Mildred Gladys Hostetter Flynn (1915–1977) | a Jersey City girl who came of age during the Jazz Age, lived through changing social expectations, raised a family, and left behind stories that descendants still talk about.
Mildred Gladys Hostetter
1915-1977
Family Overview and Vital Details
Mildred Glady Hostetter Flynn
Birth Mar 24, 1915 • Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Death June 15,1977 • Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey
Parents: Charlotte Ross Golden and Fred Hostetter
Spouse: Frank Walter Flynn
Married in 1941, according to the New Jersey Marriage Index or Jan 5, 1933, according to Aunt Margie, Mildred's youngest sister.
Children: Frank John; Mildred Gladys, Kenneth James, and Richard Walter. "
Burial: New York Bayview Cemetery, in the McCarthy section, grave 3, block O, lot 6, sharing a headstone and grave with her father.
A Jersey City Original
Birth of Another Hostetter Girl
On March 24, 1915, Fred Hostetter and his wife Charlotte Golden welcomed another daughter into their growing Jersey City family. They named her Mildred Gladys Hostetter, though most who knew her simply called her "Millie."
When the New Jersey State Census was taken a few months later on June 8, 1915, the family was living at 226 Linden Avenue. Alongside Fred, Charlotte, and their daughters was Charlotte's younger brother, Edward Golden, who was also part of the bustling household.
By 1920 the family had moved a few blocks away to 221 Winfield Avenue. Millie was no longer the baby of the family, as sisters Gertrude and Myrtle had arrived. After the heartbreaking loss of the only son born to Fred and Charlotte in 1921, the family became complete in 1923 with the birth of their sixth daughter, Marjorie.
The six Hostetter sisters would become a memorable cast of characters in family history, each leaving her own stories, mysteries, and occasional surprises behind.
Growing Up in the Roaring Twenties
To understand Mildred, it helps to understand the era in which she grew up.
The 1920s brought tremendous social change. Young women enjoyed freedoms their mothers and grandmothers could scarcely have imagined. Fashion became bolder, hemlines climbed higher, jazz music filled dance halls, and traditional rules were increasingly questioned.
Whether or not the Hostetter sisters fully embraced the flapper lifestyle, family stories suggest they certainly possessed some of the same spirit. Tales passed down through the generations describe young women who enjoyed life, had plenty of confidence, and were not always concerned with doing things exactly the way society expected.
Old photographs show Mildred carrying herself with a sense of style that never seemed to fade. Even decades later, she still had the glamorous look and carefully arranged appearance that suited her so well.
Ocean Avenue and a Growing Family
By 1930 the Hostetter family was living at 103 Ocean Avenue.
This decade brought both challenges and joys. The family welcomed its first grandchild, Robert Stenten, and before long another chapter would quietly become part of the family story.
In July 1935, Mildred's sister Gertrude gave birth to a daughter. After spending her earliest years with the family, the little girl was placed for adoption. It was undoubtedly a difficult decision, made during a time when unmarried mothers often faced harsh social realities. Decades later, family connections would be rediscovered, and those who knew her spoke of a woman deeply loved by her adoptive family.
Stories such as these remind us that family history is rarely neat and tidy. Real lives seldom are.
Education and a Brief Career
On June 28, 1930, Mildred celebrated her graduation from Dr. Henry Snyder Junior High School in Jersey City. School records place her in Room 222.
Whether she continued her education beyond eighth grade remains unknown. For many young women of her generation, however, an eighth-grade diploma marked the completion of formal schooling.
One family story tells of Mildred and one of her sisters being hired by a local dress shop. They reported for work, were sent to lunch, and promptly decided they had experienced enough of the working world. According to family legend, they never returned.
If the story is true, it may have been the shortest career in Hostetter family history.
Frank Flynn Enters the Picture
At some point during the early 1930s, Mildred met Frank Walter Flynn.
Born on July 12, 1908, Frank was a Jersey City native who lived only a few blocks away from the Hostetter family. In 1930 he was employed as a laborer for an electrical company, beginning what would become a lifetime reputation as a dependable worker and provider.
Their relationship also provides one of the more entertaining examples of how family historians occasionally "improved" the historical record.
Mildred's youngest sister, Marjorie—known to many descendants as Aunt Margie—served as the family genealogist for decades. She carefully recorded births, marriages, and deaths, preserving information that might otherwise have been lost.
Like many family historians of her generation, however, she occasionally appears to have exercised a bit of editorial discretion.
Margie's records listed Mildred and Frank's marriage as taking place on January 5, 1933. Modern research, however, points to a considerably later marriage date in 1941, appearing in official New Jersey records.
One suspects Aunt Margie was less concerned with historical precision than with protecting her sister's reputation.
Fortunately, time has a way of softening old scandals. Today's descendants tend to view such matters with understanding and perhaps a smile.
Raising the Flynn Family
Mildred and Frank welcomed their first child, Frank John Flynn, on November 24, 1933.
Fourteen months later, daughter Mildred Gladys Flynn arrived on January 25, 1935. Son Kenneth James Flynn followed on March 16, 1937.
All three children were baptized together on May 2, 1937, at the family's home on Pacific Avenue, with the ceremony recorded by Lafayette Dutch Reformed Church.
The family was completed many years later with the birth of Richard Walter Flynn on August 2, 1949.
By then Frank was employed as a motor inspector for General Motors, helping support the growing household during an era when stable employment was highly valued.
A Complicated Marriage
Like many marriages, the story of Mildred and Frank appears to have been more complicated than it may have seemed from the outside.
Records and family memories suggest there were periods when the couple lived separately. Yet family gatherings tell another part of the story.
When birthdays, holidays, and celebrations brought children and grandchildren together, Frank was there. Family members remembered him making the walk to join the festivities, sharing in the laughter and reconnecting with those he loved.
Whatever difficulties may have existed between them, family bonds remained remarkably resilient.
The House Full of Laughter
One thing family members consistently remember is that gatherings involving the Hostetter branches were rarely quiet affairs.
The food was plentiful, the conversations animated, and the laughter seemed capable of rattling the walls. Stories were told, memories were made, and children grew up surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
These are often the moments that survive longest in family memory.
Frank Jr. remembered his mother as an excellent cook. Asked years later what she made, his answer was wonderfully simple:
"Meat, vegetables, things like that."
Perhaps that tells us everything we need to know. The meals were not remembered because they were fancy. They were remembered because they were shared.
Her Final Years
As their children grew up, married, and established lives of their own, Mildred and Frank moved several times before eventually settling once again in Jersey City.
Mildred passed away on June 15, 1977, at Christ Hospital in Jersey City following a battle with breast cancer. She was only sixty-two years old.
Family members occasionally invoke her story when discussing retirement benefits. Having begun collecting Social Security only shortly before her death, she reportedly received just a single payment.
It is a reminder that tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Resting Places
Mildred is buried alongside her father, Fred Hostetter, at New York Bayview Cemetery in Jersey City.
Frank Walter Flynn survived her by fifteen years, passing away on July 25, 1992, shortly after his eighty-fourth birthday. He is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
Though their lives were not always simple, Mildred and Frank left behind four children, numerous grandchildren, and generations of descendants who continue to tell their stories.
And perhaps that is the truest measure of a life well lived: not perfection, but being remembered.
