John Joseph Power

John Joseph Power was my g-grandfather. He was born 10 June 1864 to Patrick Power and Bridget Kane; baptized in Kilmacthomas. They lived in Ballykerogue, Kilrossanty, Waterford.  His siblings that I know about include: Richard, James, and Anastasia. Eventually those three children went to the United States. One brother, Edward, died as a youngster in Ireland.  We think there might have been a Patrick who remained in Ireland.  John's older brother, Richard, was the first to move to Brooklyn, New York. When John saved enough money for passage, he went to Brooklyn, NY and married his girlfriend, who was awaiting his arrival.  She was from Newcastle, Tipperary (Norah Leahy).  We think they met at dances we heard were held near Four-Mile-Water back in their day.  John and Norah were married 12 June 1898 in the new Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. John worked as a laborer for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company until the day he died (at age 76). His only grandchild, my mother, Nora, recalls bringing him a lunch bucket for a short lunch while he was on the job.  His wife, Norah, earned money doing the laundry of neighbors. The family were members of St. Finbar's Parish in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The church was a very important part of their lives.  John and Norah had four sons: John, James, Patrick, Edward. Norah passed in the 1917 Spanish Influenza Epidemic. John lived in Brooklyn, with his sons, until his death.  John and Norah are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.