News Of Neighbors

Historical September–October 2017 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

Well I’m not sure about the rest of you, but once again, summer seems to have flown by a bit too fast.

During that time, many of our neighbors have been having a pretty incredible time here at home and also while traveling.

It turns out, it really is a small world after all. Read on. Let’s start with the Narkiewicz family of Parkview who have been living in Switzerland this summer while David worked out of Nestle’s global headquarters. Living in Switzerland allowed them to travel all over Europe and we could probably dedicate an entire issue to the amazing experiences they had but we will share just one story today.

We all know St. Louis is like a small town and you bump into friends and neighbors in all sorts of unexpected places.

But what about in Paris? That’s exactly what happened to David, Sarah, Henry, Leo, and Annie Narkiewicz of the 6300 block of Pershing.

They were strolling down a small street in Paris and ran into Steve and Nancy Kramer of Ames Place, formerly of the 6100 block of Westminster. Steve and Nancy happened to be in Paris celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to the Kramers and welcome home to the Narkiewicz family! Our next adventure takes us to the McGroarty family.

They are making news twice this issue.

First, if you know them, you know that Cristina grew up in Parkview.

As newlyweds, Cristina and Sean purchased their first home on the 6100 Westminster.

As their family grew, they moved to a bigger home, right here in the neighborhood (of course)! Their family continued to grow and flourish on the 6100 block of McPherson, but this spring, it was time for another move. Fortunately, we don’t have to say goodbye, their journey took them across the alley to the 6100 block of Kingsbury, and their third Skinker DeBaliviere home since being married!

Following the work involved in a big move the McGroarty’s took a family vacation out west.

While in Montana, through social media, they realized that their old neighbors, Bob and Holly Moraca, were on vacation with friends, also in Montana.

The two families were able to reunite and catch up! Bob and Holly lived at 6156 McPherson from 2006 to 2008 while Bob completed his fellowship training in cardiothorasic surgery at Washington University/Barnes.

Following that they returned to Pittsburgh to raise their children, Sydney and Lucas near family. Bob is now the head of thoracic and aortic arrhythmia surgery at Allegheny General Hospital. Closer to home, Candace O’Connor of the 6100 block of Kingsbury has written a new book, Renaissance: A History of the Central West End.

The 320-page coffee table book explores the Central West End’s rich history.

The book is a companion piece to the documentary by Patrick Murphy that recently aired on the Nine Network. History of the Central West End traces the Central West End’s cycle over the past century and more: from its stylish start through its dangerous days to its present strength — an urban renewal significant enough that it has earned the name ‘renaissance.’ Candace has written twelve books on regional history and on Washington University and its affiliated hospitals, along with an award winning documentary that aired on PBS nationally. Many of you are aware of the organization Pedal the Cause. PTC raised money for cancer research through Siteman Cancer and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. 100% of every donation goes to cancer research.

This year, Pedal the Cause produced a campaign focusing on “Cancer Curing Bikes.” Maddy Boxdorfer, daughter of Matt and Rachel (yours truly) Boxdorfer of the 6100 block of Kingsbury was selected to appear in the version encouraging children to participate in the ride. You can view the video (which includes some great footage of Kingsbury) at this link, https://youtu. be/15rbCZOi3OA. Pedal the Cause events take place on September 23 and 24th. It’s not too late to register or donate and you can find more information and watch other videos about riders and their cancer curing bikes at pedalthecause.org. Nancy Rice of the 6100 block of Westminster reported that her next door neighbor Elaine Atkinson passed away in late July. Elaine suffered a stroke and was being cared for in a hospice facility when she died.

Her funeral was held at Ronald Jones funeral parlor on July 26th. Nancy further shared that Elaine and her late husband Bill were the first black family to move on to the 6100 block of Westminster.

They moved in while Nancy was in grade school at St. Roch, more than 50 years ago.

As Nancy said, “they put up with some crap but stayed through it and were, the best next door neighbors a family could have.

We loved both of them and their family and we will miss her.” We reported in the last issue on the passing of former neighbor and author Patricia McKissack. Word came from former neighbor and pioneer Cherie McKee that she and her family are sponsoring a fund to honor the McKissacks by sharing one of their books with all the children of Ready Readers.

Here is the link if you would like to make a donation. https://www.gofundme. com/mckissack-memorial-book-fund. Longtime McPherson neighbor Gerri Flynn wrote that she and other former residents love to see The Times. “How I enjoyed seeing so many familiar names and remembering the 49 years we lived there.

We still miss the connections of Skinker DeBaliviere!”

Do you have news to share?

Please send your submissions via email with the subject line News of Neighbors to rachelb@sdtimes.org or drop off a note to the attention of Rachel Boxdorfer at the Skinker DeBaliviere office. Be sure to mark it “News of Neighbors”.

We love to hear about neighbors accomplishments, awards, travels, weddings, anniversaries, births, and more!

Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2017.

Read this article in the original newspaper issue.

Original source: SD_Times2017_09.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.