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father "you know, I wouldn't mind being buried here".
Believe it or not, a positive thing came after Johnny death. Mr. Soper had left home
in 1921 when he was sixteen years old and never had contact with his family. After
Johnny's death, he went back to Michigan to see if he could locate his family. To his
surprise, his mother was still alive and in good health. She was over 100 years old
at the time. She was delighted that her son came home because everyone didn't
think he was still alive. Mr. Soper was reunited with his siblings and his Mom. She
came over a few months later to Staten Island to see his home and Johnny's grave.
I met her. She was a strong and delightful woman who was so happy to have her
son back.
Also, our family became extremely close with the Sopers. My Mom had asked me to
go and keep Mr. Soper company after Johnny's death. He was retired and his wife
was still working. I was on summer vacation from school and had a lot of free time.
At first, I didn't know what to say to Mr. Soper so we just started playing Chess and
Mr. Soper started talking to me about Johnny.
After a while, my sisters and me were all hanging out in the Sopers' yard after
school. The other neighborhood children who we hung out with also joined in. Mr.
Soper didn't mind at all. He used to make us Pink Lemonade and other snacks. Mr.
Soper would take me and my sister on long drives along the Island where we would
have picnics and pick flowers. Mr. Soper taught my mother to drive. After she got
her license, he gave her the car she learned to drive in for $150 which covered the
cost of the new tires he had just put on the car. Mr. Soper taught me how to play
chess and helped us with our homework since our parents were from Eastern
Europe and couldn't help us with our studies as well due to a language barrier.
Johnny was a great guy but he also had two of the best parents anyone could have.
I would like to point out on the Memorial for Johnny that it was said that he moved
from Virginia at an early age directly to 195 Kensington Avenue. Although originally
he lived only a few blocks from his last address of Kensington Avenue, he originally
lived on Pearsall Street in Staten Island before moving to Kensington Avenue in
either late 1963 or early 1964.
Also, I would like to mention that he came from a wonderful patriotic family. His
father served in the Navy in WWII. His parents met during that time at a USO.
Johnny was very proud to serve his country.
Anne Asanovic
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