Purpose This archive is the start of a genealogical history of the O’Donnell family branch created by the marriage of James O’Donnell and Margaret Kortsch in 1944…… The historical biographies of the earlier generations of the O’Donnell and Kortsch families…
“Take your feet off the coffee table” booming at me. Quirky, aesthetic. mish mash. Think of it as furniture that doesn’t take itself too seriously and probably has a story (or two) to tell. Think of it as furniture that…
Graduated Pio Nono High School 1969 Attended UWM Married Mary Ellen O’Donnell 2004 Actor in numerous productions in Milwaukee area (some reviews and programs below) Worked at Davis & Gelshenen, LLP Worked as Equipment Program Coordinator, Wisconsin Chapter of ALS…
The genealogy chart below shows seven generations of the O’Donnell family across 200 years, from the 1820s to the present day. For more genealogical information see ‘The O’Donnells: Genealogical Information and Dad’s Notes’. In those notes Dad wrote brief biographical…
The fan chart below covers five generations of Mom’s family, about 125 years, from the early 19th century through Mom’s generation and their immediate descendants into the mid-20th century. For more Kortsch genealogical information, go to Ferdinand Kortsch (1826-1900), Paul…
Born 1992 Graduated McGill University, 2015 (English) Working as paralegal in Washington, D.C. These are the pictures of Katie in the archive.
Born 1989 Graduated University of Oregon, 2014 (Chinese Language and Literature) Working in Shanghai, China These are the pictures of Brian in the archive.
Born 1997 Graduated Marietta (GA) High School, 2016 Graduated Kennesaw State University, 2024 (Business) These are the pictures of Buck in the archive.
Born 1995 Graduated Marietta (GA) High School (2014) Worked Marietta Pizza Company Currently living in Colorado (where the mountain hiking is better than in Georgia) These are the pictures of Caitlin in the archive.
Born 1993 Graduated Marietta (GA) High School ( ) Working as Hair Stylist, Atlanta, GA Married Brian __________, Sept. 29, 2024 These are the pictures of Sarah in the archive.
Born 1992 Graduated University of Wisconsin School of Medicine (2020) Medical Specialty: Pediatrics Residing: Austin, TX
Born 1982 Graduated Marquette University, 2002 (Advertising) Married Katie Jeske Children: Elle (2011), Aubrey (2014), Isabel (2017) Works at HSA Bank These are most of the pictures of Michael in the archive. For all of them, use the search bar.…
Born 1981 Graduated Marquette University, 2000 (English) Graduated Marquette University Law School, 2003 Works As Radio Personality (WISN-AM) Married Megan Heinzel Children: Nicholas (2007), Christopher (2010), Grace (2014) These are the pictures of Dan in the archive. His moving tribute…
Born 1973 Graduated Lincoln Park High School (Chicago) Attended Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Owner and Chief Artist, Solid State Tattoo Author, These Old Blue Arms: The Life and Work of Amund Dietzel, 2 vols. Solid State Books Author,…
Born Graduated Married Tyler Reiter Children: Madison, Billie These are the pictures of Kim in the archive.
Born 1970 Graduated Dominican High School (1988) Owner, Moxy Married Kim Kopesky Children: Madison (2001), Billie (2006) Marketing and Sales Coordinator, Caster Corporation These are all the pictures of Tyler in the archive.
Born Margaret M. Kortsch (1916) Attended and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy High School, 1930-1933 Graduated Mount Mary College, 1937 (English) Worked in 1940 as teacher in public school Married James O’Donnell (1944) Children James, Kevin, Margaret A., Paul, Mary…
Born September 7, 1918 Graduated Gesu Grade School (1932) Attended West Division High School (1933-1937) U.S. Navy, World War II (Dental Technician, USS Effingham) Married Margaret M. Kortsch (1944) Graduated Marquette University, B.S., Business Administration (1947) Graduated Marquette University Law School…
Born December 8, 1957 Attended UWM Co-Owner and Manager, Kendrick and Co. Hair Salon, Marietta GA Married Kenneth Norman Children: Sarah (1993), Caitlin (1995), and Wilson (‘Buck’) (1997) More pictures of Ann can be found in other albums. For all…
Born May 22, 1956 Graduated B.A., UWM Graduated M.A., UWM Attended University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Partner: Stephen Sinon (1946-2007) Manager, University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library Course Reserves Divisional Administrator, Humanities Collegiate Division, University of Chicago Died…
Born April 19, 1950 Married Timothy Reiter Graduated Cardinal Stritch University, 1989 Children: Tyler and Jonathan Worked as health care consultant for Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Walgreens, and several other organizations Married David Ferrie, 2004 Retired 2016 Following Mary’s pictures are…
Born October 14, 1948 Graduated Marquette University 1974 Graduated UCLA (Ph.D, Political Science) Graduated UCLA Law School Attorney, Ropes and Gray (Boston) Senior Trial Attorney (Antitrust), U.S. Department of Justice Married Judy Powers (1950-2024), December 31, 1983 (Obituary at bottom.)…
The will (2004) appoints Kevin as her executor. She left bequests to her caretaker, Viktor, and all eleven then-living nephews and nieces. She further directed her estate be used to pay any existing debts and the remainder divided equally among…
Mom and Dad took more pictures of Sis–over 450 of them–than any of the other children. See also Sis’ baby book and many other albums. For all of her pictures enter her name into the search bar. Born July 11,…
Graduated Marquette University Law School (1972) Married Kevin O’Donnell (1975) Children: Daniel, Michael, Patrick Assistant U.S. Attorney Judge, Milwaukee County Circuit Court (1978-1993)
Born August 2, 1946 Graduated Marquette University 1968 Graduated Marquette University Law School 1972 Married Leah Lampone 1975 Children: Daniel, Michael, Patrick Founder and CEO, Subro Audit, Inc. Retired (1999) Yachtsman More pictures of Kevin can be found in other…
Born February 1, 1947 Graduated UWM (Anthropology) 1975 Married Jim O’Donnell (1971) Technical Course Design and Developer (Hardware): Digital Equipment, Compaq, Hewlett Packard Consultant, Information Design
Born August 15, 1945 Graduated UWM, 1969 (English) Married Susan Henzl in 1971 Worked as professor of English in New Hampshire Retired 2012 Pictures of Jim also appear in other posts. For all of his pictures enter his name into…
Pictures of small groups of us (small being relative to the family), distinct from categories with large numbers, like Christmas Pictures, Summer Vacations, Eating, Drinking, Celebrating. . . .
A few pictures not fitting into any other album.
The pictures below show the house’s exterior. For an idea of its interior, you can’t do better than to take a look at Norah’s “ODO-Stuff” blog pictures and priceless descriptions. The house we grew up in is now part of…
A few pictures of snowfalls. Two from 1978, two from 1979, three from 1983, the others not dateable. One with Ann standing in the street, not shoveling.
Written in 1991 before a trip to Italy and updated April 1994 before one to Lexington, KY and Atlanta. To be opened only in the event of Mom and Dad both dying. The first two pages contain some instructions to…
Pictures of Ann and Norah together, 1961 through 1966. Mom and Dad’s second attempt at a normal family, after the first one proved hopeless.
Three sets of pictures: their trip to Vancouver and parts nearby, different trips around the States, and several trips to Europe. For their passport photos, see the ‘Official Documents’ post. Trip to Vancouver (September 1986). The trip combined a nostalgic…
In a folder Dad saved these pictures of Sis taken from one of her Divine Savior/Holy Angels yearbooks. The date is unknown but might be the early 1980s. At the end is a recommendation letter upon her leaving her position…
Norah was an accomplished roller skater, the star of the show I saw in the early 1970s. An athletic O’Donnell, who knew. She and Mom are mentioned on p. 10 (7/14) and Norah again on p. 20 (12/14).
Taken in 1990, when Mom was 74 and Dad, 72.
We ate a lot of cake. Self explanatory set of pictures, arranged very roughly from earliest to latest.
Pictures taken at the party celebrating Dad’s retirement from the County Corporation Counsel’s office in 1985. The identifications were written on the backs of the photographs by Dad, with a few by Mom, and Sis. At the top are two…
Three sections here: a largish (54) collection of pictures from their 40th wedding anniversary celebration, a larger collection (100) taken at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 1994, and a smaller set (14) from Mom’s 80th birthday in 1996. Mom…
Mom sorted some of the family photographs into envelopes and loosely dated them by year. To honor her intention, these arrangements have been retained below. As always, quote marks signal her handwritten identifications on the pictures. She also placed some…
These were in an envelope labeled “1940s and 1950s” in Mom’s handwriting. Besides being collected here, individual pictures also appear in other appropriate posts. In addition to this envelope, there were others with pictures sorted by year. You can see…
Twin Lakes is west of Kenosha, about an hour from Milwaukee.
Location: Lake Minocqua (which Mom never did spell right), near the (good thing she didn’t try this one) Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, about 70 miles N of Wausau and 250 miles from Milwaukee.
The 1955 summer vacation. Place not remembered. The time must have been late August because of how warmly we were dressed in some pictures.
These pictures look like they were taken during a vacation but Mom didn’t label them as such so the identification is speculative. They may not be vacation pictures at all, but lacking any other way to place them they’ve been…
Pictures taken by Mary Ellen. For many more Christmas pictures see “Christmas Pictures.”
Mom kept only two grade school class pictures, those of Norah and Ann. An odd choice. . . .
Fifty years of Christmas pictures. The first were taken in 1947, the last around 1999. None from the 2000s. For a collection of pictures taken by Mary in 1983, go to “Christmas 1983.” 1940s-1950s 1960s-1970s 1980s-1990s …
A wide-ranging collection of documents, including their marriage and birth certificates, religious certificates, draft registration, undergraduate diplomas, passports, and so on. Mom’s birth certificate contains a number of errors. See ‘Margaret M. O’Donnell for an explanation. Of special interest is Dad’s…
Graduation pictures of Jim, Kevin, Sis, Paul, Mary, and Ann, as well as a few of Mom and Dad. No pictures of Norah, though. She says she graduated from high school . . . but can we really be sure…
Confirmation pictures of Kevin and Sis (1958), Paul and Mary Ellen (1960). Dad’s 1931 confirmation certificate is also here. His certificate was issued on April 1, 1944, and may have been needed to prove he was a Catholic before he…
Two grade school report cards for Sis (3rd and 6th grades), Kevin (2nd), Paul (7th), and for some reason, maybe Mom being pleased he made it through another year of grade school, five for Jim (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and…
First communion pictures of Jim, Sis, Paul, a lot of pictures of Mary Ellen, Norah, and Ann. Oddly, none of Kevin. Also, a couple of documents noting Mom and Dad’s first communions as well as Ann’s first communion booklet. Mom…
Most noteworthy is Mom’s 1925 First Communion holy card. The oldest is from 1907, given to Nana by one of her high school teachers. The collection also includes Fr. Edward O’Donnell’s 1942 ordination card that Dad kept, one to Marion…
Later pictures of Ann can be found in ‘Ann O’Donnell Norman’. All of her pictures can be found by entering her name into the search bar.
Later pictures of Norah are in ‘Norah O’Donnell‘. All of her pictures can be found by entering her name into the search bar.
Later pictures of Mary are in ‘Mary Ellen O’Donnell‘. All of her pictures can be found by entering her name into the search bar.
Later pictures of Paul can be seen in ‘Paul J. O’Donnell‘. All of his pictures can be found by entering his name into the search bar.
Later pictures of Sis are in ‘Margaret A. O’Donnell‘. All of her pictures can be found by entering her name into the search bar.