James Nolan

My mother, Mary Nolan Koch, remembers her dad:

"There aren’t many one dotters who can tell you about our dad, since he died when I was 17 and most of my siblings were much younger. As the oldest of my parent’s children I should share a few memories. My dad was very special to me. He took me everywhere with him since he liked to go for drives in the car and not everyone wanted to go. I always asked if we would stop for food along the way, and he almost always obliged...

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His law office in N.Y. was just across from City Hall and he often took me there when there was going to be a parade to welcome a celebrity to City Hall. I vaguely remember when I was a young kid going to see Lindberg’s celebration in 1927. My dad was a lawyer who took pity on people who couldn’t afford to pay much. During the depression he had many clients who couldn’t pay him. When he died my mom found a file cabinet filled with unpaid bills from people he had helped.

Fortunately, he did have people who paid so we were not too destitute during the 30’s.

He was a Democrat and was a Roosevelt man, but I remember his coming home one day proclaiming “ He closed the banks” As a family we talked politics. My parents supported FDR and his New Deal.

Unfortunately long before doctors had the modern medicines that control high blood pressure my dad had very high blood pressure which caused him many health problems During the last years of his life he was in the hospital many times. My mom was 12 years younger than my dad and still in her child bearing years. Around the time each of my youngest brothers was born she also had a sick husband to care for. Since I was in my teens I used to take care of them when she would be at the hospital.

My dad died in Jan. 1939 at age 52, leaving my mom a widow with 7 children at age 40. Because my dad was an independent lawyer he had no pension ; due to his health conditions he had been unable to get much insurance. My mom was left with limited income except for the low rent from some old houses my dad owned in Brooklyn.