Marion Elizabeth Brennan was born on 1 Oct 1917 in Chicago, Illinois as youngest child and the only daughter of Stephen Francis Brennan and Anna Elizabeth Marcusen. She had two older brothers: Clarence Francis, who died as an infant, and Charles Joseph.  She grew up in a two-flat at 4242 Wilcox Street in [...]

“How many uncles do you have?” my high school boyfriend once asked.I thought about it and counted 17 men I called “Uncle” who lived within a 20-mile radius of my childhood home. He laughed, assuming I was joking — I wasn’t. In truth, I had only two biological uncles, full brothers of my mother and [...]