WHO WAS EDWARD PATRICK FARRICKER?
Edward Patrick Farricker was born on March 16, 1925 in a walk-up tenement
apartment at 514 West 44th Street, in a rough section of New York
City called “Hell’s Kitchen”. He was delivered into this world by a midwife
named, Mrs.Neuman, as some of his future
siblings also were. He was Baptized, Edward Patrick, after his late uncle, the
oldest of his grandfather’s children who died of injuries sustained while
playing football on a semi-pro team that was managed by his father, Martin J.
Farricker, Sr.
Martin J. had been a coal miner in St. Helens, Lancashire,
England. The Farrickers had come from Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
earlier. After having been buried alive in two major cave-ins, his wife,
Catherine wouldn’t let him go down again. She contacted her sister, Mary, who
was living in America and asked her to sponsor her family as emigrants to the United States. She and her husband,
John Costello, were happy to do so. Martin, Catherine and their children,
Edward, Mary, Patrick, Thomas, John and Martin ( who was born on the ship),
arrived at Ellis Island aboard the SS Baltic ( Later, one of the ships
that went to the rescue of the Titanic in 1912) in October of 1906 and took up
residence on Washington Avenue in Greenwich Village.
Later, they moved around
the corner to Perry Street It should be noted at this time, that Martin also
brought a nephew and niece with him, disguised as his own children. Their
parents asked him to do so, because they were starving and couldn’t feed them.
Catherine, another daughter, was born shortly after they arrived. She was the
first of our family to be born in America. Eventually, the family moved to 44th
Street, because it was closer to Martin’s work, where he was a teamster,
driving a horse drawn wagon (no trucks yet). The children were growing now and
getting married. Thomas, Edward’s father, married Mary Ellen Smith of Freehold,
NJ. Her mother, Ellen Connolly was from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland.
They
eventually had nine babies. Two died as infants for lack of food during the
Depression. Seven lived to maturity. They were: Thomas, Edward, Mary, Ann,
Martin, Daniel and baby Agnes. All have passed, except Ann and Martin. During
the early part of their marriage things were very good, but in 1929 the stock
market crashed and the country went into the “Great Depression”. Everyone
struggled to survive. There was no work, no food....nothing, but fear and
hope. The family moved uptown to 786 Columbus Avenue, then to 70 West 100th
Street and finally to 128 West 102nd Street, where they remained for
many years. After school Ed shined shoes and did odd jobs to earn some money. Then,
he got a steady job with our grocer, delivering orders to the customers.
Sometimes, he had to babysit little Martin while he was working. He would stow
him away in the storage room for hours and bring him water and slices of cheese
or balogna for nourishment. He was attending Holy Name Elementary School on 97tth
Street and Amsterdam Avenue, which was taught by the Sisters of Charity and the
La Salle Christian Brothers.
He was an alter boy and sang in the choir. After
graduating, he attended Chelsea High school. He was a good student. His mother
thought him to be her brightest child, though very difficult to handle at
times. He did have a mind of his own and resented authority. Very independent
and protective of his privacy, he marched to a different drummer than his
siblings. He was quite social, making friends easily and attracting the girls
from an early age. He had a great sense of humor and delighted in pranks.
He
loved to make people laugh with his jokes and antics, to dance with the girls
and to play the drums, which he learned from his uncles who were all
accomplished musicians. Eddie was “the life of the party” and certainly the
favorite child among the extended family of cousins, relatives and friends. He
loved to watch his Uncle Marty, who had an orchestra, play the drums at parties
and on the radio. The band was on the radio for fifteen minutes every evening.
It was a society orchestra, that played at well-to-do functions for the upper class. It was the featured
attraction at the Greenwood Lake Club, in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Uncle Marty made a
great impression on Eddie. He loved music and he loved to party.
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt was our president during these hard times. To help put people back to
work, he created the WPA, the Works Progress Administration, to put the
unemployed back to work again. Ed’s father got a job on a construction team,
helping to build projects like the Holland Tunnel, airports and the like. FDR
also implemented the CCC , Civilian Conservation Corps, which put unemployed,
unmarried young men to work building roads, parks and other federal projects.
Eddie and Tommy were both sent west to work. Their pay was sent home to their
mother, which kept the family alive.
The second world war was now on the horizon
and Tom’s National Guard unit, The Fighting Irish Regiment was federalized and
he had to go to train for war. All the men in our families joined the Army. All
except Eddie. Being Ed, he joined the Navy. He was sent to the Great Lakes
Naval Station in Illinois. Being so talented with the drums, he was assigned to
the base military band. He excelled and became a Band Leader. His band won the
President’s Trophy. Tommy transferred to the Airborne (Paratroopers), where he
met Leon Warren who would come home to our house on leave. Ed’s sister, Mary
and Leon fell in love and were married. Tom married his long time girlfriend,
Katherine Maxwell and Eddie married Florence Connors, that everyone called,
Tiny. She was a pretty little thing from our neighborhood. After the war, they,
got a little apartment on 92nd Street in Manhattan.
They soon had a
baby son, that they named ,Edward, Jr.. Unfortunately, baby Edward died soon
afterwards. Edward, Sr. Never really got over the loss of his son, but being
Ed, he never showed his terrible grief. Eventually, Ed and Tiny had many more
children. Richard the oldest, followed by Florence, Eileen, Marguerite, Donald
, another Edward and baby Annette. Tragically, Donald died in an automobile
accident and Annette succumbed at a young age. Ed and family lived in NYC,
Jersey City and Keansburg, NJ..The Farrickers and the Connors families loved
the beach. They would have summer cottages at Midland Beach on Staten Island
and at Keansburg, NJ. Keansburg became “home”.
Uncle John owned
a fleet of trucks and after Ed was discharged from the Navy in’45, he and
brother, Tom both were hired by Uncle John as truck drivers. Tom continued with
night school and became a draftsman/architect. Later, Ed bought a lunch wagon
truck and sold lunches to the public, mostly laborers. His younger brother,
Martin, helped him with the business until he had to
go to Korea. Meanwhile, Ed went back
to school in the evenings. He studied criminology. Upon graduating, he became
an agent for the NY Sheriff’s Department. He made numerous arrests of
criminals and appeared in the news
media a few times. He returned to driving trucks, because it paid better. He
did this for years. Eventually, he and Tiny divorced, but remained friends.
During his later years, he worked for the
Keansburg Police Department as a dispatcher., where he remained there until he
retired. By then, all the children were married and busy raising their own
families. He stayed in Keansburg, living in a comfortable senior residence. He
had his own car
that took him where he wanted to go.
He was a regular visitor at his brother Martin’s home. He also loved to visit
his children’s homes and to play with his many grandchildren. You can see the
happiness on his face, when you view the photos on this site .He especially
loved to go on drives with son, Edward, into the mountains of California. He
spoke often of having his ashes placed on one of those mountain tops.
He was very
involved with his many clubs. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the
VFW, the Moose and especially with the AA, where he was a cornerstone. He
helped many of those men and woman back to recovery and stability. He rarely
visited his family in his final years, because he felt he had to be at AA to
help the people that needed him so much. He managed to go there, even when he
was in pain and had to use a cane.
Ed died on June 6, 2011 in Keansburg, NJ surrounded by his loved ones.
WHO WAS EDWARD PATRICK
FARRICKER? He was an independent, demanding obstinate, and a one of a kind,
wonderful guy who did it his way. So don’t mourn for him. He wouldn’t
like it. Instead, celebrate the fact that you had the privilege to know him and
to touch him. Because, if you did, you know that he touched you.. And, that is
a very good thing.
So dear “Big Ed”, sleep tight and
don’t let the bed bugs bite.
