The Four Sons of Walter and Marie Petelle.


Edward

Edward Howard Petelle (1923-2017).

Edward was born in Chicago in 1923. During World War II he served in the Air Force as an aerial gunner. He married Dorothy Snow in November 1943. They had four children and raised them in Florida. An avid sailor and a cowboy at heart, he had a career with General Telephone Company.

Edward was the third son of Walter Joseph and Marie Hansen Petelle, born on March 26, 1923, at Grant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His parents and two brothers, Wally and Bob were living on the second floor of the Hansen home at 2301 North Monticello Avenue. His mother’s parents, Samuel and Christine Hansen, lived on the first floor.

Marie’s brother, Tony Hansen, Tony’s wife Margaret, and their daughter, Betty, lived in an apartment above the garage. The garage housed a bottled beer distributing business, including the horses and horse-drawn carts.

Edward’s father, Walter was in the automobile business. The year Ed was born, Walter was the $100,000 salesman for the Studebaker dealership where he worked. Ed still has the medal commemorating that achievement. Edward’s grandfather, Samuel Hansen, died in 1925. When the family moved to 5544 Hutchinson, in 1927, Grandmother Hansen moved with them. Ed’s brother, Donald, was born while they lived on Hutchinson.

One of Edward’s, most vivid memories of the house on Hutchinson is not a pleasant one. On December 23, 1930, when he was seven years old, the family sent him across the street to a friend’s house and the Petelle Christmas tree was taken down. When he returned home, the Christmas tree had been replaced by a casket. His grandmother, Christine Hansen had died.

Ed’s father started a Hupmobile dealership, Petelle Motors, in 1930. Because of the Depression, Hupmobile stopped production and autos and parts became almost impossible to get. Walter held on as long as he could, but he finally had to close the doors.

The family moved back to the house on Monticello in 1932 or 1933 and the Hupmobile parts went with them. Tony and Margaret and their two daughters, Betty and Jeanne Marie “Sis,” returned also, living downstairs. Marie and Walter and their boys lived upstairs. Ed can remember his mother, Marie, taking orders for parts over the telephone from former customers. Ed and Betty would run down to the basement to rummage through cartons until they found the parts.

Both Ed and Betty Hansen Zive recall that Santa always visited the boys upstairs first, since the family tradition had the Walter Petelles celebrating “Santa” on Christmas Eve. The Hansens celebrated “Santa” on Christmas morning. Betty said that it “never seemed fair to them or to poor old Santa.”

Edward started working at the early age of ten when he sold both The Ladies Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. In 1935 and 1936, he sold donuts door to door on the Chicago north side.
During the 1938 Christmas Season, Ed wrapped packages in the Men’s Clothing Department of Mandel Brothers in the Chicago Loop.

In 1935, his father’s mother, Lulu Wolfe Petelle, died. She was buried at Montrose Cemetery in Chicago, the same cemetery where Christine and Samuel were buried. In 1940, his paternal grandfather, Joseph Petelle, also died and he was buried next to Lulu.

Ed worked as an usher at the Gateway Theater [5216 W. Lawrence Chicago, IL Grand Opening, June 27th, 1930] in Chicago in 1939 and 1940. His brother Don recalls that he refused to sneak him into the theater for a free “show.” During July and August of those years he was a trail guide at the Bar H and H Dude Ranch in Wheeling, Illinois. In 1939, the family lived at 4444 North Long and on to 5510 Pensacola in 1940.

Ed graduated from Lane Technical High School in January of 1941.

From February through August in 1941, he worked at Chicago Title and Trust Company in Chicago Loop. In September of the same year, Ed went to work for Western Electric Company in Chicago at the Central Telephone Office doing installations.

In 1942, Walter Petelle decided to build a new home in Elmwood Park. It was at 1833 North 73rd Court. The house was not finished when the Pensacola house sold, so for a few months they rented what his brother, Don, recalls as a “messy place” on George Street.

At 19 years of age, Ed enlisted in the Army Air Corps in September of 1942. He began active duty on Jan. 25, 1943 and served through October 7, 1945. He was trained as an aerial gunner in Laredo, Texas.

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On November 11, 1943, Ed was home on leave to marry Dorothy Mae Snow. She was the only daughter of Mae and Harry Snow. Shortly, Ed returned to duty in Texas and Dorothy moved in with her parents at 2540 North Central Park in Chicago.

Ed left for England on April 14, 1944. He was part of the 8th Air Force and served in the air offensive in Europe in Southern France, Northern France, Normandy and the Rhineland. During his time in service, he earned six bronze stars, and air medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He returned to the United States on January 24, 1945. For a while, Ed and Dorothy lived with the Snows. Eventually, they found their own apartment at 2940 Mobile Avenue on Chicago’s north side.

He went to work for Illinois Bell Telephone System on October 17, 1945, holding a wide variety of positions. He worked there for thirteen years.

Ed and Dorothy were living at 2411 North Ridgeway in Chicago when their first child was born at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Their second child was born while the family was living at 108 South Mayfield in Chicago.

In the mid-50’s the foursome moved to a new home Ed himself built at 1240 Glen Oak Lane in Northbrook, Illinois. While they were living at this address a third child was born.

On May 14, 1958, Ed resigned from Illinois Bell and he and Dorothy moved their family to 7846 4th Avenue South in St. Petersburg, Florida. This was about 25 miles from where his father, Walter, and brothers, Wally and Bob, were living in Largo.

He began work for General Telephone Company in St. Petersburg on Aug. 11, 1958. He held a wide variety of positions and became active in public speaking while at General Telephone.

Their fourth child was born in St. Petersburg. The family was living at 7846 4th Avenue South. Ed was transferred within the company and worked for a time in Tampa. The family relocated to Lakeland, back to St. Petersburg, then to Sarasota. When they returned to St. Petersburg in 1971 they moved into a new home on Tampa Bay at 1940 Illinois Avenue NE in Venetian Isles. They lived there until about 1982.

In July, 1971, Ed’s mother, Marie Hansen Petelle, died in Clearwater, Florida. She was buried at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Ed’s father, Walter Joseph Petelle, lived for short times with brother Bob, Ed and Dorothy, and was eventually in a nursing home. He died in February, 1981 and was buried next to Marie at Sylvan Abbey.

Ed retired from General Telephone on April 30, 1981. Dorothy had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with his wife and care for her himself.

On December 1, 1981, Dorothy died at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. At the time, they were still living on Illinois Avenue, a house filled with wonderful memories.

An old friend and former sorority sister of Dorothy’s, Alice June Deierl, was married to Rome Nolan and they had ten children. They divorced. June remained a good friend and was very supportive.

On October 7, 1982, in a civil ceremony in Chicago, Ed married June. They moved into Coquina Key Arms on Coquina Key, St. Petersburg, Florida. Two years later, to the day, Ed and June were married again, this time at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church.

Ed and June built a lovely stilt-house on Coquina Key. It was on the water, the place Ed loved most to be.

The house on Coquina Key had stairs to climb and June was having increasing problems with breathing. She had been diagnosed with Emphysema. They sold the house in December of 1988 and bought a condominium at 7979 Sailboat Key, St. Petersburg.

In 1990, Ed’s brother, Wally, died in Arkansas. A year later, in 1991, his brother, Bob, died in Jacksonville, Florida.

In April 1992 June was unable to breath without the assistance of oxygen.

June was in and out of the hospital for the next year. However, when June died on July 12, 1993, she was at home. Ed was caring for her with the assistance of her sister. The cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. June was buried in St. Petersburg.

Ed continues to live in the condominium where he has been writing his memoirs.

NOTE: Ed passed away at the age of 94 on June 2, 2017.

Extracted with permission from Petelle A Family Genealogy, composed by Lynne Lorraine Petelle Johannes and Jan Johannes. November 1993, The Four Sons of Walter and Marie Petelle, page 59