Mom and Dad, Virginia, William, Winston and LeGrande (thank you cousin Phil Volz for this photo!)

There were 4 members of the Runaway Gang:

William
Virginia
LeGrande
Winston

To really understand this story, I must give you a little Family History. Later on I will go into more detail of the Family History. But for now, just know that my Mother Anna was orphaned at 8 years of age and was raised by her Sister Emily and her brother-in-law Phil.

The sisters were very close and naturally we, the children of the Runaway Gang were very close to "Aunt Minnie and Uncle Phil." They served as surrogate grand parents as we had lost both our grandfathers and a maternal grandmother before we were born.

We were accustomed to seeing Aunt Minnie and Uncle Phil at least once a week, sometimes at our house and sometimes at their house. Uncle Phil worked at a wholesale bakery shop as a delivery driver and was allowed to take home any excess bakery goods. Well this meant that whenever we visited there was a lot of baked goods for us to take home, or they brought it with them when they came to our house. All week long we would pester Mom saying, "when are we going to see Aunt Minnie?"

Well now for the story.
The two sisters had a falling out over something and it was serious enough to stop the visits. This went on for months and finally we children took matters into our own hands and decided to run away to Aunt Minnie's house. We planned the runaway and saved up treats to eat and water for drinking, believing this would be an over nighter. We had rope and matches and a canvass to sleep on. The distance from one end of the Bronx to the other is about 10 miles and I estimate that we actually traveled about 8 miles.

Well off we went from one end of the Bronx to the other lugging our stuff along, taking lots of rest stops along the way. Winston was the youngest and had a tough time keeping up. We finally had to tie a rope around him so we wouldn't lose him. Well eventually we made it to Aunt Minnies house and there was anger and there was joy. The police search was called off and Aunt Minnie called Mom on the candy store phone to let her know we were safe. Very few people had their own phones in those days and they would call the candy store and a lot of eager messengers would run to the apartment of the recipient hoping for a tip. The police were also notified that we were safe.

Well after a good wash up and a great meal we were taken home. We fully expected that we would have the heck beat out of us but Aunt Minnie told my mother if she laid a hand on us she would get the whipping she never got as a child. The two sisters, now realizing how their feud had affected the children, ended it right there with hugs and tears and kisses.

That's the story of the Runaway Gang!