Breed Avenue ~ First Home
In 1939, when Rita was one year old, the Barney O’Neill's lived on Breed Avenue (see house bottom left) in San Leandro. Barney had gotten on the police force in San Leandro. Before the twins were born, Barney and Bernadette bought a new home at 325 Dowling Blvd., San Leandro, CA. It had 5 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and one bathroom at that time. In the front yard were two pine trees with grass on both sides of a sidewalk, a large porch, a rock garden with waterfall and fish pond with a bridge. The house had two stories and a veranda the length of the house with wisteria branches covering it. Bernadette's father, John Maloney and sisters, Rita and Annie moved in with the family as her mother, Ann, had passed away the year before and Rita was still working. The Dowling house was a place for family gatherings. Many people came and went from that home. The kids grew up there. In later years Rita, Annie and John moved into a home of their own on Victoria Ct. in San Leandro.
325 Dowling Blvd., San Leandro, CA
This is the home I was raised in from 3 years old to 19. It was a place of welcome for extended family members. During my youth my grandfather, John Maloney, my aunts Rita and Annie lived with us. Mom and Dad had 5 children, Barney Jr., me, my twin brothers Philip and David and my little sister, Mary. My parents had another child born after their first child, Barney Jr. The baby was named Donald but lived only 18 hours. He was a blue baby and did not survive. Mom told me how she was grieving the loss of Donald at the hospital and one of the nuns came in. She told my mother she would take her to see babies that their parents wished had died.
My Remembrances ~ Journey of Family and Faith
My earliest remembrances are of a large home full of many people. When my mom and dad purchased the new home on Dowling Blvd, my grandmother, Annie Agnes Maloney had recently passed away. My parents bought the large house with the intention of having Grandpa John Maloney, my Auntie Rita and Aunt Annie move in with us. Their family home was at 1115 8th Avenue in Oakland.
Annie had development difficulties from birth. She went to school until the 4th grade when she decided that was enough. She always seemed like she was 13 years old. She had crushes on men. Loved to flirt. Played games with us kids. Couldn't handle money and didn't know how to make change. She was fun to be around and let me put on makeup in 7th grade when we would go out together. Walking was our mode of transportation to get to destinations. We walked everywhere. She did a lot of the household chores and was a big help to her family.
Rita worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and got up early each morning and caught a bus to San Francisco. Rita and Annie did not drive, but Auntie Rita knew how to drive but chose to let others drive her. She owned a 38 Black Oldsmobile, which proudly sat in our gravel driveway under the overhang from our veranda.
Grandpa was retired and had shortness of breath (emphysema) from smoking a pipe all his life. The family was concerned with Grandma gone that Annie and Pa needed to be with us. So the three of them moved in with us.
The arrangement was like this with four bedrooms upstairs, the room on the right was Grandpa's, next to his room was a bathroom, and next to that room was a sun room with many windows, which Barney, my brother occupied in later years and over the years two uncles stayed in that room also, Uncle David when he was a young man and Uncle Eddie when he didn't have a home. Eddie unfortunately was an alcolohic who lost his job at the Railroad and had a difficult life. The room on the left was used by Barney Jr., me, the twins, my dad (he was a policeman and had to sleep during the day when he had midnight shift.) We were flexible when it came to sleeping arrangements. The large room with the veranda on the left was occupied by Auntie Rita, Auntie Annie and me. I sleep on a daybed next to the veranda doors which were closed most of the time. We were not allowed to go out on the veranda as my mom worried it wasn't safe. I remember my twins brothers using it to escape and climb down the lattice attachment to the pillars when they wanted to run away. In later years, my sister, Mary and I shared the room.
My Father - Bernard Nicholas O'Neill
Barney O'Neill is in the top row, the tallest man there.
Dad joined the San Leandro Police Department around the time I was born. The picture at the left he is man in the middle top who is taller than the rest. Dad was 6' 4".
Bernard Nicholas O'Neill was born 8 JUL 1906 in Berkeley, Alameda, California, USA. He died on 29 JAN 1957 in San Leandro, Alameda, California, USA. His parents were Joseph Nicolas O'Neill and Sarah Elizabeth Hanson. Besides, Barney, they had Gladys, Virginia and Donald who passed away at age 4.
As a teen he attended Berkeley High and was on the football team. He liked drawing cartoons, too. Some of posted on a separate page. One story I remember about Dad as a teen was he had purchased a motor cycle and got in an accident. When Grandpa Nick heard it, he destroyed the bike so Dad could never drive it again. After school Barney was working on the docks in San Francisco while he was engaged to Mom, Bernadette Mary Maloney. One day a crane loading cargo swung and hit him while he was on the ship. It threw him to the ground below. He braced his fall with his hands. He was badly hurt and had to be hospitalized. My mom told me she was saving every penny they could muster to buy furniture and making plans about their future, but after the accident she felt, her determined financial plans lead to his accident and decided never to count on money planning again. Mom carried a lot of superstition traditions from her Irish roots. Dad recovered from his accident fully. It was after they had married that Dad joined the police department in San Leandro. He was a good and faithful policeman. He rose to the rank of Sergeant before he died of a heart attack.
My Mother - Bernadette Mary Maloney
Bernadette Mary Maloney was born on 10 FEB 1908 in Oakland, Alameda, California, USA and died on 22 JAN 1977 in San Leandro, Alameda, California, USA. Her parents were John Joseph Maloney and Ann Agnes Murray both parents immigrated from Ireland in the 1890s and were married in Oakland, California where they settled in a home at 1115 8th Avenue and raised nine of ten children. Margaret Mary"Rita," John "Jack," Kathleen "Kay," Edward "Eddie," Matthew "Matt," Ann Agnes "Annie," Philip "Phil," Bernadette "Bernie," and David Maloney. Mary Ann Maloney died as an infant at home. The family attended St. Anthony Church in Oakland. They believed in the arts and the children were theatrical. Bernadette excelled in ballet and tap dancing. She often partnered with her brother, Phil. She was very athletic and loved to compete in anything, especially games.
Mom was at the beach in Santa Cruz the day she met Dad. One of her brothers knew Barney and introduced him to Bernadette as she sat on a beach blanket. They talked for a while and when she was going to get up, Barney extended a helping hand. He was surprised that she was so short when she stood up. Bernadette was barely 5 feet tall. When Barney asked for her phone number, she coyly said, "I'm in the telephone book." Latter she regretted that move as it took him two weeks to give her a call. She was also dating another man at the time and told me a funny story. This guy had a car, Dad didn't, so one day as she was in the car with this fellow, they saw Barney walking along the street, she asked her friend to stop and give Barney a ride. The guy later told her, he felt like a fool picking up his opposition. We know how the story ended, she chose Barney.
She was a devoted daughter and after marriage would get on a bus and go to her parents house to help her mother iron clothes and clean house. She continued this practice after her first son, Barney was born taking him with her each day.
Family was very important to Bernie. After she and Barney bought the big house on Dowling, they invited her sisters Rita and Annie, and her father, John and brother, David to come live with them. Bernadette's kitchen was like a restaurant often she would be like a short order cook, making various meals to please the taste's of her house guests. At breakfast it could be bacon and eggs for one person, cream of wheat mush for another, and cereal for another. In the evening she would cook the main meal, but always had to cook a fish and potato dinner for her father who didn't wear his dentures. All of grandpa's meal were served on a tray upstairs in his bedroom. I remember the security I felt when I would come home from school and find Mom busy in the kitchen, singing her heart out. I learned all of the old songs from the 40s as my Mom knew them all and sang each one.
One task she got tired of was ironing, so I took on that job for her ironing all of my father's shirts, the boys pants and other clothes that needed to be iron. I remember the boy's pant especially as after being washed and starched, they were put in pant stretchers to make a crease down the front. When they dried, they were stiff as a board. I sprinkled water on them before ironing and it took some time to get them done. We had a mangle, but rarely used it.
Other interesting items I saw during my youth was a wringer washer, an ice box (the iceman used to bring a big block of ice through the back door and put it in the ice box. A toaster that was put on the wood burning stove to heat the toast. A curling iron that was put on that same stove to heat up and made my hair sizzle when applied. A glass jar that was always on the table with spoons in it. Canned milk to put in coffee. A pressure cooker that Mom always worried would explore some day. Manual clothes hangers off the back porch to hang all of our washes. A meat grinder that we used regularly on the same back porch to grind all of the various meats we had during the week to make Hash once a week. We would keep our stale bread so Mom could use it in meatloaf and bread pudding. I remember using a broom to sweep the rugs in the house and then we got a carpet sweeper that was before the vacuum cleaner was purchased in my teens. Our front door was never locked, Mom said she didn't think she ever had a key for it, but the back door was the way we came and went. It was always opened, too.
Mom was at the beach in Santa Cruz the day she met Dad. One of her brothers knew Barney and introduced him to Bernadette as she sat on a beach blanket. They talked for a while and when she was going to get up, Barney extended a helping hand. He was surprised that she was so short when she stood up. Bernadette was barely 5 feet tall. When Barney asked for her phone number, she coyly said, "I'm in the telephone book." Latter she regretted that move as it took him two weeks to give her a call. She was also dating another man at the time and told me a funny story. This guy had a car, Dad didn't, so one day as she was in the car with this fellow, they saw Barney walking along the street, she asked her friend to stop and give Barney a ride. The guy later told her, he felt like a fool picking up his opposition. We know how the story ended, she chose Barney.
She was a devoted daughter and after marriage would get on a bus and go to her parents house to help her mother iron clothes and clean house. She continued this practice after her first son, Barney was born taking him with her each day.
Family was very important to Bernie. After she and Barney bought the big house on Dowling, they invited her sisters Rita and Annie, and her father, John and brother, David to come live with them. Bernadette's kitchen was like a restaurant often she would be like a short order cook, making various meals to please the taste's of her house guests. At breakfast it could be bacon and eggs for one person, cream of wheat mush for another, and cereal for another. In the evening she would cook the main meal, but always had to cook a fish and potato dinner for her father who didn't wear his dentures. All of grandpa's meal were served on a tray upstairs in his bedroom. I remember the security I felt when I would come home from school and find Mom busy in the kitchen, singing her heart out. I learned all of the old songs from the 40s as my Mom knew them all and sang each one.
One task she got tired of was ironing, so I took on that job for her ironing all of my father's shirts, the boys pants and other clothes that needed to be iron. I remember the boy's pant especially as after being washed and starched, they were put in pant stretchers to make a crease down the front. When they dried, they were stiff as a board. I sprinkled water on them before ironing and it took some time to get them done. We had a mangle, but rarely used it.
Other interesting items I saw during my youth was a wringer washer, an ice box (the iceman used to bring a big block of ice through the back door and put it in the ice box. A toaster that was put on the wood burning stove to heat the toast. A curling iron that was put on that same stove to heat up and made my hair sizzle when applied. A glass jar that was always on the table with spoons in it. Canned milk to put in coffee. A pressure cooker that Mom always worried would explore some day. Manual clothes hangers off the back porch to hang all of our washes. A meat grinder that we used regularly on the same back porch to grind all of the various meats we had during the week to make Hash once a week. We would keep our stale bread so Mom could use it in meatloaf and bread pudding. I remember using a broom to sweep the rugs in the house and then we got a carpet sweeper that was before the vacuum cleaner was purchased in my teens. Our front door was never locked, Mom said she didn't think she ever had a key for it, but the back door was the way we came and went. It was always opened, too.
