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John C. Doyle
1886-
John C. arrived to join the Michael Doyle family on 24 Jan 1894 at St. Thomas, Minnesota. We can assume he was baptized at St. Thomas Church by the then pastor, Father Maurice Joy, but we do not have the details of date or godparents.
John shows on the 1895 State census as one year of age. Then in the 19 Dec 1908 Sentinel we find this brief item, "John Doyle spent Monday at St. Peter."
Beyond this we have no details of John's early life in St. Thomas. When the family moved to Minneapolis in 1909, John would have been 15 years old, so we can assume he finished school in Minneapolis.
With the start of World War I in 1916, John enlisted in the Army. Shortly, as a member of the A.E.F. (American Exped itionary Forces), John's unit was off to France. There John fought heroically in several battles, was wounded and decorated for bravery in action. These latter two items never became general knowledge in the family. It was only on his death and burial when the Government listed his awards on his grave marker that the facts came out. The immediate family was surprised, but investigation proved it was a fact, not just another of John's "tall stories". For partial evidence see the copy of a Minneapolis paper on a following page describing his battle action.
After the war John became a plumber and soon was in bus iness for himself. The 1923 city directory lists him as John c., plmbr., 2125 Lyndale. The 1924 directory shows his business address as 307 W. Lake and as boarding at 4708 Xerxes Ave. So. (His brother Dan's house.
It was probably 1923 when John with his sister Stasia, purchased a home in the 2600 block of Toledo Ave., St. Louis Park. This house was almost across the street from their brother, Neal, and family. It is believed that their father, Michael, and brother, Leo, also lived with them, all or part of the time.
On 28 Nov 1934 John married Julia Dow at the St. Paul Cathedral with Francis O'Connell of st. Thomas, Minnesota and ______________as the attendants. It is jokingly said that the organist suffered from fatigue due to playing the entrance hymn over and over awaiting John's arrival at the church. He was late as usual, and literally kept his bride waiting at the altar.
Julia was born on 28 Mar 1901 to the marriage of William L. Dow and Anna Dempsey. She was small of staiure, quiet, but with lots of self confidence.
John was a man of good humor who laughed easily and often. He was always the "life of the party".
In his bachelor days, John never missed a dinner party, etc. given by one of the family members. Even though not invited, John would inevitably arrive, pretending surprise to find a party developing. The hostess would be vexed at having to upset the dinner plan by providing another place at the table, but she would soon join the guests laughing at John's antics.
John was also a "needler" and bothered family members to varying degrees. One of his favorite targets was his brother-inlaw, Martin Muckerheide who, according to family tradition, "became angry on hearing John's knock at the front door.
John was the writer's Godfather so I'm naturally a bit biased in his favur. He can only be described as "lovable even when you were angry over his failure to come through on date or a promise". He could always "sweet talk" you into a laugh in short order.
John was also a "professional Irishman". He was proud of his Irish heritage and, without ever having seen the "old sod", at times had a brogue so thick it would put a Kerryman to shame.
Early in their married life John and Julia lived in St. Paul. Later they purchased a home at 3916 Aldrich Avenue South.
In about 1950 the family moved to 6809 Pillsbury Avenue South and remained there for the balance of John and Julia's lives. Daughter, Sharron, currently resides in this home.
First child, Dow, was born on 30 May 1936 in St. Paul. His godparents were Byron Doyle and Carol Doyle. On 3 Aug 1938, daughter Sharron was born in st. Paul. Her godparents were Francis O'Connell and Dorothy Dempsey. Both Sharron and Dow reflect more of their mother than their dad.
During most of their married life John's plumbing business was located at 3645 Fourth Avenue South and both John and Julia were active in the business. John was operating manager and Julia acted as business and office manager. In the late 1950's they sold the business and retired.
John, more than any of the other children, maintained his contacts with those Irish friends at St. Thomas. He lived through his last St. Patrick's Day in 1965, then died on the following day, March 18th.