Kirk married Lacey Erin Sisco [Group Sheet]

Donald married Linda Sharon Bucy. Linda was born 12 Mar 1945; died 13 Sep 2004. [Group Sheet]

Terry married Lucinda Ann Youngs [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Leon Arthur Sisco was the second child born to Olin Reece Sisco and Ethel Mae (Banker) Sisco on Monday, April 9, 1923 at the Wilson Memorial hospital in Johnson City, NY. Leon was a twin to Leo Howard, who was born with a spinal defect that took his life at nine months of age. At the time of Leons birth, father Olin was twenty-six and mother Ethel was twenty-three.

Leon spent his formative years growing up at 6 Theron Street, Johnson City, New York. He attended elementary school in Johnson City.

His grandparents owned a small family farm located on Bogart Street, Hallstead, PA and as the country was at the end of the Great Depression, they were having difficulty maintaining the farm financially. So, in early 1935, Leon´s father Olin made the decision to move the family from Johnson City to the Hallstead farmstead to assist. Leon's parents waited until June when school was out for the summer before making the move.

His sister Dorotha Sisco Thomas, relates a couple of stories that she remembers. In Hallstead, Leon and his grandfather Luther Sisco tended to chores on the family farm while Olin Sisco sold Prudential Insurance during the day. Olin never had more than three or four cows at a time. Leon and his grandfather had completed milking the cows and they had put the milk into the separator located in the basement of the home. At one point Leon did something that didn't suit his grandfather and Luther kicked Leon down the cellar steps with a pail of milk. Olin scolded his father for disciplining Leon saying that if there was any disciplining to do of his son that he would be the one to do it.

Soon after moving to Hallstead, Pa, Leon got a dog and named him King. King would follow Leon everywhere he went. Leon told his mother that if he were ever sick and not able to do chores, just follow King because he knew where to go. The milk man that drove the delivery truck would intentionally get King to chase him. One day the driver deliberately ran over King. Leon found his best friend dead. Dorotha Sisco Thomas remembers Leon leaning against the kitchen counter crying saying that "My King is gone." He was very distraught at losing his best friend.

While attending Hallstead High School, Leon met and fell in love with one of his classmates, Esther Louise Bailer. After school he would walk her from the school, located on Franklin Avenue, near the First Baptist Church to the DuBois farm on Harmony Road in Hallstead, Pennsylvania where her parents were the caretakers and the family lived.

On December 7, 1941, Leon was milking the cows in the family barn. While milking, he had the Emerson box radio tuned to a music station when the news reports of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were announced. After graduating from high school, Leon felt compelled to join the cause and on December 12, 1942 enlisted in the United States Navy. The day that he left from the Binghamton, NY train station bound for basic training in Albany, NY, he had left his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor having just taken a bath. Upon seeing his clothes his mother broke down and cried.

While in the Navy, Leon was the signalman on supply ships and held the ratings of AS, Signalman Third Class (SM3c), Signalman Second Class (S2c), and Signalman First Class (S1c). He attended service schools at the US Naval Training Center in both Newport, RI and Noroton Heights, CT, SERVsch in Newport, RI, USN ACG Brooklyn, NY, USN ACG Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA and served on the ships USS Yucca and USS Thorn. He was honorably discharged in December 1945. Most of his travels were throughout South America and the South Pacific.

When on leave, Esther would meet Leon in New York City. It was while on leave that on July 27, 1943, he and Esther were married at the First Baptist Church, Hallstead, Pennsylvania by Reverend Joseph B. Harrison. Leons son Terry Sisco has a notebook that contains the love letters that they exchanged throughout the war.

After the war, they both worked in the Hershey Chocolate factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Leon had heard during the war that working for a utility provided consistent, secure work at good pay so he applied at the New York State Electric & Gas Company in Westover, New York. He started in 1946 as a laborer at the Goudy Station in Johnson City, New York, working on the coal piles moving the coal to the coal burning turbines. He advanced to pump operator in 1950, to turbine operator in 1951, to switchboard operator in 1955 and to unit boiler operator in 1968. He worked his way up through the ranks eventually becoming the foreman of the Goudy steam plant.

Leon worked three jobs to support his family while the children were young. In addition to the electric company he also worked for the Pepsi-Cola company delivering soft drinks and then in evenings he would collect money that people owed for magazine subscriptions. Even though he worked long hours, he always spent time with the family on special outings such as visiting the Ross Park Zoo or weekends at the Chidesters cottage in Pennsylvania.

On November 4, 1955, Leon and Esther signed a mortgage of $12,250 to purchase and build a home at 806 Douglas Drive, in the new and expanding suburbs of Endwell, New York. Both Leon and Esther were very active at the Berean Baptist Church in Endwell, New York. Leon helped to build the current structure on Farm-To-Market Road across from the Maine-Endwell High School. They enjoyed traveling and camping with other families of the church spending summers at the Chenango Valley State Park and Sherkston Shores in Canada.

They purchased a mobile home at the Colony Park in St. Petersburg, Florida after retirement where they would spend the winter months near their son, Terry Sisco who lives in Tampa, FL. During summers, they spent time at Lake Timberline in St. Joseph, Pennsylvania where they permanently park their camper. In their retirement, Leon and Esther enjoyed traveling the country.

In the late 1990's it was discovered that Leon had hepatitis C. Through the spring of 2000, Leon grew progressively weaker. He began kidney dialysis as his kidneys had begun to shut down. He wanted to get back to his home in Florida before the cold weather set in. It was only a short time after arriving in St Petersburg that on October 20, 2000 he passed away at 9:40 am with his entire family at his side.


Buried:
Lot 155 Section K Floral Park Cemetary Johnson City NY

Leon married Esther Louise Bailer 27 Jul 1943, Hallstead, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. Esther (daughter of Charles Bailer and Dora Maude Hobart) was born 2 May 1923, Otisco, Onondaga, New York, United States; died 7 May 2002, Johnson City, Broome, New York, United States; was buried May 2002, Johnson City, NY. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Esther was born at home on Route 80 Otisco, New York. She fondly remembered growing up next door to her 'Aunt Kate' Catherine Schneider. In fact she spent most of her time at Kate's. She attended school in the one room schoolhouse on Route 80, which is now a house next door to the Otisco fire station. She was sick quite often suffering from tonsillitis. Her aunt Kate would give brother Horace a nickel a day to go to the store to buy Esther ice cream to make her throat feel better.
Esther´s father Charles and his brother John Bailer ran the farm together but they were not able to make it a profitable venture. John moved to Great Bend, PA to go to work for the D, L, & W railroad and urged Charles to do likewise. When Esther was in the sixth grade the family did just that, It was while attending Hallstead High School that Esther met her future husband, Leon Sisco. After graduation she moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania and worked in the Hershey Chocolate factory cafeteria. In December 1942, Leon enlisted in the Navy and at this time Esther moved to Endicott, New York and went to work for IBM where she worked on the B-29 bomber. She lived on Roosevelt Avenue in Endicott renting a room from Mrs. Harrington.
Esther and Leon were married at the First Baptist Church In Hallstead, PA in July 1943 while Leon was home on leave. When Leon was discharged from the Navy at the end of World War II, her employment with IBM was terminated as they would not employ married women to provide as many families as possible with at least one source of income. At this time Leon and Esther rented an apartment on Main Street, Hallstead, Pennsylvania. One year later, her first child Yvonne was born. Approximately one year later they moved to Hawley Street in Binghamton, New York. At this time she was working at Sears Roebuck, Inc. on Court Street. While pregnant with their second child, Leon and Esther moved to Chenango Street. When Sandy was born Esther stopped working at Sears. Now with two children, the family needed more room, so they moved to 4 Newton Street on the second floor. Then in 1952, Esther had their third child, Terry. In 1955, Leon and Esther purchased their home at 806 Douglas Drive in Endwell, New York. Harvey's Chicken Farm was located between 553 Hooper Road and 565 Hooper Road, Endwell, NY. It ran west across Patterson Creek and up the hill to Stonefield Road where the parking lot is for the Catholic church. In 1957 Esther went to work a few blocks from their home at Harvey's Chicken farm where she candled and packed eggs. In 1962, she went to work for approximately one year with the General Electric Company in Westover, New York until they lost their government contract. She then went to work again for Sears in the catalog department eventually retiring twenty-four years later from the electronics department. Church life was very important to Esther & Leon. They were very active at the Berean Baptist Church on Farm-to-Market Road, Endwell, NY located directly across from the Maine-Endwell High school. Esther taught children´s Sunday school and was a leader in the Pioneer Girls program. Sunday nights after evening church the Sisco home was the place to go for dessert and fellowship.
Once the General Electric government contract ended, Esther was laid off at which time she went back to work for Sears Roebuck & Co. on Chenango Street in the Catalog department. This department was located in a separate building from the main store and was without heat. It was extremely cold working there in the winters. She eventually was transferred to the Electronics department and sold TV's, stereos and other consumer electronics.
Esther and Leon loved to travel and


Buried:
Floral Park Cemetery

Died:
Wilson Memorial Hospital

Notes:

Lester was born Jesse and Cora Youngs in the Town of Fenton, New York. His mother Cora was extremely angry when she found out that she was pregnant with Lester. When he was born he weighed only three and one-half pounds so Cora set him aside not knowing if he would live or die. His half sister, Mildred placed him in the warmth of the unlit oven which acted as an incubator. Lester's brother Lawrence, who was two years older, was jealous of him and pulled mean tricks on him. One day he had Lester put his thumb in a piece of machinery and then cut it off. They carried Lester and the thumb to the doctor who sewed it back on again but did not get it on quite straight. From that time on he always had a crooked thumb. Lester was a good student who excelled in math. Upon graduation from Binghamton Central High School he went to work for the International Time Recorder which later became International Business Machines or IBM. This was during the depression and IBM was not hiring. He was persistent and everyday he would sit in the human resource office. His persistance paid off as they hired him and put him to work as a drill press operator on the night shift. He took as many courses as possible and he worked his way through the company to the level of engineer.


Buried:
Meadowlawn Cemetary

Lester married Mary Valeria McVicker 3 Feb 1933, Conklin, Broome, New York, USA. Mary (daughter of John Joseph McVicker and Edith Lillian Holden) was born 27 Dec 1914, Pond Eddy, New York; died 15 Oct 2006, New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida, USA; was buried , New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mary (McVicker) Youngs was born in Pond Eddy, New York. In 1915, when Mary was nine months old, the family moved to Irvington, New York. They moved into an apartment at 29 Main Street, Irvington and it was there, at four (4) years of age she met life long friend Alice Kady.

When Mary was two years of age her brother Lee, set the apartment on fire. Mary's mother Edith, had put the children to bed for their afternoon nap. Edith's parents, Estelle and Charles Holden, were moving from Pond Eddy to Irvington into the same apartment building one floor below. Edith had gone down to their apartment to help her put their beds together. The neighbor across the hall from Edith's apartment smelled smoke coming from their apartment. She ran downstairs to get Edith. They ran up to the apartment to find that Lee had locked the door. The children were saved but Lee was severely burned.

Mary's mother relates that when Mary was two and a half, sitting in her highchair when she was impressed with the beautiful sun and birds out the window. This is one of Mary's earliest recollections and her whole life she enjoyed birds, especially cardinals.

The family then moved to 103 Station Road in Irvington which was right next to a railroad viaduct that was to become a fun play place for Mary and the children.

Mary went to elementary school in Irvington and in the sixth grade the family moved to Endicott, New York arriving on the Fourth of July, 1925. Since it was summer, it was not a good time to meet children. Mary's mother therefore thought that it would be a good idea to take the children to Mary Ellen Redmond's (great grandmother) farm to stay. Mary entered Henry B. Endicott Middle School on Jackson Avenue, the year that it opened. She attended this school for one year when the family purchased there home on "Round Top" in Union, New York. The address was 4 Otis Avenue which has since been renamed Pinecrest Road. She attended Union-Endicott High School. She didn't finish high school as she was married in February of her senior year.

Luella Young had just moved back to Union, New York from Lake Placid. Her homeroom teacher introduced her to Mary and asked her to introduce her to the kids in school. When Luella found that Lee McVicker was Mary'sbrother she was most interested to meet him. She made a deal with Mary that if she would introduce her to Lee, Luella would introduce Mary to her uncle Lester. Mary agreed even though she was dating Arthur Rhinehart. Mary and Lester went to the movies on their blind date. No one had money for the movies except Lee McVicker,so he ended up paying for everyone's ticket even Lester's. After some time, Mary and Art broke up which was about the same time that Lester was breaking up with his girlfriend Katie Gunderman. Lester called Mary to see if he could meet her after she got of work at J.J. Newberry Five and Dime on Washington, Avenue, Endicott, New York. When she came out of the store, Lester was so dressed so well that she didn't recognize him. Approximately one year later he asked her to marry him.

During February 1934, while Mary and Lester were living in an apartment on Adams Avenue, Lester developed pneumonia and was hospitalized for three weeks. They could no longer afford to keep their apartment so they moved in with Mary's parents. Eighteen months after their wedding, Mary learned that she was pregnant withMarylyn.

After Marylyn was born, Mary and Lester moved into an apartment on High Street in Union, New York. After a year in this apartment Lester's father became very ill and in April 1935, they moved into Lester's parent's house on Mulberry Street in Binghamton taking over the payments so that his parent's would not loose the house. His parent's moved into an efficiency apartment on the second floor. Lester's father Jesse, died in 1936 at which time the house was sold to settle Jesse's estate.

After the house was sold, Mary and Lester moved briefly to Brinks Street in Endwell and then to Loder Avenue,Union, New York. Since there was no estate money leftover for Cora, she moved in with Mary and Lester and continued to live with them for twenty-six years. A short time later they bought their first home at 208 Beckwith Avenue in Endwell, New York.

When Marylyn was seven years old, Mary started the first Brownie Girl Scout troop in Endwell. The troop met in the basement of Mary's house and was made up of seven girls who were the daughters of Mary's friends. She taught them embroidery, took them to the local radio station and other entertaining programs. When the girls turned ten the girls became Girl Scouts and met in the Endwell Fire Station.

Mary was active at the Endwell United Methodist church where she was the wedding consultant, on the finance and nominating committee. She also enjoyed playing bridge.

In 1944, there was an epidemic of polio that took many lives. It was such a devasting disease that when thedisease was diagnosed it was like receiving a death sentence as there was no cure and little hope of survival. In August of 1944, Mary and Lester had taken a cruise on Lake Ontario from Rochester, New York. While on the cruise, Mary became sea sick and drank some of the water on board. Two days after the cruise she was dizzy and had black-outs. Doctors diagnosed Mary with Bulbar polio, the most devastating type of polio. During this time her left eye went down behind her nose and the right side of her body became paralyzed. Mary was fortunate because the disease missed the center of her brain and this saved her life. She was rehabilitation for over a year. Mary's mother took time off of work to care for Marylyn.

In 1950, with Marylyn in high school, Mary began to reflect that her purpose in life was shortly to end. She decided that it was time for another child if it were possible. Because doctor's advised Mary of the dangers of complications due to problems with Marylyn's delivery, Mary was advised against having a second child. She consulted with specialists and she decided to take the chance and have the second child much to her mother's chagrin. In fact she didn't tell her mother until her mother commented that she was gaining weight. Mary was already six months pregnant. Lucinda Ann Youngs was born February 5, 1951.

Mary devoted her time to raising Cindy and volunteering to dospeech therapy for mentally retarded children. When Cindy was a senior in high school Mary decided that shewanted to go to work. She shopped at the Fashion Studio for Cindy's special dresses. While there one day the owner advised Mary that she was going to open the second floor as a bridal salon. She knew that Mary did the wedding receptions at church and so she began asking Mary etiquette questions. She then asked Mary to go to work at the store. Cindy's wedding was the last wedding that Mary coordinated.

Lester retired in 1972 and Mary and Lester moved to Gulf Harbors, New Port Richey, Florida in 1973. They built a home at 42 Bowline Bend and remained there five and one-half years until Lester grew leary of the threats of hurricanes. They then built their home at 10518 Green Meadow Lane, Timber Oaks subdivision, Port Richey, Florida. During this time Mary worked at the Beall's department store until September 1986. It was then that Lester had his first stroke. Mary devoted her days working to rehabilitate Lester who suffered from paralysis and speech.

After Lester passed away, Mary began volunteering at the Fox Hollow Elementary School teaching reading two to three days per week. Mary reports that when she and her mother went to sign her father's death certificate, Edith McVicker signed that John's parents were William and Ann McVicker. She adds that Maggie McVicker worked to bring first John to the US, then James (Jimmie) McVicker whose father she did not know. She brought Betty McGary whose was from Scotland. Betty's mother was Maggie's sister who had married a McGary. She then brought over Jean McVicker, Bill McVicker and James McVicker who were the children of Thomas McVicker.

Buried:
Meadowlawn Cemetary, Devotion Crypt

Died:
Pulminary Fibrosis