81b-Emily & Frank: Married Life and 9108 Colonial Road

Introduction

In posting 81a-Scenes from Old Brooklyn-Bay Ridge and the Shore Road we entered the memories of readers and contributors of “The Old Timers” feature of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.  In the features from 1943 and 1949 we read about two “Old Timers” who shared memories of Shore Road when Brooklyn was still like the country and development of Bay Ridge was yet to be.  When Emily and Frank selected their first apartment on Colonial Road, one block up from Shore Road, many of the groves, mansions and pathways mentioned by those readers were gone or soon to be gone. 

The layout of the neighborhood was changing, too, as streets were lengthened and the layout of the blocks and houses changed.  Emily always said that when she looked back she thought that she and Frank would have been better off staying in the apartment on Colonial Road after EmilyAnn was born.  It was a case of “what if” they had stayed and “what if” they had waited another three years before buying a house when they were ready instead of giving in to the pressure from Frank’s parents to buy a house before EmilyAnn was born. These considerations will be taken up in future postings. 

Choosing a place to live is like selecting another party to enter into a relationship with you.  The surroundings, the neighbors, the amenities, and the community itself bring their own force into your life.  In an effort understand Emily’s attachment to that apartment and the years lived there we did our best to piece together an overview about the building, the developer and the features of the apartment house on Colonial Road where Frank and Emily chose to live.  This is followed by photos of a walk EmilyAnn took along the same streets Emily briefly wrote about in the journal EmilyAnn discovered after her passing.

Relationship Notes

Emily and Frank were married on May 6, 1950 at Our Lady of Guadalupe R.C. Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.  After honeymooning at Castle Harbor in Bermuda the began married life in what Emily described to EmilyAnn as “a ground floor apartment with a garden view on Colonial Road.”  

Emily was the daughter of Sam and Josie (nee Muro) Serrapede.  Her younger brother Junior (Sammy) was in second grade in 1950.  Josie and Sam’s new son-in-law Frank got a kick out of calling Junior his little brother-in-law. 

Frank was the son of Blanche and Al Terry*.  His siblings were:  Alfred Anthony, Robert Edward and Maureen.  Emily enjoyed her new in-laws, their social circle and the sisterly relationship with Maureen.

*See Note before Resources section.

Family Story:  All is well

This family story is from Emily’s private journal which EmilyAnn found after Emily’s passing.  The entries expanded on events in Emily’s life that she shared with EmilyAnn.  Other entries, like this one, were a revelation.  What follows is a summary of entries about her early married life and the apartment on Colonial Road.

In her journal, Emily wrote about the special quality she felt all around the area where the apartment was.  What appealed to her and Frank was the seclusion.  There were no bus or subway lines nearby.  The proximity to the Shore Road brought the presence of the Narrows and the ships sailing by into daily life.  There was a haunting feeling living so close to the water and hearing the horns of the boats on foggy or rainy mornings and evenings.  The apartment houses nearby were older and had charming names and decorative elements that were appealing and pleasant to look at during the early morning walk to get the train or bus for work. 

A Blessing for this Spring Morning

Greetings as you arise to a new day!

Bright Spring….new beginnings

May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities, and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected.
May your soul calm, console, and renew you.

—Traditional Irish Blessing
from Prayers in the Celtic tradition, both old and new
fathandworship dot com

—Photo public domain. By Jill Wellington. Through Pixabay dot com.

81a-Scenes from Old Brooklyn: Bay Ridge and the Shore Road, late 19th to early 20th Centuries

Introduction

Frank and Emily returned from their honeymoon in late May of 1950 and began their married life as residents of the Shore Road neighborhood in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.  One of their favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon was to take a long walk along the Shore.  At other times they enjoyed discovering the sights around the other streets between Ridge Boulevard and the Shore Road.  There were cul-de-sacs along some streets where turn-of-the century gingerbread style houses were located.  In other places were step streets lined with trees and houses that had large porches and driveways that may have once led to stables.  Step streets are located at a higher elevation than the roads below them which lead to the shore. To reach the roads one must climb down a steep flight of steps built into the slope.

Emily and Frank had many interests but never enough time for them all.  One of the interests that they never fully developed was to learn the history behind the many local sights and places they enjoyed throughout Brooklyn.  With this posting we begin to feature the communities where our family lived as part of the narrative of our family history.  This shift occurs with the second generation of Italian-Americans and continues into the third generation. As the family assimilated into the larger American culture, Italy became a memory while the new environment became a vibrant reality filled with possibilities and challenges.

Relationship Notes

Emily L. Serrapede was the daughter of Sam and Josie Serrapede.  In 1950 she was 19 years old, employed as a Legal Secretary and a newlywed.  Her husband, Frank, was the son of Blanche and Al Terry*.  He worked in the Manhattan office of an importer of high quality leather.  Both Frank and Emily were doing well at their jobs.  The quality of life they were beginning to enjoy was not possible to their immigrant ancestors who came to the U.S. at the end of the 19^th-beginning of the early 20^th century.

As a young couple Frank and Emily joined book clubs and cultivated their talents through their hobbies.  Emily always wanted to know more about the mansions along Shore Road that harkened back to Brooklyn’s earlier days.  It was something that always went to the back of the burner, as she used to say.  There were so many things to do each week.  She figured the local scenery had been there for so long it could wait a while longer.