Linda Eppinger-wells

My mother, Kay (nee Gasinski)Eppinger is the 4th lady from the left... beautiful, isn't she??? These were the other flight crew wives of the flyboy husbands in the Air Force, B-17 crew. L to R are: Mary Farr from California whose husband was the pilot, Marge Garringe from Michigan whose husband was a navagator, Betty Gambrill from Penn. whose husband was also a navigator, my mother, Kay, with my father Ira Eppinger a navigator, Maxine Barag from Texas, whose husband was a navagator, and Alma Cornius (?) from Mass. whose husband was a bombardier.

This is my handsome grandfather, Ira George Eppinger who worked as a realtor in Chicago, IL. in the early 1920's till his death in 1929, at the tender age of 27. He is the son of Frederick Charles Eppinger and Grace (nee Quinn)Eppinger. His sister, my great aunt was Grace Frances (nee Eppinger) O'Neil. He was married to Anna Pelzer, daughter of Lawrence and Anna (nee Gruber) Pelzer of Chicago. Ira and Anna had 2 children, Raymond Eppinger who passed away at the innocent age of 4 months, and my daddy, Ira George Eppinger, Jr. who will be celebrating his 83rd birthday this April 25, 2005.

This is a picture of my g/g/grandmother, Katherine Quinn (1851-1933) in front of the house she grew up in in Geneva, IL. Her parents were Michael (1801-1891)and Mary (1804-1904)(nee Stewart) Naven who came to Geneva in the 1850's from Ireland. Katherine married John Quinn in Nov. of 1874 in Kane county. John met an untimely death in 1880 by being struck by a train while trying to save another, per family hx. They are all buried in the West Side cemetery in Geneva.

These are my great grandparents on the right, Frederick Charles Eppinger and Grace (nee Quinn) and their daughter, my great aunt Grace (nee Eppinger)O'Neil with her husband Jerry O'Neil in Chicago. Jerry and Grace had one child, also named Jerry. Frederick is the son of Frederick George Eppinger and Sophia Busch (per family hx. related to Busch brewing before merging with Anheuser-Busch), and Grace is the daughter of John Quinn and Katie (nee Naven) Quinn of Geneva, Il.

My grandfather, Jan J. Gasinski, is on the right with his wife, my busia Teofilia left of him. Her sister Louise is to the very left. The young boy is John Gasinski, my uncle and my mother, Kay (nee Gasisnki) Eppinger is the older girl on the bottom left and her sister, Bee (nee Gasinski) Peterson to her right. Jan and Teofilia were married in 1915 in Chicago and had a total of 7 children.

This is my mother, Kay (nee Gasinski) Eppinger with her fellow workers somewhere in Florida. On the back of the large group shot she wrote "The Panillas Gang" which I believe is a group of Air Force wives, and on the smaller shot of the 4 women she names the women as: Kay (herself in the white headcover on the left), Alcene, Agnes and Skip at lunchtime.

These are my wonderful, loving parents, Ira George Eppinger, son of Ira George Eppinger and Anna (nee Pelzer) Eppinger, and my beautiful mother, the heart of our family who left this earth to be with Jesus on July 26, 2002, Kazimiera "Kay" (nee Gasinski) Eppinger, daughter of Jan Gasinski and Teopita (nee Lenart) Gasinski. Dad and Mom were married on Oct. 16, 1943, shortly before this pic was taken, and missed celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary in 2002 due to our LORD taking a very special angel, my mother... They did create 8 perfect??? angels during their marriage, Alan, Robert, Thomas, Mary Kay, Carol, Gloria, me-Linda, and Patti and a host of grand- and great-grand children.

This is my g/grandfather, Frederick Charles Eppinger with his wife, Grace Frances (nee Quinn)Eppinger and her mother, Katherine (nee Naven)Quinn
( born in Geneva, IL. on Aug. 19, 1851 died in Chicago,IL. on April 2, 1933) married to John Quinn, who by family history died while Grace was a young girl, supposedly hit by a train trying to help another avoid being hit by a train in Geneva or Chicago, IL. in 1880. John's birthplace in 1851 may have been in Columbus/Columbia Wisc. or Canada, but not known at this time. This left Katherine a widow with three children, (1) my g/grandmother Grace Frances (nee Quinn) Eppinger (1875-1954 born/raised in Geneva, IL., died in Chicago,IL. )
(2) Henrietta "Etta" nee Quinn Fargo (1877-1917 born/raised in Geneva, IL., died in Chicago) married to Charles Fargo, and
(3)Bertha (nee Quinn) Reed (1879-1937 born/raised in Geneva,IL., died in Chicago) , married to Homer Reed.
Katherine and the 3 girls lived with her parents, Michael and Mary (nee Stewart) Naven in Geneva, IL., Kane county. All are present on the 1880 Kane county census. Michael and Mary came from Ireland in the 1850's. I have tax receipts from Kane county (Geneva, IL.) from the 1850's with Michael Naven's name on them.

This is my daddy, Ira G. Eppinger in his capsized sailboat on the lake. Looks like he's having a great time anyway! He is the son of Ira George Eppinger, SR. and Anna (nee Pelzer) Eppinger.

This is my cute little daddy about age 1 yr. in Chicago, Ira , son of Ira George Eppinger, SR. and Anna (nee Pelzer)Eppinger. He grew up to be such a handsome man and fantastic "daddy"!

In the nose of the B-17 is my father, Ira G. Eppinger (approx. age 25), bombardier- navigator, with an unknown Air Force buddy eye-balling and reliving the hit on the nose of the
massive bomber by schrapnel, which happened very frequently per dad. They were part of the 379th Bomb squad stationed in Kimbolton, England during WW2. We Eppinger children are very proud of our father, and all the service men and women who have given so much so we can enjoy our freedoms as Americans!!! Thank you all!!!!!

This box belonged to my great aunt Grace (nee Eppinger) O'Neil and is now in my possession. I don't know how James is connected to the family, but could be the brother, father or other male relative of my g/g-grandfather, John Quinn, who is Grace's grandfather on her mother's side, Grace (nee Quinn) Eppinger. He may have been born in Wisconsin or Geneva, IL. I would love to know his connection to my John Quinn (1851-1880), who lived in Geneva, IL. and was married to Katie (nee Naven) Quinn in Nov. of 1874. The date on the box is Jan. 5, 1907 with the depiction of an elderly man and possibly Freud???
It also has horses and an elephant on it. If anyone has any info. on the box or on a James T. Quinn who probably died in Aurora or Chicago in the early 1900's, pls. let me know. Thanks.

This is the graduating class of 1944 from the Pan American Airways (Navigator) Training School in Coral Gables, FL. My father, Ira G. Eppinger is in the second row from the bottom, the second man from the left. He served in the Air Force in WW2 as a bombardier/navigator on a B-17, a member of the 379th bomb squad, stationed in Kimbolton, England. He spent 28 years in the Air Force, and retired in 1970 as a Colonel. He will celebrate his 83rd birthday on April 25, 2005. He is the son of Ira G. Eppinger, Sr. and Anna Pelzer Eppinger.

These are my grandparents, Ira George Eppinger, Sr.( April 12, 1901 to March 27, 1929) and Anna nee Pelzer Eppinger (March 4, 1902 to March 24, 1971) on their wedding day, October 19, 1921. Their first born was Ira George Eppinger,Jr., my father, born on April 25, 1922. Ira Sr. and Anna also had a second son, Raymond Fred Eppinger, born Aug. 31, 1923, and sadly passed away at the innocent age of 4 1/2months old on Jan. 13, 1924. When my grandfather Ira Sr. passed away in 1929, Anna remarried Richard "Doc" Arzt, and had 3 more children, Lorraine Dowiartz, MaryAnn Walls (deceased), and Jack(deceased). My father, Ira Jr. turned 83 this year (2005), and sadly misses my mother, Kazimiera "Kay" nee Gasinski Eppinger, who left this world to join our Heavenly Father on July 26, 2002.
Ira George Eppinger, Sr. is the son of Frederick Charles Eppinger and Grace nee Quinn Eppinger of Chicago, and he had one sister, Grace nee Eppinger O'Neil, married to Jerry O'Neil.

This is my mother, Kazimiera "Kay", 10 or 11 yrs. old in Chicago with her younger sisters, Beatrice "Bee" (nee Gasinski) Peterson on the right, and little Stephanie (nee Gasinski) Schram in front. Their parents are Jan Gasinski and Teophilia (nee Lenard) Gasinski. They also had 2 older brothers, John and Ted, who have both passed on, and later twin sisters, Jeannie and Delores. Jeannie married Ken Schwartz and Delores married Tony Guzzi

This is my father, Ira G. Eppinger at the head of the aircraft on the ground (facing camera), and 2 unknown buddies with the air rescue squad, stationed in the canal zone in Panama in 1949. He served as navigator on the helicopter.

These are my great-grandparents on the left, Grace (nee Quinn)Eppinger and Frederick C. Eppinger, with Grace's mother Katie (nee Naven) Quinn next to them and followed by Grace's sister and Katie's other daughter, Bertha (nee Naven)Reed and her husband Homer Reed. The Quinn women were born and raised in Geneva, Il. Katie's husband, John Quinn died at a young age and Katie and her 3 girls, Gracie, Henrietta, and Bertha all lived with Katie's parents, Michael and Mary (nee Stewart) Naven in Geneva.

This is my grandfather, John J. Gasinski, father of my mother, Kazimiera "Kay" Gasinski, in his confectionary/tavern in Chicago. I believe my mom is standing next to him, and her sister Bee (nee Gasinski)Peterson in the background, or visa versa. (They look soooo much alike!) The 2 patrons are unknown, though one looks to be a policeman. This is where my parents (Ira G. Eppinger and Kay nee Gasinski Eppinger) met. As dad tells it, he came to meet her sister, Bee, but saw mom and fell in love and said to himself, "I am going to marry that girl!" And they did, Oct. 16, 1943. They would have celebrated 59 yrs. together in 2002, but the good LORD needed a special angel and took mom to Heaven.... My grandfather, John, was married to Teopita/Teofilia (nee Lenart) Gasinski and had 7 children: John, Ted, Kay (my mother), Bee, Stephanie, and the twins Delores and Jeanne.

This is my very hansome Grandpa Jan J. Gasinski, father of my mother, Kay (nee Gasisnki) Eppinger. Jan married Teofilia Lenard in Chicago in 1915, and had 7 children: John married to Jean, Ted married to Grace, Kay married to my handsome daddy Ira Eppinger, Bee married to George Petersen, Stephanie married to Jim Schram, Jeannie married to Ken Schwartz, and Delores married to Tony Guzzi. Grandpa Jan owned and operated a tavern/ice cream parlour in Chicago in the 1920's.