#227 Alma Eleanor "Eleanor" Powers ( Mary Catherine "Mayme" SeylerJames SeylerJohn SeylerJohn Christian SeylerJoseph Seyler )

Alternate line: ( Mary Catherine "Mayme" SeylerEllen Catherine AllisonAnna Catherine SeylerJohn Peter "Peter" SeylerJoseph Seyler )

Eleanor was born 2 Jul 1918 in Derry, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. She died May 1966 in Miami, Florida. She was buried in Flagler Cemetery, Miami, Florida.

Eleanor was only six when her mother died. A few years later her sister, Florence, got married and moved out. The next oldest, Madeline, was in trouble and, eventually, put into a juvenile detention center, and Eleanor was left as the little mother for the remaining group: Ralph, Donald, Josephine and, often, Anna's girls. She took care of them all and kept house for her father. Even after her marriage and the birth of her son, they lived at her home to care for the younger siblings. Then, after Ralph and Donald joined the service, Josephine went to live with her sister, Florence, and Eleanor and Ed found their own apartment.

Due to the year and the reference to "son, Edward" in this notice, I'm assuming this is Eleanor visiting with her sisters. I'm uncertain about the reference to her husband as Roy.

An incident between Ed and Eleanor led to her leaving him, taking Roy and heading to Florida. Her sister, Madeline, helped her find a job and a place to stay. It wasn't very long before Ed followed her down to Florida; they reconciled and remained their for the rest of their lives.

In 1955, Eleanor was in a frenzy of preparation for a visit from her son who had a wife they hadn't met, yet. She had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. She was found to have a severely damaged heart valve, probably caused by a bout of scarlet fever when she was a child. The valve had to be replaced. It was the first operation of this type done at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, now a leading center for this procedure. However, from then on her health was precarious. She became allergic to many kinds of food and medicine. Each allergic reaction was extremely severe, causing hives to erupt both inside and outside of her body and requiring quick work to bring them under control. Her brothers and sisters were called many times by the hospital to be at her "death bed."

However, Eleanor tried to live as normal a life as possible. Ed had never had a driver's license, but they bought a big station wagon and Eleanor learned to drive. They spent a lot of time traveling the Florida Keys, as both enjoyed fishing.

Family record has her death in May 1966 while the Social Security Death Index has it as June of that year.

Eleanor married #228 Edwin W. "Ed" Bollinger.

Ed was born Abt 1911 in Pennsylvania. He died 15 Feb 1978. He was buried in Flagler Cemetery, Miami, Florida.

He is the son of Albert Val & Alice E. (Palmer) Bollinger.

On the 1940 Census of Derry, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania he is working as a laborer for the railroad. His name is given as Edward Bollinger. The 1953 city directory for Miami lists an Edw. W. Bollinger working for the Acolite Neon Sign Company.

Children of this relationship:

#345MiRoy Edward Bollinger 

"Clintondale", The Express, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania (29 Sep 1936), p. 3, col. 4.

1920 U.S. Census, Scalp Level, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Roll: T625_1662; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 88; Image: 892

1930 U.S. Census, Derry Twp., Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.. Roll: 2155; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 16; Image: 356.0; FHL microfilm: 2341889

1940 U.S. Census, Derry, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Roll: T627_3629; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 65-21

Charlotte Hensel, The Arthur Powers Family, (unpublished, 2007).

Eleanor Bollinger, Number: 265-09-5053; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951, Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

Miami City Directory, 1953, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. .

Personal recollection of Florence (Powers) Deffler, as related to Tad Deffler.


Line Generation: 6

Relationship: Grand-Aunt