1900's...WARS, DEPRESSION AND A BABY BOOM

---

Shortly before the turn of the 20th century, John Kanis II and his new family moved back home to Ohio from West Virginia. Records show that on November 8, 1899, less than two months before the new century, Emma Josephine Kanis purchased property on Harris Ave. in Norwood, Ohio. On the edge of the parcels was a railway line. The parcels also included a store with railway frontage and a house on the adjoining lot. For the next 57 years and three generations, the Kanis family would live on this property. 

1900's

Very early in 1900, John Kanis II started his grocery store business in Norwood which he operated there for many years. Records show that his son Clarence then operated a candy and cigar store in that same location for some period after. 

In 1909, Clarence Kanis married his first wife Elizabeth. Newspaper articles and court records show that it was a torrid relationship. The marriage ended in divorce two years later in 1911. 

1910's

Sometime after, Clarence married Nettie Bertke, daughter of Edward Bertke and Nellie Kurmer Bertke of Cincinnati, Ohio. On January 7, 1916, Nettie Kanis gave birth to their first and only child, Earl. As we were told, Nettie had a difficult time with the pregnancy. Unfortunately Earl John Kanis was born prematurely and was not expected to survive. But as lore has it, Nellie Kurmer Bertke, Earl's grandmother said no grandchild of hers was going to die dirty. So she bathed him, kept a warm brick in his basinet and cared for him until he was healthy. The fact that Earl even survived was pretty miraculous for the times.

1920’s

In 1926, Emma Kanis passed away at the age of 63 from cardiac failure attributed to diabetes. In 1928, just three months shy of his 70th birthday, John Kanis II passed away. The cause of death was attributed to heart related issues. His only grandchild, Earl, was twelve at the time. 

After John Kanis II's death, the properties on Harris Ave. were probated to his two descendants, Clarence and Harvey Kanis. Since Harvey and his wife Alma Ritterhoff Kanis had no children, they moved to the apartment on the second floor of the Kanis store building, eventually renting the store out as an ice cream parlor. Clarence, Nettie and their son Earl moved into the house on the adjoining property. 

1930’s

In 1935, documents show the properties were split. The store was conveyed to Alma Ritterhoff Kanis and the house to Nettie Bertke Kanis. The conveyance price was $1 per parcel. 

In 1937, documents show that Nettie Kanis applied for and received an occupancy and zoning permit for a structure built behind the house at 2412 Harris Ave. This was the start of what was to become Kanis Auto Repair. Clarence Kanis would operate his business there for the next eight years.

1940’s

By early 1940, the war in Europe was escalating. Rather than being drafted, Earl Kanis thought it would be best to control his own destiny and enlist in the U.S. Army Reserves. 

On August 2, 1942, Earl Kanis married Mary Frances Corcoran, daughter of Francis Patrick and Cecilia Kottig Corcoran of Mt. Lookout, Ohio. The wedding took place at St. Rose Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Early in 1943, Earl was placed on active duty leaving his pregnant wife behind for the war in Europe. First traveling to the U.S. Army's European Theatre's staging base in Algiers, North Africa, Earl was eventually transferred to Bari, Italy where he would be based for the next two years. 

In August of 1943, while Earl was still away at the war, his wife Mary Frances gave birth to their first child, Jerome Earl. 

In 1945, with Earl still in Italy, his family sent word that his father's, (Clarence John Kanis) health was failing. The U.S. Army granted Earl a  bereavement leave and he began the long and arduous journey back to Cincinnati, The trip took several weeks with Earl returning via boat to Virginia and then by rail on to Cincinnati. 

Earl finally arrived at Cincinnati's main railway station, Union Terminal, sometime late in the summer of 1945. From there he took a bus to The Mariemont Inn on the east side of Cincinnati where he was joyously reunited with his wife Babe and new son Jerome Earl Kanis. Sadly, Babe told Earl of his father's recent passing just days before. Jerry, only a few years old at the time, has distinct memories of this day and of meeting his father for the first time.

While Earl was still at home on a thirty day leave the word came that the long war had ended. With no company to return to in Europe, Earl received orders to report to Fort Benjamin Harrison in neighboring Indiana. There he was processed and received his discharge from the U.S Army. Earl then returned home to civilian life and ran the family business, Kanis Auto Repair, for the next eleven years. 

In 1948, Earl and Mary had their second child, Thomas William Kanis. 

1950’s

In 1951, the only surviving child of John Kanis I, Kate Kanis Rehbaum, died at the age of 94. And in 1953, Earl and Mary had their third child, Richard Francis. 

In 1955, their fourth child, John Kanis III, arrived. Later that same year, Earl’s mother, Nettie Bertke Kanis, died at the age of 69. 

Early in 1956, with Norwood becoming more and more industrialized and now with no family ties to keep them there, The Earl Kanis family moved to the burgeoning suburbs of Cincinnati on the eastern edge of Anderson Township in Cherry Grove, Ohio. The area was just changing from rural farms and woods to suburbia, a great departure from city life in Norwood. The Kanis children thought they had arrived in heaven. 

On Christmas Day 1956, Earl and Mary had their fifth child, Patrick Eugene and in 1959, their sixth child and first girl. She was named Kathryn Ann after the late Kate Kanis Rehbaum and her great aunt Anna Kottig.

1960’s

In 1966, at the age of 22, Jerry Kanis married his first wife, Kathryn Kuhlman. The wedding took place at St. Thomas More Church in Withamsville, Ohio. This was a short-lived marriage lasting only six months. 

In 1969, Jerome Earl Kanis again married. This time to Janet Marie Moore of Lima, Ohio, The wedding took place at St. Joseph Church in Addyston, Ohio. Over the course of their marriage they had two daughters: Michelle Lynn and Jennifer Kristin. In 1988 they divorced. Janet Moore Kanis died of cancer in the mid 1990's.

1970’s

In 1970, upon graduating from Xavier University's ROTC program, Tom Kanis started his military career as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was deployed to the war in Vietnam where he was assigned to an artillery firebase in Pleiku as an artillery officer. After the war, Tom joined the U.S. Army reserve. Before retiring, Tom had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was the Chief of Operations at of one of the U.S. Army’s Reserve Component Training Institutions. Tom Kanis never married. 

In 1972, Richard Francis Kanis married Patricia Kay Hughes, daughter of Charlie and Kate Hughes of Amelia, Ohio. The wedding took place at St. Bernadette Church in Amelia, Ohio. Together they had three children: Richard Francis Kanis II, Erin Rachelle and Christopher Allen. 

In 1974, at the age of 58, Earl Kanis was forced to retire due to a physical disability. In 1978, Earl and Mary along with their son Tom moved out into the countryside in Bethel, Ohio to enjoy their golden years. 

In 1979, Kathryn Ann Kanis married Ronald Joseph Frey II. The wedding took place at St. Mary's Church in Bethel, Ohio. Together they had four children: Ronald Joseph III, Robert, Mary Katherine and Thomas John.

1980’s

In 1984, John Kanis III married Teresa Lyn Meder, daughter of Richard and Patricia Meder of Pleasant Ridge, Ohio. The wedding took place at St. Rose Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Together they had three daughters: Lindsey Lyn, Susan Patricia and Mary Frances Kanis II. 

That next year, in 1985, Patrick Eugene Kanis married Helen Gabrielle Howard, daughter of Ralph and Nancy Howard of Madeira, Ohio. Their wedding took place at St. Paul Church in Madeira, Ohio. Together they had three daughters: Nancy Clark, Natalie Howard and Nina Gabrielle. 

On April 2, 1986, after a long battle with lung cancer, Earl John Kanis passed away at the age of 70. That next year, in 1987, Mary Frances Kanis along with her son Tom moved back to Anderson, Township Ohio where she spent the rest of her years. 

1990’s

In 1990, Jerry Kanis married his third wife, Glynda Belcher. The wedding took place at the Cobb County Courthouse in Marietta, Georgia. The couple moved to Rome, Georgia, Glynda's hometown, where they reside to this day. 

On June 13, 1995, Mary Frances Kanis I died from complications of diabetes. She was 76 years old. 

By the close of the 20th century, members of both the third and fourth generation of the Cincinnati Kanis family had passed, all six members of the fifth American generation were living along with fifteen members of the sixth American generation. There was also the addition of one member to the seventh and newest American generation