52 Ancetors, Week 1…..Nancy Jacqueline Schneider Siglock, New Years Baby 1945

 As mentioned in this blog post, in 2017 I am attempting to complete a 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Since I am starting this at the first of the year, it seems appropriate to start with a New Years baby! My cousin Nancy was the first-born of all my cousins and the first baby born in her home town in 1945. Happy New Year!

Nancy Siglock - July 2005
photo by KM Kolk

 

Nancy Jacqueline Schneider was born on January 1, 1945  at 2:56 a.m. in Alton, Madison County, Illinois, at St. Jospeh’s Hospital. (1049) Nancy was the daughter of Jack Robert Schneider, who at the time was stationed in Florida while serving as a Lieutenant with the U.S. Army, and his wife, Alice Marie Kolk (1049). Nancy’s birth was the first birth in the Alton area in 1945, and she had her moment of fame when she was acknowledged as the first baby of the new year.

Nancy graduated from Alton Senior High School in 1963. The caption on the photo from her high school yearbook lists the many organizations she was active with while in high school including the Future Nurses of America, the chorus, the dramatics club, the Latin club and the pep club.

After graduation, Nancy pursued her dream of becoming a nurse, training at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the same hospital in which she was born. After graduating from nursing school, Nancy had a career as a psychiatric nurse and a surgical nurse at area hospitals, and later as a home health nurse.

Nancy married her high school sweetheart in 1966 at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Alton. (639) It was a beautiful wedding and reception, and as one of the first weddings I remember attending, it left a lasting impression on me. Nancy was a lifelong Catholic; after her marriage she was a member of St. Kevin’s Catholic parish in Wood River and Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Bethalto. ​

Nancy died 12 Nov 2011 after a battle with multiple myeloma. She was survived by her husband, 3 children, 2 brothers, 4 sisters, and many friends, cousins, and grandchildren.

Sources:

• SIGLOCK, Nancy, “obituary,” The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), viewed 14 Nov 2011.
• SCHNEIDER-SIGLOCK, “Wedding,” Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, Illinois, 23 Aug 1966, pg A8, NewspaperArchive.com, 9 Apr 2015.
• The Tatler 1963 Yearbook, Alton Senior High School, Alton, Madison County, Illinois, Jim Crane, editor, The Internet Archive, Hayner Public Library Genealogy Collection, https://ia601204.us.archive.org/29/items/AltonHS_Tatler_1963/tatler1963.pdf, viewed 29 Dec 2016.
• ​SCHNEIDER, Nancy Jac, “birth,” Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, Illinois, 2 Jan 1945, pg 2, NewspaperArchive.com, 29 Dec 2016.