Grannan Family History; Leo J. Grannan Family

Leo James Grannan, 1884-1970

Many thanks to Peggy Grannan (Leo's granddaughter) for much of this information.

Leo James Grannan was the oldest of Patrick E and Bridget Grannan's 13 children (11 that survived infancy). He was born 25 Mar 1884 and died 7 Feb 1970. He received his confirmation from Bishop Chatard according to "History of The Catholic Church in Indiana", page 653-654. He married Mary W. Kroeger on 17 May 1910 and they had nine children.

Mary Kroeger passed away 17 May 1933 (another source says 8 June 1933) at the age of 43, and Leo married Elizabeth Donahue 15 Feb 1936.

Vincent (Leo's younger brother) and Leo J. Grannan

Pictured below is the gravestone of Mary Kroeger and her son Leo Patrick, who passed away at the age of 24.

Leo Grannan and Mary Kroeger had six children (plus six who died in infancy):

Elizabeth Grannan. According to Donald W. Grannan, she graduated from WCHS in 1951 and was a nun at St. Paul retirement community in South Bend, IN

Esther M. Grannan 21 May 1911 - 1990. She married Henry J. Stumpp in 1933. Henry Stumpp died in 1959 and Esther died in 1990.

Leo Patrick Grannan 11 Dec 1913 - 11 Jan 1938. Died at the age of 24.

Robert H. Grannan 16 Mar 1916 - 9 Nov 1995. He married Marjorie K. Wilson, and they had 4 children.

Paul Edward Grannan 18 Jul 1918 - 25 May 1990. He married Charlotte Marian Banks (29 Dec 1919 - 21 Jun 1980) on 18 Nov 1938, and they had 5 children. Paul was injured in the Army Air Corps in WW II and served in the Civil Service in Georgia afterwards. (Pictures below courtesy of Peggy Grannan).

Regina Catherine Grannan: 8 Nov 1920 - 1 May 2003
Regina graduated from Washington Catholic HS Class of 1938 and married Steve Lech on 28 Nov 1946 in St Simon’s Church in Washington, Indiana.

Steve Lech was born 21 Dec 1918 in Crompton, Rhode Island, and passed away 24 Nov 1998 after a battle with lung cancer in Dayton, Ohio.

He was from New Jersey, but I don’t know what he was doing in Washington IN. Possibly something connected with the railroad?

Lech graduated from New Brunswick (NJ) High School in 1938. He was a World War II veteran having served with the 53rd Ammunition Ordnance Company as well at 989th Ordnance Company that helped to build the AlCan Highway. He retired from the General Services Administration, Bayonne, N.J. in 1980 with 35 years of federal government service in assignments at Bayonne, Belle Mead, Raritan Arsenal, Philadelphia and New York.

He was a Middlebush Volunteer Fire Department life member. He was also the department's first Santa and performed his holiday ride for 18 years before passing the suit and tradition to others. He was a founding parishioner of St. Matthias Church in Somerset, N.J., where he was a Holy Name Society, Ushers Board and Bingo Team One member. He was a Past Grand Knight of the Third Degree, Knight of Columbus, George Washington Assembly #659, Somerville, N.J. member.

After his retirement, Steve and Regina moved to Port Charlotte, FL. And, after 18 years in Florida, they moved to Dayton Ohio and lived there until their deaths. At the time of his death, Steve Lech was a member of the Charlotte County Elks Lodge #2153, American Legion Post #110; Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge #2121; National Association of Retired Federal Employees Chapter 754, all of Port Charlotte; Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 8025, the Ukrainian National Association and St. Matthias Council #9925 of the Knight of Columbus, Somert, N.J. He was currently a parishioner at Church of the Incarnation, Centerville, Ohio.

Regina also passed away in Dayton, Ohio on 1 May 2003. Both are buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Middlebush NJ.

In addition to these children, Leo and Mary also had 6 children that did not survive infancy. With information from Peggy Grannan, I searched St John's Cemetery in Washington, Indiana for quite some time and eventually found three of the graves. We used pocket knives to clear the grass and dirt away from the grave stones, found:

Agnes L. Grannan 1922

Dorothy Grannan 1926

Eileen Grannan 1931

Pictured here is "The Grannan Men". The only identifications made so far are that they are all Grannans, and the second from the left is LEO JAMES GRANNAN.