Below: Paster Family Reunion, 1950. The man with the sunglasses, third from the back, is my Grandpop Andy (Schectman). In front of him (and partly obscuring his face) is my Grandmom Gerri (Savar Schectman). Behind Grandpop Andy is Great Aunt Selma (Savar Fox), Grandmom Gerri's sister. Their mother is the Paster connection: Kathryne Paster Savar, and she is the standing woman behind Great Aunt Selma. Kathryne's husband, Louis Savar, is standing next to Kathryne and behind Selma. My Great Uncle Izzy Fox, Great Aunt Selma's husband, is just behind Kathryne. On the other side of the table, standing, is Rose Paster Colbs, standing next to her is her daughter, Ruth Colbs. I can't identify anyone else in the photograph, but can see the family resemblance and think there are at least two other Paster siblings in the photograph, especially the women closest to the camera on either side of the table.
So, that's Fox(man), Watnik, Schectman, Paster, Savar, Colbs. And lots of unknowns. I am having a heady time filling in the blanks. The above photograph of three figures was uncovered on ancestry.com through a connection with a until recently unknown branch of my family tree. Phyllis Oxfeld, who maintains this uncovered branch, is a cousin of my father's generation, a granddaughter of Benjamen Watnik and Yetta Fox(man) Watnik. I didn't imagine I'd ever see that photograph again. It was part of an album my Great Uncle Dave put together of Fox(man) relatives. He wrote a little story about the family and made copies of the photographs and gave a copy of the album to his brother, my Grandpop Andy, to his sister-in-law Selma and her husband Izzy, and he kept one for himself. I don't know how many copies got distributed, but had no idea there'd be people I didn't know who had any of those old photos. But here we are. A small miracle in the genealogical search for meaning in the universe.
The reunion photograph was given to my brother and sister-in-law by my Dad, along with maybe 100 other photographs, to scan and copy. I received a copy of the collection a couple months ago. It is an ongoing revelation.
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