Missing a father he never knew

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Boston.com

Missing a father he never knew

By Beverly Beckham, Globe Columnist | November 15, 2009

This is what I know about my father’s father.

His name was James Francis Curtin. He was born May 2, 1897, in Cambridge, to Mary Callan. He had a sister, Eleanor. They lived on Portsmouth Street. He enlisted in the Army Aug. 27, 1918. He was given one belt, one pair of gloves, a pair of underwear, one undershirt, one overcoat, one poncho, three pair of stockings, and a barrack bag. He was 5-foot-7, had brown eyes, black hair, a dark complexion, was single, and was a Teamster. Three months after he enlisted, World War I ended, and he was honorably discharged.

On Sept. 27, 1920, his first son was born. A year and a half later, he married his son’s mother, Catherine Cecilia Quinn. They had three more sons, James, Lawrence, and LeRoy. They lived at 314 Windsor St. When his youngest was still in diapers, he abandoned the family. His first son, George Quinn Curtin, born before the wedding, never lived on Windsor Street. He was a secret, given to a family in North Cambridge, and raised as Timothy George Keane. He was a Roman Catholic priest for years. His brothers never knew about him. My father was one of those brothers. He was 76 years old when he got a call from Keane. “I’m your brother,’’ Keane said.

Then my father told me. We flew to Florida to meet Tim Keane and brought pictures of his mother and brothers, but not one of his father. We didn’t have a picture. My grandfather had walked away from three little boys. Whatever pictures there were ended up in a dust bin. Keane met his mother only once. He was 27. They had lunch across from Boston Common. It was a hello and a goodbye. It took him more than half a century to reach out to his family again. He was 79 when he finally tracked down and called my father.

(snip)

During those days, he said a few times that before he died he wanted only one thing: to see a picture of his father. To see what his father looked like. I’d never met him or seen a picture of him. But I promised I’d help. How hard could it be to locate a single picture? It’s four years later, and I’m still looking.. Tim Keane was born as George Curtin in 1920. He is 89. I am running out of time.

(snip)

A single picture. There must be one somewhere.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/11/15/missing_a_father_he_never_knew_1258259702/