SIEGEL, Mel (Moishe)

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: teletypewriter operator in the 78th Squadron in New Guinea and the Philippines.
• Education: 1937, graduated from Evander Childers High School, Bronx, NY
• Military: 1943, drafted, Army Air Corps

Mel married MENDELL, Roslyn (Lyn) (Raizel) on 26 Jun 1954 in Las Vegas, NV. Roslyn (daughter of MENDELL, Sam (Simcha) and HERSHFIELD, Elizabeth (Lea)) was born on 16 Jun 1921; died on 20 Jun 2001 in Tuscon, AZ. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. SIEGEL, Richard Samuel was born on 27 May 1955; died on 22 Jun 2018 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
2. SIEGEL, Gail
3. SIEGEL, Robert
4. SIEGEL, Lari

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: auto mechanic

Notes:

From granddaughter Lari Siegel:
Information for Sam Siegel is sketchy at best. He was born 1895 in Moinesti, Romania. On the marriage license, he lists his parents as Luis Siegel and Ida Botler. Mel of course, insisted his paternal grandparents were Edith Sugarman and Kalman Segal. Again, this contradicts the other primary sources.
Moinesti was a small town the size of Amenia, New York. Now, if you've been paying attention, and I know that you have, that's small. If you wanted action, you had to go to Pietra Neamt.
Whoever Mel's paternal grandparents were, they supposedly died in the great flu pandemic. The Segals probably arrived in New York between 1912 and 1915. Sam had several siblings and somewhere along the way, they changed their name from Segal to Siegel.
Sam, who worked as an iron worker, was drafted and served in the Great War where he was injured in France. A survey of American Jews who served in the war states he held the rank of First Class Private, entering the Army October 1917. He was a machine gunner for 11 months in the Toul Sector, St. Mihiel, and the Muse Argonne. He was wounded in the right leg October 7, 1918 and was sent to the American Hospital Base 26.
Between the shooting and ducking Sam found time to collect coins.

Married life was bumpy for Goldie and Sam and this is how Mel learned Yiddish. For you never shout in front of the children but if you have to, do it in a foreign language.
September 1926, found the Siegels with another son, Jerome. Trust me, I wish he was THE Jerry Siegel from Cleveland who co-created Superman. But, it was not to be. This Jerry Siegel grew up, had two kids, lived in Queens, smoked cigars, and worked in the rag business in New York.

Sam married GREENBERG, Goldie on 4 Jun 1922. Goldie (daughter of GREENBERG, Elias (Abraham Hillel) and BERLIANT, Anna "Lisa") was born on 23 Sep 1895 in Galati, Romania; died on 9 Nov 1951. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: milliner

Notes:

From Lari Siegel, Goldie's granddaughter:
Goldie Greenberg was fun and adventurous. She bobbed her hair, liked to go dancing, swooned over movie stars, and like the rest of the female population, was crushed when Rudolph Valentino died. And, when she saw an attractive gentleman would remark, "He can put his shoes under my bed."
She had attended a Lutheran school in Romania where she learned French and German. So whilst her father was working at the bus company, I assume repairing the carriages the horses used to chauffeur the multitudes of New Yorkers, Goldie change her name. Instead of Greenberg, which translates to Green Mountain, she was known for a period as Vermont, which of course means, Green Mountain. Goldie Greenberg was definitely born in the wrong decade.
One day her mother, who shall remain nameless, was cleaning or nosing around -- who's to say. Hidden in one of Goldie's drawers was a marriage license to one Samuel Siegel. The marriage was bad enough, but the fact that it wasn't performed by a Rabbi was too much for whatís her name.
Subsequently, a proper Jewish wedding occurred June 4, 1922 to ease the shame and restore honor.

Moses married SUGARMAN, Edith (Ida). Edith was born on 15 May 1868; died on 25 Jan 1919. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: blacksmith

Elias married BERLIANT, Anna "Lisa". Anna was born about 1870; died in 1928 in New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]