By Dr. Bruce Smith ——Bio and Archives--April 22, 2024

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This week marked the end of an era in my family. Maxine, the last survivor of the four Moles daughters, passed away on Friday, April 19 at age 99. Gemma, Maxine, Marie, and Wanda defined a family for me, my two brothers, and the nine first cousins they brought into the world.

The Moles daughters were the children of Jess and Ethel Moles, all four born in the 1920s. Gemma was born in 1922, Maxine in 1924, Marie in 1926, and Wanda in 1929. When Wanda was born Ethel was just 22. Jess and Ethel came to New Castle, Indiana on a journey to Bellingham, Washington, a place Jess had seen from the deck of the battleship USS Tennessee when he was still a teenager. Jess and Ethel never left New Castle, so the girls grew up there in a tumultuous era of depression and war, and they all bore the scars of their family life in those difficult times.

When the war came along, the girls had already learned to make their own way. Each of them worked at jobs in the little industrial town in the course of the war. Gemma worked as a domestic, for the Morris 5&10, and for the gas company, Maxine worked for Ingersoll Steel, Marie at Perfect Circle, and Wanda worked at a dress shop. None of them was ever afraid of work.

All four of them married during the war. Gemma married an army ack-ack officer, Maxine married an army air corps bomber crew chief, Marie married a navy radio operator who went to the Pacific on a Martin Mariner, and Wanda married a local man who became a policeman. Each of them had three children which made up the twelve cousins we would eventually expect to see at family reunions.

The four Moles daughters were the foundation for our family life. Each had her own personality. Gemma was always quiet and reserved. Maxine was more outgoing, with a smile that always made her eyes........

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