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Written by William and Arthur Stecklow  - Page 1 of 3

On January 16, 1915, Lillian Wolf was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father Max was a haberdasher.  I remember this because when I was growing up, my Mom would tell me, that grandpa and President Truman both made hats. My Grandma Fannie worked in a store, but I cannot recall what she actually did. My Aunt Mollie and my mother Lil, were like twins. They were close in age and growing up they were best of friends even though personality wise they were complete opposites. Mollie did was she was suppose to do and Lil did what she wanted to do. They both dated and married male (Tom Stecklow and Morris Kline) friends from a Brooklyn Boys Club.

My father Tom was a tall good-looking strong young man with broad shoulders. My mother was a beautiful petite woman.  They made some handsome couple. They did not have a real wedding. Neither side was thrilled with them getting married to each other. The world was in a depression and my father was working for WPA. Luckily for us and for STECKLOW.COM, they did not listen to their folks and got married.

They first lived in an apartment house, which is what I’ve been told. And moved to Remsen Avenue, an attached 3-story block house in Brooklyn in 1939. This house had a stoop. I remember because in 1951, when “The shot heard around the world” happened, I almost jumped off the stoop (For the young - Bobby Thompson’s Home Run). My father could not afford this house but I am told that my mom Lil pushed him into buying it. My father was always a hard worker but the pusher was Lil. She always wanted the best for herself and her children and Tom gave that to all of us.

1955 was a great year for Brooklyn - finally it was THE NEXT YEAR – no more “wait till next year – we beat the Yankees and won our first World Series. But for me it was a down year. I was Bar Mitvahed, but My Grandpa Max was not there, he passed away the summer before. And I was forced to leave my beloved Brooklyn and go to the suburbs with the rest of the migration.

Lil and Tom were the old folks on the block. Living in Furth Road was like living in a palace, I had to share a room with only Art. Marty had his own room. Elaine was married and lived in an apartment house in Brooklyn with Abe.  Lil and Tom started taking us to Miami beach every winter vacation. Again Mom made sure we stayed at the best hotel we could afford. With the migration came new schools, churches and hospitals. These buildings all had stone on them. Tom started to make more money and my mother Lil started spending more money.   Diamond Lil was born.

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