Carroll & Warner Family Origins

Well guys, I've decided to write a bit about Dad and his family.  I realize Aunt Pam can share a lot more with you, but I'll go ahead and plug in some family information that I know....

Dad was born in 1960, when Grandma & Grandpa lived in West Wyoming on 8th Street. The house is across the street from Diamond Manufacturing, between Marianacci's Restaurant and Cookie Corner.  I think the address is 260 W. 8th Street.  It was a 2-unit home, and they originally lived upstairs as they were married about 10 years before Dad came along.  You've heard that they eloped, right?  I believe they got married in Maryland (possibly when visiting Aunt Gloria & Uncle Melvin, I think Grandpa was 19 and Grandma was 21) and didn't tell anyone for quite some time after they got back.  They had waited a long time to have kids, and I've heard had almost given up (Grandpa came very close to buying two matching sports cars before they got their good news).  Once Dad came along, I think they were living downstairs.  Grandma so wanted children and was thrilled to have Dad, then Aunt Pam about three years later.  They moved to 83 E. 7th Street in Wyoming about the time that she was born.  Here are some pics that somehow came my way:

A funny picture, am guessing Dad was 1 year old:

Dad, then Dad and Aunt Pam, July 1965:

Elementary School, possibly right after gym:

Eagle Scout badge photo, July 1997:

A special photo, Dad with Teresa Musto (Smith), Aunt Pam's friend - possibly Dad's Senior Prom:

Dad's High School Senior Picture:

When I first knew Dad, the West Wyoming house was a rental property.  Dad was pretty much in charge of renovations and repairs between tenants, and I got my first experience with interior house painting over there.  That house had aluminum siding, so there was limited external painting.  However, the Wyoming house had clapboard siding and Dad was also in charge of scraping & painting the outside of that house every few years....  which is really quite large, and it was a LOT of work (and easily took an entire spring/summer season working on weekends).   Dad stayed pretty busy between the apartments and outdoor work at the Wyoming house, including gardening and landscaping.

Going back to family stuff, here are some basics on the Carroll & Warner families.

• Dad is Robert Rexford Carroll, Aunt Pam is Pamela Ruth Carroll.  
• Grandpa is Robert Davis Carroll and Grandma is Gladys Mae (May?) Warner
• Grandpa was the youngest of 3 children born to Daniel and Vera Carroll.  He grew up on 5th Street in Wyoming.  He had two older sisters, Aunt Nancy who lived in town and Aunt Shirley who lived in New York City.  It was a great event when Aunt Shirley visited - you should ask Aunt Pam about this.  
• Grandma was the fourth of 5 children born to Donald and Ada Warner, living on Breese Street in Wyoming.  Her siblings in order were Uncle Don (who lived in Moosic/Duryea to the ripe old age of 100, and just passed last year) who was married to Aunt Betty (who we saw this weekend); Uncle Morris who was married to Aunt Marion (they lived in Syracuse, NY, and I'm sure you remember visiting Aunt Marion before heading over to the NY State Fair); Aunt Gloria who was married to Uncle Melvin (who lived in Perryville, MD and I know you remember visiting for day trips into Washington DC with Dad as well as summer vacation / Rogers family reunion time in Ocean City, MD); and Aunt Rebecca who was married to Uncle George (who of course lived practically next door to Grandma; we hope to visit Uncle George in the Richmond area this summer).
• Next generation of Warners, most of whom we have stayed connected with:  Donny Warner, son of U Don and U Betty; Ellen Warner and George Warner, children of U Morris and A Marion; Susan Mintle, Melvin (Brud) Rogers, Jimmy Rogers, Becky Preston and George Rogers, children of A Gloria and U Melvin; Laura Balint, David Gerboc and Jason Gerboc, children of U George and A Rebecca.  (Did you notice that George and Rebecca are popular names?)

From what I can tell, Dad had a happy childhood and kept pretty busy with things like boy scouts - he was an Eagle Scout and advanced to Order of the Arrow (quite an accomplishment!).  He enjoyed the swimming pool at home, outdoor time with friends including wandering on the river flats, paper routes (which continued into his 20's on Sunday mornings), reading volumes of the family encyclopedia and helped out a lot at home.  Grandpa worked as a reporter and news anchor at WNEP and was also in the Army National Guard 109th Field Artillery (which he commanded!), and was away regularly.  Grandma worked for AT&T before the kids came along, then at Pomeroy's which later became BonTon once Aunt Pam started high school.  

Of course, Dad graduated from Wyoming Area.  Rob, we were able to borrow and look through WA's 1978 Yearbook which was fun!  He went on to King's College; I met him while he was working at Camp Lackawanna (in Vosburg, past Tunkhannock) over the summers.  My first memories of visiting in Wyoming are of Grandma's Sunday dinners, Grandpa's somewhat intimidating presence, the large garden and laundry hanging to dry on the outdoor "umbrella-style" clothesline.  Sometimes it's the simple things that get your attention....   And life was simpler then, before cell phones, the internet and before we realized global warming was a real thing!  One of my fondest memories of early years with Dad was canoeing on the Susquehanna (during and after Camp years).  I know you both like kayaking and hope you will also have pleasant memories of paddling on lakes, rivers, etc.  Hopefully you and your paddling partners get along much better than these critters appear to :-)