In September 2004, Pat Foley and Bob Sweeney, the administrator of this web site, engaged in an e-mail exchange that led to our publication of this brief family overview and the pictures shown ont his page.
Pat and Bob are related by marriage, since Bob's great uncle John Sweeney was married to Mary McGee and Pat's grandfather James McGee was her brother. Ppat provided the following information on the
McGee (sometimes spelled "Magee") heritage for which the Sullivan County Genealogical Web Page is most grateful. We are just going to reproduce excerpts directly from
Pat's communications here and let them speak for themselves. You will also doubtlessly enjoy the two pictures at the end of the page, showing
Leo McGee's childhood baseball team from about 1905, and also several graduating classes from
Lopez High School , vintage 1911-1913.
September 23, 2004
Dear Mr. Sweeney,
I'm writing to thank you for your amazing Sullivan
County, PA website. The amount of information available is unbelievable and speaks
to the amount of work you and your wonderful helpers have put into this
web site.
My maiden name is McGee. My Dad, Leo McGee, was born and raised in
Lopez. I suspect we may have a family connection since my grandfather,
James, had a sister, Mary, who was married to John Sweeney. I remember as a
child, visiting them with my grandfather. I have so many fond memories
of our visits to Lopez and have gone back several times in recent years
to research family history in the Dushore library and St. Basil's cemetery. That area still has the
same wonderful feel to it that I remember as a child. Sadly, due to the
fire, Lopez has changed significantly, but it's still a treat to go back
occasionlally.
I am now in the process of putting all the information I have in
some kind of chronological order. It's slow going but I hope when I'm done to be able
to submit some of what I have to your website. I do have some pictures
which I think would be of interest, of the McGee Hotel (shown above, and Main St.in
Lopez in the early 20th century, as well as a wonderful picture circa
1905 of my dad, Leo McGee, aged about 10, and his teammates on the Lopez baseball
team--Frutchey's Regulars. The hotel was built in 1910, and my dad Leo is in the car in the front.seat.
I have another picture of him in the same car and the license plate says 1912.
Again, my sincere appreciation for all your hard work.
Patricia Foley
Lake Ridge, VA
September 24, 2004
I just checked the Sweeney genealogy [See
The Sweeneys of Ringer Hill.] on the Sullivan County website and
found the picture of great-aunt Mary and her family.
I remember her in the wheel chair with her hands all crippled up with
arthritis. I believe their daughter Agnes was living there at the time.
My grandfather James ("Pa") died in February of 1941. He had owned the McGee Hotel in
Lopez. When Prohibition came along, he converted the bar into an ice
cream parlor/candy store (one of the reasons we enjoyed going there so
much). The highlight of the visit was going with "Pa" on his weekly trips
to Dushore. He'd go to the bank and from there to Harrington's Creamery,
where we were given little paper cups of the ice cream as it came out of
the machine. Heaven ! Usually on the way home, he would stop to visit
one of his siblings. They were scattered around the county. There were
also several McGee Hotels. My great-great grandfather, Patrick McGee, built the
first in Sattersfield and "Pa"'s uncle, Bob McGee, owned a hotel in Dushore.
I remember him; he was only a few years older than Pa and outlived him
by several years.
Best wishes,
Pat
September 24, 2004
I'm 75, but thanks to the McGee genes, I still have a few functioning brain
cells.
Our oldest child, Kevin, graduated from Catholic Central in Binghamton in 1970, the
youngest, Coleen, in 1985. We had at least one in college every year for
19 years. Somehow, with the Good Lord's help we survived.
I also had 5 siblings. My half sister, Kathleen, whose mother passed
away when she was born, was raised by my grandparents in Lopez. She lived
in California all of her married life and passed away last year at the
age of 78. She had 3 kids and 4 grandchildren.
I'm the oldest of the rest. My brother, Lee McGee, is a Catholic priest, chaplain at a nursing home in
Darby, PA. Eileen lives in Annapolis, has 3 girls and 2 grandsons, Mimi is widowed, lives in Alexandria, VA,
and Jim is a psychologist doing forensic work with the FBI. He lives
near Baltimore and has 2 daughters and a son named Sean. So the McGees have
increased and multiplied since Patrick and Sara McGee first settled in Sattersfield
in the 1840's. I think they'd be pretty impressed with us all.
We moved to Binghamton in 1962 and, like every parish we've ever
lived in, it was: "The Foleys" are here, let's build a new Church.!! So we
only had to use the "old" church and listen to Father Hannon at St. Thomas for a year
or two. I think he retired around the time we moved into the new
building. Father Sheehan became Pastor, I have very fond memories of
him, although his successor wasn't quite as popular. It was a good parish with
lots of good people. And the school was excellent.
Enough of my rambling. I think by now you should have a pretty good
take on the McGees and the Foleys.
Pat
Frutchey's Regulars
Lopez, PA About 1905
Standing, l to r: Leo McGee, Earl Johnson,
Ray Johnson, Ray Waltman and Howard Lawrence
Sitting, l to r: George Castle, Leo Castle, Joe Finan and Henry McKibbins
Photo courtesy of Pat McGee
Lopez High School Graduating Classes
Lopez, PA 1911-1913
Sitting in front: Genevieve Farrell (1911), Professor H. H. Henning,
Pearl Steafather (1911)
Standing in middle: Joe Macek, Leo McGee, Sybil White, Unis Roberts, Joe Finan, Joe Farrell [Genevieve's brother],
Ray L. Johnson. The boy standing in fronnt of Sybil White is not identified and Ray S.
Johnston was absent. (all 1912)
Center in back: Lelia Whipple, Margaret Cahill and Blanche Whipple (all 1913)
Photo courtesy of Pat McGee
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