Six Generations of Hon Family Photos

Photos are sequenced according to the oldest generation present.  My father, Kenneth B. Hon, is the first reference point.

Earliest Generation  

Jacob Schwartz, Ken's great-grandfather on his mother's side, in his Civil War uniform.

Ken's Grandparents (2nd generation)

Silas Hon & Maude Winner (known as Winnie), paternal grandparents.

Silas & Winnie Hon with Gerald, seated, left, Tom, Giles & George (Ken's father), seated right

Winnie, leaning, with an unidentified woman

Winnie & son Tom (George's brother) who committed suicide

Tom (left) & Giles, George's brothers with unidentified woman

Giles was Ken's favorite uncle.  Although he married, he and his wife Mary never had children. He died of cardiac disease, a health condition that would plague the next generation of Hons.

Giles with four of George's children:  
Cliff, right, standing; Naomi, right seated; Earl, left lap; & Ken, right lap
(ca 1918)

Giles owned a store

According to a 1920 obituary in a local newspaper, Silas had been a state road contractor in rural Pennsylvania not far from Wilkes Barre.  According to family lore, Winnie, who had a glass eye, married the family's hired hand.  If so, she chose to be buried with her first husband.

Grave of Silas & Winnie
Edgington Cemetery, West Nanticoke, PA

Frank Schwartz, Ken's maternal grandfather.

Wil, left, & Frank Schwartz, sons of Jacob & Barbara

Katherine Early, Ken's maternal grandmother, lived in Pumpkin Hook, NY. Both her parents, Patrick & Jane, were Irish; Kate was one of ten (!) surviving siblings and worked as a domestic before marrying Frank Schwartz and giving birth to Edith.  An examination of unclear census records suggests the family changed their name to Swartz around this time. Or perhaps the census taker simply misspelled the name.

Katherine (Katy) Early Swartz (1925)

Katy supposedly could hold a broomstick in front of her horizontally and jump over it.  Looks like she chopped wood, too.

Katy with granddaughter Naomi

Ken's Parents (3rd generation)

George, Ken's father, worked as a steam shovel operator.  He died during a tunnel accident when Ken was a boy.  After the all-clear signal had been issued, a ton of rocks came crashing down on him.  Although he made it out alive, he died soon thereafter.  

George Hon

George, right, & unidentified friend (ca 1913)

George, left, with unidentified man

George, left, with Fred Guernsey 
(North White Plains, NY, ca 1926)

George Hon & Edith Swartz

George sent this postcard to Edith in 1910 before they married.  He was just 17, three years younger than she.  Senses of humor must be genetic, too.

Eleven years later, George sent Edith and his children another postcard  prior to their relocation to North White Plains.

This may be the house where they lived with their five children.

Edith Swartz, Ken's mother, was born on September 2, 1890 in Palmyra, New York. George's first postcard, above, is addressed to that name.

Edith & George with baby Ken, their fourth child  (1917)

Edith with baby Ken (North White Plains, 1917)

Edith with sons Gerald ("Doots") & Ken, right;
and daughter Naomi (1935)

Edith, 2nd from left, with daughter-in-law Harriett Lane, left, Naomi and her husband We Lyon,
son Earl and grandsons Robert, infant, & Cliff G.

Edith with son Cliff and Cliff G., left, & Robert 
(Bridgeport, CT, January 1950)

Edith with Cliff, Naomi
and grandchildren Barbara & Alfred Lyon

Edith (hidden) with Cliff, left, Naomi, Doots & Earl, rear (ca 1954)

Edith between Cliff & Naomi, Doots & Ken, front (1957)

I knew Edith as a child before she died in the mid-1960s.  Widowed for nearly 40 years, she lived very modestly in a tiny apartment and once took me to the Mayflower, her favorite luncheonette.

Edith with youngest grandson, Jeff
(White Plains, ca 1957)

Edith with Barbara on her wedding day (August 1962)

Four Generations:  Edith with Naomi, Barbara and grandson Charlie Wilkerson
(White Plains, Christmas 1963)

In 2023, I learned that Robert, my first cousin, had died a year earlier and had been buried in Mount Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY.  I visited the cemetery on a hunch and the discovered that our grandparents had been buried there, too, in an older section.

Ken & His Siblings (4th generation)

Earl, Cliff & Naomi

Earl, left; Ken, center; Naomi;
Doots, lower left; & unidentified girl

Cliff, Earl, Ken, left to right, & Doots, front 

Cliff, Earl, Naomi, Ken & Doots

Earl, Cliff, Ken, left to right, & Naomi, kneeling
(North White Plains, mid 1920s)

This photo of the Hon siblings was taken at Edith's funeral.  Ken flew from Germany to attend.  Cliff died not long afterward.  

Naomi, Earl & Cliff, rear; Ken & Doots
(February 1964)

Ken & Earl (ca 1919)

Doots & Ken (May 1930)

All four Hon brothers served in World War II.  It made the local news.  The article reports that Ken attended high school.  He told me that he had to quit school in the eighth grade to help support the family after the death of his father.  

Clifton E. Hon

Cliff was my favorite uncle.  I thought of him as dashing.  He loved jazz.  Family legend has it that he was on the scene for the Hindenburg disaster.  When Mom and I flew to France to join Ken in 1962, he drove us to McGuire Air Force Base and bought me a tiny Scottish terrier toy from a men's room vending machine on the New Jersey Turnpike. Cliff was the first Hon sibling to die.  Heart disease killed him as well as Ken & Doots.

August 1935

July 1941

Driving a Model A, 1941

"In His Corner" (White Plains, 1957)

Earl Richard Hon

Earl was the tallest, smartest and probably most successful Hon brother.  He owned a baby blue Porsche 911 and once visited us in Heidelberg. Earl outlived all his siblings.

(ca 1954)

Ham Radio Operator (Myrtle Beach, SC, 1984)

We once spent the holidays with Earl and his family.  The Hon VW siblings parked in the driveway.  

White Christmas (Bedford, MA, 1966)

Naomi Irene Lyon

Naomi loved to talk almost as much as Ken.  She spent several months with him in El Paso after Mary died.  We kept in touch after both my parents were gone.  I sent her postcards from my travels. She thought I led an exciting life.  Naomi is also the only relative I ever I told I was gay, after expressing relief that Dad had remarried.   "Why?" she asked, in a letter.  "Because Lois's family gave him a grandchild and I never will."

Bridgeport (ca 1950)

Kenneth Bruce Hon

Munich, Germany (September 1957)

Ken volunteered to go to Saigon so Mary and I could stay put in El Paso.

Saigon, Viet Nam (1967)

More Ken

Gerald ("Doots") Theron Hon

Doots, who was named for a blacksmith (!),  smoked a LOT.  He always had a kind word for me.  I attended his funeral after graduating from college, much to the family's surprise. That was the downside of being an Army brat a generation younger than my first cousins.  I never got to know any of them very well, including my aunts and uncles.  

Concord, MA (1965)

THE HON SPOUSES & CHILDREN

Cliff & Harriett Lane

Washington, DC (August 1941)

White Plains, NY (Christmas 1956)

Cliff & Harriett had two sons, Cliff G. & Robert.  

 The Two Cliffs, White Plains, 1956)

Cliff & Robert at the Baths (Saratoga, NY, 1956)

Father & Sons (White Plains, ca 1957)

The Two Cliffs at Breakfast (1957)

Although Robert had a New York State Regent's Scholarship after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines and served two tours of duty in Viet Nam.

Mother & Sons at Robert's High School Graduation (1965)

Harriett, left, and her father at Cliff G.'s wedding
to Mary Ann (White Plains, December 1967)

Earl & Grace Lyon

Earl married grace in 1939.  The picture below was taken at their 50th wedding anniversary.  Their son and grandson built this gazebo in Salem, Oregon, where they observed the occasion.

Earl & Grace were married longer than any of the other Hon siblings.

November 1995

September 24, 2001

Earl & Grace had two children, Theron & Johanna.  Theron was named for his uncle Doots who was serving in Africa at the time of his birth; the family feared he might not make it home.

With firstborn Theron (ca 1943)

Earl with Theron & Johanna

Earl, Grace, Johanna & Theron (Washington, DC, 1950)

Grace & Johanna (Bedford, Christmas 1966)

Earl, Grace, Johanna & Theron (Washington, DC, 1950)

Theron, Earl & Grace Hon; & Johanna Sly (2001)

Naomi & We Lyon

Lyon Backyard (Bridgeport)

Bridgeport (1952)

We & Grace (above) are brother and sister.

We Lyon

We Lyon (ca 1950)

Naomi and We had two children, Alfred and Barbara.

Ken and Mary Ostrander

Shortly after tying the knot, Ken & Mary moved to Japan where Ken worked as a criminal investigator for the U.S. Army.

More Ken & Mary

Ken & Mary had one child, Jeff, eight years into their marriage.  That's me.  

Bridgeport, CT (1957)

Ken and Lois Timmerman Zans

Three years after Mary died in 1975, Ken married Lois, who had four adult children of her own. They adored Ken.

Lois & Ken in front of the Supreme Court (1986)

Doots & Lillian Rutsky

Doots and Lillian didn't have children.

FAMILY VISITS

Harriett & Ken
(White Plains, ca 1943)

Alfred & Mary (ca 1952)

We usually saw Ken's family on our way to or from Europe.

Lillian, We, Mary & Harriett (1957)

During a cross-country trip from White Plains to El Paso after returning from Munich, I met my cousins Theron & Johanna for the first time.  I never saw Theron again.

Johanna, Grace, Mary, front; Theron (holding Jeff)
and Earl, rear (Dayton, OH, ca 1957)

Alfred came to see us in Heidelberg when he served the U.S. Army in Poitiers, France. I never saw him again although we continue to exchange Christmas cards.

Jeff, Mary & Alfred (ca 1963)

Grace, Mary, Johanna, standing, Harriett & Lillian (Christmas 1966)

Jeff, Charlie & Doots (Christmas 1966)

Mary, Earl, Grace & Jeff,
(El Paso, TX)

Jeff, Mary, Earl & Grace
(White Sands National Monument, NM, 1965)

Earl & Ken, rear; Charlie, Doots & Jeff (Christmas 1966)

I remember this Christmas pretty well because Johanna actually paid attention to me.  We bonded over "Georgy Girl," the song, not the movie.  I remember it playing on the Sony clock radio I found under the tree that year.

Johanna, Harriett & Jeff 
(Christmas 1966)

Mary, Ken & Harriett
(White Plains, NY, 1968)

On the drive back to my apartment in New York after this holiday dinner, Ken confessed he and Mary hadn't planned on having kids, that I was an accident.  It never felt that way.

Charlie Wilkerson, Jr., Barbara Wilkerson, Grace, Earl,
Naomi, Ken & Jeff (Bridgeport, Christmas 1977)

Grace, Naomi & Ken (Bridgeport, 1988)

Earl & Naomi (1995)

Charlie & Barbara Wilkerson; Theron, Earl & Naomi Hon  (September 24, 2001)

Naomi & Earl on her 91st birthday (2004)

Special Occasions

Cliff's College Graduation
Doots, Cliff G., Cliff & Robert (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1964)

Cliff G, & Mary Ann's Wedding
Earl, Grace & Harriett, front
Lillian, We, Naomi, bride & groom & Doots, far right
(White Plains, 1967)

Charlie (not pictured) Wilkerson's Wedding
Naomi & Barbara Wilkerson, seated; Jeff Wilkerson, Johanna & Theron

When I worked at the National Orchestral Association, I organized a Hon family reunion at Carnegie Hall.  Aside from Ken & Lois, I never saw any of the attendees again.

Earl, Barbara Wilkerson, Lois, Harriett & Grace, front; 
Ken, Naomi & Jeff, middle; Charlie Wilkerson, rear
(New York City, 1984)

The Hon & Lyon First Cousins (5th Generation)

Earl Hon & Grace Lyon, and We Lyon & Naomi Hon produced double cousins!

Alfred & Barbra Lyon, rear; Johanna & Theron Hon
(ca 1952)

Al and Johanna outlived their siblings.

This photo always made me jealous.  I felt like I missed out on all the family fun because I was born so late.

Theron, Robert, Cliff G. & Johanna (Quassapaug Lake, Middlebury, CT, ca 1954)

Cliff G. & Robert (ca 1950)

Cliff G. at camp (August 1955)

Cliff G. (White Plains, 1956)

Cliff G. (1962)

Mary Ann & Cliff tie the knot
(December 1967)

 

Barbara & Alfred Lyon
(July 1941)

Barbara & Alfred (Bridgeport)

Alfred & Barbara
(Bridgeport, ca 1950)

Barbara (ca 1950)

Beaming Bride

Honeymoon Time (August 1962)

Charlie & Barbara Wilkerson
(Bridgeport, 1994)

Theron & Johanna (Washington, DC, 1950)

Theron & Johanna in front of Earl's first car, a Ford (1955)

Theron & Johanna
(White Water State Park, IN, 1956)

Theron (1989)

Johanna & Ziggy Stardust (1989)

Jessica, Jennifer, Johanna & Willis Sly
(Jessica's high school graduation, 1992) 

Johanna & Will (Thanksgiving 1994)

Johanna & Theron (1994)

Johanna & Will (undated)

Johanna & Theron (Key West, FL, 2006)

Johanna & Will (North Carolina, 2021)

When this photo was taken on the West Side Highway, I had no idea how significant the Twin Towers would become in American life and my career.

Jeff, New York City (ca 1974)

David and I met in 1978.  We lived together from 1978 to 1983, when I ran away to Australia.  Ken met him once or twice, but if he knew about our relationship, he never let on.  David and I remained close friends until AIDS killed him in early 1993, six months after Ken died.

David, Smokey & Jeff (1984)

Mayor Bloomberg appointed me as New York City's World Trade Center Health Coordinator in 2007, the pinnacle of my career.

Jeff  (City Hall press conference, 2008)

The Millennium Hons, Wilkersons & Slys (6th Generation)

Cliff G. and Mary Ann, who spent much of their lives in Singapore, had two children, Laura and Clifton (three generations of Cliffs!).  Laura married Eric Barboriak.  They have two children, Joseph and Emily.

After returning from Viet Nam, Robert earned advanced degrees in mathematics, computer science, German, and history.  He worked in the nascent technology field before becoming a teacher.  He never married, although his obituary mentions a "Tennessee family."  

Robert Lane Hon (1947-2022)

*  *  *  *  *

Theron moved to the West Coast in the mid 1960s where he remained until his death in 2013. Theron married twice, to Lynn and Gay.  He and Lynn had three children:  Jennifer, Traegon and Shana.  Traegon, who lives in Washington, is married with three children, Nicholas, Ashley and Kaitlin.  Shana is single.

Johanna and I reunited briefly in 2016 for the first time in 50 years.  She and Willis Sly live in Jacksonville.  They have two grown daughters, Jennifer and Jessica.  Johanna very kindly helped me identify many of the people in these photos and answered many questions.

Jennifer, divorced, lives in Wales.  She had two sons, Ieuan and Jacob, with her first husband. Jennifer looked me up in New York in the mid-1980s.  I took her to see Vampire Lesbian Vampires of Sodom.  What would Jacob Schwartz have thought?

Jessica and her husband John live near her parents in Jacksonville,  They have two grown daughters, Katy and Allyson.

* * * * * 

Barbara & Charlie Wilkerson--who both are gone--had two sons, Charlie Jr. & Jeff, both of whom live in Connecticut, where they were born.  Charlie married Susan Bowdren.  They have two children, Nora & Ryan. Jeff isn't married. 

Alfred, who lives in Kingman, AZ,  worked for the Postal Service.  He never married or had children.  

 

* * * * * 

I never married, in no small part due to the fact that marriage equality didn't exist until 2015 when I was 62.  Thus, the career brag.

Help!

If there are members of the Hon family tree who would like to correct this chronology, or add content, I am more than happy to do so.   Please include the full names of people pictured in photos, as well as where and when the photo was taken.  Contact me for my mailing address or send digital images to: jeffreyhon53@icloud.com