Looking for photos of St. Lawrence Parish, 1881-1960 (Portland, Sheridan: how much, to buy)

[hamellr]

You should also check out the Multnomah County Library. They've got a large history collection - especially for Portland.

Some other sources:
Historic and Contemporary Photograph collections at University of Oregon Libraries
Flickr: Oregon State University Archives' Photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/osucommons/ - broken link)

[puerco]

I just came across this blog re: St. Lawrence and Father O'Flynn. I didn't go to your school. I went to Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Andrews on NE Alberta. The summer after I graduated from 8th grade (1963) my family moved to Madeline in Irvington. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic but it's more due to my being agnostic than any bad feelings I have towards the Church.
What sparked my interest was your mentioning Father O'Flynn. We had a family friend with that name. He was retired and living at St. Joseph's on SE Stark c. 28th. Father O'Flynn was a very pleasant old man so maybe he's not the one from St. Lawrence. We used to go out to his property on Skyline and pick Italian prunes. I never saw any photo posted by any of the previous posters but would love to see one and see if it's the same Father O'Flynn.

[barbaramg]

Hi Ray, Love all your St. Lawrence info.

I lived at 2428 SW 3rd ave with my widowed mother and brother (9 years older)...2 blocks North of St. Lawrence & about 2 blocks East of Duniway Park. Angelo Medici family lived next door to us & had the Barber Shop on the corner of 3rd & Sheridan.
Because the only Public schools in our neighborhood were Failing or Shattuck, my mother sent me to St. Lawrence as a 'latchkey kid' while my brother started at Failing & ended up at Shattuck...Failing was pretty rough. My mom had to pay non-Catholic fees to the school and every year the Priest would raise the rates & Sister LaGloria would argue him back down on my mom's behalf.

The Roseanne I was referring to was Roseanne Gates living with her mother and grandmother. From my childhood memory Roseanne's dad (or her uncle...that's foggy memory) was in prison and step-dad in the navy overseas while her mom worked at the Hung Far Low restaurant.

You were right...it was Jewel LaVelle. The Petrellas mom was good friends with my mother & I played with Michael & Linda. There were 4 children and the family moved to NE Glisan after Urban Renewal .. Kids were Linda, Michael, Junior & Mary. I ran into Michael a few years ago when he was doing the Estate Sale in his family's home after his mom passed away.

I remember the Oliverio & Leonetti names & vague memories of faces. People I mostly 'played' with were Gloria Gaudio, Roseanne Gates, Linda & Michael Petrella.....the photo of my 4th grade class brings back first names, but am at a loss for all the last names. I Posted the photo somewhere on this blog, but am left in confusion as to exactly where??? Will work harder at trying to decipher all the links, etc.

More later,
Barbara

[barbaramg]

In reply to the Father O'Flynn inquiry....yes he retired at St. Joseph's Residence on SE Stark St. Portland or. I have a picture posted of the article from the Journal. This is the James P. O'Flynn you knew, not to be confused with Father Patrick O'Flynn accused of molestation from '62-'70 at Blessed Sacrament.

[puerco]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I couldn't imagine my Fr. O'Flynn being a child molester.

[roseyrayf]

Boy! Here is where the Internet is useful for correcting errors started on it. That is, indeed, a relief that our Father Patrick O'Flynn. Deep thanks for correcting that, Barbara.

Barbara, you were quite close to that parish. I am so happy that Duniway Park has basically remained intact from those old times. So many place names I can identify with like Shattuck school. Took my first swimming lessons there. Remember swimming in that pool when they failed to warm up the water. It was a short visit on that day.

[SIZE=3]Roseanne Gates, yes, that is the last name. As mentioned before, I have not had the full name in my mind or the person for over 50 years. I doubt if I would attend but I wonder if anyone has tried to organize and old St. Lawrence get together of all person who ever attended. You figure by now a number have gone or are dispersed to distant places so it’s not so practical. I would guess very few from my days have remained in Oregon. I think William Leonetti, one of the twins, still lives in the Portland Metro area. He was like a best buddy for a time until just before graduation in 1957, I believe it was. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]I noticed one of the last names I typed in did not properly appear. That was the Ca****’s. It was a large family and I know there were three generations attending at one time. The oldest one was Ronald, his younger brother and sister’s name escapes me. It may come back to me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Gloria’s name becomes more familiar to me but for the life of me I cannot yet connect a face. Interesting about the associations of the parents. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Well, off to other things. I will be back to continue. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

[roseyrayf]

I just figured out what is happening. There is an auto filter active where it is not possible to spell out the family name. Let's try this and see what happens: C-A- P U T O. Also, I copy and paste from MS Word which seems to throw off the font size. My Apologies. I did not notice when I posted.

[puerco]

I lived in your old neighborhood in the mid 70's. On the corner of SW Whitaker and SW Barbur - right behind a Japanese restaurant. Our landlady was an old Italian woman who had lived there for decades. I can't remember her name. That is such a fantastic neighborhood. We referred to it as the Lair Hill neighborhood. I can remember when Portland Center was going up but never knew what had been torn down. Thanks for giving me a peek into the past. It's too bad the 60's was an era of tearing down anything considered to be old . I attended PCC at both Shattuck & Failing.

[roseyrayf]

Puerco, yes, this modern life seems to require flexiblity and nothing staying the same. I'm glad I am of a generation that can recall an old Portland. There are some vestiges of my grade school years even with all the tearing down that oocured. I remember all those old homes that surrounded St. Lawrence. Ha, ha, recollection. Up to this time I have not admitted this.

I used to go to mass on Sunday and I would take the envelope with offering with me. I went but my mom did not. She was a baptised Catholic. Pop was Buddhist. I embezzled! I opened it up and picked up some goodies down at a drug store just east of St. Lawrence on 1st. Since I was not a seasoned criminal I just threw the offering envelope to the ground and went in for my spending spree. Well, as life would have it, someone found the envelope and turned it in to the church. I was called in to speak to one of nuns. You would have thought I would have gotten the c___ beat outof me. It was a quiet talk and no reprisals. That was an early lesson. I wish Bernie Madoff could have had a early lesson like that.

[puerco]

The nuns had me scared enough to never even consider stealing from the collection envelope.
Yes, we've become living history books. I managed to squeeze the first 4 months and 4 days of my life into the first half of the 20th Century. My main memories go back to about the time of the Oregon Centenniel when our class got our turn to dress up as pioneers. And I remember looking at Sputnik in the nite sky. Any memories before that pertain to kids things.