Edmond Benedict Gorman
(Post No. 8) Edmond Benedict Gorman Sr. was the Gorman Girls'
grandfather — (the Gorman Girls being Susie, Lindy, and Nancy). None of us ever
met him, though. He died one year and two days before Susie was born. He was 55
years and two days old when he died on Feb. 10, 1944. He and Susie share the
same birthday,
Feb. 8.
Edmond was born in Defiance, Ohio, in 1889, the only surviving son of Bernard and Elizabeth. (Edmond's two brothers died very young.) The family moved to Chicago by 1900 and by 1910, at age 21, Edmond was married to Ethel Hannberg (Nana), had the first of their three children, and was living in Berkeley, California. In the 1910 census, their first child, Ada Elizabeth (Aunt Adie), was just four days old.
Adie said her father Edmond ran away from home at age 13 and ended his education then, too. She said in my 1999 telephone interview with her: "My father was a highly intelligent man . . . (despite leaving school at 13), he studied law. He could have been a lawyer. His handwriting was simply beautiful. He became an actor and was on the Orpheum circuit." Adie also said Edmond and Ethel met in New York around 1907 where they were both acting (Ethel's field was in Shakespeare). He fell in love with her beautiful voice, they dated for a while, then he took her to Chicago to meet his family.
Adie said: "He was a wonderful man, a genius, but you know, in all the years that I saw him, he never, ever sat down to a meal without his full coat, vest, shirt, and tie."
Edmond and Ethel went on to have Edmond Benedict Jr. (born 1918) and John William (Popee, born 1920.) They lived in San Francisco and in San Mateo. Edmond's career was important for the times, namely World War II. He owned and operated Electric Smelting Company, headquartered in San Francisco. From Wikipedia:
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore in order to extract a base metal from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gases or slag and leaving the metal base behind.
Edmond, like his father Bernard and grandfather Michael, was a businessman, and a wealthy one at that. Edmond also bought and sold real estate, adding to his fortune. Many acres were in the Morgan Hill and Gilroy areas as well as 50 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains. The latter property stayed in the family from the 1930s to the 1990s, with many family gatherings enjoyed by all over the decades. We called it "The Ranch."
Edmond died of a heart attack at 55, but it should be noted that he had been a smoker from the age of 13.
COMMENTS:
Kendra - January 31, 2020
I think that we should all dress in more formalwear for meals in his
honor. Dust off your vests and ties, male great-grandchildren!
Mom, this is fantastic! What a vast and compelling (if too short) life:
actor and businessman? I never knew some of those details. Mom, Ethel was
your Nana, right? I want more fun scoop about her now. I never knew she was
a Shakesperian actress!
Thank you for sharing these rich details!
Nancy - January 31, 2020
Thanks, Kendra. Glad you like it. Yes, my Nana was indeed Ethel. I will
post about her next, then Popee, then Mamam’s tree. So many relatives, so little
time!!!
Susie - January 31, 2020
I agree with Kendra to dress for dinner
You have done a great job, Nancy, in telling his story and I never knew he was
a smoker! Can’t wait for the next blog
Nancy - January 31, 2020
Thank you Susie. Had to take a break from blog posts with the holidays
but I’m back on it now. We have a lot of people in our tree!
Lindy - February 1, 2020
All so interesting. I remember Adie also saying how strict he was.
She was invited to a New Years Eve party (she was 18) and her father said
she could go but she must be home by 11. She didn’t go to the party
Thanks Nancy for continuing to keep us informed of our heritage.
xo Lindy
Nancy - February 1, 2020
Thanks for reading, Lindy!
Johnny - February 4, 2020
So interesting Nancy!!! Thank you for doing this blog! I think I even
look like your grandfather…crazy.
Nancy - February 23, 2020
Hi Johnny ~ I didn’t see your comment until today. I’m glad you read
this and we all know about the lookalike genes in the Gorman family! xoxo