Fraternity-Testvériség, 1981 (59. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1981-01-01 / 1. szám

CONVENTION AT TOLEDO, 0. 1915

was one of the first branches organized, became Branch No. 21.

The early days were ones of struggle for survival. Only lhe unflagging determination of the founding members kept the Federation above water and prevented it from floundering in the tempestuous seas of hard times and depression. The greatest asset of these pioneers, other than their determinations, was their faith and trust in themselves, their people, and their God.

Dad was elected to his first position in the leadership rank of the Federation at the New York City convention held on December 28, 1902, as comptroller, a position he held for three years. After another three years, as president, he was for the first time elected to the position of Secretary, in 1908. He held that position for thirty-five years (three of those years he served as both Secretary and Treasurer), unlil his retirement because of his health, in October, 1943- My father had three sons and one daughter. 1, the second son, was born in 1906, and my sister, the youngest child, in 1914. So, it can be seen, we literally grew up during those early years of the Federation.

The Secretary’s office, the nerve center of the Federation was for years a room in our home. We were able to see at first hand what went on there and at a very early age we were “integrated” into the inner works, i.e. envelope stuffing, assisting in the keeping of records, filing, running errands, and probably most distasteful of all, the licking of envelopes and stamps. In addition, especially in later years, we became privy to many conversations concerning Dad’s work.

When Dad took over the office of Secretary (1908) he told us that the membership stood at less than 300, the assets amounted to a debt of about $600.00 and all the pertient records were turned over to him in two cardboard cartons! The secretarial office was manned by Dad and my mother. When we children became old enough, we were assigned small tasks to complete. Not only was it good training, but we literally “grew up” with the Federation. Dad never drove a car so when we became old enough to become his chauffeurs, we were pressed into service to drive him to various meetings, in many towns, where we became more familiar with his work. My sister especially, drove him to many meetings and

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