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West Side twins celebrate their 90th birthdays
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
YOUNGSTOWN
In the past 90 years, twins Kathleen McGinnis and Madeline Miller have never wanted for a friend.
They had each other.
“We’ve always been close,” McGinnis said.
Even today, the nonagenarians — who were born April 16, 1924, to Mary and Joseph Donnelly and just celebrated their 90th birthdays — live just two houses apart on the city’s West Side.
They stay busy, too, frequently going shopping or out to lunch, or playing cards and gambling — the latter being one of their favorite pursuits.
“We’re still active,” Miller said. “And we do it together.”
Family has long been important to McGinnis and Miller, who were two of eight siblings. The twins fell somewhere in the middle of the bunch, with three older sisters and a brother, and two younger sisters; from oldest to youngest, their siblings are Mary Rita, Joe, Alice, Anna, Loretta and Patricia.
Both McGinnis and Miller said they have only the fondest memories of growing up in a large family in Youngstown, where they’ve lived all their lives, and can recall always getting along with the others.
“I never remember a fight,” McGinnis said.
Miller added that the close relationship among the siblings likely grew out of a deep respect for their mother, who single-handedly raised the children after their father, a salesman for the Continental Baking Co., died. All eight siblings graduated from Chaney High School — the twins in 1942.
McGinnis and Miller said when they were growing up, they’d often walk down to the “big Isaly’s” to get ice cream or to Mill Creek Park to play, and that they frequented the numerous dance places in the city, including Idora Park’s dance hall.
Both agreed that they’d seen a lot of changes in the city during their lifetime, and even in the neighborhood they still call home. But even though neighbors have come and gone, they’ve always been good ones, they said.
The two said they look forward to annual family reunions, and that they’ve kept close to them memories of the many gatherings with their siblings. Miller, who married her late husband, Ernest, in 1948, has two children and three granddaughters. McGinnis married her husband, Harry, in 1967.
Among the many members of the twins’ family is Struthers Police Chief Tim Roddy.
Though Roddy is McGinnis and Miller’s great-nephew, he said the two became more like grandmothers to him, as his maternal grandmother — their sister, Mary Rita — had died before he was born. He can recall regularly visiting the “family home,” which has been in the family for decades and is where McGinnis lives, while growing up.
Roddy added that the two still are “full of life,” and that they don’t at all seem to be in their 10th decade. He’s not sure what their secret is, but he thinks it has to do with their “being caring and being happy,” and not letting “the bad things get them down.”
“I hope to live as well and as long as they do,” Roddy said. “They’ve got some good genes that, hopefully, were passed on to me, too.”
McGinnis and Miller couldn’t pinpoint the cause of their longevity, either, but offered up some advice.
“Enjoy life,” McGinnis said. “You’re only here a short time.”
“Ours is a long time,” Miller chimed in.
McGinnis had the last word: “But it went fast!”