Tribute to the Pearl of Great Price
My late aunt, Pearl Donovan Cerny (1916-2002), expertly chronicled our family's rich and diverse history. Pearl's dedication to preserving our family's stories led her to document her memories of growing up in an immigrant family in Chicago. Through hardship and joy, she captured the essence of our lineage in a collection of 38 pages filled with names, places, and sagas. (Here’s the link to the podcast episode, Tribute to the Pearl of Great Price)
Pearl Donovan Cerny at various ages! She is the little girl in each image in the bottom row. Other photos are of Pearl as a young adult. You can probably see why she was described as a “Looker!”
Pearl's narratives provided a vivid backdrop to our ancestors' journey. For example, my 2nd great-aunt and her husband, the first from our family to immigrate from Prussia, made their home in Johnstown, a bustling industrial city in Western Pennsylvania. In Johnstown, they established a boarding house for fellow immigrants, primarily mine workers, offering them shelter and camaraderie in a foreign land. Despite their humble beginnings in Prussia, they built a better life in America. However, on May 31, 1889, a cataclysmic Flood that killed 2,200 + people put Johnstown on the map. My relatives survived, recovered, and started anew.
Their success in Johnstown motivated my great-grandparents to follow suit, leaving Prussia to embark on the same journey. As the influx of immigrants to Johnstown increased, our family, always searching for better opportunities, moved to Chicago. Here, they faced their fair share of trials: losing a child to 'black diphtheria,' the untimely death of my great-grandfather, and the tragic Eastland Disaster that claimed the life of my grandmother's younger sister, Martha Pfeiffer. Once again, they had to pick up the pieces.
The echoes of these tragedies still resonated years later. My grandmother, burdened by guilt after giving her sister the ill-fated Western Electric Annual picnic tickets, left Chicago--and her two children--to return to Johnstown and start anew. A fresh start didn't erase the memories, and after her second marriage and the birth of her daughter—my mother—she passed away just three years later.
The depth of my family's history might have remained undiscovered had it not been for Pearl. Her meticulously curated document provided a glimpse into our past. This time machine allowed us to learn about our lineage. Despite her self-effacing nature, Pearl desired acknowledgment for her writing. Today, I acknowledge her and celebrate her through my work—translating her stories into a book and multiple spinoffs.
The mystery began when I opened to the first page of the document that Pearl sent to me. “Who are these people,” I wondered. It wasn’t until I noticed my grandmother’s name (Anna Otilia Pfeiffer Donovan Ott) that I realized that these people are mine!
Another part of Pearl’s family history. This one has a reference to Al Capone (several of my relatives did some “work” for Capone), which makes us a true Chicago family—according to some.
Another one of Pearl’s stories. This one is about my grandmother’s youngest brother, Eddie Pfeiffer who very well could have ended up in the trunk of some car, given his associations. Instead, he “relocated” to Wisconsin’s North Woods, married an Indigenous woman and lived happily ever after (fending off the occasional bear that would try to break into their home).
Eddie Pfeiffer (early years). I hope he didn’t try to escape from Chicago using this means of transportation.
Eddie Pfeiffer, circa 1990, Winter, WI. They never had their own children, but Uncle Eddie and Aunt Marie were honoring grandparents to a number of neighborhood kids.
Through this journey, I've come to appreciate the power of gratitude and the importance of paying it forward. I know it's a cliche, but some cliches deserve repeating: We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, bearing the weight of their struggles and triumphs.
In honoring Pearl and sharing our family's journey, I'm reminded that we never truly embark on life's path alone. And while I cannot repay Pearl, I can ensure her legacy lives on, illuminating our family's past for future generations.
Note from Pearl
It meant so much went Pearl sent this to me and is even more precious now that she has been gone for so many years. I often wonder what she’d think of all of this attention since she definitely did not seek that. And yet, I think she’s be smiling if she could see the tributes and feel the gratitude.
Note from Pear Cerny, Jan. 28, 2000
