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People we remember
Biographies are where we share about family & friends to connect with others who remember them.
Stephen Sardi:
"I'd like to give credit where credit is due. Thank you -- AncientFaces team!!
I had dropped by AncientFaces for many years prior to writing about my brother. I wasn't ready -- but clearly AncientFaces was -- at any time. For a long time, I just couldn't find the internal will to remember my love for my brother in detail.
I used to think that what I knew about my brother would be handed down to family members. As time has gone by, though, the family has remained apart. I don't have access to those who might benefit from hearing these stories about their relative who died way too young. I want them to feel pride and perhaps an 'aha!' moment when they think about what they might have inherited from him.
Maybe, also -- there is just no interest. That's why AncientFaces is such a critical way for people like me to preserve history. The person I write about had a great, interesting life and his effect on me lingers to this day. He deserves to be remembered.
Someday, someone out there will stumble on my musings and learn something about their distant relative. He was a young man with hopes, dreams, and a bright future. He was and would have been a valuable member of society, contributing in many positive ways. His death made the world a poorer and less happy place.
Thank you, AncientFaces team -- without you, the memories would die and there would only be a simple stone in a cemetery informing the world of absolutely nothing. Thank you for the chance to give my brother a little hope for immortality in the digital age."
Stephen Sardi:
Dreams - My brother and I would share our dreams, especially if they seemed funny, or if something unusual happened in them. But mostly, they were wishful thinking on our part about what our futures held, things we eventually hoped we would own, or places we might visit that we had learned about in school.
We learned about the Caribbean, the deep blue waters, the white sands -- and the pirate's treasure we were sure we would find if only we could get there. Our interest was heightened when we learned that Charles Island, off the coast of Milford, CT, had been a stopping point for Captain Kidd and that he may have buried treasure there, according to local legend.
My brother had a dream about how one day, when he got older, he would buy Charles Island -- and he and I would go out there and find the treasure we were sure was hidden there. In his dream, he told me, the evidence was there because he found a sand dollar seashell at Silver Sands, the nearby beach. I was so caught up in his dream that I felt sure he HAD to be right, and I looked forward to it eventually happening.
Of course, that could not happen. The legends were real, but we didn't stand a chance of finding anything, not even the sand dollar shell that are native to tropical waters.
Charles Island has an interesting feature -- at low tide, there is a tombolo (sandbar) that allows people to walk over to the island and stay for a short while until the tide starts coming in again. We knew about this, but it's hard to be an explorer when your life is tied up in school and work. Although I've walked there in recent years, Paul and I never did, so the best he could do was admire the island from afar -- and settle for dreams of pirate gold.
I don't know if we perceive when our last days and nights are upon us. I can only hope that the night before he died, my brother had a dream where his wishes came true -- where he found the buried treasure, and enjoyed the rest of his life knowing he had achieved a great accomplishment.
As an adult, I've been to where he and I dreamed of going -- it is as beautiful as we both imagined. The palm trees, the white sand, the blue water -- all there. I hope his dreams that night -- April 24, 1981 -- matched the reality of the beautiful things he missed out on.
During one of my trips there, I found his sand dollar on the beach -- and thought of him. Wherever he is, I hope his dreams come true.
Pauline Eby:
Grandpa Abeyta was always working. I have very few memories of him. When Grandma moved up here in 1974. Grandpa stayed behind in Denver. His siblings were there. I've only seen him maybe 30 times until 1990 when both of my grandparents moved to Hawaii. They didn't have a good relationship until then. Grandpa was so caring to grandma. He would do anything for her. Mom said that they were going to Town one day when grandpa let out his last breath. Fortunately my niece Jessica was a strong Christian. She prayed him back alive. He lived for 3 more weeks the passed away. He is buried at Hilo veterans memorial cemetery in Hilo, Hawaii. My grandmothers ashes are there too
Michelle Roan:
My Gram - This was my grandmother (Gram) and was one of my most favorite people in the world. She had 8 children but she used to call me her 9th! I'm the 2nd oldest grandchild and spent more time at my grandparent's house than I did my own. They conveniently lived down the block.
She had 2 sisters (Dolores & Marge) and 4 brothers (Vincent, Joseph, Gerard, and William). When she got together with her sisters to play cards they laughed until they cried. I laughed too but I had no idea what I was laughing about lol. She was the kind of grandmother that let you hang out when she had card night with her sisters and she'd take me to practice old 1940s type dancing with her and her sisters and sisters in law. Why would a 9 or 10 year old girl want to do all of those things with her grandmother? Because she made it fun and I genuinely loved being around her.
We were a very working class Irish Catholic family. But, every Christmas my Gram and I would go and buy gifts for those in our neighborhood we knew were struggling. We didn't tell anyone and my grandmother made it clear that the people we were leaving the gifts for could never find that it was us. She said, "This isn't about glorifying what we are doing, it's not to brag. It's to do something nice even when you get nothing in return". Our parish had "shut-ins" which were the elderly that had difficulty cooking meals or doing chores. My grandmother would say to me, "let's go, we're visiting Mrs. Kelly today". Off we'd go and I knew what it meant. We WOULD visit Mrs. Kelly but we'd take turns sitting and talking to her while the other was washing the dishes or vacuuming or doing the laundry or heating up soup.
My grandmother left such a mark on me that I ended up getting a master's degree in social work. To be honest, I learned more from her than I did ever did in college. I named my daughter after her except I cheated a little and named my daughter Victoria Mary instead of Mary Victory (because I didn't want to put my kid through that...I mean, c'mon that's a weird name, Victory!).
Anyway, the day we lost her my mom just showed up at my work. I was like "What are you doing here?" It was like seeing your teacher at the supermarket. Work was work and my mom was...well, different than my work.
She said she didn't want to tell me over the phone but, "Gram died".
I had heard the term "primal scream" before but never thought I'd experience it. Well, I did. I don't remember it because I just kind of blacked out for a bit. She died of a pulmonary embolism at 72...2 days before her birthday. Then in 2014, my mom died at 62 of a pulmonary embolism. I had a blood clot (DVT) about 9 years ago in my upper arm (weird place to have one, I know). I'm on blood thinners now that the entire family has taken tests to see what was going on. I'm 51 now. Gram at 72, mom at 62...I tell my husband he better spoil me now bc we've only got a year left. I'm kidding (I think!). He doesn't think it's funny, but I got that dark sense of humor from my Grandpop (her husband).
Mary V. was one of a kind and I miss her (and my mom) every single day. I wish everyone was blessed with a Gram like her.
Michelle Whitman:
Looking for family of Myra (Bennett) farmer - The Myra Bennett we are looking for would have been a single unwed mother around 18 - 20 years old in 1931.
She had her daughter (possibly dubbed "Daisy") at the Pilot Point home, in Denton Texas, and put her daughter up for adoption.
That daughter is now 94 years old, and curious about her bio parentage, but not looking to upset lives, would just like to know a bit more, if possible.
Any reply is appreciated
*May, 2025
Heather Grimshaw:
Robert Grimshaw was my father - Bob Grimshaw was my father. I was the youngest of his 3 children and the only girl. We lost my Mom when I was 9 years old. My dad never recovered from that loss. He didn't know how to proceed in life without her, how to raise a daughter and made a conscious decision to retreat from society. I know now that he had no resources, like we do today. I also know he did the best he could. He was kind, generous, pleasant, well mannered and spoke highly of most everyone he knew. He never swore, rarely raised his voice and had a wealth of information that I was never able to elicit from him.
He met his grandson, Tyler Lee on one occasion but was not cognizant enough to appreciate the importance of who was on his lap.
My Mom was his source of happiness, his compass and reason for getting up in the morning. He passed 2 days before his 3rd grandchild Bronson James Makana Lee was born. I miss him dearly.
Pamela Scharaga:
looking for relatives - My bubble was Lizzie also called Nettie Bendertowicz. her family was from Bialystok, Poland, Lithuania and Wolkowitz Poland (not far from Bialystok) now in Belarus. There was supposed to be a very famous Rabbi in the family and a favorite teacher at the Bialystok Hebrew gymnasium where Yitzak Shamir attended.
Wendy Geiss:
Angelo A. Zollo was my Grandfather - My founders memories of my grandpa were him coming out to our house with my grandma and taking me for a ride to show them how to get to the original Entennmans Bakery factory! He so loved us three grandkids. I was devastated when he passed. I was only 19 years old. I still miss him and my grandma terribly.
Saesha Wallis:
Catherine's Eldest Son's (with Paul Fukuhara) Eldest (2nd to really) Daughter - Catherine was my grandmother. She passed when I was just 15 years old. I moved from Hawaii to Texas at around the age of 10 years old, so I don't have a lot of memories of her at all.
Honestly, all I remember is her sitting at the dining room table. I have no memory of her ever talking or walking. I know she did because my mother said she used to walk me to school & told me of conversations they had, but as hard as I try to recollect anything other than her sitting there...I just can't.
I wish I would've known her better, but it's ok because we'll meet again & when we do...we'll have eternity to get to know one another.