A Special Life

Vi Burgan is pictured here in her early teens. Her father loved amateur photography, and the family continued to have professional portraits, such as this one, taken as well. Vi was beautiful , sociable and smart, did well in school, and was active in her church and denomination throughout her life. Her Mom passed away when she was five, and her Dad was absent quite often, going to where the work was. Agnes and Aunt Annie raised her, for the most part, but she always displayed an independent spirit. After going to local grammar schools, she attended Eastern High School, which was located at the time at North Avenue and Broadway. She graduated in 1918, during the time of the Great War. Her training there prepared her for office work, including working in the Catholic Office for the Propagation of the Faith. Among the staff there was Father Toolen, a priest that had taught her catechism

as a young girl. He would later become the Bishop of Mobile, Alabama, and offer the sacraments to Vi and her daughter in unique circumstances.

The Irish Matriarch must have taken special pride in Vi. The three granddaughters that she helped to raise ended up in variant circumstances. Maria would die in 1917, and Carrie seems to have married and moved away. Vi would care for Grandmom and Aunt Annie until their death. She delayed her own marriage until 1936, which she explained away with The Depression. I wonder if her husband to be was still a wild rover, and it took her that long to settle him down, at least a little.