Treasures from the Family Attic

A few years ago, we discovered this photo of my grandfather, Thomas Briordy (1896-1960), during his time in the U.S. Army during World War I. Born in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens section, he was one of nine children. At a time when infant mortality rates were high, he was the only one to make it to adulthood. After attending parochial school and a year of high school at St. James Academy in Brooklyn (now Bishop Loughlin High School), he became one of the first members of Local 807, the Teamsters’ Union. When he started there they had horse-drawn wagons. During World War I, he served in France with the 165th U.S. Infantry (also known as “the Fighting 69th”). After the war he got married and had a daughter. Both his wife and daughter died in the Influenza epidemic of 1920. For the rest of his life he never talked about them. Three years later he married my grandmother, Lillian Murphy (1898-1992) and they had three daughters (including my mom), all named for the Blessed Mother. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name Society, and was an usher at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Woodhaven. He worked as a truck driver until the day he died of a heart attack in 1960. But he lives on in the happy memories he left behind with his daughters and their grandchildren.