Matt and Kelly grew up with my children, Kevin and Jason.  We met Jody and Bill when Jody answered my ad at the local Giant for a part-time babysitter for my 3 month old.  We celebrated many of our kids  milestones together, and Roberta was always there beaming with pride over her two adorable grandchildren.  She  made a special effort to seek me out at family events, sit me down, and ask me to catch her up on my kids' lives.  Her genuine caring nature was evident to  "extended" family and friends, and I looked forward to these chats, even when the kids were grown and had their own kids - the last catch-up we enjoyed together was at Kelly's baby shower, and I will remember Roberta fondly.

In clearing out Roberta's desk, we came across a few papers, where she had written down memories from growing up. Here are some of Roberta's stories, in her own words:

 "My father had no brothers or sisters. He went to Canada to visit cousins each summer and truly enjoyed the farms as a young boy and as a teenager. My mother had 10 sisters and two brothers. [My parents] met at an Army Post where [my father] was stationed and [my mother] was working in the hospital on that Post as a physiotherapist."

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"My mother always seemed happy and quiet. She would take my brother and sister and me on walks in our Arboretum nearby. My Dad always seemed to be at work or on weekends and all summer building our cottage near Cape Cod. We always enjoyed helping him."

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"My sister and I always shared a room until I left to go into nurses' training. We had twin beds and had to keep everything put away and tidy."

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"Aunt Esther and Uncle Arthur were Gramp's cousins, and they and their three children were our special and only nearby relatives. They lived close to us and we celebrated birthdays together. Ruthie, Dorothy and Franklin were close in age to us so we did have fun with them."

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"I remember being outside a lot. Playing, picnics, short day trips, excusions to the zoo in Boston, Sunday rides in the countryside and a stop for an ice cream cone at Howard Johnson's sometimes. The whole family went together.

"In the wintertime we did a lot of coasting on our own street which was a Dead End (no traffic). Ice skating after school at a local playground was almost daily fun in the cold.

"From age 7 on, we had a spot on a small pond near Cape Cod. [My father] built a cabin there, and we all went almost every weekend and enjoyed swimming. We had a canoe or kyack to use. Pete and Gramp made the kyack in the basement one winter and then took it to Charge Pond to be used." 

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"I enjoyed all my schools truly, and any subject was interesting—history, science, languages. We had a French Club in High School. Team sports were great; volleyball was new to me. Tennis, I played a lot of—not in school, however." 

THE GATEWAY 1944

Faulkner Hospital Training School for Nurses
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

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ROBERTA J KELLEHER
"Berta" 
35 Arborough Road, Roslindale, Mass.

Chief Like: Adventure
Chief Dislike: Mosquitos
Amibition: To run a boat, a car and a hospital 
Musical memory: "Sophisticated Lady" 

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From "The History of Faulkner," by R. Kelleher:
    
    "Dr. George Faulkner, a foremost physician and surgeon of the late eighteen hundreds, was a beloved charcter of Jamaica Plain and vicinity, His cheery optimism and kindly presence dispensed comfort as real as any medicine. He believed little in 'drugging' his patients except with comfort, support, and cheer.
    "In 1896 the doctor lost his only daughter, a woman whose work had ably seconded the administrations of her father. As a result, the doctor and his wife started dedicating all their worldly possiessions in memory of their daughter to the founding of a general hospital to safeguard the health of whole community.
.....
    "In 1943, because of the neeed for more nurses in civilian and military hospitals, the United States Cadet Nurse Corps was established. Faulkner Training School was accepted by the Public Health Service and now, our school is being almost entirely run under the plan of the Cadet Corps.
    "The hopes and plans for the future seem almost greater than the work thus far accomplished."

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The School Pledge

Reverently do I pledge myself,
    to the wholehearted service
    of those whose care is entrusted
    to this hospital.
To this end I will strive for
    skill in the fulfillment of my duties.
Holding secret whatsoever I may learn
    touching upon the lives of the sick.
I acknowledge the dignity and care of
    disease, and the safeguarding of health in
    which no act is menial or inglorious.
I will walk in upright Loyalty and Obedience
    to those under whose guidance I am to work,
    and I will pray for Patience, Kindness, and
    Understanding, in the holy ministry of
    broken bodies. 

THE YEAR BOOK
1940 VOLUME IV
ROSLINDALE HIGH SCHOOL
ROSLINDALE, MASSACHUSETTS

Our Year Book will be a lasting remembrance of our days spent at Roslindale High School. In years to come, we may reacquaint ourselves with our fellow students and teachers by looking over this long cherished souvenir. As we glance over its many pages and pictures, happy memories of our high school days will be recalled.

The Class of 1940

...strong in will
To strive, to seek,
to find, and not to yield.
 -Alfred Lord Tennyson

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ROBERTA J. KELLEHER

"Berta" "Bobbie"

Hobbies: Tennis, Skating, Sailing. Sewing.
Activities: President French Club '39, Treasurer Spanish Club '40,Student Council '40, Athletic Association '40, Drill Leader '40.
Ambition: Executive Nurse
Further Schooling: Regis.

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Class Prophecy

Listen, my children! Just open your ears.
And I'll tell you about the future years
Of the class of forty, and what they'll be:
But anything said don't hold against me!
Now, let's get started, then we'll soon be done,
Though just remember it's all in fun —
We'll start with flashes from here and there
And end up with news that'll be very rare!
If we're all living and going great
You might see in 1948:


That Sidney Vinton is the chief chef at the Walforf Astoria. Mr. Warren Kay Vantine has a new model for his advertisements. If you would care to know her name, it is Florence Bergren. Rita Goodwin has gone South to become private secretary to the great plantation owner, Mr. Joseph Egan. That new secretary to Professor Francis Coppinger of Harvard is Gloria Johnson — where there's a will there's a way — she always did want to go to Harvard! Louise Houston, who most people thought was just another nurse, is working on a cure for cancer — working with her is that other capable nurse, Roberta Kelleher. Attention, men and boys! Ethel Langmeyer has a shop called the Flower Pot where you can get corsages for 75c — too bad that didn't happen back in 1940! That famed artist. Ted Flanagan, has sketched a lovely figure with a gorgeous smile for the Foamy Tooth Paste ads — as his model, he used Margaret Dineen. Miss Betty Sargent has just made her debut as a concert pianist. The ovation after the performance was appalling. Two nights later, Dorothy Samsel and Helen Schank appeared in the Metropolitan Opera — they have been hailed the best since Kirsten Flagsted and Grace Moore. There was a great to-do in Boston when Natalie Hatch was invited to model gowns for the Princess Margaret of England. She was chosen from a group of 200. Warren Shepard, the man about town, has just bought a new car which will carry sixteen passengers. You may see all the stars of Hollywood and Broadway at John Gatturna's famous Spinning Top Night Club. Now for a bit of special feature news from all over the country. . . . pi as h — Hoboken, N. J. — Miss Marion Miller has started a school in which there is a strict rule that stars may go to school only every other day and have a three months' summer vacation! Kalamazoo, Michigan — Our inter- viewer, Albino Petruzzo, went to interview Mr. John Clune, President of the Sudsier Soap Co. While there, he met the brilliant inventor, August May, Jr., who has invented a non-slippery soap. Mr. Clune has a pretty and very clever secretary whose name is Shirley McNair — We guess that Mr. Clune has quite a time keeping visitors from his secretary's office. Boston, Mass. One of our staff sat in on a beautiful wedding. The bride wore a beautiful creation done by Marie, better known to her friends as Winifred Minkle. Washington, D. C. — Jack Toland. U. S. Senator, had Congress in stitches as he told the story of President Teddy Roosevelt's first speech. He was supposed to say, "Greece! her knees are bent", but could not get past....

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President's Address

Every one of us, at some time or other, has expressed the desire to be a success. Some of us desire successful business careers; some seek success in a profession, and some just want to be a success without knowing how to achieve that goal. Addison said, "If you wish for success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counsellor, caution your older brother, and hope your guardian genius." That is, Addison thought perseverance, experience, caution, and hope all necessary to success.

We have shown perseverance in that we have finished our high school course. Some of us, I am sure, felt occasionally that a diploma was not worth the work required to attain it, but now that we have persevered, we feel rewarded for our work. As we grow older, there will be times when we shall feel that all is lost; let us remember this, and always try to realize that anything worth doing requires that old stick-to-it-iveness that is known as perseverance.

While we have all shown perseverance, we have very little experience. Until the time when we have had experience of our own, let us listen to the counsel of those who are experienced. The fact that we are high school graduates does not mean that we know all that there is to know: in fact, we have a long way to go before we can consider ourselves as knowing any- thing at all. With this in mind, we should go to our elders for advice, for they have had the experience which we lack.

After experience, Addison lists caution. In my mind, both extremes of caution are dangerous; the over-cautious person, or pussyfooter, is just as bad as the incautious man. Since we are all young, however, there are few of us who are over-cautious. The majority of us are inclined to be a little reckless, and if the reckless person meets with disaster in school, it is not difficult to imagine what happens to him in later life.

Hope, which is the last of Addison's requirements for success, is, it seems to me, the most important. We must have hope if we wish to succeed. When the going is the hardest, we may be down, but we're far from out if we cling to that hope v/hich "springs eternal in the human breast".

Addison has told us the secret of success, but it seems to me he has omitted one point. The happiness which results from adjusting oneself to the conditions controlling one's life is a factor without which true success is impossible, for only the happy man can be successful. We shall soon have an opportunity to put these ideas into practice. May success of the right kind and happiness come to each of us.

John T. Toland  

Roberta was strong and independent, resourceful and private. An Army nurse in wartime, who tended poor souls released from concentration camps and cared for burn victims. A loving sister. A devoted wife. A mother of three boys, now men with families of their own. A student of thrift who spent money reluctantly and saved money religiously. A quilter. A walker. A modest woman who was more interested in helping than being helped. In listening than in talking.

She was my mother-in-law, who I first met the day her son and I told her we were having a baby. Not something she necessarily wanted to hear from a child still in college, but news she met with grace and warmth. She welcomed me that day, some 37 years ago, and she, a woman who was not known for her displays of affection, made clear she loved me every day since then.

She was part mother, part friend to me. Always ready to look at endless pictures of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to hear about our trips, to take walks around the block, to share the kitchen on holidays... I loved Roberta very much and I am honored that she loved me.