Mountain Laurel & Coal

  Blanche Louise Shipley Phillians was born 110 years ago today in West Brownsville, Pa.  She was one of three daughters born to Howard Francis and Annabelle Ferguson Shipley. She married George Harry Phillians on June 11, 1938, in Hagerstown, Md. and on March 17, 1945, she gave birth to my mother, Roberta Lee, their only child. She died on December 11, 1997, the day before her 86th birthday.  Rumor has it she was the life of the party when she was younger and living in the booming town of Brownsville, Pa. She worked as a store clerk, rolled her own cigarettes, and baked a pretty good loaf of bread. She was a mix of superstition and anxiety and although obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) wasn’t a term back then, I’m sure she had it. In her adult years she worried and worried and then, for good measure, she worried some more. Blanche Louise Shipley &  her friend Ruth Ann She absolutely adored my grandfather and spent her whole life making sure he was happy and we...

My husband’s Grandmother Julia Postic Marodi of Marianna collected  prayer cards from the funerals of her family and friends. She tucked them away neatly in a little plastic bag, along with some other papers. I'm sure that, in her heart, each card represented a great deal of love and sorrow.  Julia  was born on March 23, 1909, in Brownsville, Fayette County, PA and she lived in T ower Hill II. She married Alex Marodi and they had three sons, Michael, Charles, and George. The family lived in Marianna, Washington County, PA, and belonged to the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in  West Brownsville, PA. Julia, a faithful woman who loved her friends and family very much, died on N ovember 15, 1992, in Marianna, Washington County, PA. My husband's ancestral line to Julia Postic Marodi: 1. Timothy Marodi; 2. Charles Marodi; 3. Julia Postic by Randi Ross Marodi - randileeross@gmail.com