TOM KIRCH And JoANN RAWAY - A Uniquely Interesting Story
My best friend passed away twenty years ago, today. Thomas H. Kirch (on right) was my best friend. He was every body's best friend...(Taken from one of my early BLOG posts, November 17, 2006, which can be viewed here.) Read on. I'll let another of Tom's friends tell you a uniquely interesting story:
JoAnn Raway (on left, with Jimmy Lietz in middle) first experienced Quadalajara in November 1964. “I went on a three week vacation to Las Fuentes with my sister Luella and our friend, Roselyn Mahowald.” While Charlie Newbold and Bronx VA buddy Joe Cicero were discovering their newfound freedoms at George Ray's Place, the three women from Minnesota simultaneously vacationed in Las Fuentes. “Paul Patino and Larry Kegan ran the place,” JoAnn recalled. That was where JoAnn initially met fellow Minnesotan Tom Kirch, along with Joe Darichuk and Señores Patino and Kegan. “We were ready to return home when we saw the living conditions at Las Fuentes—and the dining room. I can still remember the plastic plates with cigarette burns.” Apparently, guys (especially those who escaped institutional living) tended to overlook such minor details.
JoAnn first heard about Quadalajara from Bob Peters, a fellow member of Minnesota's social club for the handicapped.
“He first went to Quadalajara in '63 or '64 and stayed for a few months.” Larry Kegan, who was also from the Twin Cities area, “went to different local places, including the VA, telling people about the ideal climate and reasonable cost of living for winter visitors there.” Asked about accommodations for disabled women there, JoAnn Raway indicated that other women had visited Las Fuentes earlier. “I first met Eileen Van Albert in 1964. She was already established with her own home in Colonia Chapalita by then. There were two women from New York who also stayed there.”
With all that Quadalajara had to offer, the three vacationing women from Minnesota wanted to make the most of their precious three week visit.
“When we first got there, we presented Kegan with a list of places in and around Quadalajara that we wished to visit.”
Although Kegan's ads had mentioned local tourist attractions, the surprised landlord responded, “No one's ever done that to me before. He was so floored,” added JoAnn.
The three visiting women got their wish. Larry Kegan proved to be a worthy host and tour guide. According to their hometown newspaper, “They got to see such sights as Jalisco's Lake Chapala with its resorts and fishing villages, the town of Tequila and the factory where the famous drink was distilled, Tlaquepaque with its popular Mariachi Plaza and glass and silver factories, bull fights at Entrada a la Plaza, the city's huge Mercado Libertad, and fiestas in mountain villages. Additionally, the women were impressed with Quadalajara's flower-filled parks and plazas, colonial architecture, palm trees, and fountains. Other points of interest included the Cathedral de Guadalajara, the seventeenth century Basilica de Zapopan, and the Hospicio Cabañas Orphanage which housed the famous paintings of Orozco.” (José Clemente Orozco was one of the 20th Century's most famous painters. Known for his mural paintings, he decorated many public buildings both in Mexico and in the United States. His work frequently embraced the themes of the Mexican Revolution.)
JoAnn's secretarial job in cold country was still easily manageable, despite living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (a type of Muscular Dystrophy, simply referred to as MD). It wasn't the climate, cost of living, or beauty of the city that caught JoAnn Raway's eye. It was the handsome skinny quad, Tom Kirch. JoAnn and Tom began a friendship that would continue by mail and occasional phone calls (calling the U.S. from Mexico and vice versa could easily set one's pocketbook back to the tune of a dollar per minute). Finally, they had a reunion of sorts in 1967. “Tom was in the Minneapolis VA from spring until November,” JoAnn continued. “That's when things really heated up.”
While JoAnn continued her work and long distance relationship with Tom Kirch, Roselyn Mahowald would return to Quadalajara with another friend, Mary Margaret Sommers, in 1965. “Roselyn passed away sometime later and Mary Margaret stayed for a few more years.”
JoAnn Raway and Tom Kirch picked up their friendship-turned-romance by mail and occasional phone calls after Tom returned to Quadalajara, until 1970—decision time.
“I went down to Las Fuentes for ten days,” JoAnn recalled.
“To deliver an ultimatum?” she was quizzed.
“We had a lot to talk about,” JoAnn responded. “About quitting my job, applying for Social Security, which took six months, and getting the documents we needed to get married in Mexico.”
JoAnn returned in early September 1971. “Tom wanted to get married that week. He had to check into the VA hospital in Long Beach in a week and wanted to get married before he left. We could take care of the legal stuff more easily that way.” JoAnn Raway was visiting Tom at the Jardines Alcalde house he rented along with Jim Adkisson, Bill Kahler, and Ray Clifford, when Bill and Maria Elena Bailey stopped by.
“Tom asked Bailey if he could help make arrangements for our civil marriage before Tom left for Long Beach. Maria Elena said, 'How about tonight?' and went to find a judge to perform the ceremony. We all piled into one car and went to Bob and Teresa Beilsmith's house. They weren't expecting us.”
Tom's roommates and friends soon followed them to the Beilsmith's home. “Maria Elena came back with a judge and we were married that night.” What began as a three week winter vacation to sunny Quadalajara in November 1964 would alter the course of JoAnn Raway's life.
On September 12, 1971 Josephine “JoAnn” Raway from Hastings, Minnesota became JoAnn Kirch. The seven-year Quadalajara-to-Minnesota courtship with Tom Kirch of Kellogg, Minnesota culminated with the impromptu wedding at the home of Bob and Teresa Beilsmith. A church wedding would follow after Tom returned. On March 11, 1972 JoAnn and Tom Kirch were “officially” wed at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Colonia Chapalita.
(Taken from Chapter 14, "Cold Weather and Cold Warriors", QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was, pages 162-164.)
*Incidentally, my dear friend JoAnn called me on Veterans Day! She now lives "back home" in Minnesota.
http://www.quadmexico.com/
JoAnn Raway (on left, with Jimmy Lietz in middle) first experienced Quadalajara in November 1964. “I went on a three week vacation to Las Fuentes with my sister Luella and our friend, Roselyn Mahowald.” While Charlie Newbold and Bronx VA buddy Joe Cicero were discovering their newfound freedoms at George Ray's Place, the three women from Minnesota simultaneously vacationed in Las Fuentes. “Paul Patino and Larry Kegan ran the place,” JoAnn recalled. That was where JoAnn initially met fellow Minnesotan Tom Kirch, along with Joe Darichuk and Señores Patino and Kegan. “We were ready to return home when we saw the living conditions at Las Fuentes—and the dining room. I can still remember the plastic plates with cigarette burns.” Apparently, guys (especially those who escaped institutional living) tended to overlook such minor details.
JoAnn first heard about Quadalajara from Bob Peters, a fellow member of Minnesota's social club for the handicapped.
“He first went to Quadalajara in '63 or '64 and stayed for a few months.” Larry Kegan, who was also from the Twin Cities area, “went to different local places, including the VA, telling people about the ideal climate and reasonable cost of living for winter visitors there.” Asked about accommodations for disabled women there, JoAnn Raway indicated that other women had visited Las Fuentes earlier. “I first met Eileen Van Albert in 1964. She was already established with her own home in Colonia Chapalita by then. There were two women from New York who also stayed there.”
With all that Quadalajara had to offer, the three vacationing women from Minnesota wanted to make the most of their precious three week visit.
“When we first got there, we presented Kegan with a list of places in and around Quadalajara that we wished to visit.”
Although Kegan's ads had mentioned local tourist attractions, the surprised landlord responded, “No one's ever done that to me before. He was so floored,” added JoAnn.
The three visiting women got their wish. Larry Kegan proved to be a worthy host and tour guide. According to their hometown newspaper, “They got to see such sights as Jalisco's Lake Chapala with its resorts and fishing villages, the town of Tequila and the factory where the famous drink was distilled, Tlaquepaque with its popular Mariachi Plaza and glass and silver factories, bull fights at Entrada a la Plaza, the city's huge Mercado Libertad, and fiestas in mountain villages. Additionally, the women were impressed with Quadalajara's flower-filled parks and plazas, colonial architecture, palm trees, and fountains. Other points of interest included the Cathedral de Guadalajara, the seventeenth century Basilica de Zapopan, and the Hospicio Cabañas Orphanage which housed the famous paintings of Orozco.” (José Clemente Orozco was one of the 20th Century's most famous painters. Known for his mural paintings, he decorated many public buildings both in Mexico and in the United States. His work frequently embraced the themes of the Mexican Revolution.)
JoAnn's secretarial job in cold country was still easily manageable, despite living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (a type of Muscular Dystrophy, simply referred to as MD). It wasn't the climate, cost of living, or beauty of the city that caught JoAnn Raway's eye. It was the handsome skinny quad, Tom Kirch. JoAnn and Tom began a friendship that would continue by mail and occasional phone calls (calling the U.S. from Mexico and vice versa could easily set one's pocketbook back to the tune of a dollar per minute). Finally, they had a reunion of sorts in 1967. “Tom was in the Minneapolis VA from spring until November,” JoAnn continued. “That's when things really heated up.”
While JoAnn continued her work and long distance relationship with Tom Kirch, Roselyn Mahowald would return to Quadalajara with another friend, Mary Margaret Sommers, in 1965. “Roselyn passed away sometime later and Mary Margaret stayed for a few more years.”
JoAnn Raway and Tom Kirch picked up their friendship-turned-romance by mail and occasional phone calls after Tom returned to Quadalajara, until 1970—decision time.
“I went down to Las Fuentes for ten days,” JoAnn recalled.
“To deliver an ultimatum?” she was quizzed.
“We had a lot to talk about,” JoAnn responded. “About quitting my job, applying for Social Security, which took six months, and getting the documents we needed to get married in Mexico.”
JoAnn returned in early September 1971. “Tom wanted to get married that week. He had to check into the VA hospital in Long Beach in a week and wanted to get married before he left. We could take care of the legal stuff more easily that way.” JoAnn Raway was visiting Tom at the Jardines Alcalde house he rented along with Jim Adkisson, Bill Kahler, and Ray Clifford, when Bill and Maria Elena Bailey stopped by.
“Tom asked Bailey if he could help make arrangements for our civil marriage before Tom left for Long Beach. Maria Elena said, 'How about tonight?' and went to find a judge to perform the ceremony. We all piled into one car and went to Bob and Teresa Beilsmith's house. They weren't expecting us.”
Tom's roommates and friends soon followed them to the Beilsmith's home. “Maria Elena came back with a judge and we were married that night.” What began as a three week winter vacation to sunny Quadalajara in November 1964 would alter the course of JoAnn Raway's life.
On September 12, 1971 Josephine “JoAnn” Raway from Hastings, Minnesota became JoAnn Kirch. The seven-year Quadalajara-to-Minnesota courtship with Tom Kirch of Kellogg, Minnesota culminated with the impromptu wedding at the home of Bob and Teresa Beilsmith. A church wedding would follow after Tom returned. On March 11, 1972 JoAnn and Tom Kirch were “officially” wed at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Colonia Chapalita.
(Taken from Chapter 14, "Cold Weather and Cold Warriors", QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was, pages 162-164.)
*Incidentally, my dear friend JoAnn called me on Veterans Day! She now lives "back home" in Minnesota.
http://www.quadmexico.com/
posted by Jack at 2:13 PM
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