100 Years Ago: A Family Tragedy

One hundred years ago, on January 30, 1919, the mother of Robert B. Stone, Freda Blustein, died at age 24.  Daughter of Polish immigrants in New York City, Freda was one of the estimated 50,000,000 global victims of the great influenza pandemic of 1918.  In addition to Robert, age 2, she left behind daughter Gladys, age 4.

This ad, which appeared in the New York Times exactly one year after her death, summarizes a family’s love for one who died so young:

Freda Blustein was born Fannie Korenteuer (later Corenthal) on November 15, 1894 in Manhattan, New York City.  Freda’s father Adolph Corenthal (who also went by Abraham or Abram) and mother Rebecca (nee Rywka/Rifke Sztern) came from Warsaw, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire.

As a very young lady, Freda went to work as secretary to David Blustein, a trader in furs and ginseng.  One of four brothers who emigrated from what is now Lithuania, David married Freda in 1913.  Freda was 20 years younger: David was 38 and Freda only 18.  A year later Gladys was born and Robert two years after that.  But in 1919, Freda was suddenly gone.

The horrible influenza pandemic caused an estimated 675,000 deaths in the United States.  Fueled by close quarters and troop movements of World War I in Europe, it spread the world in waves.  The third and final wave, to which Freda succumbed, began in early 1919.  The pandemic subsided that summer.  Public health was in its infancy and viruses were not yet discovered.  New York City made it illegal to not cover coughs, but that did little to stem the tide of death across the dense metropolis.

Indeed, 1919 was a year of tragedy for their family.  Freda’s mother Rebecca died in December of that same year at age 55 from diabetes-related disorders.  Freda’s father Adolph however lived 20 more years until 1939.  His death certificate reflects that he was a zinc smelter by trade, still working the year he died at age 75.

After Freda’s death in 1919, her sister Anna agreed to raise young Robert (“Bobby”) and Gladys.  They and their father David moved into the Cedarhurst, Long Island, home of Anna and husband, lawyer Joseph Joffe, who would have two children of their own.  Later, the extended family moved to nearby Woodmere.

Freda’s husband David Blustein never remarried.  He passed away in 1932 at age 58.  

Genealogical research recently discovered Freda’s ancestry going back four generations in Poland.  Freda’s parents were married in 1890 there where they then had two sons, Haskel (Charles) and Meyer (Martin).  Her father Adolph immigrated to New York in 1892, followed by his wife and sons in 1894.  Freda was born that year in New York followed by sister Anna two years later. 

Adolph was born Abram Korentajer in 1864 to Josek (Yid. Josef) Korentajer (c. 1843-1915) and Ester Lichtensztajn (c. 1838-1905).  The family’s unique surname has multiple additional spellings, including Korontajer, Korontaer, Kornteuer, Korntheuer, and Kornteier.  It is not unusual for names to vary resulting from war, conquest, and migration in Eastern Europe and immigration to the US.

Adolph had at least two brothers:  Szaja Ber Korentajer (1865-1934, Warszawa), and Jacob Corenthal nee Korentajer (c. 1871 Warszawa – 1937 New York).

Freda’s great-grandparents on Josek’s side were Majer Korentajer son of Pinchas (d. 1899) and Fradla/Freidel daughter of Judka Shmuel (surname unknown, d. 1893).  Both are buried at the Okopowa Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw.  Her great-grandparents on Ester’s side were Abraham/Abram Lichtensztajn (d. c. 1862) and Brajndla daughter of Lewek (surname unknown).  

In addition to my father, my only direct connection to my grandmother’s family was her sister Anna.  Before we moved from Long Island in the 1960s, we would occasionally visit Aunt Anna and Uncle Joe, who raised my father after Freda’s untimely death.  They lived for a while close to my childhood home in Huntington, L.I.  Unlike her sister, Anna lived a long life, passing away in the 1970s or 80s.

Freda’s two children had long lives too.  Daughter Gladys died in 1997 at age 82 on Long Island.  Gladys’ husband, architect Samuel Paul, died in 2001 at 89.  They had two children, Fredarica and David, and six grandchildren.

Freda’s son, my father Robert, died in 1999 at age 83 in Thailand.  He changed his name from Robert Blustein to Robert B. Stone in the 1950s, and was an author of over 80 books on self-help and powers of the mind.  His wife, my mother Lola, passed away in 2015 at age 98.  I am their only child and Lola has a daughter Lynne from a previous marriage.   There are five grandchildren.

One hundred years was a long time ago to lose one’s grandmother.  But thanks to incredible research tools available today, we can get an idea of who she was and her family history.  Today on the centenary of her passing, we remember this young lady who was a victim of mass pandemic, not before bringing my young father into the world.

By Dennis Stone with research assistance by Rachel Silverman

For more on Robert B. Stone, please visit www.robertbstone.com 

Our public family tree is on Geni.com.   The following from Geni depicts Freda’s known ancestors: