To see more work by Joe Vitone, visit www.joevitone.com
These photographs have been drawn from an ongoing series of 4x5 and 8x10 inch (10x12.5 and 20.3x25.4 cm) negative portraits called Family Records which was begun in 1998 to document members of immediate and extended families of the photographer and his wife. 2017 marked 20 years of work on the pictures. The majority of the portrait subjects live in an orbit around the Rust Belt city of Akron, Ohio, former home to the country’s major rubber and tire producers including Goodyear, Goodrich, and Firestone. Doylestown, Barberton, and other rural communities neighboring Akron serve as locations for many of these images along with Akron proper. The photographs generate dialogues between one another at a number of levels, some directly, as in lineage and interpersonal relation of mother to daughter, father to son, or brother to sister, and some at less specific and more universal places as well. Comment is made on finding purpose or respite in what can be a painful life, on time and aging, on moving from childhood to adulthood, on relations sustained or lost through the years, on masculinity and femininity, on sensuality and beauty seen not only in youth but in age, and on our valuing of ourselves and others not only because of our strengths but, perhaps even more so, by reason of our vulnerabilities.
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Marjorie Angel in her back yard with hollyhocks, Akron OH, 1998
Since 1991 Marjorie has lived on Clifford Avenue just off of East Archwood Avenue in Akron, Ohio. Born in Dover, Ohio in 1928, she was trained and worked in Akron for many years as a registered nurse. Marjorie retired at age 65 two years after she moved into this home. Resting on a concrete slab, it is a small blue house with vinyl siding. It sits next to the asphalt parking lot of an African-American church in a racially mixed neighborhood in Akron’s Firestone Park. She has been divorced for many years and enjoys living alone; enjoys her small but neat house; enjoys her yard. Gardening and general yard care are important to her and in addition to the nice spray of hollyhocks at the garage door, many other flowers decorate her back, side, and front yards.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/31b40d89341eb44f44ee3ec47dd64070.mp3
(l. to r.) Tina, Ashley, Lerrynn, and Stevie Hummel, mother + children, Norton OH, 1998
Lerrynn’s mother, Sandra, was 16 years old when she gave birth to her in 1968. Lerrynn was raised by her grandmother, Beverly Lemmon. Lerrynn, at a young age herself, gave birth to her eldest, Ashley, in 1985, Stevie in 1987, and Tina in 1991. They are currently living with Beverly and her husband, Jack Lemmon, on Houston Road in Norton where this photograph was made. They are seated on the “Flintstone Bench” that Keith Morlan carved with a 14” Craftsman chain saw he bought from a guy for $40. He went through around eight chains and two bars before he finished the job.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/50348586fcd2b68c090497610e6f21e8.mp3
Karmal Dye with Tigger, dog of recently deceased son, Cuyahoga Falls OH, 1998
Tigger was owned by Karmal’s son, Jeff, a carpenter and musician. Jeff, having ongoing problems with drugs and alcohol, for a new start in life, moved from the Akron area to Orlando, Florida where his sister Michelle lived. Very supportive of her older brother, Michelle helped him with lodging and bought him new tools so that he could work. Yet he continued to have substance abuse problems. Overcome by depression, Jeff shot himself in a nice public park. For Michelle, this had been a special place of peace and centering in which she loved to walk her dog in the mornings. Following her son’s suicide, Karmal took ownership of the dog. Jeff’s ashes are buried in a cemetery in Cuyahoga Falls. The ashes of Tigger, who has since died, are buried with Jeff.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/52ca8a7938da00b80a25c8c3ba5251fd.mp3
Rebecca and Katy Scarpitti (seated), mother and daughter, Akron, Ohio, 1998
Katy is Becky’s second-born. Katy’s father is Michael Scarpitti, by whom Becky has two daughters -- Amie, her eldest, and Katy. Becky and Mike have been divorced for many years. Her youngest daughter, Gretchen Neid, is by another long-term relationship. Becky bought this house on Rhea Avenue a few years ago when she finally sold the place on Cutler Parkway she and Mike used to own.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a4efbb51ffbb5effa97561f6aa6c62ff.mp3
(l. to r.) Marc and Salvatore Vitone, father and son at Howard Street, Akron OH, 1999
Marc is Salvatore’s first born. They live near each other, Sal in the house on North Howard Street
next door to where they stand. His immigrant mother, Maria, and father, Pasquale, lived there in
the past, and it was purchased by Sal upon the death of his mother decades earlier. Marc resides
about one mile away on Uhler Avenue. They’re standing in the drive of a house also owned by Sal.
In the past, this area of Akron known as North Hill was home to many Italian-American families.
Marc’s mother, Marjorie, speaks of feeling quite lost when, newly wed she and Sal moved into the
house with Sal’s parents. Growing up in the small town farm atmosphere of New Philadelphia,
Ohio, Marjie found the house a foreign place thick with Italian culture forged hard by the Great
Depression. She tells of Maria’s turning off the hot water when she, Marjorie, was in the bathtub.
The large family would fight a lot when gathered for Sunday meals.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a317f3170ca39fb5beb4f91d0778eeeb.mp3
Arathea and Gabriel Booth, mother and son in sunlight beneath a tree, Norton OH, 1999
Arathea, born 1973, is a single mother living in the area of Akron, Ohio. Gabe was born in 1991 with an abnormality of his skull in which the bone plates weren’t free to move as he grew. He had major surgery when he was about 4 months old during which the bones of his skull were separated then reassembled so that he could grow normally. Gabe is a big fan of sharks and dinosaurs, and he sports a necklace bearing what appear to be the teeth of some large animal. Arathea and Gabe sit in the yard of the Houston Road place at which Arathea’s grandmother lives. This property often serves as a gathering place for family.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/cf3aafbdd2b3e75eece60df05857d630.mp3
Keith and Coleen Morlan with their children, Charlie and Jessica, Norton OH, 1999
Visiting at Beverly and Jack Lemmon’s residence on Houston Road in Norton, Keith, Coleen, and the kids are sitting on a bench carved by Keith from an old log. He seems always to have time for his children and those of relatives who visit his in-law’s residence. He spends time teaching them how to play games; how to build things with wood, hammer, and nails; how to be polite and behave properly. He is a good father well-loved by his children. The family lives in the home they own on 8th Street in Barberton. Keith notes he was very happy that day: “I thought my world was perfect but nothing’s perfect I suppose.”
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/06eaecb3baca62ed269d5df9813e925e.mp3
Salvatore Vitone and Grace Falitico, brother and sister, Stow OH,1999
Salvatore and Grace were born in the United States to Italian immigrants, Pasquale and Maria, who together had 10 offspring, three of whom were born in Italy. In the summer of 1913 Pasquale arrived at Ellis Island and made his way to work in the rubber factories of a then-booming Akron, Ohio. Sal also held employment in the rubber industry in addition to other jobs. He is a veteran of World War I I, Pacific Theater. He retired from his job as a custodian at the University of Akron in part due to emotional difficulties connected to this service. Grace (née Vitone) is the widow of Carl Falitico, who passed away in 1984. For over 35 years, Carl worked for Goodyear while Grace kept house and made money as a seamstress while she raised two boys. Growing up together in Akron, the two were close. Sal stayed with Grace while he suffered from bouts of malaria after return from his time in the Pacific. He is father to six children.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/4339466b0af880093d8eea221c8e6202.mp3
Lerrynn and Stevie Hummel, mother and son at pool, Norton, Ohio, 2000
Along with her other children, Ashley and Tina, Lerrynn has been living with Beverly and Jack at the 3011 Houston Road place in Norton. The property is owned by Beverly’s son, Michael, who resides in Colorado. Mike inherited the house and land from his father and Beverly’s first husband, Rusty, when he passed away several years ago. Stevie is in 8th or 9th grade at Doylestown Middle School and Jack will typically drive him to school each day. The temporary above-ground pool went up recently to provide residents and the frequent family visitors a bit of relief from the warm summer.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/00edac63b86f1507ab6ecf9723331387.mp3
(l. to r.) Sisters Angie Hummel and Missy Rudd by blackberry bush, Norton, OH, 2000
Angie and Missy pose before blackberry bushes in the back yeard of the Houston Road property where their grandmother and step-grandfather, Beverly and Jack Lemmon live. They’re both over visiting for the 4th of July party. They are the daughters of Beverly’s second born, Russell Hummel.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/d3ba9da497f6f46d2c68848363f30a2b.mp3
Arathea Booth with son, Gabriel Booth, daughter, Elizabeth Dunn, and domestic partner, Jimmy
Dunn, dressed for the annual Ivory Mountain Rendezvous, Barberton OH, 2001
Once a year during the month of July in Kill Buck, Ohio a sizeable group of people from many walks of life gather in dress of the late 1700’s to revisit aspects of that time. Activities include cooking, practice of various crafts, black powder shooting, and tomahawk throwing. Only period clothing and paraphernalia are permitted.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a02434b04006ce62cd11fc128216686f.mp3
Beverly Lemmon holding great granddaughter, Elizabeth Dunn, Houston Rd., Norton OH, 2001
Recently-born Elizabeth is the daughter of Arathea Booth, Beverly’s granddaughter, and Jimmy Dunn, Arathea’s domestic partner. Arathea had been dating Jimmy for some time during which he was convinced it was impossible for him to father a child. This, however, proved not to be the case as evidenced by the unexpected arrival of Elizabeth. Arathea, Jimmy, Elizabeth, and Arathea’s first-born, Gabriel Booth, live together in a nice apartment complex on 31st Street in Barberton.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/24e83f6af1b04b66695b15966df6a619.mp3
(l. to r.) Leroy and Keith Morlan, father and son clasping hands, Norton, Ohio, 2002
Leroy came by for a brief visit while son Keith was working on pouring concrete for an inclined ramp to the pavilion behind the Houston Road house where his in-laws, Beverly and Jack Lemmon, live. Keith is married to Beverly’s daughter, Coleen. The pavilion was built by Jack and is often used by family and friends as a gathering point for big parties such as pig roasts, Fourth of July, and birthday celebrations.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/9a1689d06b4114dfb26d2031f00385a0.mp3
(l. to r.) Marjorie Angel and Rebecca Barile, mother and daughter with flag at Rebecca’s front
door, Akron OH, 2003
Rebecca and Marjorie stand in late afternoon sun on the front stoop of Becky’s place on Rhea Avenue. Flags in windows, on porches hung like drapes or on small angled staffs, and as windshield and bumper stickers are usual sights here in northeastern Ohio. Less than two years have passed since the major terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and many are anxious to show their support for the troops. In this part of the country it is not uncommon for families to have members in the military. Two of Marjorie’s sons and one of Rebecca’s daughters are veterans.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/c7bb31dd1d6f5d1da73f8d8a6d3811cc.mp3
Lerrynn Hummel holding her son, Paul Massey, in their yard, Doylestown, Ohio, 2003
Lerrynn lives in a farmhouse with Paul’s father and two of her other kids, Tina and Steven Hummel. The house has a big yard and sits next to crop fields. They both have good jobs and are renting to own this property. Today extended family are over for a casual dinner hosted by Lerrynn and her partner.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/004dc080f875dbbb25a2efbd1c55fe90.mp3
Dave Vitone home at his apartment after working all day, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 2003
Davey works hard as a union laborer. He mixes cement and carries bricks among other tasks. He has just returned home to a dinner of beef and potatoes prepared by his domestic partner, Lynne. He and she have been together for a number of years and regularly move from one rental to another.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/e9b4f3babde70bceb6e90c0f1a84b7e3.mp3
(l. to r.) Stevie Hummel and Gabriel Booth, cousins with satellite TV dish at Stevie’s uncle’s place,
Rittman, Ohio, 2003
Gabe pays a visit to his cousin, Stevie, who is spending a few days (heading out soon for camping) with his uncle. Stevie is very close to his uncle, a sort of surrogate father, and will live at his place for many days at a time.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/c2cb43d040d388d15ac97d91a72e763f.mp3
(l. to r.) Friends Ashley Hummel and Laura Paradis at apartment pool, Barberton, Ohio, 2003
Ashley, at left, is staying at the apartment of grandmother Beverly and step-grandfather Jack Lemmon. She and boyfriend, Joe, share a room in the basement. She and Laura have been friends for years. They met when Ashley, along with her siblings and mother, Lerrynn, lived from time to time in a small shed on the Houston Road property in Norton where Beverly and Jack lived.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/b11bb305832b689615985a54203cc723.mp3
Lerrynn Hummel and son, Paul Massey, on patio of her grandmother’s apartment, where
temporarily staying, Valleyview Apartments, 31st Street, Barberton, Ohio, 2004
Lerrynn has recently had problems with Paul’s father. She and he were renting-to-own a nice farmhouse in Doylestown when he developed cancer. He was prescribed OxyContin for pain associated with this disease. Lerrynn, herself, was taking Percocet prescribed for back pain. She began sharing her partner’s Oxy. Both of them lost their jobs. They lost everything and moved from the farmhouse. She is temporarily at the apartment of the grandmother, who raised her, Beverly Lemmon. Beverly, herself, moved to this location with husband, Jack Lemmon, to be near her granddaughter, Arathea Booth, and because she liked the swimming pool, though she admits she has never swum in it. Lerrynn helps out around the apartment, cleaning and caring for her kids and the kids of relatives who regularly drop in.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/0d456facf9af0560a1f92e972f4160fd.mp3
(l. to r.) Charlie Morlan and Gabe Booth in combat fatigues with toy guns, Orrville OH, 2006
Since the major terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, many of the kids voice a determination to join the military service and play war with realistic costumes and toy weapons. Gabe and Charlie are doing so at a birthday party for Gabe’s mom, Arathea Booth. Arathea and her two children, Gabriel Booth and Elizabeth Dunn, reside in this government subsidized rental house in Orrville. She moved her family to Orrville following her break up with Elizabeth’s father. They had been living at the Valleyview Apartments on 31st Street in Barberton; but when her partner began spending much of his paycheck on drugs, Arathea left him.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/37613d3cf36046c78f6f3b6a77c043fd.mp3
Dorothy Morrison and Bailey Hutchinson, grandmother and granddaughter playing in the Little
Cuyahoga River, Akron OH, 2006
Dorothy’s boyfriend, Marc Vitone, owns a house on Uhler Avenue. If you are a strong walker, it is walking distance from Cascade Valley Park, through which the river passes. The water is cold and fairly clean nowadays. In the last century the Cuyahoga and the Little Cuyahoga were highly polluted in part due to a strong industrial base in northeast Ohio. In 1969 the Cuyahoga famously ignited and burned for a couple hours farther north in Cleveland. Yet even then local kids would play in the river. Dorothy is from West Virginia, a more rural state that in the past has sent many to the formerly heavily industrialized Ohio. Marc’s Labrador retriever mix, Pup, wades in as well.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/f570ac21a02c7fcadde73404708f3f7b.mp3
Beneath base of a beech tree, Karla Hummel (standing) with sister, Sandra (née Hummel) Vitone,
and mother, Beverly Lemmon and half-sister, Toni Wright (seated, far left), Westview Mobile
Home Park, Doylestown OH, 2007
Karla is in town from Colorado Springs and Sandra from Austin. Today is Tuesday. On Monday the family and friends gathered near the Cuyahoga River at The Gorge Park for a memorial service for brother Michael Hummel, who died in February at the age of 52. He was found dead of no obvious cause on the floor of his bathroom in Denver. From his father, Rusty Hummel, Michael had inherited the house and land on Houston Road where Beverly and husband Jack lived for years rent-free but finally moved from due to tensions with Beverly’s kids and grandkids. Beverly purchased the mobile home in which she and Jack now reside with money she inherited from Michael at his passing.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/2771f4af2c57544240799623c3839cfd.mp3
Jessica Morlan and Tommy Fischer, girl and boyfriend, Doylestown, OH, 2007
Jessica was born 1992. When still a minor, she ran away with a local boy who was around 19 years old. She eventually returned home. The boy was criminally prosecuted and required to register as a sexual predator. Depicted here is Jessica’s current boyfriend, Tommy. They met when the two were in high school. She was almost 15 years old when they met. She will become pregnant by him when she is 15 and give birth at 16.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/fb158306d8765ccf74cb3b8cd1bd3ab1.mp3
(l. to r.) Half-brothers Paul Massey and Stevie Hummel in parking lot behind aunt’s apartment, Doylestown, OH, 2007
Stevie is living at his Aunt Maureen’s apartment with her and two of her kids, Coyt and David. He’s not working. He spends most of his time just hanging around and smoking weed all day. He refers to himself and his friends as “Portage Street thugs” in reference to the main street running through Doylestown.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/3acafbda752bd5d788b5fe83ebb05d3f.mp3
Dave Vitone sitting on mowers he has repaired for sale, corner of 3rd and Bailey Road, Cuyahoga Falls OH, 2007
Dave seems always to struggle to find employment. Though he is a laborer and union member, work is forever off and on. He has had ongoing substance abuse problems and continues to wrestle with these. Currently he is working with someone who repairs lawn mowers. The acquaintance does more complicated repairs, and Dave performs simpler tasks in bringing back the mowers such as sharpening the blades. The same guy has a foreclosed house on which he has ceased to pay mortgage though Dave pays rent to live there. Dave’s membership in an Akron Baptist church aids him greatly in dealing with a life that is often hard. He became acquainted with the congregation when a church elder, as part of his ministry, visited Dave when he was serving a stint at the workhouse for some minor crime.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/8127077dae93078e104625180470281b.mp3
Grace Falitico in her back yard with wheelbarrow and Rose o’ Sharon, Englewood Drive, Stow OH, 2007
Born in 1918 Grace is nearly 90 years old. She lives alone in the house that she and her husband, Carl, built together and in which she raised her two children, Carmine and Christopher. Carl passed away over twenty years ago, about seven years following retirement from decades of labor at Plant 1 of Goodyear Tire and Rubber. With a little outside help she still tends to much of the yard and house work. Born to Italian immigrants she is a lifelong Catholic as much as a function of ethnic background as of religion. She typically attends mass at two parishes each week -- 5:00 PM Saturday afternoon at Holy Family, half a mile from her house and 11:00 AM Sunday at St. Eugene’s in Munroe Falls. She is often called on to sing at church funerals and has in the past been involved in community theater musical productions.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/27ecdbeeb4aee2385834f872ced7535a.mp3
Jessica Morlan and Tommy Fischer with their infant, Jordynn Fischer, Marshallville, Ohio, 2008
Jessica holds her days-old baby with whom she was pregnant while a sophomore in high school. Dealing with morning sickness and other problems, she was booted out due to poor attendance; though she will re-enter and eventually complete her diploma after summer school in upcoming years. She and boyfriend, Tommy, dressed in Renaissance Fair style costumes, are at the house of Jessica’s cousin, Arathea, for a party. Jessica and Tommy are living together in Doylestown at the house of mother, Coleen, and her husband, Denny Sweazy.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/859724c91c938ab20b3f0634b485c603.mp3
Brooke Lower standing at edge of soybean field after bobbing for apples, Fulton Road, Marshallville OH, 2008
At a party organized by her great aunt, Sandra Vitone, Brooke in long gown stands wet in a soybean field that touches the yard where Arathea Booth and her two children Gabriel Booth and Elizabeth Dunn reside. Most years Arathea’s mom, Sandra, a former hippy and Woodstock Music and Art Fair attendee, puts together some themed party such as Hawaiian Luau, Krishna Consciousness, and this year, a Medieval Renaissance Fair party. With a love for ornamentation and tendencies toward hoarding, Sandra being an avid patron of Goodwill and other thrift stores is able to appoint these get-togethers with plenty of props providing fun visual texture.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a52271b3b4db5050f82028571de4fbb5.mp3
Arathea Booth seated on a cooler in yard smoking a cigarette, Marshallville, Ohio, 2008
After completing training at a community college in Wayne County, Arathea found employment last year doing initial insurance billing at Wooster Hospital. She enjoys the work and is good at it. Feeling more confident of her income, she moved from government subsidized housing in Orrville to this house on Fulton Road in Marshallville. The place had been rented previously by her niece, Ashley Hummel with boyfriend Joe Wright. Arathea’s teenage son, Gabe, misses Orrville, a small town but a town with numerous businesses, such as Smucker’s Jams, a car dealership, and a downtown. The Fulton Road place sits on a rural and fast-traveled two lane road about twenty minutes walk from tiny and very rural Marshallville.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/30888a2ef645e76a76eb34340dedb70d.mp3
Grandmother, Sandra Vitone; mother, Arathea Booth; and granddaughter, Elizabeth Dunn, with pool and palm tree backdrop, Marshallville OH, 2009
Arathea’s mother, Sandra, is a creative person who loves putting together a good party. By profession a cook, a baker, and a caterer and by avocation a thrift store shopper, she supplements well-considered but inexpensive props with items gleaned from Goodwill and other second hand stores to assemble themed parties near birthday time of her daughter, Arathea. The annual events occur when Sandra is able to make a summer visit to Ohio from her residence in Austin, Texas. This year they are having a luau among the corn and soybean fields of Wayne County.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/32c20fc98ac7cecf9be346b666ee8d29.mp3
Jessica Morlan and daughter, Jordynn Fischer, with sunflowers, Doylestown OH, 2009
Jessica and Jordynn live at the house of Jessica’s mother, Coleen and her husband Denny Sweazy on Rogue Hollow Road. Jordynn, born July 2, 2008, is one year old this month. Jessica has lost her “baby fat” gained during pregnancy last year. She wants to continue to be attractive to Tommy Fischer, who is the baby’s father. Also a young high-school aged person, he is showing interest in other girls of their group. Coleen helps a lot with the baby, and Jessica is trying to reconcile herself to being a 17 year old with an infant to care for. Jessica enjoys getting out with her old friends from high school when possible.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/28f63ebab4170468951a917d9ec9d3ea.mp3
Dave Vitone with tractor on land owned by parents of his wife, Lisa Bishop, Laubert Road, Atwater OH, 2009
Lisa’s parents had a dog grooming business on rural property about 45 minutes drive from Akron. The bank will foreclose on the place; but Lisa and new husband, David, will continue to live at and care for the spread. The parents have moved to a small town in north Texas and Lisa wants to follow. Dave finds that area of Texas hot, barren, and isolated. He doesn’t want to move from Ohio. This is causing some tension between the recently wed couple.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/0568c6c82a5b94196952c9e940672d63.mp3
Marjorie Angel in pink sweater with pink rose bush, Akron OH, 2009
Marjorie loves flowers and tending to her yard. The rose growing in her back yard for years has been manically productive, putting out canes that climb as high as the house. The plant blooms early and multiple times from spring through summer and into the autumn. With both desire and ability to bend her reality just a bit, she likes to say the bush was given to her by her son, because she bought it when at the nursery with him and his wife, also an avid gardener. Marjorie notes that she “dead heads” the blooms shortly after they dry up. Then more blooms come. Typically the rose has two major blooms per year. In addition to pink, there are here and there red blossoms on some of the canes.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/ad8ab9912dff575817ae7146b9ae6d13.mp3
Michelle Winterbotham with father, Duke Dye, in driveway, Cuyahoga Falls OH, 2010
After living in Orlando for 23 years, Michelle moved back to Cuyahoga Falls in August of 2008. Her mother, Karmal, died in 2005 and she now stays with and cares for her father, Claude Dye (aka, Duke). While in Florida, she married twice. First to Jack, who drove semi-tractor trailer rig for the entertainment industry. They were together for 18 years and married for 10 years of that time before they divorced. Attending an evangelical Christian church, Michelle met and married John. She returned with her new husband and his daughter, Celeste to this, her girlhood, home on Ashland Avenue. A coarse gruff person, John was nonetheless very religious and kind to Michelle. He has custody of his daughter, Celeste, who is a “crack baby”, normal in appearance yet mentally slow and immature for her age. Michelle has recently separated from John who became belligerent and unkind. She hopes to find the several hundred dollars necessary to file for divorce.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a224a452484805f47fae4ded16a90f8c.mp3
Keith and Chuck Morlan, father and son, Akron OH, 2011
Born May 5, 1995, sixteen year old Charlie recently asked to be called Chuck. He just completed sophomore year at Chippewa High School in Doylestown where he received the Gilcrest Award for lettering in three varsity sports (football, wrestling, and track). He is also strong academically. Chuck plans to attend college; Clemson if possible, he notes, realizing this is a primarily African- American university but disdainful of the racism he finds among some of his classmates. He would like to go through college under the U.S. Marines ROTC program and eventually be in a bomb disposal squad. Fairly recently Chuck was angry with his father; but they are currently on good terms, Keith indicating he is no longer doing serious drugs and trying to drink moderately. Chuck is visiting his father, wife Nacole, and her daughter Toriann Saab in Akron.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/1537442195f45db206a72fc137ce31c0.mp3
Lerrynn Hummel in purple top at side of Beverly and Jack Lemmon’s mobile home, Westview Trailer Park, Doylestown OH, 2011
Not too long ago Lerrynn left a rehab facility after months of therapy for drug addiction. Prior to entering she had moved from abusing prescription pain relievers such as OxyContin to shooting up heroine. In 2008 she and ex-domestic partner, considered by the state to be unfit parents, lost custody of their son, Paul. Last year she suffered a minor heart attack from withdrawal when hospitalized for another ailment and failing to disclose her drug habit to medical staff. Relapsed and using again, she had no place to stay so is again living with grandmother, Beverly Lemmon. She has been trying to stay clean and find a job and a guy who likes her so she can feel whole. A bad toothache has been vexing her for the past couple days and she is in considerable pain. Still she mentions she might use this picture on her Facebook page.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/353d422d683d728e323d7d2fc03dd02d.mp3
Beverly and Jack Lemmon at their mobile home, Westview Trailer Park, Doylestown OH, 2013
Jack, now always on oxygen, is recuperating from recent major surgery in which a lower lobe of his right lung was removed. The surgery was followed by chemotherapy. He smoked multiple packs of cigarettes for decades but has now moved to a vaping device. Yesterday at a doctor’s visit, Jack was informed that he is doing well and should return for a follow up visit in one month.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/81e037b9e7c0a8aedc5a9954e4d0b06d.mp3
David Vitone at his garage filled with possessions of wife, Lisa, who has recently moved out to live
with her parents in north Texas, Akron OH, 2013
While singing with the Chapel of Prayer choir, Dave met Lisa, whom he wed following a brief courtship. The congregation of this Baptist church has greatly helped him over the past years since while incarcerated he met a church elder visiting the down and out. Dave lived through decades of substance abuse problems. One leg is shorter than the other due to a gunshot suffered in a drug-related incident. He was unable to keep a job. Enamel decayed, his teeth split and were pulled. The church congregation took him in, brought him clothes, bought him dentures, valued his talent as a singer, and generally aided him in turning his life around. He is saddened by the desertion of his wife and reminded of her by the piles of belongings she has left.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/12596c4927c139491620c69c25e1a265.mp3
Steven Hummel with his children Noah and Maci, Mansfield OH, 2013
Stevie has just been released from Ashland County jail where he had been held for probation violation. He was unable to report as required to his parole officer since he was incarcerated in the penal system of another nearby county. He uses the container at right for scrap collection, his primary income stream at the moment. He is looking for other work. Noah and Maci’s mother, Sarah, is a dietary assistant at a local nursing home and is the main income provider.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/5e51ddf76f5a2b29706656c23c1df95e.mp3
At her daughter’s wedding altar, Sandra Vitone stands exhausted from work catering the Dia de los Muertos themed ceremony and reception, Marshallville, Ohio, 2014
Sandra Vitone has been visiting from Austin, Texas for about two weeks preparing for the wedding of her daughter, Arathea Booth, to Shane Shankland. For over half year Sandra has been at work making invitations, preparing a large menu, and hand crafting decorations such as the papier mâché skeletons hanging at either side of the wedding altar she stands behind. Sandra is a caterer by profession and has imported her fondness for Mexican culture to this rural area of Ohio not far from Akron.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/1c3505523c98fc86560109dc63662ea9.mp3
Daughter, Arathea Shankland (née Booth), on her wedding day with father, Bill Booth, visiting from Norway, Marshallville, Ohio, 2014
Arathea lives in a rural area near the border of Summit and Wayne counties in Ohio. The land hosts rotating crops of corn, soybeans, and hay. The weather has been cold, windy, and rainy for her wedding to Shane Shankland. Her father, Bill, is a successful musician who has been living near Oslo, Norway for the past 30 years.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/1679fb1188d21474f66aaf5673672f2d.mp3
Jessica Morlan with daughter Jordynn Fischer and grandmother Coleen Sweazy in chicken coop at Coleen and Denny’s place, Doylestown OH, 2015
Jessica is about seven months pregnant and staying at her mother’s house along with her boyfriend Joshua Slider and her daughter Jordynn who is nearly seven years old . This is not the first go that Coleen and Denny have had at keeping chickens. Varmints want to break in and help themselves to the birds but they have had this batch for some 18 months now.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a8b9e2df4edabd8b0c0174ff9a103513.mp3
Jessica Morlan pregnant with baby of boyfriend Joshua Slider, Doylestown OH, 2015
Jessica in her third trimester of pregnancy is staying with her mother. Josh is currently unemployed but when he does work it is usually on oil field pipelines. Josh served in the U.S. Army for six years. He served in the 101st Airborne based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He did two tours of duty in Afghanistan and was discharged from the military in 2010. He is also staying with Jessica’s parents, Coleen and Denny Sweazy.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/b02ba53925e746b94410cba6850cbbbb.mp3
Heather and Scotty Lower with Scotty’s 2013 Harley Davidson Street Glide, Easton OH, 2015
Scotty and wife Heather enjoy riding on Scotty’s bike. Harleys are a poplar bike in Northeastern Ohio. Many ride without a helmet as it feels great and provides fuller peripheral vision. Motorcycling without helmet can also project courage if not bravado since severe injury and death travel more closely alongside such riders. In a few months Scotty will have a bad accident when a young woman will pull out from a side street violating his right of way and sending him and Heather crashing to the pavement. He will incur a severe concussion and cranial fracture running from ear to ear across the top of his head. He will be in a coma for several days.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/8651780b9cffec902f7f0e4479d3df57.mp3
Lerrynn Hummel happy in sunshine on a weekend in July, Canton OH, 2016
Lerrynn sits in the field behind the house she rents with her boyfriend, Ed. Lerrynn says she would like to get a job; but in this rural area getting from place to place without a car, which she does not have, is difficult. Lerrynn has had years of addiction problems that started following use of a medically prescribed opiate. She became addicted and went from taking pills to shooting heroin which is far more affordable than Oxycontin. She has been in and out of rehab. Within a few months of the making of this portrait she would stop breathing due to an overdose but be brought back to life by quick emergency medical intervention. Within about a month following that rescue, she would be dead from overdose on Fentanyl patches which she found while ordering the effects of Ed’s deceased sister.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/ff9aa1f358b71208f3b3ae6d2c5a6a35.mp3
Dave Vitone in his back yard with rose bush, Akron OH, 2016
Dave now owns and lives in the house that for years belonged to his now deceased mother, Marjorie Angel. He tends to it as he often did while she was still alive though the yard is becoming overgrown. Dave likes it that way since it provides him with more privacy. He retired from work a few years ago due to medical reasons. He currently has a pacemaker and spends a lot of time alone in a darkened house watching movie DVD’s and smoking cigarettes.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/97dcc821ddb7b7533058e80b0cb2111d.mp3
(l. to r.) Father and son, Leroy and Keith Morlan, Goodrich Avenue, Barberton OH, 2016
Leroy’s house sits in the shadow of an overpass of I-76. Leroy is dying -- wasting away from an untrearable cancer that started in his lung. It has progressed and is in his blood stream. Keith requested this portrait of him and his father since he feels certain that Leroy will soon pass away. This is the last time Leroy would leave the interior of his house, and within a few months he will have succumbed to the cancer.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/d4f05973e7f44a4a5b2fd7d5b1742b9c.mp3
Elizabeth Dunn with mock orange bush in flower, Marshallville OH, 2017
This week Elizabeth finished her sophomore year at Wadsworth High School. She notes that it is among the top 50 high schools in the State of Ohio. She was at Chippewa High School for her freshman year. She is studying for a fine arts/honors diploma at school and in all honors classes with the exception of Government.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/a4269e1451003a8ff819259f2875f70c.mp3
Keith Morlan at his front steps with United States and U.S. Navy flags, Kenmore OH 2017
Keith was in the Navy 1985-1988 then active in the reserves 1988-1992. He is an automobile mechanic at Hard Drive Transmissions in Barberton. Keith is in the process of divorcing Nacole, his wife of the past eight years. She had been taking money from him but cheating on their marriage. The couple had rented this house on California Avenue for the past few years. The building in the background had housed a meth lab.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/b87c0e0d8e1a47761bc8c540f41a3746.mp3
Gabe Booth on trail with fallen beech tree, Silver Creek Park, Summit County OH, 2017
This trail laces through a peaceful area where for some years Gabe has come to walk and find a calming natural beauty. It is not far from where he lives with his mother, her husband, and his sister in Marshallville, Ohio. Gabe has a cozy living area in the basement of the house in which he enjoys relaxing after work as boss of a CNC wheel machining line at J.R. Wheel.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/87badc6d5ae946512c5fcf7407cdac4b.mp3
Keith Morlan with son Chuck Morlan, Kenmore OH, 2017
Keith works as a mechanic at Hard Drive Transmission in Barberton and his son Chuck works at Clinton Aluminum. They both work hard and it gets dirty. Chuck graduated from high school a few years ago. He was a star in multiple sports and kept up a good GPA. He dislikes the tedium of his job which he plans to leave to attend trade school when his live-in girlfriend, Sarah, completes her studies for an associates degree in business at Cuyahoga Community College. Chuck and Sarah live in the same trailer at the Westview Mobile Home Park where grandmother Beverly and her deceased husband Jack used to live and own.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/44e261c9b546c66e2b3bfd4e2c02f585.mp3
Chuck Morlan and Sarah Cashner in swimwear, Marshallville OH, 2018
Domestic partners Sarah and Chuck have lived together for the past couple years in a trailer given to him by grandmother, Beverly Lemmon, following the passing of her husband, Jack. Sarah is working on an associate degree in business at Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College in Parma). Chuck is working at Clinton Aluminum where he “does everything” including cutting aluminum, operating a computer, and driving a truck. He and Sarah have plans to wed later this year.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/5b16453581aa938c98cbf9fcc055ba49.mp3
Jessica Morlan with children Jordynn Fischer and Jacob Slider, Doylestown OH, 2018
Jessica and her two children are visiting the house of her mother, Coleen Sweazy and step-father Denny Sweazy. Coleen had custody of Jacob for some time following his birth, which occurred while Jessica was incarcerated for a drug offense. Jessica is now employed, works a good 40 or more hours per week, has her own place in town, and is doing well. Both of the kids seem bright, happy, and well loved.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/835ff87b8d2ce05132c11990bffce410.mp3
Sister and brother Michell Dye and Greg Dye with pit bull Bubba and chihuahua Lilly, Cuyahoga
Falls OH, 2018
For the past several years Greg had been the live-in caretaker for their recently deceased father, Duke Dye. Following his passing a few months ago, the family house was sold and Greg now shares his sisters home.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/9c989030efc6a61e9b2a53523d8cb639.mp3
Stevie Hummel with his two children Macie and Noah at oak tree, Mansfield OH, 2018
Stevie has been having problems with methamphetamine addiciton. He and wife, Sarah recently lost custody of their children when Stevie and Sarah both tested positive for drug use. Credible sources note that this was a set up by someone with a vendetta against them both. Today the children are visiting their parents at the house of an acquaintence where Stevie and Sarah are temporarily staying after leaving their own apartment during recent turmoil. Sarah will be able to get the kids back when she finds a place of her own to live. Stevie is currently attending regular meetings to deal with his addiction.
http://archives.stedwards.edu/family-records/files/original/94a9f5a8a87798dfee5938013f4c129d.mp3