“The Outcast”                                                                                                                  February 12, 2023

It was a beautiful day in St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island and my husband Mark and I were paying respects to his grandmother, Estelle Huneke, and his grandfather, Vincent Joseph Huneke. We were walking slowly, taking in the peaceful atmosphere, and stopping to look at the headstones of those who had passed on and lo and behold there was a headstone “HUNEKE Alice J. 1909 – 1979 and George C. 1905 – 1992”. The name caught Mark’s eye, for he knew of an Uncle George Huneke, but he was unaware of any of his grandfather Vincent’s siblings.

 So, who were Vincent’s siblings and why did the grandchildren not know any of them?

Vincent Joseph Huneke was born 3 December 1901 in Brooklyn New York to George Huneke and Margaret Rush Huneke…..or was he?! No birth records could be found for Vincent Joseph Huneke. However, there is a birth record for a George Huneke born 3 December 1901 in Brooklyn to George Huneke and Margaret Rush Huneke. 

Margaret and George had 4 daughters prior to the birth of Vincent.  Ellen, “Margaret” was the name she went by, was born 20 Jul 1894, Helen was born 2 Feb 1896, Bernadette was born 30 Jul 1898, Esther was born 14 Apr 1900 but died after 2 weeks.

It was early December 1901 and Margaret was getting ready to give birth. They, of course, did not know if they were having another girl or a boy.  I suspect Margaret was a little stressed since she just lost her last child.  George decided to go out drinking – leaving Margaret to do all the hard work giving birth.  This did not please Margaret. Margaret gave birth to a beautiful baby boy – their first son.  . This child was likely to be named after his father, George.  . However, Margaret was so mad at George, she wanted to get back at him for his drinking and neglectful behavior.  She named her son Vincent. Not only would George not have a son named after him, Margaret knew naming their son Vincent would piss him off because it was an “Italian” name. Margaret gave birth to 2 more children – Lillian 19 Feb 1904 and George C. Huneke born 3 Oct 1905.

Vincent Joseph Huneke went by that name all his life. He was married with that name, signed up for military with that name, worked under that name and died with that name.  He had  a younger brother who carried the name of George and that is the man who was in the cemetery just a few headstones away from Vincent.

Vincent married Estelle Mendus 7 months before the first child was born.  He had a second child with Estelle in 1931 and a few years he had a “liaison” with another woman which resulted in Mark’s half first cousin.  I would have written about that during the “Oops” week prompt but was discouraged from doing so at the request of my husband.  Vincent died on the 12^th of August 1964 in the home of his daughter in Brooklyn.

Vincent was a wonderful grandfather, but he did have a drinking problem. Some of the grandchildren have memories of a nasty drunk.  Mark and Mark’s sister remember a very loving and fun grandfather. 

No one seems to know why there was a rift between Vincent and the rest of his family.  Mark’s oldest sibling did meet an Aunt Bernie but didn’t have a lot to say about her.  Diane remembers going to the bar with him the day before he died.  He would wake up in the morning and take a swig of booze.  Diane says that he had been a building inspector in his early years, but he was honest and didn’t take bribes and he was fired for that.  Yes, that was the story! He then started his own trucking company.  .

I can only surmise that the rift in the family was due to his drinking or maybe because his wife was expecting a child when they got married in 1927 or he had an affair in 1937.  The story lies with Vincent in his grave.