Margaret Orinick Bononus 1913-1992

The fourth daughter was Margaret.  I understand her birth certificate actually listed her as Anastasia, but we all knew her as Aunt Margie.  In 1930, she is listed in 2 census records - on the home farm on May 5 and as a servant in the house of John & Bessie Riskin in Passaic, NJ on April 8th.  Sometime between 1930 and 1938 she married Frank Bononus.  Frank got a job with Otis Elevator in Harrison, NJ during WWII and they moved to Newark, NJ.   They had 2 children, a boy and a girl.   Their son never married, but their daughter married and had 3 daughters.

Sometime in the 1950's Margie began suffering from the effects of Muscular Dystrophy.  I remember going with my mother to pick her up and bring her to the hospital for physical therapy weekly for several months when I was young.   I don't think the therapy helped much, because she continued to get worse over the years.  (On a side note, I remember Mom stopping in a Hostess bakery distributor on the way home to get day-old baked goods.  It was on rt 21 in Newark.)

When Frank retired, the three of them (Frank, Margie & son) moved to Heathville, Virginia.  Frank died there in 1987 and she passed away in 1992.  I don't know where he was buried, but Margie was brought home to Pennsylvania, to be buried in St Tikhons cemetery in South Canaan, PA, next to her sister Mary.

I remember Margie as a  sweet lady who suffered very much over her life.  She was kind to me and appreciated my talking to her.  I think she was starved for companionship and enjoyed our visits very much.  The last time I saw her was in 1990 on the way to my niece's wedding in Virginia.  My husband, Mom, Dad & I had just come from another  niece's wedding in the state of Washington.  Mom & Dad spent a week at our house in Maryland between the weddings.  We drove to the wedding with an afternoon stop in Heathville to visit.  Margie was very glad to see us, but I could hear the bitterness of the years in her voice.  She deserved a better life.  I pray she has peace and freedom from pain now.