Joseph Radivoy (May 29, 1921–March 1, 1995)
By Griffin Bixler and Sarah Schneider
Early Life in Middletown, New York
Joseph W. Radivoy was born on May 29, 1921, in Middletown, New York to Joseph and Lillian Radivoy.1 His father, Joseph Radivoy Sr., was born on March 13, 1894 in Austria and immigrated to the United States in 1912 or 1913.2 In the early twentieth century, Austria was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and on the 1920 Census Joseph Sr. is listed as speaking Magyar, another term for Hungarian.3 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, immigration from Austria-Hungary increased greatly “from some 17,000 to 300,000” as one of the “new” countries of origin supplying immigrants to the United States.4 Moreover, a history of Middletown, New York, discusses the “flood of immigration” from Central and Eastern Europe, including from Austria and Hungary, that the city was experiencing in 1908, shortly before Joseph Radivoy Sr.’s immigration.5
Joseph Jr.’s mother, whose maiden name was Lillian Conklin, was born around 1904 in New York.6 Joseph and Lillian Radivoy were married on August 19, 1919.7 Joseph Sr. worked as a chef at the Elks Lodge in Middletown and eventually owned a restaurant called the Eatland.8 Joseph and Lillian had four children: Joseph, Thomas, Dolores, and Robert Radivoy.9 Joseph Jr. and his family attended the First Congregational Church in Middletown.10 In December of 1934 Joseph Sr. passed away, and Lillian may have worked as a waitress in order to have a source of income after her husband’s death.11 Lillian would later remarry.12
Perhaps as a result of his father’s death, in 1940 Joseph Jr. lived with his neighbor, Vernley Lewis, and Lewis’s family.13 Joseph worked as a pin boy at a bowling alley, from which he earned $210 in 1940.14 This is quite low compared to the average income of $956 reported for men in 1940.15 Joseph Radivoy and his family members are often mentioned in their local newspaper, the Middletown Times Herald. An amusing article from March 1941 details how Joseph accidentally allowed Vernley Lewis’s radio to be stolen.16 One evening, Joseph was carrying the radio back to Lewis’s home.17 He wanted to leave the radio in Lewis’s car, which was located in front of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.18 Joseph set the radio on the ground because the car was locked, and he left it there as he went into the church to get the keys.19 By the time he returned, the radio had been stolen.20 Joseph married Shirley Lewis, who was the daughter of Vernley Lewis, though the date of their marriage is unknown.21 On December 12, 1941, Joseph and Shirley Radivoy had a son, William Joseph Radivoy.22
Service in the National Guard and US Army during World War II
Joseph Radivoy briefly served in the National Guard in 1940 and he was assigned to Battery D of the 156th Field Artillery, as is shown here on his New York National Guard Service Card.23 The 156th Field Artillery Regiment has its roots in the early history of the United States and continued to serve the country in the 1940s when Radivoy was in the National Guard.24 Radivoy later enlisted in the US Army between the end of May and middle of June 1943, serving during World War II.25 In early December of 1945, Radivoy was honorably discharged at Fort Dix in New Jersey.26 He had reached the rank of Technician Fifth Grade during his service.27
Joseph’s brother Thomas also served in the US Army during World War II, as is seen here on the 1945 Middletown City Directory, which lists Joseph’s and Thomas’s service.28 Additionally, Joseph’s sister Dolores was in training to be a nurse through the US Cadet Nurse Corps.29 The Cadet Nurse Corps was created during World War II to address a wartime shortage of nurses.30 The program trained new nurses and paid for all of the educational expenses for participating students.31 In return, participants “had to promise to engage in essential military or civilian nursing as long as the war lasted.”32 Dolores Radivoy was admitted to the program on September 8, 1944, meaning that she was still in training when the war ended.33 Military service in the family continued onto the next generation with Joseph’s son William Radivoy later serving in the US Army in the 1960s.34
Post-Service Marriage, Career, and Move to Florida
After the war, Joseph Radivoy returned to Middletown, New York.35 It seems that in May 1946 he was still married to Shirley Lewis based on a newspaper article about their son’s fourth birthday.36 However, in October 1946 he married Dolores Ruth Moore in Middletown, and less than a month later Shirley Lewis Radivoy married Carl Eickmeyer.37 From 1940 to 1960, Joseph Radivoy is listed as working in a variety of occupations, including as a carpenter, salesman, counterman, restaurant worker, and construction worker.38 At some point in his life he owned a restaurant, Joe’s Tavern.39 By 1976, Radivoy ran a hot dog stand in Middletown part-time in addition to “enjoying his retirement.”40 Radivoy’s work as a food vendor and restaurant owner was likely influenced by his father’s career in the restaurant business. He later lived in Rock Hill, NY, and then moved from there to Holiday, Florida, around 1989.41 Radivoy died at his home in Holiday on March 1, 1995.42 He was buried at Wallkill Cemetery in Middletown, NY, and is memorialized at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, FL.43
Endnotes
1 “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, NY.; “New York, New York National Guard Service Cards, 1917-1954,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph W. Radivoy, Middletown, NY.
2 “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.; “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, NY.; “1920 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, New York.
3 “1920 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, New York.
4 Kristofer Allerfeldt, Race, Radicalism, Religion, and Restriction: Immigration in the Pacific Northwest, 1890-1924 (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003), 12-13.
5 Russel Headly, ed., The History of Orange County, New York (Middletown, NY: Van Deusen and Elms, 1908), 425.
6 “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.; “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Lillian Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, NY.
7 “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.
8 “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.; “Announcing the Opening of the Eatland on Tuesday, Dec. 20th,” Middletown Times Herald, December 19, 1927, page 10, Newspaper.com.
9 “Birth of a Daughter,” The Middletown Times Herald, July 10, 1933, page 11, Newspapers.com.; “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.
10 “Churches Add to Rolls from Throngs that Fill Pews at Easter Worship…Program by Children,” The Middletown Times Herald, March 28, 1932, page 12, Newspapers.com.
11 “Deaths and Funerals…Joseph Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 17, 1934, page 3, Newspapers.com.; “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Lillian Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1938.
12 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Lillian Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1945.
13 “1940 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, Orange, NY.
14 Ibid.
15 Linton Weeks, “The 1940 Census: 72-Year-Old Secrets Revealed,” NPR, April 2, 2012, http://www.npr.org/2012/04/02/149575704/the-1940-census-72-year-old-secrets-revealed.
16 “Radio Left Near Church, Vanishes: Radivoy Emerges with Car Keys but Set is Gone,” The Middletown Times Herald, March 26,1941, page 10, Newspapers.com.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1942.
22 “Births Announced,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 12, 1941, page 7, Newspapers.com.; “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for William Radivoy.; “4 Years Old,” The Middletown Times Herald, May 22, 1946, page 6, Newspapers.com.
23 “New York, New York National Guard Service Cards, 1917-1954,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, NY.
24 United States Army, “156 Field Artillery Battalion, unit history,” World War Regimental Histories (Baton Rouge, LA: Army & Navy Publishing Company, 1946), 17, http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/17, 14-15.
25 U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Joseph W. Radivoy, Orange, New York City.; “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy.
26 “Honorable Discharges,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 5, 1945, page 6, Newspapers.com.; “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy.
27 “Honorable Discharges,” The Middletown Times Herald, December 5, 1945, page 6, Newspapers.com.
28 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Lillian Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1945.
29 “U.S., World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Dolores Radivoy, Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing.; “U.S., World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Dolores Radivoy, Long Island College Hospital.
30 Beatrice J. Kalisch and Philip A. Kalisch, “Nurses in American History: The Cadet Nurse Corps – in World War II,” The American Journal of Nursing 76, no. 2 (Feb. 1976): 240-241, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3423810.
31 Ibid., 241.
32 Ibid.
33 “U.S., World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Dolores Radivoy, Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing.; “Dolores Radivoy, Student Nurse, to Wed Mr. Redner,” The Middletown Times Herald, September 24, 1946, page 7, Newspapers.com.
34 “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017) entry for William Radivoy.
35 “Dolores R. Moore Weds Mr. Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, October 22, 1946, page 7, Newspapers.com.
36 “4 Years Old,” The Middletown Times Herald, May 22, 1946, page 6, Newspapers.com.
37 “Dolores R. Moore Weds Mr. Radivoy,” The Middletown Times Herald, October 22, 1946, page 7, Newspapers.com.; “Eickmeyer-Radivoy Bridal Here,” The Middletown Times Herald, November 9, 1946, Newspapers.com.
38 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1942.; “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, NY, 1947.; “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, NY, 1948.; “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown, NY, 1950.; “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 31, 2017), entry for Joseph Radivoy, Middletown; Wallkill; Goshen, NY, 1960.
39 “Obituaries…Radivoy, Joseph W.,” St. Petersburg Times, March 4, 1995, page 11, GenealogyBank.com.
40 “Time Out,” The Times Herald Record, July 15, 1976, page 62, Newspapers.com.
41 “Obituaries…Radivoy, Joseph W.,” St. Petersburg Times, March 4, 1995, page 11, GenealogyBank.com.
42 Ibid.
43 “Joseph W. Radivoy,” Find a Grave, accessed April 20, 2017, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=108784050&ref=acom.;
National Cemetery Administration, "Joseph W. Radivoy," US Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed June 28, 2017, https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/NGLMap?ID=5469094
© 2017, University of Central Florida
