The Anatomy of a Neighborhood in the late 50's and throughout the 60's

We moved to 5691 W. 9th Lane in June 1957 from the northeast section of Miami when I was almost 10 years old. The even-numbered homes across the street were still under construction because they built one side of a block at a time and I remember looking at the bare concrete walls, lack of windows and wondering what color each one would be painted because the new owners selected the colors. Fortunately most of the neighbors were great people and we soon became friends with the Kayals next door at 5661, the Cheleotis family across from them at 5660, the Schmidts across from us at 5690 and the Lavallies at 5700.

These are recent photos of each home on our block and other homes in the neighborhood are in separate sub-galleries like this one. Someday I'll locate numerous black and white aerial photos that I took from an aircraft of the neighborhood in 1961 - we had the pilot fly circles over the neighborhood while I took photos with some kind of Kodak 126 camera.

This block on W. 9th Lane consisted of these neighbors:

5600: the Bever family, with crazy son Danny and a younger daughter. Mr. Bever was a volatile Eastern Airlines mechanic and always calling the cops on us for real and imagined incidents.

5601: the Mehalko family, who previously lived in the 5800-5900 block of W. 9th Lane between the Hipke's and the Hines and moved to this home in 1963. Their children were Donna, Mike, Andrew and Paul.

5630: forgotten names

5631: the Sheffield family with husband George, wife Jackie, daughter Lori and son Michael. George was an elevator repairman with Otis and a big custom hot rod buff who built incredible hot rods. In the late 90's I heard Lori give a tribute to her dad on Majic 102.7 because he was retiring from Otis after 40+ years with the company.

5660: the Cheleotis family with husband Johnny, wife Dotty, daughters LuAnn and Joanie and son Johnny and a younger daughter. Johnny fought as a Marine in the Korean War, was seriously wounded and had the scars to prove it. He worked for The Miami News as a pressman and Dotty was a Miami News counselor and my boss when I started delivering the paper in 1960. They moved to Lima, Ohio around 1969. A 1962 photo of Dotty and a group of paperboys is at < https://pbase.com/image/86293949 and a 1970 photo of LuAnn and little Johnny in Lima is at < https://pbase.com/donboyd/image/57509015

5661: the Kayal family with husband Gene, wife Teresa and three sons Gene Jr., Brian and Bruce. Big Gene was a food broker with A. A. Greene Food Brokers and tragically died of a heart attack at age 34 while I was in boot camp in the summer of 1966. Teresa moved with her sons back to St. John, New Brunswick. Gene had a brother named Mike whose wife was Becky and their children were Joe, Michelle and Timmy and they lived in the Bird section of Miami Springs, and another brother named Ray whose family names we can't remember but Ray ran the Sirgany companies at the airport and other places. The Kayal home was sold to Barbara Sullivan who lived there for many years. A photo of Teresa and little Gene in 1970 is at: < https://pbase.com/donboyd/image/59436335

5690: the Schmidt family, with husband Dan, wife Betty, son Doug and daughter Claudia. Dan was an iron worker and his wife was a model. Doug got on with FP&L as a lineman in the early 70s and made it a career from what I heard from FP&L workers doing work at MIA during my employment there. Update: Doug is now an e-mail and Facebook friend and he did indeed put in a 30-year career with FP&L and he now works with alternative energy sources around the country.

5691: the Boyd family with my father John M. Boyd, son Don (me), and our housekeeper Clarice "Gram" Arnold, mother of his long-time girlfriend Irene Anthonsen. My dad worked for Miami Beach Federal Savings & Loan Association (later Financial Federal) for a career, starting at their main office on Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue and transferring to their new Norwood branch on NW 183rd Street in the early 60's. He retired from the S&L in August 1975 and died in an auto accident on September 20, 1975. "Gram" babysat for practically all the kids in the neighborhood and always had fresh cookies on hand to give to kids needing a sugar fix before dinner. She also made me mow the front yard twice, once in each direction, because it made it look "better."

5700: the Lavallie family with husband John, wife Dottie and their daughters Debbie and Beverley and son Richard. John was from Chicago, served in the Air Force at MacDill AFB and became an Eastern Airlines mechanic. Dottie worked part-time at the Publix on Palm Springs Mile and later worked at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Miami Lakes. Her sons from a previous marriage were Randy and Ray Joiner from Auburndale, FL who used to come down for the summer and we were buddies.

5701: the Shields family, with husband Harold, wife Yvette, son Mark and daughters Pamela and Becky. Mrs. Shields worked for Hurst Hurricane Shutters, a competitor to our family friend's Jones Shutter Products. Mr. Shields passed away in 1993.

5730: the Stopanio family with son Tommy who was a year or two younger than me, and another child. They were from New York and they built a nuclear fallout shelter in the backyard in the event of a war during the Cuban Missle Crisis. They owned a beauty parlor in the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. They later moved to North Miami Beach. The home was then owned by a bachelor with a lot of lady friends.

5731: the Pena family, with husband John and wife Joanne Pena, daughters Pam and Linda, son John. They started JP Realty in Hialeah and they probably sold a third of Hialeah over the years. Son John now lives on a lake in Palm Springs North next to the Luzoros, friends of ours. What a small world! A recent photo of "Little John" is at < https://pbase.com/donboyd/image/122189547 .

5760: the Martin family, with husband Chick and wife Nancy. Chick was a barber. Their children were Christopher, Robin, Mary, Jacqueline, Patrick and Rosy. Nancy got into the hippie movement in the 70s and was the talk of the neighborhood.

5761: the Mills family - very nice and quiet folks. This home was later sold to Chipper Campbell who grew up around the corner at 991 W. 55 Place.

5790: the Clark family, with husband Dick and wife Shirley, daughter Donna and son Alan. Dick worked for Delta Air Lines.

5791: forgotten names