Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Australian-Hoffmann-O'neill

Full Text:

PAGE ONE / LIBRARY

with cut:

Two New Friends Find Shared Memories From A World Away

B Y J AN H OWARD

Two Newtown women have been living nearly parallel lives without ever knowing

the other existed.

Helen Hoffmann and Carmel O'Neill-Weiss met at a picnic organized by Ian

Beatty on August 29 in Brookfield. Mr Beatty met both women through his

position as service manager at Newtown Car Care Center, Inc.

"Ian is the catalyst who brings all these people together," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss

said this week. "It was so much fun."

The picnic brought together individuals and families who have a common

connection - Australia. Mrs Hoffman attended a previous get-together for

people with Australian heritage in January, but Mrs O'Neill-Weiss and her

husband, Bill Weiss, were ill at the time and unable to go.

"I had a marvelous time. It was wonderful," Mrs Hoffmann said.

There were about 50 people at the picnic. It was a real Aussie barbecue, Mrs

Hoffmann said, with meat pies, cornish pasties, sausages in puff pastry, and

Australian desserts.

"It's the first time I've gotten together with a lot of Australians. There are

not that many of us," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said.

"There was someone from each of the six states in Australia," Mrs Hoffman

said. However, despite the fact that Sydney is the largest city in Australia,

she and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss were the only two from there.

After introducing themselves, Mrs Hoffmann and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss found they

have much more in common than just being from Australia.

They found that not only had they both been born and brought up in Australia,

and were from Sydney, but they had lived on the same street, Glenmore Road, in

the same suburb, Paddington, and attended the same church, Sacred Heart, in

Darlinghurst. Mrs Hoffmann had lived at 37 Glenmore Road and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss

at 22, but they never met, probably because of the 11-year difference in their

ages.

They also learned they had played at the same parks, gone to the same beaches,

and attended Vaudeville shows at the Tivoli Theater. Both their mothers were

Irish. And they both had been war brides.

They were so excited by the discovery of their common background that they

were telling everyone at the picnic.

"We got excited," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said. "It was remarkable."

Their paths did not cross later in Newtown, either. Though Mrs Hoffmann has

lived here since 1946 and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss moved here in 1978, they had never

known each other. Their active lives were in two different towns.

Before moving to Newtown, Mrs O'Neill-Weiss lived in Bridgeport, Fairfield,

and Trumbull. She worked with her first husband, Joseph Dominko, at his

landscaping firm and went to school, graduating from the University of

Bridgeport and then Columbia University. She was a librarian at the University

of Connecticut and later was library director at the UConn campus in Stamford.

Mrs Hoffmann, who had come directly to Newtown from Sydney, was secretary to

the business manager at Fairfield Hills Hospital where her late husband,

Francis, was personnel director.

Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said until she retired in 1995, "my life was in Stamford."

She didn't know that many people in Newtown.

Mrs Hoffmann and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss became war brides when they met their

husbands, who were serving with the US Army during World War II. Mrs

O'Neill-Weiss met her husband on a ferry boat while he was on leave. Mrs

Hoffmann worked for the US Army Signal Corp and met her husband while he was

stationed in Australia.

"It was very difficult to pass United States standards to marry a US

serviceman," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said. "There was a waiting period before the

marriage could take place. You had to be interviewed by his commanding

officer."

It was wartime, and since Australian men had been sent overseas in 1939,

"There was a whole generation of girls growing up with no young men," she

said. "There were thousands and thousands of war brides. There were a

tremendous number of Americans there on furlough."

There was no time for long engagements because of the war, she added. "I knew

my husband for five months."

Their husbands both served in the Philippines during the war.

Both women left Australia as war brides in the same month of the same year,

April of 1946, but on two different ships, Mrs Hoffmann on the Mariposa and

Mrs O'Neill-Weiss on the Lurline. Their husbands had both already been sent

home.

Both boats docked in San Francisco where the women were put on trains that Mrs

O'Neill-Weiss said "meandered" across the country, with women getting off at

various spots along the way. "It took us five days to come to New York," she

said.

Their husbands met them in New York City.

"We never saw snow until we got here," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said. "There are not

many places to see snow in Australia."

Mrs O'Neill-Weiss and Mrs Hoffman said their entry into US society was not

difficult. "We spoke the same language," Mrs Hoffmann said.

"Our adjustment was easy. We were from an English speaking country," Mrs

O'Neill-Weiss said. "We learned about the United States and American history

in school." However, as a war bride, she said she felt she had an obligation

to learn all the capitals of the states. "We wanted to fit in, but actually we

were fine."

Both women became American citizens as soon as they could. Mrs O'Neill-Weiss

has three children and six grandchildren; Mrs Hoffman has four children and

eight grandchildren.

Mrs Hoffmann has been back to Australia once and Mrs O'Neill-Weiss has made

the trip twice in the last ten years. Both agreed it has changed a lot.

"It's altogether different," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said.

But Paddington hasn't really changed, although it has become the place to live

in Australia today, she said. "It's very arty, with galleries." There are

restaurants where there were stores. However, it still has its row houses with

iron railings, she added. "Even then I always loved Paddington."

Her Australian relatives and friends "call us Yanks," Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said.

"We have American accents to them."

Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said she is so happy she and Mrs Hoffmann have met "after

going past her house for 20 years." Each of them finds it strange that in 20

years they never knew anyone who knew the other.

Both women said they know they will continue to learn about memories and

experiences that they have in common. One experience they fully intend to

share is future Australian Day events.

Mrs O'Neill-Weiss said, "We've found each other now, and we know we'll stay

friends."