To me, Aunt Lola (nee Viola) was the most outgoing and colorful of my father's siblings. She and my father joked with each other all the time, Lola usually getting the better of their exchanges.

I never met her first husband; he was killed in a boating accident on Lake Ontario in the early 1930s. I also never got the full story of Tony Kane's death, though my parents did claim he was running booze from Canada to the United States during Prohibition. It made for an interesting tale, but one that remains unchecked.

Lola and Kane had two children, Bob and Loretta. Bob was a talented artist as a young man. He was several years older than I and we lost touch even before he married, left the Syracuse area and started his own family. Unfortunately, Bob didn't live to see his children into adulthood. He died in 1966 at age 38.

His sister, Loretta, endured her own tragedy, losing her first husband, Francis Orlando, in an automobile accident. As I recall they were on a family vacation when the accident occurred. My parents and I read about it in the morning newspaper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, and phoned Lola to offer our condolences and support – only to discover we were breaking the news to her that her son-in-law was dead and her daughter and grandchildren (Thomas and Daniel Orlando) injured. She hadn't been notified by the state police.

Both Lola and Loretta remarried, Lola to Bud Cullen, Loretta to Edward Lindsay.

Lola with her second husband, Bud Cullen, at a nightclub. The photo doesn't say when or where. What I'd really like to know is what's going on with that camera-shy fellow over Bud's right shoulder.

Lola with her parents, John and Rose Major on the Kane's boat in Alexandria Bay. Lola's first husband, Tony Kane, drowned after a boating accident. For more on Lola and Tony, see Weddings.

Other photos of Lola:
Family Tree: William Major
Portrait: Rose McLaughlin Major
Snapshot: State Fair
Snapshot: Majors 1917
Wedding: Lola

Loretta Kane:
Sandy Pond: Part 2
Snapshot: Kathleen and Loretta
Snapshot: Our Little Rascals

Bobby Kane:
Portrait: Irene Major Rand
Snapshot: With Billy Major
Snapshot: Like father, like son
Snapshot: Our Little Rascals

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