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VANDERWIEL FAMILY HISTORY
Last update 1/15/2025
Gerritt Van Der Wiel was born in Sliedrecht, Holland on September 19, 1797. Sliedrecht is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It sits right on the Beneden Merwede, a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the Rhine River. On April 5, 1821, Gerritt married Ariaantje Roskam. She was born in Sliedrecht exactly five months after Gerritt on February 19, 1798. On June 30, 1823, Ariaantje gave birth to a boy. They named him Pieter Van Der Wiel.
Twenty-three years after his birth, Pieter married Hilligje Stijnis on February 4, 1847. She was born in a village next to Sliedrecht named Giessendam, Holland on May 28, 1826. Her parents were Phillipus Stijnis and Hilligje Bons. Pieter and Hilligje had a son named Garrett Van Der Wiel, born in Sliedrecht on May 3, 1857.
Garrett would marry Jozina De Puijt in May of 1888 when they were both in their early thirties. Jozina was born in Groede, Holland, the daughter of Jannis De Puijt and Anna De Kruijter. Groede is located in the extreme southwest Zeeland province of the Netherlands, 100 miles from Sliedrecht and a few miles from the border with Belgium. Jozina's father died a year after she was born.
Jozina had been married before, in Sliedrecht, to Jan Hartog, who was two years younger than Jozina. His parents were Rokus Hartog and Cornelia Kraaijeveld. While Jan was one of 11 children, there is no evidence that he and Jozina had any children. And there is no evidence what happened to their marriage. What we do know is that Jozina and Garrett were married in Sliedrecht in May of 1888 and sailed from Amsterdam and arrived in America in October of that same year.
They settled in Paterson, New Jersey and raised six children. Their surname was compressed to Vanderwiel. Garrett supported his family by working as a bricklayer before becoming a full mason and setting up his own contracting business. He was 5' 7" tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, a light complexion, and he sported a mustache.
For several years, the family lived at 96 22nd Avenue in Paterson before buying a home in the predominantly Italian-American neighborhood of People's Park, at 156 21st Street. The photo above was probably taken there. That's their daughter Helen standing behind them. In 1930, the property was valued at $20,000, the equivalent of $378,000 in 2024. Many years after retiring from his mason and building contracting business, Garrett became ill and eventually died at home the day after Christmas, December 26, 1929. He was 72 years old. He was buried at the family plot in Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery. Several years later, Jozina died at home on February 1, 1937 at the age of 79. She was buried with Garrett at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery.
Garrett and Jozina's six children Their first child was Peter Anthony Vanderwiel, born in Paterson on August 17, 1890. He dropped out of school after the fifth grade and started working for his father. He was active in athletics and belonged to the Old Timers Association that sponsored a youth baseball club. He was also known as a talented vocalist. He was quite short in height at 5' 1", weighing a robust 145 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. On June 3, 1914, Peter married Jemima Wychman, the daughter of Peter Wychman and Minnie Van Hassel. Jemima was born in Lodi, New Jersey on September 10, 1890. Lodi is 7 miles east of Paterson.
For several years, they lived at 255 south 2nd street in Clifton, about 7 miles south of Paterson where Peter continued working as a mason. By 1930, they moved back to the home of Peter's parents at 156 21st Street in Paterson where they paid $45 per month rent. They were members of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Paterson. They had four children.
They were living in Paterson when their first child was born on May 7, 1916. This was Garret Peter Vanderwiel. He grew up to become a mason like his father, and worked at his father's company. He became a skilled brick and stone mason, and tile setter. When he was 23 years old, he married Eleanor Cornelia Hoffmeyer in the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Paterson on April 12, 1939. Eleanor was born in Paterson on July 13, 1917, the daughter of Frederick Wilhelm Hoffmeyer and Cora Cornelia De Vries. She was employed as a bank teller. They lived at 307 West Second Street in Clifton.
On May 29, 1943, they welcomed the birth of a son, their only child, Peter Fred Vanderwiel. In January of 1944, Garret was drafted into the U. S. Army and served two years through the end of the war, honorably discharged on the fifth anniversary of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1946.
In 1949, Garret and Eleanor divorced. She and six-year-old Peter moved back with her parents, Fred and Cora, who lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Eleanor went back to work as a bookkeeper for a retail jewelry store. Garret moved to Florida where he married a woman named Clovis Lee House in 1955. He died in Florida on January 2, 1985 when he was 68 years old.
Son Peter graduated from Fair Lawn High School and enlisted with the U. S. Air Force Inactive Reserve while working as a customer-engineer for the IBM Corporation in Paterson and enrolled in courses at the University of Maryland. He married Judy Lynn Zachariasen at the Packanack Interdenominational Community Church in Wayne, New Jersey on September 4, 1965. Judy was born in Pequannock, New Jersey on March 12, 1943. Her parents were Victor Zachariasen and Helen Ruth Gremse. Judy graduated Wayne High School and William Paterson State College where she was a member of the choir and the Phi Theta Chi Sorority. At the time of the marriage, she was a fifth grade teacher in the Plainfield school system.
They moved to Texas where they had a son and daughter. Judy attended the Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas. She and Peter divorced in 1987. Peter married Frances Emma Mihulka in Texas. Judy moved back to Wayne, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University Graduate School in New Brunswick and was a member of the New Jersey Education Association and the Passaic County Education Association. She moved to Stockholm, New Jersey in 1988.
Eleanor was 87 years old when she died on November 14, 2004. She was buried with her parents at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey. A year later, Judy died in Stockholm on September 16, 2005. She was 62 years old. She was buried at North Hardyston Cemetery in Hamburg, New Jersey. Peter was 67 when he died in Texas on August 2, 2010. He was buried at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.
Peter and Jemima's second child was Jeanette Vanderwiel. She was born in Clifton, New Jersey on October 24, 1917. She graduated from Eastside High School in Paterson. She was employed at Citizens Trust Company in Paterson when she married Russell Weston at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church on February 21, 1940. Russell also graduated from Eastside High School and was a draftsman with the Watson Machine Company in Paterson.
Russel was born in Saddle River, New Jersey, the son of Arthur Weston and Lena Linstra. Russell, who was known as "Russ" and "Westy", was 5' 11" tall, weighed about 150 pounds, with brown hair, gray eyes and a light complexion. He eventually went on to own his own heating and electrical contracting company, associated with the Little Falls Alloy Company. He and Jeanette were members of the Preakness Reformed Church. They lived at 570 33rd Street in Paterson. They had two sons.
In 1973, Jeanette and Russell moved to Wayne. It was there that Russell died on April 13, 1982. He was 66 years old. He was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa. It was many years later when Jeanette passed at the age of 93 in Toms River, New Jersey on September 19, 2011. She was buried with Russell at Laurel Grove.
Peter and Jemima's child number three was Ruth Vanderwiel, born in Clifton on December 12, 1920. She was working as a bookkeeper at a bank when she married Norman Peter Hook at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in 1942. Norman was born in Paterson on November 20, 1918, the son of Peter Jacob Hook and Ella Helen A. Lozier. At the time of the marriage, Norman was stationed with the U. S. Army at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Norman graduated Central High School and was working at the Cornish Wire Company in Prospect Park when he enlisted in the Army in July of 1941. He held the rank of Sergeant in heavy artillery at Fort Bragg. He stood tall at 6' 2", weighed about 190 pounds, with brown hair, gray eyes and a ruddy complexion. After completing a Transportation Corps course at Mississippi State College in July of 1943, he was assigned to the Port of New Orleans in Louisianna as a Second Lieutenant. Ruth and her father-in-law attended the ceremony at Mississippi State, after which Ruth followed Norman to New Orleans.
Following his honorable discharge, Norman became a truck driver for the Oostdyk Trucking Company in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. He and Ruth had two sons and a daughter. They were living at 105 Dundee Avenue in Paterson when Norman died unexpectedly at the age of 56 on March 3, 1975. He was buried at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery.
Ruth moved to Whiting, New Jersey around 1985, where she would live for more than 20 years. In 2006, she established residency at Sunrise Senior Living facility in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Ruth died in Basking Ridge on November 16, 2008. She was 87 years old. She was buried with Norman at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery.
The fourth and last child born to Peter and Jemima was Helen Vanderwiel. She was born in Paterson on October 3, 1924. She married John Joseph "Jack" Draper, Jr. on February 26, 1943. His parents were John Joseph Draper, Sr. and Margaret Hughes.
Jack was born in Paterson on January 7, 1922. Prior to his enlistment in the U. S. Navy during World War II, Jack worked in the propeller division of Curtis Wright Corporation in Clifton. He proudly served his country in the Navy from January 1944 to February 1946. He served aboard the USS Munda, CVE-104 in the Pacific during the war. He was a life member of VFW Post 3484 in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He was another tall man, at 6' 2", weighing about 130 pounds, with brown hair, gray eyes and a light complexion.
Helen and Jack lived in Paterson until moving to Hawthorne New Jersey around 1958. Jack worked for the Westinghouse Elevator Company in Manhattan, and United Elevator Company of Philadelphia. Helen was a member and Matron of the Eastern Star Martha Washington Chapter Number 6 in Hawthorne. They raised their family, one son and two daughters, before moving to Woodbury, New Jersey in 1968. They both joined the Woodbury Presbyterian Church (where Helen was church secretary for many years) and the Woodbury Country Club.
Jack was 86 years old when he died on February 1, 2008. Helen followed him 13 years later on May 30, 2021. She was 96.
Garret and Jozina's second child was John David Vanderwiel, born in the People's Park section of Paterson on March 7, 1892. He grew up to become a carpenter. He was also a champion drummer and singer. As a singer, he performed in many Masonic minstrels. As a drummer, he was with the Fifth Regiment Field Music Corps and captured many awards for drumming excellence. He was a member of the Dixie Minstrels, one of Paterson's oldest music and singing groups. John was the bass singer of the group. He was active in many social organizations: the Shriners Fidelis Lodge No. 242, the Free and Accepted Masons Paterson Lodge No. 60, the B.P.O. Elks, the Kearney Council No. 261, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Paterson Chapter No. 3 Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America.
John married Jennie Frost on January 7, 1917 at her parents' home in Paterson. Jennie was born in Paterson on February 4, 1897. Her parents were Andrew Frost and Sarah Johnstone. John and Jennie owned a home at 181 Alabama Avenue in Paterson that was valued at $10,000 in 1930, the equivalent of about $190,000 in 2024. They had two sons.
John was only 55 years old when he died on September 26, 1947 at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Paterson while undergoing an operation. He was buried at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery. After his death, Jennie and her sons moved to 511 First Avenue in Asbury Park. This was just one block from the home of Frank and Fran Frame at 611 First Avenue. Jennie operated a news stand at the N. J. Natural Gas Building in Asbury Park.
Ten years after John's death, Jennie died at her home of a heart attack on April 2, 1957. She was 60 years old. She and John are buried together at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
As already mentioned, John and Jennie had two sons. The first was John David Vanderwiel, Jr., born in Paterson on September 3, 1918. Like his father, he became a carpenter. He joined the Carpenters' Union, Local 325. He was 5' 7" in height, weighing about 155 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a ruddy complexion. In 1943, he married Ruth J. Farrell, the daughter of William Edward Farrell and Barbara Geary. Ruth was born in Secaucus, New Jersey on October 2, 1921. They took up residence in Secaucus and became parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church, and where Ruth was a member of Catholic Daughters of the Americas.
Ruth and John had one child, a daughter named Carol Lynne Vanderwiel. She had just turned 17 when she married Louis Balderacchi in January of 1964. That marriage did not last and in May of 1970 she married Ronald Weeder in Lincoln Park, New Jersey. They had a daughter.
John was just 61 years old when he died in Secaucus on May 17, 1980. He was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey. Four years later, there was a tragic loss when daughter Carol died on March 10, 1984 when she was around 40 years of age. She was buried next to her father at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
Ruth lived on for many years before her passing in Secaucus on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2011. She was 89 years old. She was buried with John and Carol at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
John and Jennie's other son was Garret "Gary" Vanderwiel, born in Paterson on May 23, 1927. Gary dropped out of school after the seventh grade. He served overseas with the Navy during World War II. He enlisted when he was 17 years old, in December of 1944. Because of his age, his father had to give his permission in order for him to enlist. Gary was 5' 5" tall, weighed about 140 pounds, with brown hair, gray eyes and a fair complexion. Unable to secure leave for Christmas of 1945, 18-year-old Gary went "absent without leave from proper authority" on December 24 but returned on his own on December 26. He was court martialed, found guilty and ordered to lose $27 from his pay for two months, and to perform policing duties for one year.
Two months after the war ended in August 1945, Gary took another longer than permitted leave and was declared a "straggler" until he returned on his own a few days later. Regardless, he was honorably discharged from the Navy on July 2, 1946. He was a member of the Disabled War Veterans.
On December 21, 1951, Gary married Lillian "Bunny" Cannizzaro at Saint Joseph's Catholic church in Keyport, New Jersey. After the wedding Bunny and Gary honeymooned in Bermuda. They were driving home after the trip on New Year's evening when they were involved in an auto accident. Gary was driving on Highway 35 in Middletown, New Jersey and tried to pass another car on the right when his car hit the curb. He then lost control of the vehicle, crossed the highway, hit the other curb, and rolled down a 20-foot embankment before the car landed on its roof. Bunny was seriously injured in the accident. She suffered fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, a fractured jaw, and cuts to her chin, arms and chest. Her jaw had to be wired shut in order to allow it to heal properly. She spent 8 days at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, New Jersey recovering from her injuries.
In the beginning of the marriage they lived at 503 Eighth Avenue in Asbury Park, less than a mile from Gary's parents at 511 First Avenue. Gary initially worked at the Quartermaster Division of Camp Kilmer, near New Brunswick, New Jersey. Later, he was employed as an electrical engineer at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
Bunny and Gary had one child, Garret Peter Vanderwiel, born October 22, 1952. He was known to all of us as Peter. They moved several times before ending up at a home on Old Amboy Road in Robertsville, New Jersey. Gary was a charter member of the Holiday Beagle Club and raised several beagles.
Around 1970, Bunny and Gary separated. He moved to Cliffwood, New Jersey and Bunny stayed at the home in Robertsville. In May of 1976 they officially divorced. In October of 1984, Gary became ill and retired after working 35 years at Fort Monmouth. Three months later, on January 14, 1985 he died at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey. He was 57 years old. He is buried in Saint Gabriel's Cemetery in Marlboro, New Jersey. Ironically, Gary died just 12 days after his cousin, another Garret Peter Vanderwiel, the son of Peter and Jemima Vanderwiel.
Bunny kept very busy. Besides being secretary of the Marlboro High School PTA (her son Peter's high school), she was also elected to the Marlboro Township Board of Education in 1964 and served for three years. She was a Marlboro Township tax collector and police radio dispatcher, a Freehold Township Court Clerk, and president of the Monmouth County Court Clerks Association.
Peter was a member of the Manalapan, New Jersey Police Department. He married Joanne Sharkey in 1976. They had two sons, Clinton Vanderwiel and Zachary Vanderwiel. Peter was eventually promoted to Lieutenant with the police department. He retired in 1996. He and Joanne separated and he moved to Proctorville, Ohio.
Around 2002, Bunny moved to Proctorville to live with Peter. She died there on March 23, 2004 at the age of 72. On October 14, 2015, just one week before his 63rd birthday, Peter died at Saint Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, Ohio.
On March 19, 1893, Garret and Jozina's third child was born. This was Anna Vanderwiel. Like her two brothers before her, she was born in Paterson. In 1915, she married Cornelius "Neil" Breur, the son of Leendert "Leonard" Breur and Arjaantje "Jennie" Kasteleijn. Neil was born in Paterson on October 7, 1891. He was a cost accountant for the Barbour Flax Company in Paterson. Neither Anna nor Neil went beyond eighth grade in school. They lived in the small community of Prospect Park, just north of Paterson, at 256 North Seventh Street. Then they bought a home at 50 Richmond Avenue in Paterson valued at $12,000 in 1930, the equivalent of $226,000 in 2024. They would live there for many years.
Neil was 5' 7" in height, weighing about 170 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. He continued working for the Barbour Flax Company which eventually became the Linen Thread Company and Neil became the manager of the cost accounting department. He worked there for 50 years. He was a member of Paterson Elks Lodge 60.
Neil was 83 years old when he died after a short illness in Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. He was buried at Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery. Immediately after Neil's death, Anna moved to Pompton Lakes, about 10 miles northwest of Paterson. She died almost exactly one year after Neil, on June 12, 1976. She was buried with Neil at Fair Lawn.
Anna and Neil's one and only child was George Leonard Breur. He was born in Paterson on December 1, 1918. He stood at 6' tall and weighed about 160 pounds. He had brown hair, gray eyes and a light complexion. He married Ruth Farquhar on August 23, 1942. Ruth was born in Paterson on May 23, 1922. Her parents were William Pattullo Farquhar and Maude Mary Stuart. They lived in Totowa before moving to Pompton Lakes in 1947. They had a daughter and a son.
George was a project engineer for Curtis-Wright for 36 years, retiring in 1977. He was a member of the American Standard Association, the American Gear Manufacturers Association, the Society of Aeronautical Engineers, a staff officer of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 10-7, and the treasurer of the North Jersey Astronomical Group. He and Ruth worshipped at the Ramapo Valley Baptist Church in nearby Oakland, New Jersey.
George was 65 years old when he died at Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock, New Jersey on March 14, 1984. He was cremated. After George died, Ruth became a parishioner at the Pompton Lakes Reformed Church. On May 6, 1996, just two weeks before her 74th birthday, Ruth died. She was buried at the Reformed Church Cemetery.
Garret and Jozina's fourth child was Helen Mae Vanderwiel, born in Paterson on September 19, 1894. She did not go beyond eighth grade in school. She was 21 years old when she married George Van Riper on April 3, 1916. The marriage did not last and Helen went back living with her parents at 156 21st Street, in the People's Park section of Paterson.
On May 26, 1926, Helen married William Clifford Wright at her parents' home. Helen's brother John served as best man, and prior to the ceremony sang "O, Promise Me." His wife, Jennie Frost Vanderwiel, was Helen's matron of honor.
William was born in Paterson on November 10, 1893, the son of Irish immigrants Robert Wright and Jane Strain. He was drafted into the Army during World War I on April 29, 1918 and served 7 months until the end of the war. William worked in a silk mill before becoming a self-employed electrician. He was 5' 5" tall, weighed about 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes, and a light complexion.
They initially lived with his parents at 381 Madison Avenue in Paterson. When Helen's father died in 1929 and mother Jozina in 1937, Helen and William became owners of the Vanderwiel family home at 544 21st Avenue. They did not have children. William was a 32nd Degree Mason, a Shriner of Salaam Temple, and a member of American Legion Post of Midland Park.
Around 1953, they moved they moved a few miles north to the town of Hawthorne. Helen was a member of the Order of Eastern Star Martha Washington Chapter No. 6 of Hawthorne, at one time serving as Matron of the organization.
In 1969, William retired. He died at Fair Lawn Hospital on August 12, 1979 at the age of 85. He was buried at Fair Lawn Cemetery. Helen was 88 when she died at Greater Paterson General Hospital in Wayne. She was buried with William at Fair Lawn.
Garret and Jozina's fifth child was Isaac "Ike" Vanderwiel, born in Paterson on December 7, 1895. After graduating eighth grade he opted not to attend high school and went to work at the silk mill in Paterson. On May 10, 1918 he joined the U. S. Navy during the First World War and was discharged nine months later after the war ended. He then followed in his father's footsteps and became a mason. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed about 145 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion.
After returning from the war, Ike married Alberta Aleman in 1919. Alberta was the daughter of John Aleman and Alice de Boer. Alberta was born in Paterson on August 18, 1898. She was a member of the Eastside Presbyterian Church. On December 11, 1923, Alberta gave birth to a daughter named Doris Mae Vanderwiel.
In 1929, Ike deserted Alberta and 5-year-old Doris. Alberta and Doris went back to live with Alberta's parents. Alberta was working in a shirt factory when she was awarded a divorce from Ike in 1933. On September 19, 1936, Ike married Edith Hayden, the daughter of Charles Hayden and Sarah Pritchard. Edith was born in Paterson on July 28, 1905. She worked in the same silk mill that originally employed Ike. He and Edith had a daughter named Claire Vanderwiel, born in Paterson on January 6, 1939.
Ike, Edith and Claire were living at 986 East Twenty-second Street in Paterson when a fire caused considerable damage to a pantry in their second-floor apartment on Christmas Day in 1944. Fortunately, no one was injured.
In 1950, Ike, Edith and Claire moved to the town of North Haledon, just a few miles north of Paterson. In January of 1963, Ike was convicted of driving "under the influence of alcohol" after he struck another vehicle in North Haledon and failed the "drunkometer" test. He lost the use of his driver's license for two years and fined $200 plus court costs.
It was also in 1963 that Ike and Edith moved back to Paterson. Ike was a member of the American Legion John Raad Post, Elks Lodge 60, and the Alexander Hamilton Post no. 139 Veterans of Foreign Wars. He worked as a bricklayer for 50 years before retiring in 1966.
Alberta does not appear to have remarried. She was 75 years old when she died on December 30, 1973. She was buried at Cedar Lawn cemetery in Paterson. Ike died at the age of 80 on May 26, 1976. He was cremated. Edith was living with her daughter Claire in Elmwood Park, a few miles east of Paterson, when she died at the age of 80 on May 7, 1986. She was buried at Cedar Lawn, the same cemetery where Alberta was buried.
Ike and Alberta's daughter, Doris Mae Vanderwiel graduated with high honors from Eastside High School in 1941. She became skilled in needlework and sewing and often designed and made her own clothes. She was also a talented pianist. She attended Eastside Presbyterian Church and worked for New Jersey Bell Telephone Company.
On March 6, 1943, Doris married Dr. Fritz Frederick Adler at St. John's Cathedral in Paterson. Fritz was born in Vienna, Austria on April 4, 1910. His parents were Simon Adler and Marja "Marie" Kiesling. Fritz graduated from the University of Vienna Medical School. From MyHeritage.com - The Jewish community in 1938 Vienna was the third largest Jewish community in Europe, and approximately 200,000 Jews were living there before World War II. The "Anschluss" – the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938 - brought an abrupt end to this flourishing community. The official community - Vienna Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) - was temporarily closed by the National Socialists, and after it reopened in May 1938, Jews living in Austria had to register with the IKG's Emigration Department to leave the country and escape Nazi persecution.
Fritz escaped from Austria and was living in Sandwich, England when he sailed out of Southampton, England aboard the S. S. Volendam and arrived in New York on April 17, 1940 and was hired as a physician at St Francis Hospital in the Bronx. He was 5' 10" tall, weighed about 160 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes and a fair complexion.
Fritz soon moved to Paterson and became an intern at St. Joseph's Hospital and became a U. S. citizen in August of 1943, five months after marrying Doris. Because he married an American citizen, only three years residency was required. He became a member of the American Medical Association, and the Passaic County Medical Society. He served as president of Fair Lawn Memorial Hospital for two years and then became associated with the Greater Paterson General Hospital, the Barnert Memorial Hospital, and Valley Hospital, and St. Joseph's Hospital where he was a resident surgeon and played the organ in the hospital's chapel.
Doris worked in his office as a medical assistant. She was also a member of the Passaic County Medical Auxiliary, and chairperson for the Auxiliary's "Today's Health" magazine. She was a founding member of Nemow (Women spelled backwards) Sorority in 1954, the purpose of which was 'for friendship, entertainment, and to give aid'.
By 1950, they were living at 777 Market Street in Paterson. Doris wrote a book of poetry, "Poems Over A Teacup", in 1953. Before this, she had many poems published in newspapers and magazines. She first began to write verse when putting words to tunes written by her husband. Fritz had studied piano for 10 years. One of their songs, "Take The Time" was published. They also published together a waltz "My Dear, My Love, My Own".
Their only child was born in Paterson on April 9. 1955. This was Donna Lynne Adler. In 1957, they moved to Glen Rock, a few miles northeast of Paterson. They attended the Community Church of Glen Rock. Doris was a member of the AMA Auxiliary of Passaic and Bergen Counties where she served as chairperson of the Scholarship Committee. They were both members of the North Jersey Country Club in Wayne. On July 24, 1965, Fritz scored a hole-in-one at the country club. In November of 1968, Fritz was elected president of the medical staff of Fair Lawn Memorial Hospital.
Their daughter Donna graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University majoring in dental hygiene. But, before that, she won top honors in a national beauty contest and crowned "Miss Ingenue" in Acapulco at age 15 on March 6, 1970. It was the 27th wedding anniversary of her parents who were there in Acapulco when she was crowned. With the title she also received a $500 scholarship and a 1970 Saab. She was vice-president of her high school class, active student council and honor society member. She also played guitar.
She was then hired by the Eileen Ford Agency in New York City. Her image has appeared in and on the covers of Vogue, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Parents, Town and Country, and Family Circle. She has also done many commercials. Her father encouraged her to try for acting roles in TV. She appeared in "One Life To Live" and "As The World Turns" and "All My Children." In a dream sequence on All My Children, she presented an award to Mark LaMura's character, Mark Dalton. She credits her being raised with strong convictions regarding morality for her refusal to ever pose nude. "I want to be accepted for acting, not for taking my clothes off."
Donna married Harry Burdette Haines at St Paul's Episcopal Church in Paterson on June 7, 1975. Donna designed and made her own gown for the wedding. The ceremony was followed by a reception, not surprisingly, at the North Jersey Country Club. Harry was a fourth-generation member of the Haines newspaper family. His father, Edward B. Haines, was publisher of The News newspaper in Paterson, where Harry was executive editor, and director of the North Jersey Auto Club. Harry was born in Paterson on September 26, 1948. His mother was the former Florence Horcher. Donna and Harry did not have children.
On July 29, 1983, Dr. Adler died at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He was 73 years old. He was entombed at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. Less than a year later, his son-in-law Harry Haines died suddenly after becoming ill and collapsing at his home at 57 Hawthorne Road in Wayne on March 9, 1984. He was only 35 years old. The circumstances of his death were not made public.
Harry's wife Donna was only 54 when she died years later, on November 24, 2009. The family's suffering was only compounded when Harry's father died a week later, from a heart attack. Doris, it turns out, outlived both her husband and daughter. She was 97 years old when she died in Glen Rock on May 20, 2021. She was entombed with Fritz at George Washington Memorial Park.
Claire Vanderwiel, the daughter of Ike and his second wife Edith, loved to ride horses. When the family moved to 47 Sicomac Road in North Haledon around 1950, the large parcel of land had several storage buildings and a barn where horses were boarded. On February 25, 1955, 16-year-old Claire was riding bareback in the field near her house on a horse named Apache when something spooked the horse and he took off at a gallop. Claire tried to regain control of the runaway animal but he quickly bolted out on the road and into traffic. A car driven by a man from Pompton Lakes saw the horse coming and came to a complete stop. Nonetheless, the frightened horse collided with the front of the vehicle and poor Claire was thrown over the car and landed on the road. She was taken by ambulance to Paterson General Hospital and treated for serious bruises of the left hip and right arm. She was released the next day and was confined to bed for a few days. The horse, Apache, was seriously injured in the accident, but was expected to recover.
Nearly two years later, around Christmas of 1956, 17-year-old Claire, a junior at Hawthorne High School, became engaged to Harry E. Farissier (Yes, another Harry) at a reception held in her home for 100 guests. An orchestra provided entertainment. Claire was working at the A&P in Wyckoff. Harry worked for the Sam Braen Oil and Construction Materials Company in Hawthorne.
Harry was born in New Jersey two days before Thanksgiving on November 24, 1936. His father, John Farissier, was a truck driver for the silk mill and an auto mechanic for a local quarry (possibly Sam Braen). His mother was the former Ann Kuhn.
Two months after the engagement, Claire and Harry were married in St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Prospect Park on February 23, 1957. Claire was now working for New Jersey Bell Telephone. Harry was still working for Sam Braen. They initially moved in with her parents at 54 East Barbour St in Haledon. The marriage got off on a somewhat shaky ground when Harry was fined $155 for driving his father's car while on the revoked list. He had lost his license from earlier problems with his driving (he was barely 21). At first, his father was indicted for allowing him to use his car, but Harry eventually confessed that he had taken the car without his father's permission.
Sometime later, they moved in with Claire's parents when a daughter was born in 1958. They had a son in 1962 and another in 1965. By 1983, they were living apart. Claire was living in West Paterson.
At some point, Claire and Harry must have divorced because, on November 14, 1986, Claire married Richard C. Seger in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. Wood-Ridge, and all the other towns mentioned in this section, are 10 miles or less from Paterson.
In 1994, Harry moved to Florida. He died there on his 80th birthday, November 24, 2016.
As we noted near the beginning of this narrative, Garret and Jozina had six children. While the first five grew up to live well into adulthood, that was not to be the fate of the last one. Jozina was 39 years old when she gave birth to her namesake Jozina Vanderwiel on April 24, 1897. She was affectionately called Georgina. Sadly, she was 5 or 6 years old when she died in 1903.
