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My mother, Libby Gaffan was born 7/7/1943 in Brooklyn, NY and was the first of 2 children of Milton "Dick" and Fannie "Fay" Gaffan née Weinstein. My grandparents ran a deli "The Cove" which is where my mother met my father, Thomas Cox of Largy Garvary Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Ireland. A Jewish girl from Flushing feel in love & married a Roman Catholic Irish immigrant, 4 times. Which started a running joke in the family that they would need the same number to divorce and if that wasn't enough than truth maybe lie in these 10 words "if you want the divorce then you get the kids!" Thomas Jr., Michael. Brian, Karyn and (me) Susan. My parents eloped 7/29/1962 in Elkton, Md, but my grandmothers were religious in their eyes (and God's) wouldn't recognize them as a married couple. The rabbi married them regardless of my father being Roman Catholic but finding a Catholic priest to was not so easy. They found a chaplain who ministered the vows in a church but it wasn't until the marriage was performed by a Catholic priest that both sides of the family were satisfied. I was told that my father would come in to "The Cove" and order a chocolate soda and buy a pack of Lucky's cigarettes and that's how my parents started out. My dad was a roofer and eventually bought and ran a roofing company with my mother handling the books. Shamrock Roofing Co. was built on my dad's reputation for being a hard working, honest man. The second child of seven (Michael, Thomas, Bridget, Patrick, John, Hugh and Rosaleen) born to Thomas and Rosaleen Cox née Donnelly in N. Ireland my father swore he would make a better life for himself and remarkably shattered the drunken Irishman stereotype by never having a drank a drop of liquor in his life. The promise of a better life grew into wanting a great life for his wife and children. Thomas and Libby Cox moved out to Long Island, bought a house and with the news of a fourth child applied for a job with Fire Department of New York and was accepted into the fire department about the time child #5 was on the way. Thomas and Libby lived in Deer Park, NY until moving to Glendale, AZ in July of 1989 with their oldest son Thomas Jr. and youngest daughter Susan.
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