Individual Details
(31 MAY 1914 - 20 APR 1977)
Winifred was only 8 years old when her father died. She told stories about how her family then became very poor. When she was a girl, she had a friend whose father had made her friend a dollhouse. She wanted one very much but was not able to have one. Later in life, she collected dollhouse furniture. I don't know what happened to the furniture after her death. Her mother, Ellen MERCER, got work as an in-house worker of some type, possibly a maid or housekeeper. She was not allowed to have her children with her, so Winifred was left in charge of her sister, Edie, and brother, Billy. She told of her mother coming around and dropping off food for them. She also told of not being able to attend school because of her responsibilities. She had to lie to a truant officer who was investigating why she wasn't in school. She dropped out of school in eighth grade. She always regretted not obtaining a formal education. She thought she would have liked to have been a nurse. She was self-educated and read newspapers and magazines daily. One of Living (F) (xi.) Riesmeyer's first memories of her mother was of her sitting in her rocking chair, holding a number of us in her lap and reading or singing to us. She did this every night. Living (M) (vii.) still has her rocking chair. She went to East Park School and Latimer Junior High School on the North Side of Pittsburgh.
Events
| Birth | 31 MAY 1914 | McKees Rocks, Allegheny Co., PA | | | |
| Marriage | 1 JUN 1932 | Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., PA - Wilmer Wesley RIESMEYER | | | |
| Death | 20 APR 1977 | Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., PA | | | |
Families