Kathleen (Ewing) Lyons
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Kathleen Elizabeth (Ewing) Lyons (1907 - 1990)

Kathleen Elizabeth "Kitty" Lyons formerly Ewing aka Blocher
Born in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married 15 Jun 1929 (to 1972) in Washington, District of Columbia, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 82 in Washington, District of Columbia, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Jun 2021
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Biography

Kathleen Elizabeth Ewing was born only child of David Mark Ewing (1886-1931) and Romayne Hoover (1888-1966) on March 14, 1907. After the divorce of her parents (about 1908-1909), Kathleen and her mother, Romayne, moved to Bendersville, Pa. where they lived with Kathleen’s maternal grandfather, George B. Hoover (App. 7 miles from Gettysburg) at his Elkhorn Inn. David occasionally came to this inn to visit young Kathleen, but all attempted contacts with Romayne were rebuked. He entered World War I and went to France from where he sent presents to his daughter. At age three (April 15, 1910) she was enumerated in the Adams County Federal Census living, her grandfather George B., his second wife and devorcee, Mary Bradley (reportedly Haines [1]) and Mary’s daughter, Marie Bradley. When she was five to six years old Kathleen was sent to live with her maternal grandmother, Cora Ann Otstot, in Mechanicsburg, Pa. (near Harrisburg) where she began school. After Romayne’s second marriage to Benjamin Blocher on February 25, 1915, young Kathleen was returned to Bendersville. She was raised with her stepsisters, Edith and Julia Blocher, daughters of Benjamin, and used the surname Blocher as her own for an indefinite period of time. She went to school with both and graduated from high school in 1924, in the same class as Julia. At the time of this writing (1998) Edith, 95 and Julia, 92, live in Carlisle, Pa. They are in good health and recall childhood events with clear minds. For more of Kathleen’s early life see the history of her mother, Romayne Hoover.

Kathleen graduated from the Sibley Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, D.C 1927 perhaps part of the 'Central School of Nursing' [2] and licensed as 'Mrs Kathleen E. Blocher Lyons' recorded 14 Mar 1930 and employed in 'Govt service' at the ‘Emergency Hospital’. [3]. The 'emergency hospital' was one of three (Central Dispensary and Emergency, Episcopal Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and Garifeld Hospitals) that merged to form the Washington Hospital Center in 1958 (See John Hugh Lyons, MD). There she met Thomas of Clinton, Md, a patient at the hospital. About 1948, the youngest son was attending Woodward Prep YMCA School at 1736G St in 5th grade while Kathleen worked at a hospital fronted on F St and backed on E St adjacent to the school via an alley. [4]. This could be the 'Emergency Hospital' referenced in 1927.

She and Thomas received a license on 8 Jun 1929 and married on 15 June 1929. Initially they lived at 1411 T St se Apt 104, [5] Anacostia, se Washington DC across the river from the Navy yard where Thomas initially worked for the Warren F. Brenizer Co. not far from St Francis Xavier’s Church at 2800 Pennsylvania Ave se [6]. They built a home in Falls Church, Va. at the corner of Great Falls and Little Falls Streets [7] where they raised four children, Jane Elizabeth (b. 1930), Susannah Bryan (b. 1931), Nancy Louise (b. 1933) and Thomas Henry (b.1937). Unfortunately, their lives were tragically interrupted by an illness of Kathleen’s husband, Thomas in 1939. This period is described in the history of her daughter, Susannah Bryan Lyons Williamson.

When Kathleen’s older children were in college she converted part of her home into a nursing and convalescent facility as she was a private duty nurse during this period [8]. She sold this house and moved in about 1960 with a close friend, Elizabeth "Betsy" Cushwa at 4805 Montgomery Avenue Bethesda, MD [9], a native of Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Kathleen adored the beach throughout her life spending time with her family at Breezy Point, near Huntingtown, Calvert County, MD. Kathleen used the proceeds from her Fairfax house and built a two-apartment house with Betsy in 1963 with an additional small vacation house behind at Dewey Beach, De. Part of this property (224 currently 21061 Dodd Avenue) which was located approximately three blocks from the ocean, They rented to vacationers and family including her step sisters Julia, Edith and one husband, Uncle Lee. After they both retired on the early '70s, Kathleen and Betsy, using proceeds from Betsy's Montgomery County home, built another house on the adjacent corner lot (226 currently 21063 Dodd Avenue) in 1974 at which time they moved into the new house and used the former totally as rental units.

Many rewarding years were spent at Dewey Beach and Kathleen’s children and grandchildren visited her frequently. In (198-) Betsy became ill and rapidly died of breast carcinoma. By previous agreement all real estate passed to Kathleen. The years that followed were generally good and Kathleen spent much time with her children and friends, especially at the local senior center, in spite of near blindness owing to macular degeneration. She became ill and died of pancreatic carcinoma in the Washington Hospital Center on October 19, 1990 at age 83 [10] Her remains were cremated and distributed over the Chesapeake bay near Annapolis according to her wishes by her daughter in Severna Park, MD. She would have been proud to know that all of her 21 grandchildren received college bachelor or master degrees.

Sources

  1. FamilySearch.org
  2. JSTOR- The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 25, No. 5 (May, 1925), pp. 388-390
  3. email Nov 2007 Karen Skinner (DOH) Archives for DC Nurses, she obviously was initially licensed before 1930
  4. Recollected and told by Susannah Lyons Williamson ca 2014
  5. 1930 census, 11th precinct, Washington DC
  6. Marriage Record
  7. Deed Bk page: 3555 2421, 3744 0475, LOT 2, JOSEPH BOHANNON SUBD (216 W. Great Falls Street)
  8. 1950 census showing patients
  9. Deed http://mdlandrec.net
  10. Personal recollection of events witnessed by Mike Williamson

Acknowledgements

  • Written by Charles Williamson ca 2001 and improved By mike Williamson according to new data from the archives of DC Nurses and MDLANDREC.NET




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Kathleen by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Kathleen:

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