Helen Leary (married name Keenan)
Born: November 4, 1909, St. Lawrence County, New York
Died: May 1, 2004, Brasher Falls, St. Lawrence County, New York
Relation to Author: Grandmother
Catherine Leary
Born: October 7, 1907, North Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York
Died: February 29, 1988, Plattsburgh, Clinton, New York
Relation to Author: Grand Aunt
A ship record that I found on Ancestry.com says that Helen and Catherine Leary
arrived back in New York on this day, August 7, 1933, (70 years ago today) on a boat from Havre, France. My very educated guess, and my mother has confirmed this, is that they were
in Europe visiting with their brother Arthur, who was studying at the
American College, Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. Arthur Leary was at Louvain from
1929 - 1934 (Louvain closed its doors in 2011).
Although I don't know their full itinerary, my mother (one of Helen's daughters) says they did travel around Europe, including Paris and Rome. If I get more information, I will update it. And if I find any pictures, I will definitely publish them.
I do find it remarkable that Helen and Catherine, from a small
town in the North Country of New York, went so far away. I love
traveling and I love that even back then they were able to travel.
By the way, the records say Helen and Catherine's address at the time was 15 Fairemount Blvd, Garden City, New York. Garden City is on Long Island, and so the two were at that point living together and teaching.
