Jimmy
1. Proud parents Adolph and Mildred welcomed James A. Neumann into the world on March 4, 1940, at St Elizabeth’s Hospital, Chicago, Illinois (probably their first child not born at home). They are pictured here standing on what appears to be a covered porch at an unknown home.
2. Jim was baptized later that month. When Jim was born, Germany's military machine was gaining momentum, with the conquest of much of Western Europe anticipated. This may explain why Jim’s middle name was only ever “A” and not Adolph after his father. Adolph was also known to some family as “Uncle A.” This may have been a natural nickname or possibly a German man avoiding the name Adolph. Jim does remember his mother not wanting the name Adolph used.
3. Baby “Jimmy” is seen here held by his mother in the same backyard as photos from the previous chapter. Grandma Pauline (Adolph’s mother) died 9 months after Jim was born.
4. Toddler Jimmy at the same door where Bob was photographed in the previous chapter (the door’s center seems older here).
5. Jim with his mother, probably in nearly the same place where both Mildred and Jean were photographed independently in the previous chapter.
6. Jim playing with an unknown person. Although the covered porch extension looks similar to the photos with the toy truck, this house has no steps and shingle siding (rather than the brick seen in the other photos).
7. Since Jim is wearing the same outfit here as Photos 5 & 6, all three photos are likely at the famous shingle and block home seen in so many images from that time.
8. Jim and a bear sit for Jim’s first formal portrait.
9. Adolph and Mildred first lived with Mildred’s parents, then with Adolph’s brother Martin and his wife Helen, then in an apartment complex, then in a three-story apartment complex, and then briefly to Albert Lea, Minnesota, before returning to Chicago, according to Jean, possibly somewhere on Monticello Ave. The first home they purchased was this home at 4651 N Springfield St in Chicago—their home when Jim was born. Here is Jean in her confirmation dress on the front porch. Assuming she was confirmed at the typical age of 14, Jim would have been two years old when this photo was taken.
10. The front of the Springfield house in 2025. Much like his father Martin, Adolph was quite particular in his Lutheran beliefs. As such, he often took issue with churches where the family attended, and Adolph would react by moving the family. Another explanation for the many moves was that once Adolph fixed up a house, he moved to a new house with fresh projects on offer.
11. The back of Springfield house in 2025. The upper story may have been added subsequent to the Neumanns living in the house.
12. Bob recalled his parents purchasing him a little authentic wool White Sox uniform. According the Jim, Mildred may have simply seen the jersey on sale and bought if for Bob, knowing little of baseball. Jim may be wearing that hand-me-down jersey here. Amazingly, this simple act may have inadvertently encouraged Bob and Jim to become White Sox fans! Based on where they lived, they should have been Cubs fans, like Jean.
13. Jim playing in the yard at the same house and with the same toy truck as the earlier photo with Jean and Bob in the previous chapter.
14. Jim, his mother Mildred, and a woman from their church. It’s unclear whose house is in the background.
15. Jim wearing a rather elaborate U.S. Army uniform given to him by “Uncle” Eddie (the exact family connection is not known). Assuming Jim was 4-5 years old here, Allied forces had gained the upper hand, and WWII would be nearing its end and patriotism was at an all time high.
16. Jim with “Uncle” Eddie. Edward Jr. (first son of Adolph’s eldest brother Edward Sr.) was age 27 in 1941. Edwin (third child of Adolph’s older brother Emil) was age 22 in 1941. As such, both could be candidates for “Uncle Eddie,” though the former seems most likely. Both were technically Jim’s first cousins, but due to the large age gap, Jim may have called him “uncle.”
17. Jim with his older brother Bob. This photo highlights their 11 year age gap.
18. Jim and “Uncle” Eddie. Jim is clearly wearing a different U.S. Army uniform than in the previous photo.
19. In yet a third uniform, Jim is seen standing outside 6623 Oliphant Ave in Chicago, the second home Adolph and Mildred owned. Here, Adolph fixed up the basement where Jim’s brother Bob and their cousin Dick (son of Mildred’s sister Elenore Desmedt) often played ping-pong, hit a punching bag, and boxed.
20. A Neumann family photo circa the Oliphant Ave years. Grandpa John (Adolph’s dad) died when Jim was 9, roughly at the time of this photo.
21. Street view of the Oliphant house with the same door at the side of the house seen in the image with Jim in the U.S. Navy uniform (Photo 19). Jim with his bike (Photo 22) is at the front corner of the house. Edison Park Lutheran Church is across the street.
22. Jim and his bicycle in front of the Oliphant house, the address of 6623 is visible.
23. There are report cards for Jimmy for Grades 2, 3, 4, & 5 (1946-50)
24. Jim’s 5th Grade class photo (middle right near teacher), Jim already sporting his classic sun sensitivity (1949-50 school year).
25. A young Jim standing in front the Oliphant house in nearly the same place as the photo of him with his bike (Photo 22). Jim attended Our Saviour’s Lutheran School in Norwood Park for Grades 2-5. Perhaps the graduation cap is for completing Grade 5. Photo 24 indicates Our Saviour’s went through Grade 6; however, the family likely moved again, which may explain why Jim transferred to St. John’s (Evangelical) Lutheran School for Grade 6.
26. Jim re-visiting the Oliphant house in 2009, roughly 60 years after the family moved to their next house on Nordica Ave. You can still see where the sailor, bicycle, and grad cap photos were taken.
27. Jim and first cousin Janice Desmedt (Lundquist) with their Grandpa Neubauer (Mildred’s father). Janice is the daughter of Mildred’s sister Elenore. Elenore had a difficult marriage and Mildred’s family was very supportive of Elenore and her three kids: Dick, Janice, & John. Jean called “Aunt El” her favorite aunt, describing her as “someone I could always talk to.” Jean’s middle name was Elenore.
28. From Oliphant Ave, the family moved to their third house at 6470 N Nordica Ave, in Chicago’s Norwood Park East neighborhood. We came across no old photos of this house. The photos here were taken during Jim and Ruth’s 2009 nostalgic visit to the area.
29. This beautiful home built in 1923 had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms spread over 1,986 square feet. Jim remembers his sister Jean having a friend from church named Lois whom Adolph and Mildred allowed to stay in the house. According to Susan, it may have been while the family was living here that Adolph and Mildred sent Jean to board 30 minutes away at Concordia High School, about 10 miles directly south in River Forest.
30. Jim remembers fondly the lovely garden space behind the house. At the time, the garden backed to a large open field where he and friends played “cowboys and indians” and built “homes” out of scraps of cardboard. Grandpa Neubauer would take the streetcar to the house and weed in this back garden.
31. Continuing the tradition of moving every few years, this house at 4912 W Cullom Ave was the fourth home the family owned in Chicago: Springfield, Oliphant, & Nordica being previous family residences (which is not mentioning the at least six places they lived prior to Jim’s arrival).
32. The modern day owners or their neighbors took the unusual step of asking Google to blur images of their home, but they did not ask Apple Maps, so the Cullom house is still visible here on Apple Maps.
33. This 2020 Apple Maps view of Cullom Ave shows where Jim was seen standing at the top of the steps (Photo 31), although the screens have been removed from the around the porch.
34. Jim in the kitchen of the Cullom house.
35. While living on Cullom (and possibly Nordica), Jim attended St. John’s Lutheran School from 1950-53 (Grades 6-8). On Cullom, it was a 5-minute walk to the school.
36. Google Street View of St. John’s (Evangelical) Lutheran School (left) and Church (right). The right side of the image is looking south down N Lavergne Ave toward Jim’s house on W Cullom Ave.
37. Jim’s Grade 7 class photo. Jim (top left) said the girl at the left front was Shirley Steigerwalt and she was his “girlfriend”…though she didn’t know it. 😊 The photo was taken on the steps outside the church as seen in Photo 36.
38. Traveling from the church back to the Cullom house, here is the other side of the kitchen from where Jim was seen drinking water from the sink (Photo 34). Adolph was a professional wallpaper hanger and it’s here we first see a clear example of his handiwork.
39. Jim in the dining room inside the Cullom house with more of Adolph’s paper hanging handiwork.
40. Jim inside the Cullom house. Jim recalled that, while papering this room, Adolph fell from scaffolding he had assembled and was injured.
41. Much like when they allowed Jean’s friend Lois to stay with them at the Nordica house, Adolph and Mildred were known to share with the less fortunate. That hospitality extended to fostering children. Here is Mildred holding a foster child inside the Cullom house.
42. Jim in the backyard of the Cullom house. It’s hard to discern if this is the same bicycle from Photo 22. Notice the narrow backyard sidewalk and the elaborate double tri-fold garage doors with faux windows in the background across the alleyway.
43. The male half of a local farming couple stands with Adolph and Jim. The bag says Morton Salt Company, but it’s likely the bag was repurposed to hold something else, perhaps a side of meat.
44. Here are Jim, Jean, the other farmer, and Mildred on the same occasion.
45. Jim with a dog at the farm.
46. Speaking of dogs, here is Jim holding puppies. Based on the photos below, one of the puppies may have become Jim’s dog. The girl may be the dog owner’s daughter or someone else coming to meet the puppies.
47. Jim holding puppies.
48. Back Row: Mildred, Emilie (Edward Sr.’s second wife), Pauline, & John. Front Row: Jim, Adolph, and Adolph’s older brother Edward Sr. The photo is taken in the now classic home seen in many other photos. It seems quite possible this house was owned by either John and Pauline, or Edward Sr. and Emilie.
49. Solo picture of Jim on the same day as in Photos 48 & 50.
50. Jim and his mother at an unknown cemetery. Mildred’s mother Augusta E. Neubauer (Grens) died on May 11, 1952, when Jim was 12. Perhaps the family was gathered in Photo 48 for her funeral. Services were held for her on May 14 at Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and she was interred at Concordia Cemetery. Perhaps, then, this image was taken at Concordia Cemetery. The trees seem appropriate for May.
51. Jim’s 8th Grade class photo. (Jim is third row from the top, second from the right.) These are the same steps in front of the church as seen in Photos 36 & 37.
52. Jim in the backyard of the Cullom house, likely before his 8th Grade promotion. This photo was taken from nearly the same perspective as Jim with his bike in Photo 42. The same side of the neighbor’s garage is seen, although the shrub here has grown and obscures the view of the alleyway behind.
53. Jim in the backyard of the Cullom house, the ribbon possibly indicative of his now having attended his 8th Grade promotion from St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran School. The photo was taken slightly further into the backyard looking through several backyards and garages. Fed up with the snow, after graduation in 1953, the family moved to Whittier, California.
54. A map of Jim’s four homes in Chicago from March 1940 through summer 1953.
55. One of the first photos of Jim in 1953 at their new home at 1224 Dittmar Dr, Whittier, CA (now changed to 13932 Dittmar Dr). Jim is the backyard holding Rusty(?), likely one of the puppies seen in Photos 46 & 47.
56. Jim in the backyard at the Dittmar house with his dog. Notice the railroad tracks. Jim referred to this as the “orange throwing” house because he and friends threw oranges at passing trains. The former tracks were replaced by the Whittier Greenway Trail, paralleling Lambert Road. Years later, the orange-throwing tradition would live on when boys living on Dittmar threw oranges and broke the window of the car being driven by Cheryl and Susan on a visit to see their grandparents.
57. This photo of idyllic 1950s domestic bliss captures Mildred, Jim, and Adolph, most likely, in the sunny environs of Whittier, where Jim continued his education as a freshman at California High School. On weekends, Jim loved to ride his bike the one mile from the house to the open high school campus, to purchase red delicious apples from the outside vending machines. The location of this photo is not clear.
58. Jim, Jean, Bob, Mildred, and Adolph in front of the Dittmar house.
59. Jim, perhaps 13-14 years old, in the driveway of the Dittmar house, between the front gate and the rear detached garage, washing a c. 1949 Frazer Manhattan four-door, an American luxury automobile built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation for model years 1947 through 1951. The little boy helping Jim is Paul Neumann, son of George and Dorothy Neumann and owners of the car.
60. Bob and Jim playing basketball barefoot in the back driveway of the Dittmar house. The basketball hoop over the garage is visible in photos at the beginning of the next chapter.
61. A later photo of Adolph and Mildred in front of the Dittmar house, perhaps upon the same occasion as Photo 62?
62. Jean, Jim, and Rusty? in front of the Dittmar house. Perhaps this was the day of Jim’s high school graduation?
63. Jim’s 1957 high school graduation photo from California High School in Whittier. California High School was brand new when Jim first enrolled. As such, his was the first ever senior graduating class.
64. Jim in front of the Dittmar house in November 2021, roughly 64 years after he left the house to attend college. The left front of the house here has a brick base around the extension added by Adolph. Otherwise, the front elevation, side driveway (of car and truck washing and basketball fame), and rear garage remain recognizable.
65. Jim in front of California High School, Whittier, in November 2021, roughly 64 years after graduating as part of the school’s first ever senior class.
66. Laurel Park on Jacmar Avenue was just five blocks from his home on Dittmar Ave, and Jim spent much of his free time here during his high school years. Jim and Dave visited the park in November 2021.
67. Jim outside Faith Lutheran Church in Whittier in November 2021. The is was the church the family attended after moving from Chicago to Whittier, while Jim was in high school. Their home on Dittmar Dr was just over one mile away.
