My Mother's Family History

My mother's father's mother, or my great-grandmother was named Dorris Marie Theall.  Dorris, or as I called her, Nana, was born in 1901 to Katee Burke and Henry Theall.  It is said that both of Katee Burke's parents (both Irish immigrants) died in the making of the Washington Monument.  However, I have my reservations about that claim, never the less - it is what I was told.  Henry Theall was a French-Canadian Baptist who married Katee Burke, an Irish Catholic.  My mother tells me that it was seen as being quite taboo for a Canadian to marry an Irish immigrant.  Together they had 10 children.  5 of them ended up living to adulthood.  The other 5 died due to Scarlet Fever and other various diseases.  My great-grandmother was one of the lucky ones.  It is fascinating to think about...If she had not survived I would not be here; crazy, huh? My grandfather's father's father was named Gunner Roberts.  He was a Swedish immigrant who did manual labor.  He married Anna Olsen, they had a son named Frank Leonard Roberts. But, while Anna Olsen was still pregnant with Frank, Gunner Roberts had left Anna, alone to fend for herself and newborn child.  To help raise Frank, Anna would search for odd jobs or maid work. She used to have to drop Frank off at a daycare which must have been a very desperate move.  She would travel all the way into to town to seek work on a daily basis.  When Frank was still a child, around 10 or so, he would go and work at the fishery, cleaning fish. Back then there were no child labor laws so anything went.  He worked to help support himself and his mother.  Frank would work days at the fishery and at night would go to school.  When he got his diploma he married my great-grandmother, Dorris Marie Theall. Frank would get a job at the Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor, which eh worked at for 50 years without missing a day of work.  They had my grandfather, Donald and my uncle, Franky Roberts.  My grandmother's father, Charles Eugene Lotreck came from Bohemia Czechoslovakia. When he was 13 years old he stowed away in a ship heading towards America.  At Ellis Island he was caught and sent back to Czechoslovakia.  When he was around 16 years old, he and his family had moved to America legally.  They changed his name from Carol Rosheck to Charles Eugene Lotreck.  When he arrived in America he started his own business. In his small business he would sell household goods and groceries.  His landlord got jealous of his success and ended up kicking him out of the apartment building.  He was a very intelligent individual. He could speak 6 different languages. I'm told he fought in battles against Pancho Villa and got injured during the campaign.  During his time injured, he crossed paths with my grandmother's mother, Helen Pomeroy.  The two got married. Helen was an opera singer and Charles got a job working for a railroad company.  He was very successful. He was able to pay off and buy a house for $12,000, for back then, that was a tremendous amount of money.  The two had 4 children, my grandmother and her three brothers. Helen sang at President Coolidge's funeral. There is a picture of her singing at his funeral but I cannot seem to find it.