Kara Kovalchik
The Killilea Family: Where Are They Now?
by Kara Kovalchik - October 1, 2008 - 2:15 PM

karen-Killilea.jpgI first read With Love from Karen years ago when I was home sick with pneumonia. When I was well enough to go to the library, I checked out the author’s first book, Karen, and basically read the story of the Killilea family in reverse.

To summarize, Karen was born (in 1940) three months premature and wasn’t expected to survive. She spent her first nine months in what would now be called a neo-natal intensive care unit, and when she finally went home her parents noticed that something was amiss with their daughter. Her limbs seemed unusually stiff, she never rolled over in her crib, nor did she make an effort to reach for the toys offered to her. Several years went by before they were able to get a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and even more time elapsed before they found a specialist who could treat Karen. Marie worked tirelessly to find and unite other parents of CP children and eventually helped to found the Cerebral Palsy Association.

Over the years, I’d occasionally re-read WLFK and wonder whatever happened to Karen and her family. I checked out the title at Amazon.com and found that there were lots of other Karen readers out there who were wondering the same thing. I sensed a research project, and spent many hours online and in the library. I found out that there was still much tragedy ahead for the Killilea family.

karen-fire-little-red-house.jpgA large part of WLFK focused on the love story between Gloria (Karen’s eldest sister) and Russ, who had to wait seven long years (due to Russ’ annulment of a previous union and the couple’s desire to marry in the Catholic church) before Pope Pius XII gave them permission to be married. The births of their first two children, Mary deLourdes and Evelyn Ann, were mentioned in the book, as was a very detailed description of the “Little Red House” in Yorktown where Glo and Russ lived. Sadly, that charming house built in the 1700s and described in minute detail by Marie (“everything was dry and there was that sweet odor of time that only really old houses have”) turned out to be deadly; one late night in 1968 a faulty wire in the kitchen ignited a fire that quickly spread throughout the ancient wooden frame of the house. Gloria was able to rescue her two sons, but Mary and Evelyn were trapped on the third floor, along with their cousin Michelle Smiley (daughter of Little Marie), and the three children perished in the blaze.

Glo and Russ were married for just over 40 years and died within three months of one another in 2001/02. They are survived by their two sons. Little Marie divorced Ronald Smiley and eventually remarried. Rory is married and lives in Seattle. Kristin married her high school sweetheart, Simon Viltz, and lives in Illinois. Karen lives on her own in a specially equipped apartment and works as a secretary at a Catholic Retreat. Big Marie died in 1991 of respiratory failure (she’d previously battled two bouts of lung cancer), and her beloved husband, Jimmy, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, passed away two years later.

So that’s the follow-up story behind one of my favorite books. What are your favorite “based on a true story” or biographical books? Do you have a particular story that you once read and have occasionally wondered “I wonder whatever happened to….?” This is your opportunity to send the mental_floss staff on a research mission and perhaps enlighten many other readers who have similarly wondered in silence.

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Comments (48)

  1. I used to read the Karen books as well. I’ve always been intrigued by kids who had physical problems and whose parents fought for them.

    A book in a similar vein (but much shorter) was Run Away Little Girl by Marilyn M. Segal. She wrote about her youngest daughter Debbie who had cerebral palsy and who underwent rigorous “patterning” therapy. I gather Marilyn went on to write a number of books about child care and education, but have no idea what happened to the daughter.

    There was an interesting article on the Segal family’s donation of art to Duke here (check it in Google – I can’t share the link with you due to a peculiarity of your comment software)

    posted by Laurie Mann on 10-1-2008 at 2:30 pm

  2. Ever since I discovered that ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ is actually based on the story of one family and that the head of that family, Frank Gilbreth and his wife and their efficiency and motion studies, I’ve been interested to know whatever has happened to the remaining siblings. I believe one of the children came to the Midwest to study and if I remember correctly, to Purdue University, which is where I studied. I would be interested to hear more about the family!

    posted by ann on 10-1-2008 at 3:02 pm

  3. Have wonder about the Lund family, as I read a book about Eric Lund who had lukemia in the late 60′s early 70′s what became of them when Eric passed on.

    posted by Tony on 10-1-2008 at 3:57 pm

  4. David Pelzer the subject of “A child called It”. One of the worst cases of child abuse ever….

    posted by Vickey on 10-1-2008 at 6:12 pm

  5. I once read a book about a girl in the 50s who was on a ski team, I think maybe the national ski team, and she got paralyzed from the neck down in a race. The book covered her recovery and ability to become a teacher. For that era her accomplishments were amazing. I wonder where she is? Her name was Jill Kinmont.

    I read her biography when I was homeschooled because of an illness. She was pretty inspiring! Taught me I could still go to college despite my illness!! And I did, and now I am working on graduate school. :)

    posted by Lelah on 10-1-2008 at 7:44 pm

  6. I read a book about the Anderson quintuplets that followed from the parents marriage to the kids being in first grade. I think they were from Oregon. There was a part about Redbook paying for an interview that helped expand their house. And T. Berry Brazelton studied the kids. This was in the seventies, so the kids would be in their 30′s.

    posted by Jo on 10-1-2008 at 8:14 pm

  7. Vickey,

    Dave Pelzer is the author of 6 books, two of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Find out more about him at his website davepelzer.com.

    posted by bzzyb on 10-1-2008 at 10:02 pm

  8. Did anybody read “David” by Marie Rothenberg and Mel White? It’s about a little boy (David Rothenberg) whose father sets fire to him in a motel room to avoid returning the boy to his mother. It was a terribly moving story – came out in 1986, and there was a made-for-TV movie in ’88 starring Matthew Lawrence as David. I wonder how David is doing now.

    posted by Lynley on 10-1-2008 at 10:39 pm

  9. “Karen” was one of my favorite books when I was a teen. I still have a copy. Thanks for this update!

    As for other books, I’ve always wondered about the descendants of the people in “… And Ladies of the Club” by Helen Hooven Santmyer. Santmyer fictionalized the lives of a cousin or something and the cousin’s best friend. Santmyer herself appears in the book towards the end.

    posted by Gus Oltz on 10-1-2008 at 11:01 pm

  10. Ann, I’ve read every book I can find written by Frank Jr, Ernestine and Lillian. There’s a webpage about them (gilbrethnetwork.tripod.com/dozen) but it doesn’t list who went to Purdue.

    I absolutely REFUSE to watch the “remake” of the movie. It’s rubbish!

    posted by Meri on 10-1-2008 at 11:25 pm

  11. Vickey: He actually went on to write a total of three books about his abuse. I have not personally finished one (I started A Child Called It but it was a friends’ library book). I used to work in a bookstore and I’d see these all the time. The first book was released 13 years ago! The series itself ended almost ten years ago.

    Wiki includes ISBNs so go check out your local Barnes and Nobel/Borders/Half Price Books/Books-a-Million!

    posted by Taryn on 10-2-2008 at 6:46 am

  12. “Room For One More” — all those kids.

    posted by Mike Jackson on 10-2-2008 at 7:05 am

  13. Thanks for the update! I read the Karen books, too, when I was a kid. They were fairly new then.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 10-2-2008 at 7:32 am

  14. I don’t even think the recent Cheaper by the Dozen can even be called a remake (I agree, the recent one is terrible as is its sequel.) The only thing the movies have in common is 12 kids and a title. It’s a shame really because the story of the Gilbreth family is so poignant.

    They did make a sequel in 1952 based on the sequel to the book, Belles on Their Toes. It follows what happened to the family after Frank Sr dies and the struggles of Lillian providing for the family (discrimination at the time made it harder for anyone to take her seriously, it was 1924.)

    posted by Li on 10-2-2008 at 8:45 am

  15. The Doss family from The Family Nobody Wanted. I’ve been unable to find much on the real family

    posted by Liz B on 10-2-2008 at 10:09 am

  16. Ihave read almost all three of the books of Dave Pelzer and they were page turning and intense….he actually ended up getting married and having his own child…he and his wife split but remained close and he spends lots of time with his child and is not abusive as he fought to not be like his mother….

    Another really good read is “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden”..it is a autobio of the author and her bout with mental illness, specilically schizophrenia. It is a vivid story and very beautifully written.

    posted by Jennifer on 10-2-2008 at 10:25 am

  17. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was a fascinating book. Unfortunately, the movie they made of it in the late ’70s was a really mixed bag. Kathleen Quinlan was brilliant in the lead, but the adaptation was strange.

    posted by Laurie Mann on 10-2-2008 at 11:31 am

  18. Pictures or it didn’t happen

    posted by Jammy on 10-2-2008 at 1:05 pm

  19. Jammy, that B & W photo above is an actual newspaper picture of The Little Red House in flames.

    posted by Kara on 10-2-2008 at 1:48 pm

  20. To the person who asked about Purdue, in Belles On Their Toes they talk about how Bill, the second born son, studied engineering at Purdue. If you haven’t had a chance to read this sequel to Cheaper By the Dozen I really recommend it for more info on the family.

    As of now it looks like only one of the siblings is still living. Ernestine and Bob both died in 2007 but so far I haven’t seen any information about Fred who was listed as surviving them in their obituararies. How odd it must feel to be the last one from such a big family.

    posted by Susan on 10-19-2008 at 2:24 pm

  21. Several decades ago, I read a book called “Yours Is The Earth,” about a woman and her toddler daughter, Rose-Helene, who escaped from the Nazi and Fascist occupations of Europe during WWII, making their way from one country to another and over the Alps, and to freedom. Her courage, initiative and endurance were remarkable. (One particular day’s ration consisted of a peach and a bottle of Evian water.) I often wondered if she and her husband were able to reunite, and what Rose-Helene’s life might have been like, after the war, but didn’t know where to begin to research.

    posted by Evelyn on 8-16-2009 at 5:45 pm

  22. Thanks for the update on the Killilea stories. I just finished \Karen\ again after a period of many years, only this time through the eyes of a mother. I always fall a little in love with this family and their big hearts.

    What about \Dibs, In Search of Self\ ? I just loved that story and I was grateful for his emotional healing.

    posted by Marlene on 9-23-2009 at 4:34 pm

  23. I read “The Incredible Journey” when I was a kid, about dogs and cats who made it back home by traversing hundreds and thousands of miles. Now, I know these animals haven’t been alive in a long while, but I wonder if the story was really true.

    posted by Sandi Wisenberg on 11-2-2009 at 10:18 pm

  24. I think I have uncovered the identity of Karen’s doctor, refered to only as “Dr. B” in the first book and never mentioned in the second. I believe it to be Dr. Winthrop Morgan Phelps who founded the The Children’s Rehabilitation Institute in Cokeyville, MD.

    posted by Ellen on 1-26-2010 at 8:05 pm

  25. @Ellen – I have since learned that Dr. B was actually Dr. Lenox Dial Baker, who founded the North Carolina Cerebral Palsy Hospital at Duke University.

    posted by Kara on 1-26-2010 at 9:48 pm

  26. I would like to know if there indeed were hard feelings between Gloria and Marie at the time of each of their deaths. It seems such a shame. Also, does anyone know why little Marie and her first husband divorced? Do all the children remain in close contact with each other? I feel like I grew in the house with this family and I would love to hear how the years have treated them.
    Thanks,
    Mariel

    posted by Mariel on 2-19-2010 at 8:50 pm

  27. Kara, thank you very much for letting everyone know about the rest of the story after Karen.

    I recently purchased the book in order to read it again. I initially read it when in elementary school. Later on when I went onto college I remembered Karen and it is because of that book that I went into the field of teaching special education. I wish I could let Karen know how grateful I am to her mother for writing such a beautiful story.

    posted by Donna on 3-6-2010 at 2:37 pm

  28. I need to read this book. I am married to a Killelea. I have a Rory Killelea too.

    posted by CKillelea on 4-17-2010 at 7:04 pm

  29. I’ve read and reread these books since I was a teenager. I am so owed by Karen’s accomplshments. I don’t think I could ever have overcome and triumphed something like that. I hope she is still alive and doing well. Her mother did some pretty brave things in a time when there were no computers or national research foundations. And Karen, herself! What an amazing person she must be!

    posted by SLetner on 4-20-2010 at 1:48 pm

  30. I have one I have never been able to find anything out about… Debbie Diane Fox. She wrote “A Face for Me” which was published in 1978 when she was in her early twenties. Debbie was born with 59 facial abnormalities and writes about her experiences trying to live a normal life and cope with multiple surgeries that were pioneering at the time. Does anyone know anything??

    posted by Tanya on 4-21-2010 at 2:40 am

  31. @Lynley: David Rothenberg goes by “Dave Dave” now. He became friends with Michael Jackson and if you Google you can find images as well as YouTube interviews with Leeza and CNN.

    posted by Tanya on 4-21-2010 at 3:02 am

  32. There is a Killilea Fans Yahoo! group with lots of pictures and clippings to look at and information to read, as well…

    posted by Tanya on 4-21-2010 at 3:07 am

  33. Tanya, I would also like to have information about Debbie Diane Fox. I first read about her in a magazine many years ago and I have also read her book. I was born the same year as Debbie and I’ve always wondered about her later life.

    posted by Becky on 7-19-2010 at 2:49 pm

  34. Here is a link that will provide you with updated info on the Doss family.

    http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.arts.books.childrens/2008-08/msg00016.html

    I read “The Family Nobody Wanted” as a child and loved it. After being out of print for a number of years, it was re-printed in 2001 with an epilogue explaning what happened to the children. Unbelievably, Carl and Helen divorced in 1965. Both remarried. Carl died in the 1990′s; as of two years ago, Helen was still living and had just celebrated her 90th birthday.

    posted by Lynne on 8-5-2010 at 4:34 am

  35. Todd – by Dave Melton. A similar story to Karen’s only about a little boy, Todd Melton, born with cp. One younger sister is mentioned in the book. His story happened in the sixties I believe? Anyway, I always wondered what happened to him.

    posted by jeanne on 8-10-2010 at 3:25 pm

  36. I fell in love with the Killilea family and their Newfoundlands, when I was only 7.

    20 years later, I got my first Newf. I bred and showed Newfs for many years.

    I also have a cousin with CP. Unfortunately, his parents put him into an institution. He has high intelligence, but was an “embarrasment”. How lucky we are that the Killilea family had the love to share with that very special girl.

    I have Aspergers, so I am very aware of how the “different” are treated.

    posted by Gail on 8-18-2010 at 4:02 pm

  37. My mother gave me the book “Karen when I was about 10, and I eventually picked up “With Love, From Karen”. However, I only found out last year that my mother actually NAMED me after Karen Killilea!!! I was so thrilled to find that out!

    posted by Karen F. on 9-11-2010 at 9:12 pm

  38. but what about karen???

    posted by terri on 9-12-2010 at 2:41 pm

  39. Mariel,

    According to posts on the Killilea yahoo group site Marie and Gloria remained unreconciled. It also seems that the girls all atayed in touch but that Rory moved away and now that the parents have died does not seem to have much contact with his sisters (this information was provided to the group by Rory’s wife).

    posted by Susan on 9-26-2010 at 10:06 pm

  40. I think I missed something here because I just discovered this blog. Why were Marie and Gloria estranged? Was it because of the fire?

    posted by Elizabeth on 10-5-2010 at 7:48 am

  41. Just ran across WLFK and read the last few pages. Was inspired because I need make some decision about my life now. I am 66 years old and am thinking about when and if I should move into a more accessible (transportation-wise at least). I also understood the dicision to go to the wheelchair. I used a scooter for a long time, but finally was forced use the wheelchair. Anyway, I was really glad to get an update Karen and family. bc

    posted by BC PAYNE WHIGHAM on 11-8-2010 at 3:08 pm

  42. There was a book in the fifties called Six More at Sixty, by Robert Hyde. He and his wife adopted Mexican sibs after raising several of their own. I’d love to find out what happened to the children!

    posted by CW on 6-18-2011 at 10:44 am

  43. I read somewhere that the estrangement between Gloria & big Marie occurred because Marie wanted to write about the fire, & Glo wouldn’t hear of it.

    posted by Marilyn Booze on 7-2-2011 at 5:03 pm

  44. Karen was my favorite book when I was a teenager in the 70′s. 20 years ago I had a tiny preemie, who is now an almost 21 year old college student who has CP. Strange.

    posted by R Krause on 7-22-2011 at 10:12 pm

  45. Burn victim David Rothenberg is now in his twenties. For fear of his father getting out of jail and hunting him down (his mentally ill father set him on fire in a hotel room when he was 6), David has changed his name repeatedly & carefully hides where he is living. He played a burn victim on a soap opera, and he directs music videos.

    posted by PrincessMissy on 8-2-2011 at 12:21 am

  46. It was the book Karen. That inspired me when I was in 7th grade I wanted a career in Physical Therapy. I have now been working in Physical Therapy for over 30 years.
    I have often wondered what has happened to Karen and her family…..Thank-you!!

    posted by Linda Buligan-Buchanan on 10-1-2011 at 1:24 am

  47. Thank you for your work. I loved these books when I was young.

    I am interested Sunny Decker, author of “An Empty Spoon”. I have found no Wikipedia entry or anything. What happened to her and her family? Also, any info about the students in the book would be appreciated. (Since she used pseudonyms, that might not be possible.) Did the kids like the book? What did they think? Very curious!!!

    posted by Daisy Deadhead on 11-7-2011 at 12:46 pm

  48. How fascinating to read all these postings about the Killilea family, and others. This is quite the legacy for two wonderful books. I hope everyone has discovered the Killilea Fan group page on Yahoogroups. You’re all welcome to join in.

    posted by Valerie Smith on 12-9-2011 at 9:48 am

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