“Learning your family history is the key to unlocking who you are”(Unknown). Every family has a story and researching information about my family allowed me to learn about our story who I am and where I come from. Learning about my predecessors allowed me to understand my family’s story on both sides of my family. All of my family is both Irish and Eastern European.
My father’s side of the family is very easy to follow, as his whole family is only from Ireland. My grandfather, John Tahany, was born on February 9, 1941, in Queens, New York. He was the second of three sons born to Dominick and Anne McBrien. He grew up in Flushing, Queens, and attended public school until high school. For high school, he attended Archbishop Molloy and was part of the first graduating class. After graduating high school, he joined the Army and was part of the 101st Airborne Division, where he jumped out of planes for three years. After these years, he was respectfully discharged and then John applied to join the Fire Department of New York City. He was accepted and worked at one of the busiest firehouses in Brownsville, Brooklyn. After fifteen years of working as a firefighter in Brooklyn, he was forced into retirement due to lung problems due to the constant inhaling of smoke. While working as a firefighter by day, he was a student by night. John attended night school at John Jay College in New York City. After he attended John Jay, he earned the skills to learn how to become a fire safety engineer for Zurich American Insurance Company. John loved to learn so he went back to college again to earn his Master’s in risk management from New York University in 1988, at the age of 47. After he earned his Master’s he went on to work for big companies such as Reliance National and American International Group. John was a very adventurous soul and a big family man, he thoroughly enjoyed skiing, which has been passed down to his children and grandchildren. This was the perfect combination of both of his favorite things: adventure and family. (Interview 3)
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My grandmother, Eileen Grieve, was born on January 31, 1943, in Queens, New York. She grew up rather poor, but she didn’t know it. Her parents, Hugh and Bridget, did a good job hiding their financial struggles and tried to give their five children as normal of a childhood as they possibly could. Eileen attended Our Lady of Perpetual Hope in Queens, New York for grammar school. During her grammar school years is where my grandmother’s best stories came from. She always tells me and my cousins the hardships she faced during these times. Such as having to walk to school, or sharing a bed with two of her sisters. Even though we laugh at these stories now, it has taught us to be thankful for what we have and to not complain. Upon completing grammar school, Eileen attended and graduated from St. Michael’s High School. After high school, Eileen decided against college and went out searching for a job as a typist. She got a job at an insurance company in New York City. One day after work in 1963, she decided to go to the bar in Queens, and that is where she met my grandfather, John.
After meeting at this bar, they knew they were each other’s soulmates. They dated for about two years before they got married. They got married on September 29, 1965. After getting married they lived in College Point for a few years before moving to Richmond Hill, Queens, where they started their family. After having four children, they decided their house in Richmond Hill was too small, so they moved to Mineola, New York. A few years after moving to Mineola, they had one more child. They were married for 41 years, before my grandfather, John, passed away on May 16, 2007. To this day my grandmother, Eileen, still lives in the same house in Mineola which holds many memories not only for her but also for all of their children.
Thus far, everything has been entirely about my father’s side, who they are, and where they come from. Without the hardships and the successful times his family has faced, none of the family would be the same. We have all learned from the past how to become more successful with each generation and hopefully continue to be more successful with each generation.
My mother’s family descends from more than just Ireland. Her family comes from Ireland and Eastern European countries. They come from Eastern European countries such as Poland, where my grandmother’s family is primarily from.
My grandfather, John Hart Jr., was born on November 6, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. He was born into the family by his parents, John Hart Sr. and Cornelia Stieg. He had one sibling, a sister named June. My grandfather had experienced many tough times at such a young age. One of the most important was the Great Depression. His parents had to take on extra jobs, like scrubbing floors or doing anything to bring in money for the family. Luckily, John and his family weren’t affected too badly by the Great Depression. They were able to move to Valley Stream, not too soon after the depression ended. John spent his high school days at Sewanhaka High School, where he graduated in 1947. Less than one year after graduating high school, John joined the Naval Reserve, at the age of 19. He joined the Navy because he was inspired by World War II growing up and wanted to serve his country. While being part of the Navy, John worked at a telephone company until the Korean War started. John received a call on his twenty-first birthday to go and serve his country. Even though he never saw any action in the Navy, he was stationed on a ship along the Mediterranean. After returning home from the war, he went back to the telephone company and worked as an installer for a few years. He then left and went on to work with his father at their family business started by his grandfather, Mark. The company’s name was M. Hart and Company. He worked as a fire adjuster until he was 66 years old. Then he and his wife, Constance, decided to move to Delaware where they would spend all of their remaining years together. (Interview 4)
My grandmother, Constance Forbes, was born on January 14, 1931, in Queens, New York. She was the only child of Robert and Martha Forbes. When Constance was born, her parents were still teenagers, around eighteen or nineteen. She grew up in Queens, New York before she and her parents moved to Floral Park, New York right before Constance’s high school years. Constance attended Sewanhaka High School. This is the place where my grandparents met. Constance and John met in 1947, on a blind date for junior prom. John instantly fell in love with Constance and asked her to be his steady girlfriend. Constance wasn’t too sure, so John gave her five minutes to make a decision. After the five minutes were up, John came back and asked again. This time Constance replied with a yes. Ever since then, they have been together happily.
About four years after they met, they got married. John and Constance got married on August 12, 1951. Right after getting married, they went to Bermuda for their honeymoon. Usually, a honeymoon is relaxing for the newlyweds, but not for my grandparents. Their honeymoon was rather stressful, John was told not to leave the country because he was in the Navy, but he did it anyway. Luckily, he didn’t get caught and their lives continued upon returning home. After being married for a few years, they had children. They had five children, including three girls and twin boys. Unfortunately, the twins died right after they were born. John and Constance were married for sixty-two years and were blessed to have eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, Constance passed away on St. Patrick’s Day in the year 2014 due to Alzheimer’s. Even though she isn’t physically with us anymore, she will be in our hearts “now and forever”, as my grandfather says.
My mother, Darlene Hart, is the youngest daughter of John and Constance. She was born on January 1, 1969, in Plainview, New York. She grew up in Bethpage, New York, and attended Our Lady of Mercy school in Hicksville, New York. She continued her schooling at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset, New York, and graduated in 1987. She continued her education at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Marist, she majored in psychology and earned her Master’s degree. After earning her Master’s she worked with mental health organizations such as the Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) and the Associated for the Health of Retarded Children (AHRC). At these organizations, she worked as a behavioral specialist helping people of all ages live their best lives. After my older siblings were born she stopped working at these organizations and decided to stay home with them. A few years ago, she was a teacher’s assistant at Jericho where she worked with kids with special needs. (Interview 1)
My father, Sean Tahany, is the second of five children born to John and Eileen. He was born on June 23, 1969 in Queens, New York. He grew up in Richmond Hill, New York, and went to grammar school at St. Benedict Joseph Labre School, until seventh grade. That summer was when he and his family moved to Mineola, New York. For eighth grade, he attended Corpus Christi located in Mineola. After graduating from Corpus Christi, he attended Chaminade High School, as it was right down the block. He graduated from Chaminade in 1987. He continued his education at the State University of New York, Oneonta. At Oneonta, he majored in Business Economics and American History. After he graduated in 1991, he started to work at New York Life Insurance Company, Oxford Health Plans, Emblem Health, and Care Connect. He currently works at Anthem Health. He did a lot of volunteer work when my siblings and I attended Our Lady of Mercy and ran the CYO program. (Interview 2)
My parents met in their sophomore year of high school. My mom had already been friends with my dad’s sister previously, but they both needed dates to the dance so my dad took her. Not too soon after the dance they started dating, and the rest is history. They got married on December 2, 1994, at Our Lady of Mercy Church (Doc. 5). They lived in Bellmore for about a year, then moved to Bethpage, and lived in the house where my mom grew up. After almost four years of being married, they had their first child. My sister, Breanna, was born on May 13, 1997. Two years later, my brother, Aidan, followed. He was born on December 1, 1999. Finally, three years after my brother, I was born. I was born on January 3, 2003, in Mineola, New York (Doc. 6). Only two months after I was born, my family moved to Huntington, New York, where we still live today. My siblings and I all graduated from the same grammar school as our mom, Our Lady of Mercy. Breanna graduated from Kellenberg in 2015 and State University of New York, Binghamton in 2019. Aidan graduated from Chaminade in 2018 and is currently a sophomore at Providence College.
This is how I got here. Researching about my family helped me understand my family’s story much better. Without learning about my family’s past, I don’t know who I am. This has unlocked a new piece of me and has allowed me to see my ancestors differently. Without all of their great success and accomplishments, I wouldn’t be able to be as fortunate as I am. I am proud to be part of this family and can’t wait to pass their stories down for many generations to come.
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