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The Weidman Family of Up-State New York
Deborah Ann Weidman's father was Stanley Edward "Sonny" Weidman, born on June 2, 1922 in Binghamton, Broome Co., NY, to Stanley Ezra Weidman and Margaret Loretta Seeley. Being the oldest and only boy in a family with four girls apparently put considerable pressure on Stanley to get out on his own. This coupled with the hard times of the Great Depression and his father passing away when Stanley was only 11 years old, no doubt gave him enough reason to leave home at an early age. He completed grammar school at the public school in Endicott, NY and at age 16 left home and joined the Government Conservation Corps (C.C.Camp) and learned to be a forester. He stayed at this until he was 18 years old, and then took various jobs around up-State New York.
He eventually joined the U.S. Army (Air Corps) on April 9, 1942 and was sent for training to Fort McClelland, Gadsden, AL. His primary military occupation was cook and his rank at discharge was corporal. Other bases he was assigned to were at Macon, GA; New Orleans, LA; Great Bend, Kansas; Gulfport, MS; Keesler Field, Biloxi, MS; and Indian Town Gap, PA where he was discharged from active duty in 1945. He then joined the reserves and was given an honorable discharge from the 2588th Air Force Reserve Training Center, Hawkins Field, Jackson, MS on January 8, 1949. His military identification number was AF 12 072 398.
After leaving the service, he worked for Higgins Shipyard, New Orleans, LA for a period (1947-1956), then at the Jung Hotel also in New Orleans, LA (1956-1960). He later moved to Coral Gables, FL in 1960 where he was employed as a Room Service Attendant at the Holiday Inn for two years. He was next employed as Chief of Room Service at the Bel Air Hotel, Miami Beach, FL where he was employed from 1962 to 1986.
It was while stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS; he met his first wife, Dorothy R. "Dot" Bourgeois, the daughter of Anthony C.
"Tony" Bourgeois and Rosema E. "Rose" Bordages of Waveland, MS. She met him at a Keesler Field dance that she was attending with girl friends. She met Stan at a second Keesler dance, and he came to her parent's house in Waveland for their third meeting. They started dating regularly and were married approximately five months later on November 26, 1944 in Waveland, MS at St. Clare's Catholic Church. After they married, they moved to Great Bend, Kansas when he was transferred with the Air Force. They lived there for approximately eight months, and then transferred to Indian Town Gap, PA for about three months. His wife, Dorothy, then moved to New York for about one month while he was discharged from the service. After being released in 1945, they moved back to Biloxi where Stan took a job as a civilian instructor at Keesler's Bakery School. This lasted approximately one year, and then Stan bought a lounge called The Brass Rail located on Howard Ave. in Biloxi. This business venture was done over the objections of Dorothy's family. Anyway, he ran this place for about two years, then sold out and
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Weidman The Weidman Family of Up-State New York-002
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