redding, Connecticut, after a long illness. Peter and three children were able to spend a couple hours in her presence shortly after she died.
A live-streamed Funeral Mass was celebrated on Wednesday, September 23, at Saint Thomas More Church in Darien, with celebrant Fr. Paul Murphy, orgainst Galen Tate, and soloist Joan Carlo. The Mass was followed by burial at Saint John Cemetery on the Five Mile River in West Norwalk.
Peter sent the following to Zita O'Brian three days after Marilyn died: "I just wanted to tell you that Marilyn died on Wednesday at 1:45 pm. The hospice nurse called me around 1:30 to come out to the Ridge Crest nursing home because Marilyn was dying. I got there at 2:15, a half hour after she died. I was joined by three of our children and we sat there by Marilyn for several hours until the funeral home came for her. The Ridge Crest nurse Conchita said she had started to die that morning. While I was doing the crossword puzzle that morning in the family room, I heard Marilyn call my name calmly and clearly from upstairs. I thought I must be hearing things . . . or maybe it was real. Thank you for praying to your grand uncle Blessed Michael McGivney for a miracle for Marilyn. Even if he did not heal her, it was a blessing that Marilyn died." Marilyn had been losing her health gradually the last ten years. On a trip to Greece and Turkey in 2011 with Paul and Maryann, Marilyn fell at the top of an escalator in the Athens airport and outside the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. On a trip to the Holy Land in 2012 with Paul and Maryann, Marilyn fell at Caesarea. Gerontologist Dr. Leo Cooney, who was on the trip with us, recommended that Marilyn walk with a cane. Later that year, Marilyn fell on her face in the middle of 7th Avenue at 54th Street in New York. In 2013, Dr. Cooney took her driver's license away. In 2015 we installed an elevator and a roll-in shower. A neurologist at Harvard said she had leukodystrophy (loss of white matter in the brain). The falls continued and she went from cane to walker to wheel chair. She was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes. In April 2019, she had lost the use of her arms and legs and went into assisted living at Sunrise Senior Living in Stamford. In February 2020, she stopped eating. A feeding tube was put into her stomach, and she went into Ridge Crest at Meadow Ridge. By the time she died, she had pretty much lost the ability to talk and make eye contact. Family visits were stopped in March due to Covid 19. Phone calls were allowed, but a nurse had to hold the phone by her ear. Visits once a week were allowed in May, increasing to twice a week in August. An autopsy at Mayo Clinic indicated that Marilyn did not have leukodystrophy. She did, however, have cerebrovascular disease: severe small vessel arteriolosclerosis. The basal ganglia was affected as well as the subcortical white matter. Comments from cards and letters from family and friends: When we were teachers together at Pitney Bowes, Marilyn was always so caring, helpful, and fun to be with. And after our jobs ended, we enjoyed our many many delightful get-togethers and looked forward to Marilyn''s warm friendship and good cheer. - Peggy I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of Aunt Marilyn. I have many great memories of both of you...most surround my ill-fated trip to Boston when you both opened your home to me and a couple of my friends/waifs. I just visited Peter's Pioneer's page and looked at the Peter/Marilyn page. What an amazing tribute to an amazing woman. I hope you are well, and if you find the occasion to visit your sister/my Mom, please let me know. I will make sure to come down to Vegas from Davis (COVID willing). Please send my regards to my cousins. I wish we had more contact over the years. - Kevin Just a note to say that I will always miss Marilyn. And she will always have a place in my heart. I know she is in a better place after so much suffering. I look back at our wonderful friendship which began at Purdue and our sorority Phi Mu. When we met what fun we had during college. And then with our friend, Gail, when she joined our group. We were a busy threesome from Happy Hours in downtown Chicago, to our many travel ventures to Europe, plus our champagne gatherings at our home in Edgebrook (you and John included). And our many visits to your home in Darien. These are memories I will never forget! - Nancy At men's’ ministry this morning, Father Paul informed us of Marilyn’s death. I want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with you during these sad and difficult days. If there is anything Kathy and I can do, you know how to reach me. May God give you and yours the strength and peace you so richly deserve. - Peter and Kathy My deep condolences on the death of Marilyn. Over our many years together, I saw what a smart, kind, caring woman she was. She was stuck with a terrible disease but a real desire to live. Your love and respect for her through this extremely difficult illness was exemplary. May she rest in peace. - Shara Such fond memories of Aunt Marilyn. Keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers. - Danny, Megan & Mitchell We miss you all and wish we could be with you. - Bill & Chris So sorry for the loss of your lovely wife Marilyn. I know she suffered the last several years with health issues. May the loving arms of Our Lord embrace her with everlasting peace. - Mary Kay & Carl We are glad we were able to meet Marilyn back when you would wheel her into the back of church for Sunday Mass. It was a privilege to bring her Communion. One could see she revered receiving the Lord, body, soul, and divinity. And now she can be closer than ever to Jesus. - Rick and Cathy Just wanted to say again how sad I feel about Marilyn dying...she was such a special lady and so much fun!! I am so glad that I had my last visit with her when I visited with Jim....we had fun!! She will be missed....especially by you and your children...and the spouses and the grandchildren!! That is a lot of people!! And the the sisters-in-law and and brothers-in-law and their families ...then all her friends!! - Emily Everyday caring thoughts are with you. Our family has shared many wonderful times together which shall always be warmly cherished. Marilyn will be missed dearly and our beautiful memories will outlast the pain of grief. We see those we love in every sunrise, sunset, in every tree, flower and swimming in the lake. Stephanie, Roger & Gracie While I have not seen Aunt Marilyn in quite some time, I have such wonderful memories of the times our families were together. I hope you and the family find peace and comfort in all of your memories. - Becky & Jim Kieran and I are saddened to hear of Marilyn's passing and send our deepest sympathy to you and your family. I know from Maryann how valiantly you cared for Marilyn during her devastating illness. I will remember her as young, beautiful, and vibrant when we were in Newcomers together. - Marie We were so sorry to hear about Marilyn. She was a wonderful person and a great friend. May beautiful memories sustain you. Sending our love, peace, and prayers. P.S. The online Mass service was beautiful! - Sandy & Jim Al and I express our sympathy to you during this difficult time. I enjoyed working with Marilyn and being her friend for so many years. She was a very thoughtful and kind person, and I will miss her. - Pam I wanted to let you know how sorry I was to hear of Aunt Marilyn’s passing. She was one of my favorite aunts and I always enjoyed visiting with her as I became an adult. She was so vivacious and interesting and I always felt so comfortable being with her. I loved the obituary and hearing about all the ways she loved being a mom. I will keep her in my heart as the wonderful lady who deeply loved her family and knew how to live life. - Mary Jane I have many fond memories from the past 60 plus years of knowing Mar and you. I have enclosed a few photos which i hope you and your family will enjoy. Perhaps you remember allowing me to care for Carroll in 1966 while you traveled to California. I visited you in your Dallas home after competing in my first Master's Swimming National in the Woodlands in 1982. I like this card because I have so many great memories of Marilyn, you, and your family. - Joann Though Marilyn's passing was a relief & complete healing, we are sorry for your loss. We have such fine memories of Marilyn - she was a great friend to me. Will always remember our good times together. I can still hear her laugh in my mind. - Elizabeth My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time. You have so much to be thankful for as you reflect on the blessed years you had with Marilyn. I am so glad we spent so many good times together. We will see you at Thanksgiving. - Sandra I just wanted to write to tell you how sorry I was to hear about Marilyn's passing. Though I did not know her well, we were in a book group through St. Thomas More for awhile, and I very much enjoyed her humor, intelligence, and insight. I'm sure you know that I will keep you and your family in my prayers and I send you all of my sympathy and condolences. - Carol I was only with Marilyn for a few post college years, but our travel and Chicago adventures made her a friend for life. I lover her sense of adventure - her big smile - she was always fun to be around. I am thankful to have had her in my life. Nancy and I always talk about her with fond memories. Hope she's up in Heaven listening. - Gail Please accept my sincere condolences of your wife;s passing on. Marilyn certainly was a vibrant woman and it was a beautiful life you both shared. I hope to see you around the neighborhood soon. - Rosie We send our sympathy as you navigate the coming months. Marilyn was a dynamic person, a great mom and wife. She has left you with great memories. - Debbie We are sorry that Marilyn is gone, but your many years together seemed from down the road, full of love and happiness. Wishing you continued good health and fulfillment in the days ahead. - Tom I am so sorry for your loss. Hope you are in good health and supported by good friends and family. The memories of the good times Bill and I had with the two of you are cherished! (Seems eons ago.) - Gilli I looked up Marilyn’s obituary. I am so very impressed. What a gorgeous talented woman. This was so lovely to read and so well written! I know we all would have met her and you at some point when we visited St Thomas More Parish. - Sr. Joan Bukrey Want to reassure you that God has welcomed her into heaven and that she struggles no more! Through her expertise in Myers-Briggs she helped me with the practice of my faith! She could tell me that my spirituality demanded the company of others, and that has helped me through the years. I know she is amongst the saints in heaven, free from all suffering and pain, and showing motherly and wifely love to you all. - Fr. Nick Punch Flowers were sent by Fran, Peter's siblings, Bob and Joanne, and John. Masses were requested by the Williams cousins, Rick and Cathy, Mary Ellen, Father Post, Zita, the EMMC Ministry at Saint Thomas More Church. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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4 Children, 7 Grandchildren
Contact Peter Biggins: Email pabiggin@optonline.net Phone 203-655-3694 Address 230 Old Kings Highway North, Darien, CT 06820, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kalamazoo, 1939-1941. Peter Alfred Biggins was born breech November 8, 1939, at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1939, there were 48 states in the Union. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States.
During the first two summers while Peter was in college, he worked as a mail clerk at the First National Bank and Trust Company of Evanston. During the last two summers, he had a job with the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District. He rode a red Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a side tank used to spray sewers with DDT. (Rachel Carson's bestseller 
Peter Biggins, who edited these pages for several years, packed his Clark Kent clothes last month and moved his wife and four kids to Michigan where he has accepted a post with the Ford Motor Company. Peter, a personnel expert who continually wondered how he managed to attract strange friends (including yours truly), was very active in the St. Thomas More community and his contributions, those of his wife Marilyn and the rest of the family will be missed. The Dialogue staff and his friends will also miss him, but we have fond memories. We will miss mostly, I think, his sense of humor, which is as dry as black powder and twice as explosive. Peter was so funny I personally can't think of anything funny he ever said. Now that's real wit (and also a bit of parody). A major Biggins contribution to the morale of the Dialogue staff was allowing us to have beer at our monthly meetings. His decision was wracked by such soul searching, however, that most of us figured that he had a bad experience with altar wine while growing up in Chicago. But enough of that nonsense. To get a true picture of Peter Biggins, human being, we asked Pat O'Malley, a parish member, to speak briefly on Peter's character. "I really don't know where to begin," O'Malley began. "How can I put this? Peter is a true Christian man, a devoted husband and father, a man for all seasons, a man of compromise. Let me give you an example: Peter's wife Marilyn didn't like to cook. Now, some fellows might get upset, but not Peter Biggins. He showed true Christian spirit. He took the family out, especially on holidays. Why, just last Easter he took the family to the Bronx Zoo for Sunday dinner. What can I say? Peter Biggins is just a classy guy." John Cotter
Darien, 1989-present. In 1988, Hewitt asked Peter to move to either Chicago or New York. Peter and Marilyn decided on New York, where Peter worked at the Hewitt office at 452 5th Avenue, across 40th Street from the New York Public Library.
In 1989, Marilyn started teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at Norwalk State Technical College part-time. In 1992 it merged with Norwalk Community College. For several years, ESL classes were held at Pitney Bowes in Stamford. She retired in 2006.
