Married Life of Rosemary Donohue & RHM

'47 – Dick was President of Ramonett Ford in Hatboro, PA since 1947, according to his "Army Reserve Officer's Qualification and Availability Questionnaire".

Sept '47 – A want ad for auto mechanics at Edward T Ramonett Ford has Dick as contact; said pay for 5½ day week would be $54.65 ($773.44 in 2025; annualized to $40,218).

Jul '49 – Dick buys a 0.82 carat diamond for Rosemary's engagement ring at R. O'Lessker on Samson St.

Oct '49 – Dick and Rosemary get their blood tests on 11 Oct and get married on 22 Oct, a Saturday, at Immaculate Conception Church in Jenkintown, PA, Rosemary's parish. Since Dick is not a Catholic (baptized Episcopal; his parents belonged to Abington Presbyterian Church), she gets Dispensation and they are married in the Rectory. It seems from photo groupings that Edward Ramonett, Dick's boss, is best man and Madeline McKeon Boylan (from Elkins Park; went to Cheltenham HS, class of '44. Likely met at Supplee) is the maid of honor. None of the wedding photos contain any of Dick's family. Dick's address was 220 S York Rd, Hatboro; Rosemary's was that of her parent's.

''49 – It is thought that Dick and Rosemary had a place at 1820 Lycoming Ave (parallel to Old York Rd) in Abington. They then moved to the 1801 Old York Rd apartment. From there, it is believed they next moved into 2525 Ball Rd, Willow Grove in 1958. The Lutheran Church on Lycoming Ave purchased the 1820 Lycoming property as it abutted its property and they needed more land. Dick frequently commented that the property had a heated garage and driveway, which was nice in the winter.

May '50 – 1950 Federal Census has Dick as sales manager at "Boyer (a bit difficult to read) and Sons". This makes no sense as he is at the Ford dealers since '47 and he doesn't leave there till after Oct '55; likely a census taker error. Rosemary is a secretary at Supplee Milk in Jenkintown. Can find nothing on Boyer & Sons. It looks like they were living at 1801 Old York Road in Willow Grove (2nd floor of a funeral home, may have been Kraft's); now its a Craft-Givnish funeral home.

Jun '50 – Edward T Ramonett, owner of Ramonett Ford, dies suddenly at the age of 40. He is survived by Edna C, his wife. He was a member of the Hatboro Lions Club, Oak Terrace Country Club, and was a Mason (Dick's father, grand-mother, brother, and sister-in-law were also Masons). His home was at 100 Fairview Ave, Hatboro. His estate was valued at $68,701.53 ($899,670 in 2025); half of which went to Edna C, his wife; $2,000 to a Gertrude Fiskits, and the rest in trust for "Sarah P Ramonett, Nancy Hamilton, and Frances Keighley".

'50s – Abington High School classmates Don A and Kathryn D Hendrie and Gordan and Hope Stott visited Dick and Rosemary at their new home.

'50s Gordon runs Stott Oil company; used to deliver heating oil in 55 gallon drums till he expanded to tank trucks. He and Hope have a 127-acre property in Wrightstown Township that had a house, a chapel, a barn, a small plane hanger, and other out buildings as well as a grass landing strip for his plane.

Oct '53 – A Ramonett Ford mechanic want ad has Dick as the employer's contact.

'55 – Don Hendrie opens "Town & Country One-Hour" dry cleaning at 31 N Old York Rd in Willow Grove.

Jun '55 – Perhaps due to the lack of Edward's guidance after his death, the Ramonett business corporation is legally dissolved in Pennsylvania, thus spelling the end for the Ford dealership. It is unknown when Dick stopped working there but obviously not after Jun '55. In Oct '62, the Ramonett Ford building is sold for $60,000. It will become a billiard shop. Nothing further is found on the Ramonetts.

May '55e – IM Jarrett and Sons Dodge was in business in Hatboro since 1947. A newspaper article has Dick working there roughly from May '55 to assumably when he starts his career as an insurance agent with Aetna in May '56.

May '56 – Dick graduates from the "Aetna Life Career Course" from Aetna Life Insurance company. Presumed he was in their employee and was no longer at IM Jarrett & Sons. Dick used to say when the situation merited it: "No man has endurance like a man who sells insurance."

'58 – Dick and Rosemary have a house custom-built by Ceneviva builders at 2525 Ball Road, Willow Grove, PA . The home is 2,596 sq ft with four bedrooms and 2.5 baths on about a half acre.

May '60e – A concrete in-ground swimming pool is installed at Ball Road by Johnson Pools.

May '63 – Dick was hired by Chrysler Corporation, Dodge Division. Only one document shows the earliest date of Dick's employment at Chrysler: 1963, he likely was hired earlier. His first office was likely in the Manoa Shopping Center; then relocated to 301 City Line Ave, Bala Cynwyd, PA, with the last move to 555 City Line Ave, an 11-story office building built in 1964. While at Chrysler, Dick held a number of positions:

• District Manager: Sales and service of Southern New Jersey and Trenton dealers
• City Manager: Sales and service of City of Philadelphia dealers
• Distribution Manager: Responsible for the processing, scheduling, and shipping of cars and trucks for the Philadelphia Region
• Truck Sales Manager: Responsible for all aspects related to truck sales in the Philadelphia Region
• Market Planning Manager: Conducted market studies of all markets in the Region
• Recruited and approved new dealers as required to provide competitive sales representation. Of the 18 Regions in the nation, Dick was consistently ranked in the top four in performance.

Apr '67 – Dick puts together an event at Plymouth Meeting Mall for local Dodge dealers that involved Thurlow Spurr & the Spurrlows. "The Spurrlows became the first Christian singing group to be sponsored by the world's fifth largest industrial corporation, the Chrysler Corporation, in a relationship that existed for six productive years and more than 3,000 concert events"¹. At the event, a large number of potential car buyers were entertained by the vocal group adjacent to a space where local dealers had showcased new models. A 1970 Bob Hope Show presented the Spurrlows here. They would have appealed to parents (from the 60s perhaps); not teens.

'66e – About 1966, Dick and Rosemary buy a duplex at 2810 Asbury Ave, Ocean City, NJ. They rent out the top and bottom units for the summer and the family stays in the lower unit for about 2-4 weeks in the summer. What is nice is that Dick's friends from Abington HS have homes there as well so they have fun people to spend time with when there.

Mid-'60s – Hope and Gordon (Didd) Stott have a property on the lagoon in Ocean City, NJ at 53 Arkansas Ave (now valued at $~3.5 million). They had a 55' Chris Craft cabin cruiser there and a ~25' jet boat powered by a Chevrolet engine. They let Dick dock his boat "Annie" there. Annie was about a 28' cabin cruiser that he bought used in a marina in Riverside, NJ. Gordon had a Piper Aztec and Piper Commanche airplane that he flew from their property in Wrightstown, PA to Ocean City's airport (and other places of course). Gordon kept an old '50s white station wagon at the airport to shuttle back and forth to his lagoon home. Didd was a lot of fun: he used to hold his dog George (a 15" tall, white terrier) by his front paws and swing him around and around. He used to get George to howl by "talking" to him. Many a weekend day/evening was spent there with Dick and family working on Didd's or their own boat. Didd would take the kids out in his jet boat and go as fast as possible in as shallow water as possible, laughing like a maniac the whole time. The Hendries and Tom & Jean Cameron (Tom's Find a Grave page is here) were frequently in attendance and there was always laughter. Tom sold steel sheets in the 1950 census.

''70e – Sometime in the early 70s, Rose Donohue sells her home on Susquehanna Ave in Abington and moves into Ball Rd. She lives with them until her death in Nov '77 at Coach Rd.

''70e – Sometime in the early 70s, Rosemary starts working at Weight Watchers office in Glenside, PA as a receptionist/secretary. The office relocates to Fort Washington in the '90s. She is an employee there until sometime after 2000.

Jun '71 – It is estimated that Dick buys Fritsch Dodge at 1125 S 2nd St, in Millville, NJ. Don Tagnosky is the sales manager. It is 68 miles from Ball Rd; about 75 minutes by car. Also, the Asbury Ave property in Ocean City is sold in '70 or soon after (likely proceeds were used to help buy Millville Dodge).

May '73 – Don Tagnosky, former sales manager at Millville Dodge, who was last working in Vineland, dies by suicide.

May '74 – By the mid-70s, neither the economy nor Chrysler were doing well and in 1974 Dick was forced to close the business. Carl Gratz, local Chevy dealer buys the operation from Chrysler. It seems that Lilliston Dodge now occupies that site.

Aug '77 – Dick sells Ball Road (assume it was a financial need to satisfy creditors related to the Millville venture). The family moves to 566 Coach Road in Horsham, PA in August. This will be the last home for Dick and Rosemary.