There is a very special member of the Petz family that we would like to both honor and remember – Victoria – daughter of Alex and Rose Petz. Although her birth and short life are recalled by many, the circumstances and timing of her passing were not. With the assistance of my cousin Geraldine Hooper she determined the following:
Victoria was born July 22, 1936 and died August 16, 1936. The cause of death was infant diarrhea from enteritis. As Deanie noted in her email, antibiotics were not available at that time to treat her illness. She also remembers Aunty Doris, Aunty Elsie and my mother recalling that Victoria cried a lot, no doubt as a result of the abdominal pain she was experiencing.
While I always felt Granny and Grandpa liked me better than any of their children or other grandchildren, the truth is that they both showed such great and sincere love for all of us that we just figured they must think we are their absolute favorites. So knowing how they both cherished all of us, can you imagine the pain they both felt as they saw sweet little Victoria suffer? And the hole it left in their heart when she left us? I truly believe not one day went by that Granny and Grandpa did not think there was one person missing from the dinner table. We know they are together now and I hope that when it is my turn to go to the other side, that I make it to the pearly gates where I see this lady I don’t recognize and she says, ” I am your Aunty Victoria and then she gives me a big hug! That would be pretty cool!