Hello Everyone. I was born in St.
Michael's Hospital on November 29, 1941 at 7:05pm. My parents were Helen (nee
Tighe) and Julius Herman Spohn. My Baptism names were Julius John (John after
both my mother and father's brothers) Spohn. My confirmation name is Francis -
therefore I am Julius John Francis Spohn. WOW!!!
Lived most of my early life on South
Orange Avenue and 12th Street. Went to St. Antoninus Grammar School (1948-1956).
Went to St. James High School (down neck) (1956-1960). Went into the Marine
Corps in 1960 till 1966. Was a body guard for President and Mrs. Kennedy on
their trip to Mexico in June of 1962. Then left to work at the American Embassy
in Seoul, Korea, as a Marine Security Guard. Came back to the states in 1965 and
then went on a Marine Expedition to help save the Dominican Republic in 1965.
Got out of the Marine Corps in 1966
and began working for National Newark and Essex bank at 744 Broad Street as a
"securities trader" in the Trust Dept from 1967 to 1970. In 1970 went to work
for Merrill Lynch on Wall Street as a securities trader. I specialized in
foreign stocks (American Depository Receipts - ADR's). Was with Merrill till
1978 and then went to work for Prudential Bache till 1981. In 1981 went to work
for another Wall Street firm trading Canadian stocks. We went into the Recession
of 1982 and from then till 1986 I worked, got laid off, worked, got laid off,
etc. till I once again went back to work for Merrill in 1986. Market crashed in
1987 and same nonsense taking place all over Wall Street. In 1990 Merrill laid
off a bunch of people again and I decided it was time to leave Wall Street for
good.
Graduated from Rutgers/Newark in 1977
with a BA in Economics and did my graduate work in Economics at The New School
in Manhattan.
Decided to change careers in 1990
after all of the turmoil on Wall Street and took a year off and went to nursing
school at Bergen Pines County Hospital in Paramus. Graduated and am now a nurse
in the Intensive Care Unit at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Manhattan.
Turn 62 in November and am trying to decide whether I'll retire this year or
wait for another three till I'm 65. Still feel good and love my job so I will
probably stay till 65.
Lived in Newark, Marine Corps travels
(Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea, Dominican Republic), Newark, Manhattan,
Jersey City, Richmond, VA, and finally back to Newark. That's it. No more
moving.
I love to travel. Just got back from
Paris. Have been to Mexico, Canada, Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas,
London, Rome, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Basel, Salzburg, and a few smaller places.
Looking forward to going to China, Russia, and Ireland in the next few years.
My great grandparents Owen Carlin and
Ann Comiskey, and Cornelius Tighe and Bridget Heffernan all came from Ireland
around 1850 during the time of the Potato Famine when there was plenty of food
and livestock being produced in Ireland but it was all being shipped back to
England and where over one million Irish men and women died from starvation and
over two million Irish men and women left Ireland forever and came to America.
These were on my mother's side. On my father's side Franz August Spohn and
Annelise Vogt both came from Neckarsulm, Germany, met and married here in Newark
around 1865. All four great-grandparents settled and raised their children here
in Newark.
My great-grand-father Owen Carlin was
one of the first six policemen here in Newark - 1860's till the 1890's - and was
the leading Democrat in the old 10th Ward for twenty years before he died in
1893. His daughter (my grandmother) Ann Carlin married John T. Tighe (son of
Cornelius). John T. Tighe was also a policeman here in Newark from 1880 till he
died in 1910. His son, my uncle John C. Tighe was also on the old Salvage Corps
in the early 1920's and then he too became a policeman in the mid 1920's till he
died while serving as the Treasurer of the Newark PBA.
As you can see, my family's roots and
contributions to this great city of Newark go back a long time - over a century
and a half.
Almost all of my family are buried up
at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, which is where I too will be buried when the time
comes - but not ready to go just yet.
Well there you have it - my life in a
nutshell. I am so very happy to be living back here in Newark again. Who said
you can't go home again? I HAVE RETURNED!!!
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