2026 #52Ancestors, Week 3: What This Story Means to Me

Last week, I wrote about my husband's great uncle who had an unusual credit on a 1970s record.  My husband sent the blog post to his uncle, and his uncle asked what else I had found out about that side of the family.  Truth be told, not much, because my husband is usually of very little assistance/evinces very little interest.  However, if someone *does* take interest, I am always happy to do a bit of digging. 

I had done a basic tree for my husband's side of the family where most of my information came from censuses and the occasional obituary.  The 1958 obituary for my husband's great grandmother read simply, "Clara Lantz of 2234 Cortez Street, beloved wife of Theodore; devoted mother of Ben, William, Harry, Doris Levin, Shirley Teich, and the late Aaron; 13 grandchildren. Services Monday, 10 a.m. at chapel, 2235 W. Division Street."  They were all names I recognized, but I felt certain a few were missing.  As I looked back at my tree, I could see that Aaron had died in 1949, but why, if the obituary had recounted one 'late child,' did it not mention Molly, Theodore, or Hyman?

Short answer?  They weren't remembered.  They had passed so long ago that their own brothers, sisters, even their father, had forgotten to include them.  And I think that's why stories are so important to me.  Molly, Theodore, and Hyman lived - however briefly, but if no one speaks or writes about them, they cease to exist.  With that in mind, I'll share my limited knowledge of these three children of Theodore and Clara Lantz.

Molly was their first child. She was born in Russia on February 15th, 1907, and immigrated to the United States with her parents and brother, Benjamin, in 1915.  She lived to see the births of five more siblings.  Theodore and Aaron were born in 1915, William, in 1917, Harry in 1920, and Doris in 1921.  On the 2nd of November, 1923, Molly succumbed to carbon monoxide gas emanating from a faulty heater.  She was 16.

Theodore and Clara's third child, Theodore, was born on April 30th, 1915, and his birth certificate is the only evidence I've found of his existence.  His twin brother, Aaron, was born the following day.  If you look closely at Theodore's birth certificate, though, you can see that someone replaced "number of child of this mother" with a 4 and then indicated only 3 of the 4 are living.  I am left to assume that the certificate was amended to reflect that Aaron survived when Theodore did not.

Finally, Hyman was the baby of the family, born in 1929. I'm sure he was much doted upon.  Unfortunately, he didn't make it to his 3rd birthday. 

These three children lived, but when it came time to list the 'late' children of their mother, they didn't make the cut.  And I'm not being dramatic.  When my husband's uncle passed along the information he had about his father's siblings, there was no mention of Molly, Theodore, or Hyman.  So, what do these stories mean to me?  To me, they are a way of honoring and remembering those who came before, whether they lived for a few hours or 16 years.