Patrick was born in Ireland and came to America on the S.S. England in 1866. He went to Minneapolis around 1880 where he worked for the railroads. He and his wife, Margaret Gallagher, had six children. The family lived for many years in Chicago. In his later years Patrick wrote a history of the Healy family which told of his parents and grandparents in Ireland and his brothers and sisters in America. Patrick and Margaret are buried in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Gravestone of Patrick F. Healy

Thomas worked for St. Paul-Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad Shop, Lorig Brothers Wood & Coal Company, the Ohio Coal Company, Herzog Iron Works and the H & D Company. He married Elizabeth Sinnott in 1888. They had seven children. Thomas died at the age of 42 from a gunshot wound. Five years later his wife Elizabeth died of cancer. Two of Thomas's brothers raised the youngest children.

In her early twenties, Bridget moved to St. Paul and worked as a hat trimmer at the Crystal Palace Hat Company. She married Frank Lorig who, with his brothers, formed the Lorig Brothers Wood and Coal Yards. Both Bridget and Frank died of tuberculosis in 1890. They are buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul. Their two daughters were raised by Frank's parents.

Photo of Bridget holding her younger sister Nellie
Bridget Healy Lorig, from A History of the Hope and Healy families of County Mayo, Ireland...
Family tree for Bridget Healy Lorig
Descent report and list of sources for Bridget Healy Lorig

Mary was the last child born in Ireland. She was named for an older sister who had died while very young. Mary was two when the family left on the S.S. England for New York. She died of cholera on the trip over and was buried at sea.

Kate was the first child in the family to be born in America. Before she married Thomas Manford Cummings in 1890 she was a clerk in a department store in St. Paul. In 1906 Kate and Thomas moved to a farm north of St. Paul where they raised five children. According to the family, Kate was a wonderful cook. A few years after Thomas died in 1921, Kate moved out to Long Beach, California, to be with her daughter. She later moved to Anaheim where she died.

Katherine Kathleen "Kate" Healy Cummings, from A History of the Hope and Healy families of County Mayo, Ireland...

James, known as Jim, was born in Faribault. He moved to St. Paul and, with his brother John, formed the Healy Plumbing and Heating Company. On a trip to Wyoming where the Company was installing the plumbing for Ft. Russell, he met Lucy Miller. They married in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1909. They raised five children in Mahtomedi, near St. Paul. In the 1950s they moved to San Diego, California, to be closer to some of their children and grandchildren. They moved to Escondido, north of San Diego, in the late 1950s and Jim died there in 1960. Lucy moved back to San Diego. She was living with her daughter in Chula Vista when she died 18 March 1972. They are buried together in Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego. Jim and Lucy are the author's paternal grandparents.

Jim Healy and Lucy Miller
Gravestone of Jim Healy and Lucy Miller
Children of Jim Healy and Lucy Miller

Edward was born in Faribault, Minnesota. He left Faribault for St. Paul around 1885. He worked as a brakeman, a teamster, a waiter and travel agent. He sailed to various ports of the world on passenger ships and freight liners. He also loved trains and went all over the United States by train. He never married but often visited with brothers and sisters, a welcome and well-loved guest who helped with household chores. He died in St. Paul, Minnesota.

John, known as Jack, formed the Healy Plumbing and Heating Company with his brother James in 1904. He married Josephine Oslund in 1906. They had a home called "Hope Glen" near St. Paul. They raised four children. In 1931 he was injured in an automobile accident and spent many years as an invalid. He died in St. Paul in 1958.

Dennis worked for the Post Office in St. Paul. Later, while still working for the Post Office, he was the secretary for the Healy Plumbing and Heating Company. He married Margaret O'Toole in 1908 and they had five children. Dennis died in St. Paul of pneumonia in 1947.

Dennis Lawrence Healy, from A History of the Hope and Healy families of County Mayo, Ireland...
Dennis Lawrence Healy family tree
Dennis Lawrence Healy sources

Ellen, known as Nellie, was a clerk in the Emporium Department Store in St. Paul before marrying John Koehler. John and Nellie moved to Pettibone, North Dakota, where they ran a grocery store. They later moved to Long Beach, California, and opened a grocery store there. About 1927 they moved back to Pettibone where John became the manager of a grocery store. In 1935 he took over the store on his own. He died in 1944. Nellie sold the store and moved back to California where she died in Anaheim in 1967.

Photo of Nellie being held by her older sister Bridget
Nellie Healy, from A History of the Hope and Healy families of County Mayo, Ireland...