Helen was the 4th child born to Isador and Katie. She was born on February 8, 1915, in New York. [1] At that time her family was living in an apartment building at 1025 DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Her younger brother, George, was born right before the 1920 census. At that time they were still living on DeKalb Avenue. [2]
At some point in the 1920s her family moved to Paterson, New Jersey to their own home at 742 East 24th Street.
By 1940, two of her older siblings, SIdney and Lillian, were married but Helen was still living at home with her parents and brothers, Bill and George. Although her age is listed as 22, there is no occupation listed for her. [3]
We know she worked as a sales clerk. (see the blog “The Date That Cost Helen Her Job”)
In 1946, she married Abraham Wishnefsky. He later changed his last name to Warren. [4]
Helen and Abe attend the wedding of Helen’s brother, Bill, to Florence Wiegen on August 30, 1946.
Back row: The Kirsch Siblings: Lakey and Sidney Kirsch, Abe and Helen Warren, Paul and Lillian Rothman
Front row: The Rothman Siblings: Reuben and Rosalyn Spitz, Leo and Ruth Germain, Freida and Milton Berkowitz
They also attended the Bar Mitzvah of family friend’s son.
Seated: Paul and Lillian Rothman, Katie Kirsch, Florence and Bill Kirsch, Helen Warren
Standing: Sidney and Lakey Kirsch, Estelle and George Kirsch, Abe Warren
By the 1950 Federal Census, Helen and Abe were living with her mother at 742 East 24th Street in Paterson. [5]
Helen and Abe loved to get dressed up and go out. Abe was a very good dancer so they often went dancing.
By 1957, they had moved to a one-bedroom, second floor apartment at 29 Linwood Avenue in East Paterson. Later that area would be known as Elmwood Park. [6]
Although Helen wanted to have children, she was never able to. She told me that Abe did not want to adopt.
They attended their nephew Sandy’s Bar Mitzvah and lit one of his birthday candles.
Typical of the times, as she got older, Helen often wore a wig to cover her real hair.
Here they are standing in front of their apartment, all dressed up and ready to go out.
They belonged to Westmont Country Club and enjoyed the pool, dinners and dances there. They liked to play cards.
They often got dressed up and went to The Goldman, All Season Hotel & Golf Club in West Orange, NJ. They would bring home a keyhole photo viewer with their photo inside and ended up with quite a few of them.
Throughout her entire married life, she never used her oven. She fried everything or used her potato baker on top of the stove. After I got married, she gave me a potato baker. Although I enjoyed cooking, I did use the potato baker for baked potatoes before microwave ovens were invented.
In 1974, she participated in the Pidyon Haben for her great-nephew, Bradley. She “redeemed” him by giving special coins to Rabbi Judah Washer.
Her sister, Lillian, often invited her for dinner, and she and Abe were always invited when we visited.
I
As they got older, living in a second floor apartment became more difficult. They had to lug groceries up the stairs and they had to carry their laundry up and down the stairs to get to a laundromat.
We suggested they move up to Cheshire and they agreed to come. They moved into Cheshire Hillside Village to a two bedroom apartment with their own washer and dryer inside. At that time, it was the only senior living nearby. However, Helen was hoping for something fancier and unlike her sister, refused to make friends with the “old” people there.
One thing she regretted, is that she gave up driving once she moved to Connecticut. However, Abe still drove and they were able to remain independent. Being near family meant they were included in all holidays, graduations and other events and family dinners. Whenever the boys came home from college, they would take their Aunt Helen and Uncle Abe out to lunch. That was not an easy task as Helen found fault with everything and often returned her food. As a matter of fact, her favorite activity was shopping one day, and returning things the next day. She returned everything – even a half empty container of milk! She was a character!
One thing I did learn from her was to reuse aluminum foil that was still good. Having grown up in the depression, she found it wasteful to throw away pieces of foil that could be reused.
Her beloved Abe died in 2000. To learn more about Abe and his parents, see the “Abe Warren” page. It is a sub-page to Helen’s page.
After that her health started to decline. She suffered from congestive heart failure. Stan was frequently called to rush her to the hospital in the middle of the night. In 2006, when she could no longer be on her own, we moved her into Brighton Gardens in Woodbridge, CT. Although she could be difficult, at the end, she was very appreciative of the kind staff. She insisted I write out notes, which she dictated, to each one of her caregivers for Christmas, and she stuck some money in each envelope.
Helen’s great-nephew, Brad, visits her in Brighton Gardens. Of course, Stan and I were frequent visitors, too.
Helen died on January 23, 2008. She is buried next to Abe in Cheshire Hillside Cemetery, Cheshire, CT.
Her great-nephew, Brad, fondly recalls the following expressions that Helen used over and over:
- “From you lips to God’s ears”
- “It is what it is”
- When asked how Uncle Abe was doing, she would reply “He’s holding his own”.
Blogs About Helen
Sources
- [1] 1915 NY State Census for Isadore Kirsch and family – New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 23; Assembly District: 06; City: New York; County: Kings; Page: 08 Source information TitleNew York, State Census, 1915 Author Ancestry.com Publisher Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher date 2012
- [2] 1920 Federal Census for Isadore Kirsch and family – 1920 US Census for Isadore Kirsch – Detail Year: 1920; Census Place: Brooklyn Assembly District 6, Kings, New York; Roll: T625_1153; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 354 Title1920 United States Federal Census Author Ancestry.com
- [3] 1940 Federal Census for Isadore Kirsch and family – Year: 1940; Census Place: Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; Roll: m-t0627-02431; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 26-80B Title1940 United States Federal Census Author Ancestry.com
- [4] 1946 NJ Marriage Index – New Jersey State Archives; Trenton, New Jersey; Marriage Indexes; Index Type: Bride; Year Range: 1946; Surname Range: A – K Source information Title New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016AuthorAncestry.comNoteMarriage Indexes. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey.PublisherAncestry.com Operations, Inc.Publisher date2016
- [5] 1950 Federal Census for Abe and Helen – National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; Roll: 653; Page: 17 of 26; Enumeration District: 32-114 Source informationTitle1950 United States Federal CensusAuthorAncestry.comNoteDepartment of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. iPopulation Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950/i. Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington, DC. piPopulation Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950/i. NAID: a href=”https://catalog.archives.gov/id/43290879″ target=”_blank”43290879/a. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, DC., Washington, DC./p PublisherAncestry.com Operations, Inc.Publisher date2022
- [6] Elmwood Park apartment