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05/25/15
Hudsons Handbook - Management
Filed under: General, Michigan, Detroit, 1940s
Posted by: Mike @ 1:40 pm

My mother found an old J.L. Hudson* employee handbook in her possession. There’s no date on it but it’s probably from around 1948. Neither she nor my aunt ever worked there but she thinks my aunt might have received it there when applying for a job. (Apparently my aunt, Barbara, had been let go from her job at Kresge’s for being late.) Eventually I’ll scan the whole thing but for now here’s the cover and “store organization” page which lists the managers. They were:

FIRM
Mr. R.H. Webber, Chairman of the Board
Mr. Oscar Webber, President
Mr. J.B. Webber Jr., Vice President and General Manager
Mr. J.B. Webber, Vice President and Director of Merchandise
Mr. L.B. Sappington, Vice President Merchandising and Publicity
Mr. E.C. Stephenson, Vice President Financeand Accounts
Mr. Read Jenkins, Vice President and General Superintendent
Mr. D.C. Pennington, Secretary and Assistant to the President
Mr. Foster Winter, Treasurer
OPERATION
Mr. Read Jenkins, Vice President and General Superintendent
MAIN STORE MERCHANDISING
Mr. W.E. Simmons, General Merchandise Manager Main Store
Mr. H.M. Bingham, Merchandise Manager Home Furnishings Section
Mr. F.J. Wilton, Merchandising Manager General Sections
BASEMENT STORE MERCHANDISING
Mr. H.G. Petzold, Basement Store Manager
Mr. Frank Colombo, Assistant Basement Store Manager
PUBLICITY
Mr. Chess Lagomarsino, Jr., Publicity Director
CONTROL
Mr. J.W. Paynter, Controller


* J.L. Hudson was the iconic department store in Detroit rivaled only by New York’s Macy’s in its heyday. At the time this handbook was written the flagship store was 24 stories tall with 4 basements underground and a total area of 2,124,316 sq. feet.

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12/24/14
George Janjecic
Filed under: Janjecic, Michigan, 1940s
Posted by: Mike @ 12:05 pm

George Janjecic was my step-grandfather whom I never met. My grandmother was always known to me as Grandma Janjecic (pronounced Yanyechich). According to his death certificate he was born 12 Nov 1889 in Croatia. His given name was Juro according to his 1938 naturalization record.
I believe they got married sometime between 1940 and 1950. It could have been a common-law marriage without an actual wedding license.
He may have had children with his first wife and is the main reason I’m posting this photo. The story goes that he caught his wife cheating on him and beat her up with his shoe and kicked her out.  (No idea how much truth there is to it.)
My father resented him but he wasn’t necessarily a bad guy. More likely it was because this new father figure came into my dad’s life in his late teen years. George died in Nov 9, 1959 of a heart attack and is buried in Mt. Olivet in Detroit (Tier 79, Section 29, Grave 631).
My grandmother was able to receive some small pension from Burroughs Corporation as his widow. He worked there as a “drill operator” according to a 1950 city directory for Royal Oak Township (Madison Heights).

I don’t have a date for this photo. Maybe late 1940s or early 1950s.

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Detroit DesRosiers Family
Filed under: Desrosiers, Michigan, Detroit, 1940s
Posted by: Mike @ 11:23 am

Here is a photo of Johnny DesRosiers (my dad’s best friend in the early 1940s) and his sisters and mother.
Presumably it’s in front of their Detroit house (not sure where).  If I’m correct, depicted is John, his mother Agatha, sisters Noella and Antonia and possibly a sister-in-law (Mary?).
John also had an older brother, Joe, who died in WW2 (Aime Joseph Des Rosiers). 


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12/23/14
John Des Rosiers
Filed under: Desrosiers, Michigan, Detroit, 1940s
Posted by: Mike @ 11:44 pm

Johnny Desrosiers was my father’s best friend in Detroit around 1940. He was from a French Canadian family that moved to Michigan. These photos would have been taken around 1942.  Location of the “park” is unknown but almost certainly within Detroit, Michigan.  Belle Isle perhaps.
On the right side of the photo is my dad, Louis Chachich.

  

I believe this is the John DesRosiers who was born 12 June 1927 and died 5 June 2001 according to social security databases.  According to my mother his wife’s name was Lillian and was of Polish descent. 

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