Individual Details

Birth name Ara Gundy; no birth certificate, as not issued by state of Missouri
until after 1900. Ran away from home in Harrisonville, Missouri at age 15
(1914) and joined a carnival and traveled with it several years. Married June
Katz at Youngstown, OH 8 Sept. 1924 by Charles Martin, Justice of the Peace. Marriage certificate in possession of Jerome Whelan. They separated very soon without his knowing she was pregnant. She
contracted tuberculosis and child, Charles Gundy, was adopted after her death.
He was renamed Jerome (Jerry) Whelan and grew up in Omaha as an only child;
Jerry spent many years trying to locate his birth family and was reunited with
his father and half brothers and sisters in 1981(?). Ara changed his first name
name to Harry and began to use the old form of the Gundy name, VanGundy; the
"Van" was not used after the American Revolution by this branch of the
family; he was Harry VanGundy by at least 1927; birth certificates for children
of 2nd and 3rd marriages say VanGundy; all three marriages ended in divorce;
lived to age 91, spending the last year of his life in a nursing home in Tampa.

Description: 5'8", thin, black hair, black eyes, dark complexion, very
handsome when young; one leg amputated below knee at age 9, due to train
running over his foot when he was playing on tracks.

Education: grammar school (7th or 8th grade).

Occupation: travelled with carnival several years after leaving home; was
salesman for Raleigh Products during 1930s; about 1942, became employed at
General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY and worked there until retirement in
1961.

!Marr.: 1)to June Katz; marr. cert. in poss. of son, Jerry Whelan; 2) to Nellie
Goodman Maxim; church Record of marr. in poss. of M. M. Havens; 3) to Edna
Abare, 1942.

!Death:17 June 1991, Tampa, FL; copy of death cert. in poss. of M. M. Havens.

!Burial: cremation; ashes buried in his mother's grave in Orient Cemetery,
Harrisonville, Cass, MO.

!Obit. Glens Falls, NY Post Star Wednesday, June 19, 1991:
Tampa, Fla. - Ara "Harry" VanGundy, 91, of Tampa, formerly of Ballston Spa,
N. Y., died Monday (June 17, 1991).
Born in Harrisonville, MO., on Dec. 26, 1899, he was the son of James Henry
and Mary Magdelene (Williamson) Gundy.
Mr. VanGundy was employed for many years at General Electric of Schenectady.
Survivors include five sons, Jerry Whelan of Cathedral City, Calif., Harry
James VanGundy of Tampa, Lee VanGundy and Thomas VanGundy of Hudson Falls, N. Y., and Robert VanGundy of Honolulu, Hawaii; four daughters, Mrs. Ronald (Mary Martha) Havens of Queensbury, N. Y., Barbara Straight of Tampa,
Mrs. George (Diana) Taylor of Round Lake, N. Y., and Carolanne VanGundy of
Ballston Spa, N. Y.; one sister, Mrs. Rosetta Capper of Columbus, Mo., 19 grand-
children, nine great grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and several
nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Services will be conducted at Harrisonville, Mo., at the convenience of the
family.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Atkinson Funeral Home, 600 West
Wall St., Harrisonville, Mo.

Researchers: M. M. Havens.

Birth	26 Dec 1899	Harrisonville, Cass Co., MO
Marriage	8 Sep 1924	Youngstown, Mahoning Co., OH - June Olive KATZ
Marriage	25 Dec 1929	Bolton, Warren Co., NY - Nellie Goodman Maxim
Death	17 Jun 1991	Tampa, Hillsborough Co., FL
Burial	24 Jun 1991	Orient Cemetery, Harrisonville, Cass Co., MO
Divorce		June Olive KATZ
Divorce		Nellie Goodman Maxim

Spouse	Nellie Goodman Maxim (1903 - 1986)
Child	Living

Spouse	June Olive KATZ (1901 - 1938)
Child	son WHELAN ( - )

Spouse	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Thomas Robert VanGundy (1950 - )
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living

Father	James Henry Gundy (1865 - 1916)
Mother	Mary Magdelene Williamson (1869 - 1961)
Sibling	Lloyd Avon Gundy (1896 - )
Sibling	Elsie Willa Gundy (1897 - 1901)
Sibling	Milla Montella Gundy (1902 - 1975)
Sibling	Ferd Uel Gundy (1904 - 1981)
Sibling	Rosetti Elno Gundy (1906 - 2000)
Sibling	Ziba Thomas Gundy (1908 - 1922)