I Believe – My Values

    Our family life in Frenchburg was most enjoyable. Charlotte’s parents lived down the street and greatly enjoyed the grandchildren. Charlotte’s father, Kash Williams, passed in 1981. Charlotte’s mother was a great help to us and attended almost all of our kid’s sports and school activities.  Charlotte’s Aunt Olive also was close to the family, as well as her Aunts, BoBo and Anno. Charlotte and I and the kids would usually go to the beach in North Carolina for summer vacation with Aunt Dot and family. We lived in an old renovated home on Back Street in Frenchburg which had been owned by Clay Williams, Charlotte’s grandfather. This is the home where the kids grew up. In the year 2000, we built a beautiful new home on US 460 up the hill from Frenchburg.  We had an 11 acre farm on which we had cattle for part of the year. The home was popular with family and friends and many holidays were enjoyed there. It was great country living. In 2016 we sold the house and bought a home in Ohio in 2017, where now we reside. We have enjoyed being near to our daughter, Sarah and her family. We have attended many of the school and sporting events of our grandsons. We also travel to South Carolina to see son John, wife Melanie and granddaughters, Lincoln and CJ. We enjoy visiting our son, Will in Louisville, Kentucky. Many trips to Churchill Downs have been most enjoyable! We have also enjoyed traveling with Will.                                                                      This sums up a brief family history of the Nefzger side of the family. The Williams family history has been written by Charlotte. Happy trails to all!

     I was born November 19, 1945, at Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, NJ.  The family lived in Hackensack, NJ.  We lived in the same home for all the years I grew up.  The address was 448 Colonial Terrace.  We lived in a nice but modest home with a nice backyard.  My first memory is of a swing set in the yard and Mom hanging laundry outside.  I have a faint memory of my grandparents visiting the home.                                                                        I went to first grade at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic school in 1951.  As previously mentioned, I was taught by very strict Nuns.  Some grades would be taught by lay teachers.  We wore uniforms and were well taught in all subjects. My main activities were Little League baseball in Hackensack and Boy Scouts associated with my school.  I went to two summer camps with the scouts which I enjoyed immensely.  After grade school I attended one year of Junior High at State Street Junior High and then to Hackensack High School. My high school was staffed with a roster of truly great teachers. I played varsity Soccer and Tennis in High School and started as midfielder in Soccer. We played in the NJ State Tournament and lost in the second round. I was not a good tennis player, but lettered nevertheless. I did well enough in school to score high in the SAT and got accepted by the University of Vermont, U Maine and later Notre Dame. I enrolled at UVM.                         In the fall of 1963, I moved into the freshman dorm at UVM, Burlington, VT. While at school I played Varsity Soccer and lettered in 1964, which was Vermont’s first Varsity team. Sixty years later they became National Champs! It being 2025, I am glad I got to see that happen! I was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and received a Second Lieutenant Commission upon graduating in 1967. I participated as a Kake Walker in UVM Winter Carnival. I graduated in 1867 with a BA in Political Science with a minors in History and Sociology. My college years were filled with good times and memories and I applied to several law schools in the South. The area was attractive to me and I gave it a shot. I got on the waiting lost a William and Mary Law School and was accepted at the University of Kentucky School of Law. I obtained a graduate school deferment from the U.S. Army, which required me to go into the service after law school. In 1970, shortly after I graduated from law school, I received an option letter whereby I could do Army Reserve duty for six years after graduating from Armor School at Fort Knox KY. I chose to do that and after fulfilling my reserve duty I received my honorable discharge from the military. My mother passed away in 1970 while I was attending law school. She died from breast cancer. Her death affected my sister and me greatly. She came to the U.S. with nothing and worked hard. She dedicated her life to her family and was a kind a person as you could ever meet.  She met Charlotte shortly before she passed and said she was beautiful, which she was and still is!   I met Charlotte on a blind date. My good friend Larry Webster and his girlfriend, Cheryl Davidson, knew Charlotte. Charlotte and Cheryl lived in Hamilton House, a co-op living house on UK campus. Charlotte and I went to see a Steve McQueen movie, “Bullitt” and continued dating thereafter. The year was 1969. We were engaged in 1970 and married July 10, 1971. Charlotte is a daughter of the American Revolution and has documented her own family history. Charlotte and I were blessed with to have three children: John Clay (1972), William Danile (1974), and Sarah Allene (1977).                                                      My first job as a lawyer on the legal staff of the Kentucky Department of Revenue in 1971. Then a worked as a staff attorney for the City of Lexington. That year, I made a major decision to move the family to Frenchburg, Ky, Charlotte’s hometown. I engaged in private practice there and in 1981 was elected Menifee County Attorney. I held the position until 2006. I enjoyed the community and coached baseball and soccer for many years. I was a member of the Frenchburg Lions Club and served as its President for a year. Charlotte worked as a first-grade teacher and later a Reading Recovery teacher for 27 years. She retired in 2009. I engaged in private practice from 2006 until a retired again in 2016.  It would take many pages to relate my time as county attorney! A novel could be written about that experience. I can only say I learned much about human nature and strived to do the best I could to keep the people of my county safe. Hopefully, my contributions to county government and community development had some value. coaching the youth of the county was also immensely rewarding. The contributions made by Charlotte as an educator were also of great value to the community. She gave equal attention to all of her students regardless of economic or social status. Many of her students achieved great success in later life. This is enough to be said for family history.

     I first remember my sister during my elementary school years. Dorothy was six years ahead of me in school, so I have very little memory of that time. I do remember when Dorothy attended High School as I have related previously. Dorothy “Dot” always had a great sense of humor and we still have hilarious moments to this day!  We have always been close.  When Dot went to High School she would hang out with her friends at a place called “Hoddys”. I think it was a place like you would see on the “Happy Days” TV show. I am sure she has great memories of those times. I really missed my sister when she went to college.                                                                                                                          After college Dot wound up in Philadelphia living with roommates from Immaculata College.  There she met John “Pete” Byrne. They married in November 1963 when I was a Freshmen at UVM. Their wedding was a great time with many relatives, friends, and neighbors in attendance! Unfortunately, President Kennedy was assassinated a few days later.                                                                                                                                 Dot and Pete had three children: Gregory, Kevin, and Brenden. Gregory and Sherry Byrne have one daughter named MichaelAnn. Kevin and Kelly Byrne have two daughters: Lily and Rosie. Brenden Byrne and Kirstin Job Byrne have one daughter, Anika. The Byrnes lived in a beautiful home in Springfield PA. Pete had a successful career with the State of Delaware and Dot also had a great job as a lab tech at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.                                                                                                                        The Nefzgers and the Byrnes would go to Holden Beach NC most every summer and have a great time! Charlotte and Dot became great friends over the years to this day. Pete and John were also buddies. Unfortunately, Pete passed away in September 2007. Dot is now retired. Greg and Brenden are both Country Club mangers with emphasis on Golf Course and infrastructure responsibilities. Kevin is a production manager at Fox News in New York City. He has covered political conventions and other high profile events. Our respective families have had many great times together over the years.                              

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     Our family took a two or three week summer vacation every year. We would take a 300 mile car trip to the Thousands Islands on the St Lawrence River. We rented the same cabin every year on the Lake of The Isles on Wellesley Island. We were a mile or so away from the Canadian border. The cabin was a fishing cabin with no insolation or hot running water. However, we loved it there and spent a lot of time running in the woods or swimming. I always preferred the country to the city, so I was in seventh heaven. Dad fished every day and Mom watched the kids and cooked. Although she still had to do mother type things, she also got to enjoy the outdoors. She especially enjoyed our day trips to Canada.  Our home life was pretty much typical of those days. Dad went to work, Dorothy and I went to school and Mom stayed home. Briefly, Dorothy went to Holy Trinity Elementary School and later to Holy Trinity High School. I went to Our Lady Queen of Peace Elementary in Maywood, NJ. I later went to Hackensack High School. Queen of Peace was run by Filippini Nuns from Itay. They were very strict and able educators. I often say I look German, but think like an Italian! Holy Trinity High School was a failing institution when Dorothy went there, but she had many friends and enjoyed her time there. When she went to Immaculata College, she caught up with her education and successfully completed her Biology degree. My time at Hackensack High, “HHS”, was very rewarding. I grew about a foot and became involved as a soccer player and played in the NJ State Tournament! I did very well in my studies and got accepted at the University of Vermont. Our parents always emphasized academics and it paid off. Overall, we had a happy home life!  There is a difference of five years in age between Dorothy and myself, but we have always remained close. We both enjoyed our family during the holidays, especially Christmas. We enjoyed our gifts and the “grab bag” Dad would bring home from the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce. It was filled with logoed notebooks, pencils, pens, and other everyday items. Summers were hot in mosquito filled in NJ. We obviously had no air-conditioning at that time. Mom cooked great American, German and Italian food! The family was well fed! Dad worked hard and came home at 6:00. I was a typical 1950’s lifestyle.

     It is now time to talk about Mother. Bertha Raith was born near Kotzting Germany on January 1, 1912.  She was the daughter of Wolfgang and Anna Raith.  I know little about Mother’s parents. (Hereinafter referred to as “Mom”.  Wolfgang was a veteran of World War One. He served in the German Army.  I know nothing of his service record.  Anna was a housewife and mother.  Mom had several brothers and sisters. Mom was a small child during the war. She did remember the poverty and hunger the children suffered during the war. She had a brother named Thomas, who died at a young age, but I don’t know when. Mom only went to eight grades of schooling. She may have worked as a domestic for rich people as a teenager. At age seventeen Mom immigrated to the U.S. The year was 1929. she was probably sponsored by her sisters, Fanny and Marie. I know nothing of the time Mom spent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where her sisters lived. Mom went to New York City, where she had friends. They were named Helen and Katie. I don’t know how she met them. She most likely met them on the ship when she came over. Mother spoke often about ow she liked NYC. She worked for Jewish people as a nanny for several years. She took their two boys to see many New York sights and shows etc. Mom’s employers liked her. They owned a laundry business and provided her free laundry service after she married.                                               Mom met Dad in the late 1930’s and they married in 1938. Mom had been introduced to Dad by my Aunt Theresa who knew Mom’s friend Katie. Theresa was married to Adolf’s half brother, Fred Wittmann. Mom and Dad honeymooned in Washington DC. After marriage the couple lived with Dad’s parents. My sister, Dorothy, was born January 22, 1940. Things got crowded and Dad bought a house in Hackensack, NJ in 1943 during World War II. Dad had a deferment while working in the war industry. His factory made bullet chains and a piece of the Atom Bomb! He said Generals would visit the factory. The Hackensack home, 448 Colonial Terrace was our only family home until Mom passed in 1970.                                    Grandma and Grandpa would visit on weekends. Grandpa planted several fruit trees on his visits. He loved the home, which at that time a county atmosphere. Mom liked to garden and can. The New Jersey soil was rich and black and everything grew well. Mom was very close to her two children and cared to us in every way. Mother was a voracious reader and could read a novel in no time! She had an accent but spoke good English. She said she learned English by going to the movies! Both my parents loved jokes and laughter. Our neighbor, Art Clark, was a great storyteller and would tell Dad jokes when he came home from work. Dad would be sitting on the porch and just roar with laughter. All the neighbors could hear him laugh.

    Grandma was from Hamburg, Germany. She was born in 1881. My only memory about her background was that she worked as a domestic for a public official. I don’t know how she met grandpa. I know she followed him to the U.S. She spoke very little English and suffered with arthritis. My mother told me she had difficulty adjusting to her new country. She was always kind to my sister and when we visited her and Grandpa in their Union City apartment in the 1950’s. She was a great cook of German food which my sister loved and I didn’t. The apartment was cramped and hot and I was always glad when our visit ended. Grandma passed away on around 1965. She had a  tremendous influence on my father as I will discuss next.

     Hans Nefzger, hereinafter referred to as “Dad”, was born on January 26, 1910 in Hoboken NJ. Since Grandpa was away on ships, Dad spent his infant years alone with Grandma. Dad grew up a happy child based on what he told me over the years.  He lived in the city and had many childhood friends. He suffered prejudice during World War One.  He told me that he was mocked by a teacher in his classroom and given soiled books. At that time, he was just seven or eight years old. It left a scar he never forgot. I know this, because he told me so many times. Over the years, I have come to realize what prejudice does to folks of every race, color and creed.                                                                          On a lighter note, Dad overcame the difficulties of growing up in an immigrant family.      Dad was able to see humor in everyday life.  He knew human nature well.  However, when it came to school, he was all business!  Evidently, Grandma and Grandpa valued education, because they paid for his college education. Grandpa had money at times but seemed to lose it on bad business deals.  Sometime in the 1920’s the Nefzgers went to visit relatives in Germany.  Dad mentioned the hyperinflation they had there.  At sometime Grandpa supposedly bought property in Germany jointly with a relative and later swindled out of it.

     Dad flourished in college and loved Engineering.  He commuted to the campus and studied at home.  It would get noisy in the apartment and Grandpa supposedly put a broom handle through the ceiling trying to get the neighbors above to shut up!  Dad played some soccer in college, but he stopped playing due to study demands. Dad graduated in 1932 high in his class. Unfortunately, the Depression had hit and Dad could not find a job.  He told me worked in his father’s deli sweeping floors.  Based on what Dad related to me, it was a time of humiliation.  Later on, Dad got his first job at American Machine and Foundry Company.  I don’t know what he did there, but evidently there was a machine with a conveyer with cigarettes on it.  Dad and other would help themselves!  Later in the Thirties.  Dad got an engineering job as Chief Engineer at New Jersey Machine Corporation. Dad became plant manager of the company.                                                                                  Dad was very intelligent. He spoke fluent German.  He learned the language as child, because his mother preferred her native language.  Dad learned German before he learned English.  However, Dad said English was always one of his favorite subjects in school. Dad never took risks, financial of otherwise. The Depression made him wary of putting money in anything but a savings account.  Dad was devoted to his job and held it until retirement. At work, Dad dealt with Union negotiations. As management, would wrangle over new contracts with the workers.  Then he would come home and tell how he liked Unions, because a new contract meant his salary would go up! Upper management would pressure Dad to ship machine orders quickly.  He always sought their acceptance, but never got it.  He worked in the trenches and was respected by the workers on the factory floor. There was only one strike during the many years he worked. If a worker was sick, he would personally bring them their check. Dad was a very honest man. He would mention vendors trying to bribe him with gifts, which he would refuse. However, Dad did buckle under one time. He got tired of workers playing the numbers game once a week when someone would some in the plant and take lottery chances for a fee. Dad closed it down, but was followed home by Mafia types! The numbers returned to the factory. Home and family life will be discussed later.

     It is important, in my estimation, that future generations be provided with some information about their ancestors.  Accordingly, I will attempt to provide a summary which will hopefully bring life to the folks upon whose shoulders we sit.  My sister Dorothy and I happen to be the last links on our side of the family who personally knew the first Nefzger arrivals to America.  So I will start with the Nefzger-Raith story first, to be followed by the Williams narrative, which goes back to the pioneers in Kentucky and the American Revolution.  Some of what is to be stated is factual and based on memory and some is based on anecdotal information which may bring these folks to life!  Hopefully this story will not get to boring.  Some things will be left out, because of the need for brevity. The high points will be hit.  So here we go!  

We were living on Macon Road in Tecumseh when  you were born.  Finally settled in to our house and made a few friends.  Aunt Glor was getting married in April and we were having a shower for her.  I was in charge of the invitations.  Tuesday, March 14,  early rise and making out the last ones,  suddenly having a few pains and I was realizing today would be Kele’s birthday.  Better hurry up and get them done.

I had picked out your name and your dad said ok to the name Kelly.  In the news at that time there was a soccer star named Pele and I thought that would be a great way to spell your name.  You would be the only Kele with a cool spelling.  As for Jane, I like that for a simple second name. We could the call you KJ.  In those days it wasn’t the best time for women and If we called you KJ you could go more places if people thought you were a man. People were biased back then about women – hiring, colleges, etc. I wanted you to have all the possibilities.

I called a good Jaycee friend to see if she could watch Lizy and Julie while I went to my scheduled Dr. appointment.  When I got to her house, I was having more pains and she didn’t want me to drive.  I think she was afraid I would have you at her house.  She called dad at work and he came to take me to Onsted for the appt.  Dr. Armovit said to go to the hospital and he would meet us there.

It was about 12:30 by then.  While we were there,  Janice came in to visit me,  she had just finished her shift and saw that I had come in.  I remember I had a window room and it was a little cloudy outside, a good day to stay inside with a new baby.  All of a sudden the pains came faster and we went right to the delivery room.  Dad came in too.  When we first saw you,  there was a lot of crying, you and me.  I was happy to see you.  I thought you were probably cold or needed to be snuggled. So the nurse hurried up so I could hold you.  I know dad was hoping for a boy, but you were so cute,  we loved you so much.  It was 3:27 in the afternoon and our family was complete.  

Dad brought Lizy and Julie up to see you the next day.  They could only see you through the nursery window and they just wanted

to touch you.  We will love you forever!

love you,   mom