Thanks to her brothers Jim and Rich and her “uncle” Bill Timmerman, there were plentiful photographs of the family and various events. And thanks to Dot’s meticulous natures and playful sense of humour, these photos were collected in albums and annotated in her phenomenal handwriting.

Photos are all on black album stock with annotations in white ink. Older photos are faded, and the paper is delicate. To preserve this history, her son Bill scanned each page on a flatbed, and then assembled the pages into a pdf replica of the albums.

Richmond Hill

This is an album of photos of family and friends from Dot’s youth including schoolmates from Our Lady of Wisdom Academy. It includes outings with friends, and trips to Ronkonkoma and the World’s fair. There are shots taken at Graymoor and the first masses of Father Eugene and father Gregory (her brothers Vinny and Frank). Dot posed with friends around Richmond Hill. Dot was a favorite model for her brother Jim and also for “Uncle” Bill Timmerman. There are also photos of Lucy and her first boys, Frank and Bobby,the entire family is captured in this album, largely taken in Richmond Hill. The war years included her friends from work and of the boys in the service with whom she corresponded. Also included is a keepsake from Sheffield Farms, where she worked during the war

Travel

In her later years, Dot would talk about her extensive travels and experiences. A teasing suggestion to do something unusual would invariably be met with “I’ve been there already” or “I’ve done that before.” And this album shows that she was an adventurous young woman, traveling with friends to New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, the Carolina, Florida, and Annapolis where she took part in swimming, boating, tennis, and golf.

Billy and Tommy

Dot kept an album of photos of her sons Bill and Tom from 1953 through 1961. Most of these were taken by her brother Jim, but she also arranged for a professional photographer to take some posed shots in the living room in Bethpage (see pages 38 to 41). Bill vaguely recalls his uncle Richard visiting in his green Chevrolet, so it’s possible that he took the photos in May 1960 (page 45).