Background notes
on Charlie & Jean
Jean
born May 14, 1921 in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Daughter of Elizabeth (Tronolone)
and Stephen NATALE;
Siblings: Millie (d.1992), Elizabeth, Josephine, Gloria (d.2003), Rita,
Richard (d.2004). Another brother (?Stephen) died at a very young
age.
Charlie (Charles
Wesley)
born September 28, 1921 in Peterson, Iowa. Son of George and Clara (Bailey)
Newcomb.
died December 12, 1988 in Spartanburg, SC
Here is some
information gathered as oral history from a conversation in the summer
of 2003 with Jean and her sister Jo:
Jean and Charlie met in
Staten Island, New York in 1942 (at least that's what Jean thinks). Charlie was in the Coast Guard. They met in
a restaurant--Steve's Restaurant on Bay Street in Stapleton, right across from
the Coast Guard station--which was owned by Jean's father. The sailors used to
help there: Grandpa Steve Natale put them to work peeling potatoes and doing
other things. (For more information on the Natale family see Justin's Natale
Genealogy website at http://lenzo.cc/genealogy/Natale/index.htm.
Justin is the grandson of Jean's sister Millie.)
Jean worked at an Italian
restaurant at the beach before she worked at Steve's. At one point she
almost eloped when she was 18 with a guy named August (Auggie). Aunt Jo told
their priest but neither she nor Jo could remember the details! Jean was a tomboy
(per Aunt Jo): she played ball with the boys. Her nickname was "Lefty."
The Natale girls were
allowed to go to church dances as teenagers.
Charlie converted to Catholicism -- his in-laws insisted that he become
Catholic in order to marry their daughter. [NOTE: Dad told me he
took the classes only to please his in-laws, but he ended up liking the
priest so much that he truly was a convert!]
Charlie attended the
Columbia School of Broadcasting in New York after WWII. In 1948, Charlie
and Jean moved to Georgia (Augusta?) where Charlie took a job at radio station XXX.
In ??1952?? the family moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina. Charlie
worked for radio there (??was that WORD??), then moved on to WSPA-TV when it
began operations in 195x. Charlie did a variety of jobs with WSPA: weatherman,
sports broadcasting, anchor man substitute, and editorials (as Director of Public Affairs).
He also called Spartanburg Peaches (later Phillies) baseball games &
Wofford College football games.
Charlie had the opportunity
to meet a number of 'celebrities' including Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle), Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and Gerald Ford (who was
VP at the time). Charlie was well-known in northeast SC
because of his work on television and radio. He retired from the TV
industry in 1976?? and took up the less stressful position as Director of Public
Relations at Kohler Company.
Jean was a homemaker most
of her life. She worked in the restaurant with her Dad. She
also worked as typist at a Navy base near Staten Island during the war.
She worked as a volunteer in the cafeteria at St. Paul's Catholic School in
Spartanburg for
many years; very involved in community activities and the church. While
Charlie called the Peaches baseball games, Jean worked in the office counting
ticket monies! Jean moved to Florida in 1989 after Charlie passed away and became active in her
retirement community. She works as a volunteer at South Seminole Community
Hospital. She's also active with RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program): she crochets baby
hats and baby blankets for newborns.
Charlie & Jean were
members of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Spartanburg.
Among the places they lived in Spartanburg: 117 Neeley Ave. & 224 Maxine
Dr.
Their 3 children
were all graduates of Spartanburg High School.
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