Jeanette Lorraine Janda
Family Janda
Born 1 Feb 1942
Born 1 Feb 1942
My mothers family were immigrants in the early 20th century (c 1910s) to Chicago, Illinois. They were from Austria and an area of Eastern Germany that is now part of Russia.
Born 1 Feb 1942
Born 1 Feb 1942
Born 1 Feb 1942
My mom was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois to first generation American immigrants from Eastern Europe. My great-grandmother lived with them until her death in the mid 1980s. They were a very close family and I have wonderful memories of my time visiting them in Chicago and was very close with my grandmother, who I called Granny.
1960s-1990s
Nana's Family Tree
Nana's Family Tree
My mom moved to California in her late 20s (c 1967 or 1968) where she worked as a teacher. She met my dad in 1968 at the Newporter Inn (now the Huntington Beach Hyatt). She was an incredible mother when I was young - encouraging me constantly to be or do anything I wanted; pushing me to go to college and have an education and making many sacrifices so that I could do so; always praising me and my talents. As I entered my teen years though her health declined, she was divorced from my dad, our income wasn't that great - things were a bit rough for us until I was in my late 20s or even early 30s.
Nana's Family Tree
Nana's Family Tree
Nana's Family Tree
Hans "John" Janda
22 Aug 1912 - 6 Jan 2005
22 Aug 1912 - 6 Jan 2005
22 Aug 1912 - 6 Jan 2005
My maternal grandfather, who I called Papa, was born in Austria in 1912 to a single mother. His name on his birth record in Johann Simon - no father is listed. We know nothing of who he is other than a picture that was found in a drawer after Oma passed away. When Oma married *John Janda they raised younger John as their own. No one knew he wasn't the biological child of John's until many decades later.
*John is the Americanized version of Hans, my grandmother called him Hans exclusively but for all written records he wrote down John.
Early life in Austria
22 Aug 1912 - 6 Jan 2005
22 Aug 1912 - 6 Jan 2005
Papa (center) as a teen in Austria.
By all accounts his early life in Austria was a good one with a stable and loving mother and father. We don't have much information about this period but we have a few pictures like the one above that show a group of handsome teens hanging out on a sunny day!
Chicago, Illinois - 1920s and 30s
Chicago, Illinois - 1920s and 30s
Chicago, Illinois - 1920s and 30s
Papa immigrated to Chicago on his 18th birthday and settled in to life there meeting my grandmother and marrying her when he was in his late 20s and she her late teens. They were married more than 60 years.
1970s + Legacy
Chicago, Illinois - 1920s and 30s
Chicago, Illinois - 1920s and 30s
Granny and Papa lived in Chicago where they raised their two girls (my mother and her sister, Annie) until they retired in the 1980s and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. He passed away the year before Chase was born and I know that he would have loved his great grandsons so much! His mothers ancestry can be found here.
Lorraine Lahner
19 Apr 1922 - 17 Jul 2016
19 Apr 1922 - 17 Jul 2016
19 Apr 1922 - 17 Jul 2016
My maternal Grandmother, who I called Granny, was born in Chicago in 1922 to first generation immigrants from eastern Europe (Germany/Hungary). She was a twin to an identical sister named Irene and they were the last two children born out of 12 kids. She was raised in the city until she was 7 years old when, during the Depression, the family couldn't afford to keep the girls any more. They were sent to work on a farm in Michigan! They lived there until they were in their mid-teens and had saved up enough money to move back home.
Early Years
19 Apr 1922 - 17 Jul 2016
19 Apr 1922 - 17 Jul 2016
Granny and her sister Irene as babies (upper right) in their "gunnysack" dresses! The family couldn't afford fabric. Granny says they were terribly uncomfortable and itchy! Her life in Michigan was with a loving family who she was very close to and went to visit for years after she moved back to Chicago.
Life with Papa on Troy Street
Life with Papa on Troy Street
Life with Papa on Troy Street
Granny and Papa lived in a house on Troy street with Papa's mother (O'ma) until they retired and moved to Tennessee in the early 1980s.
Granny
Life with Papa on Troy Street
Life with Papa on Troy Street
Granny's father was Herman Otto Lahner, and her mother was Katie Sall. Here are their stories.