You my also remember that ancestry.com now has a database of Pennsylvania Death Certificates from 1906 through 1944. Well 1917 is in that time frame, so guess what I found:
Yes, this is him, died at at 55. Did you notice the informant's signature? Mrs. W.F.Brady, nice handwriting. He died of 'Angina Pectoris' (I think that's a heart attack or a reasonable facsimile thereof), it also says the duration was "a few hours", so at least he didn't suffer too long. Anyway, the best part is place of burial or removal: St. Mary's Cemetery. That's the one in Dunmore, where Hannah's father is buried. It is also the cemetery that I walked through, but could not find any Caseys or Bradys.
I didn't find Hannah's death certificate - she actually died in 1958 (fourty years later). It almost scares me to say this, but that means that she died after I was born - YIKES. However, I knew her death date, so I was able to locate her obituary in the Scranton Times:
This was published in 1958, so at least they print her first name, but her husband - who has been dead for 41 years - still makes the headline and the entire second paragraph. It even gives his exact date of death. He must have been a pretty famous and well liked guy. But it does tell you alot about her, born in the Bellvue section of Scranton, attended St Cecelia's Academy and Mount St. Vincent's School, New York City, where she specialized in vocal and instrumental music. Pretty talented. I think I read somewhere else that both of her daughters attended St. Vincent's on the Hudson also and became teachers.
The last thing I noticed is that all three of their children are still living at home in 1958. They are all into their fifties. John is married with three children, Regina and Hannah never married. I don't know how big their house was, but it certainly sounds crowded. But you know, it sound crowded in a nice kind of way - crowded with family.
I am from a big family, I have three brothers and three sisters. Now my wife and I have five children, so I am used to having a lot of family under one roof - and I always liked it that way, still do. So if nothing else, it was probably very interesting.
