RESOLUTION HONORING PETRONELLA BERTHA BLUMER ON THE OCCASION OF HER ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY
WHEREAS, Petronella Bertha Blumer, (Peppie Tomaszewski), was born on February 14, 1916;and
WHEREAS, Petronella will be celebrating the momentous occasion of her 100th birthday on February 14, 2016 and family and friends will gather on this day to honor her on this occasion; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago City Council has been informed of this occasion by the Honorable Nicholas Sposato, esteemed Alderman of the 38th Ward; and
WHEREAS, Petronella was born in her childhood Niles home at 174 Evergreen Avenue, the daughter of Joseph (an ice man/bartender), and Bertha (a model/housewife), and sister of Mildred and Jerome; and
WHEREAS, Petronella enjoyed a childhood rich in tradition, often reminiscing about Christmas Eves spent decorating the family tree with popcorn and cranberries strung together with needle and thread, singing Christmas Carols around the large Christmas tree outside the Niles Village Hall, and receiving a brown paper bag containing an orange, a pencil and pencil holder as her only Christmas presents; and
WHEREAS, Petronella fondly spoke of her winter afternoons after school ice skating down the Des Plaines River with her brother Jerome where they would light a fire to cook potatoes and upon returning from skating would be warmed by the fire as they ate their blackened potatoes, along with berries picked from nearby trees; and
WHEREAS, Petronella's very first job was as a nightclub coat checker before being employed at Stewart Warner in Chicago where as part of the war effort she assembled speedometers for military vehicles, her last job was with Illinois Tool Works (ITW), where she assembled switches until she retired in 1986; and
WHEREAS, Petronella met and married the love of her life, Edward Eugene Blumer and began their life together in Chicago where they managed an apartment building at 4145 N. Sheridan Road while raising five beautiful children: Roger, Ed...
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