Haley Family Stories (Part 6: The Atanacio Side)

This past week, two dear friends passed away to be with Jesus forever. In a way, they are also Haley family stories, because these two impacted the lives of our Haley Family so much.

I will try to write about them now, through teary eyes.

Joan (jo-ann) Ranke was a mentally impaired senior citizen who, because of that, stayed young her entire life. All of our kids “grew up” with Joan, as did every child in Burrows, all of whom were her playmates. She lived in a mobile home behind our big house, with her big sister Betty and Betty’s husband, Ralph. Betty was the township 4-H leader, so our older kids knew her well. Once, when Lisa had been witnessing to another 4-H’er, Betty felt the need to have a talk with her. 

“Lisa,” she said, “Kristin says you told her that if she doesn’t know Jesus, she’ll go to hell.”

“Yes, I told her that.”

“Well, you need to stop doing that, because we all know everybody goes to Heaven.”

Betty meant well, but her theology wasn’t very complete, to say the least. But Joan, “forever young,” began to go to church with us at Calvary Chapel Carroll County. She mostly liked word searches and coloring pages, so instead of having her fall asleep in the service, we allowed her to be a “helper” in the Sunday School. She was sometimes a little ornery, but what kid isn’t? We heard her tell us, on more than one occasion, about her own personal relationship with Jesus, so the Sunday School education actually made her wiser than her sister.

One day, Ralph died, and Betty began to be a danger to Joan as she developed Alzheimer’s. Betty was finally moved to a nursing home and Joan was moved from place to place. On Tuesday, we got word that she had passed away after aspirating some food.

The funeral was Saturday, with Eric officiating, and some of our kids felt guilty because they hadn’t been to the nursing home facility in Peru to see Joan. 

“Would she have remembered me?”

Maybe, but towards the end, there were so many Covid rules that even her own last-surviving sister hadn’t actually been able to visit her for a year and a half and when she did, it had to be outside with a mask. Joan hated that.

Next month, she would have been 92.

No sooner did we finish up the funeral on Saturday, than we got a message saying a dear friend of many years and youth leader at Calvary Chapel of Lafayette had had a heart attack and was being airlifted to a Lafayette hospital from Rennsalaer.

Bob Tanis was someone all of our kids knew and loved as they grew up. This tall, sweet teddy bear spent every summer escorting the youth of the church to camp and spending a week with them and their craziness. He was the youth leader who preferred brownies over Rice Krispy treats, helping the teens raise money for their activities. I have no idea how many kids were baptized at church camp, but Bob led a life that impacted many many others, including those who worked alongside him.

At age 62, after his own kids had long ago graduated from the youth group, he talked about finally retiring from youth leadership, and seriously, nobody even knew he was 62. He was another one of the “forever young” category, who had beaten cancer and recently, had beaten Covid. He did have a few gray hairs, but still!

So when we got the word about this heart attack, we thought, okay, God has healed Bob more than once – He can surely heal him again. So we began to pray.

But this time was Bob’s appointment with Jesus. He went to his forever home a couple of hours before the service started Sunday morning, leaving his wife Deb, three married children, and an entire church family to grieve his absence.

What could we do? At the last minute, Eric was recruited to lead worship, so he grabbed up some songs, we had a brief practice, and we started on time. Eric choked up on one of the songs because our pastor’s wife had told him about a dream of Heaven just before time to start, but thankfully, the congregation “helped him out” by singing with all their might.

And then, I made the announcement for Life Chain, which had been postponed a couple weeks because of inclement weather on the traditional Life Chain day of October 3. Because Bob had gone on to his Eternal Life in Heaven, it remained for us to proclaim Life and Eternal Life to everyone possible on this day in 2021. Jesus came that we might have Life, and that more abundantly. We had a wonderful turnout at Life Chain, and I know that wasn’t what the devil had in mind. But Jesus did!

Now here’s what Eric has written about my side of the family, starting with my dad. Interestingly, the Atanacio side is the part we know the least about, which leaves this large and uncomfortable space in our family tree poster.

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DANIEL ATANACIO

 

When I first met my wife Margie, it was love at first sight, at least on my end. I was on the front platform at the Lackland Air Force Base Chapel singing with the choir from a local church, when I saw her sitting there with a smile in her eyes and a glow on her face. Afterwards, I had to squeeze through other airmen to get close enough to introduce myself. You know how it goes:

“Hi, I’m Eric!” 

“Hi, I’m Margie!” 

“Enough small talk. Let’s go outside so we can get to know each other.” 

“My name is Eric Haley.” 

“My name is Margie Linda Atanacio.” 

I think my first response after that was, “Oh, wow!” I knew by the way she said it that this was my first test. I had to get the name right. She was gracious enough to help me with that, and before we met again, I had it down to a perfection.

 

Margie’s father was Daniel Atanacio, USAF Retired. I found out during the next three months that the Atanacio name was Greek, but Margie was part Puerto Rican. I remember coming home to Indiana for the first time after falling in love with her, telling my mother her name. 

“Her name is Margie Linda Atanacio.” 

“What kind of a name is that!” she asked. 

Knowing her dislike for a Mexican girl I had met the year before, I responded very truthfully. 

“Greek. It’s a Greek name.” 

My mother was relieved by that, and once we were married, accepted my lovely wife into the family without hesitation.

 

Daniel Atanacio was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents had immigrated to New York around 1930. All four of the Atanacio siblings were born in Brooklyn. Daniel grew up in a Spanish Pentecostal environment with a very strict father and mother who never learned to speak English. Daniel was born in 1934, doing his best to avoid the street gangs of New York, and in 1953, soon after High School graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force, wanting to be literally above the fray if ever war broke out.

Daniel Atanacio, having attained the rank of Staff Sergeant

America was at war in Korea at the time, but that was over before he finished his training. The next war was his to fight, and though he was not flying over the enemy, he was sent to Vietnam with the Red Horse Squadron, a crazy group of soldiers that did the advance work to build the things that kept other soldiers alive.

 

Daniel retired from the Air Force as a Tech Sergeant in 1973, just a year before his daughter Margie would follow in his footsteps into the Air Force.

 

THE ATANASIO FAMILY

 

My wife and her siblings spell their last name with a “c,” because of some military recruiter or staffer who misread Daniel’s birth certificate, so Daniel became the first American “Atanacio'' of the family. His brothers, sister, mom, and dad spelled their name “Atanasio.”

 

Daniel’s father was Alberto Atanasio, born in 1903 in or near San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Alberto Atanasio. Margie’s dad said that wasn’t his accordion.

Daniel’s mother was Eusebia (or Cheva) Ruiz, born in 1906 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Alberto was a cane picker, but once in America, he trained as a machinist’s apprentice. 

 

Alberto’s father was Emilio Atanacio (back to the “c” spelling). His full name was Emilio Atanacio Y Aquilino. He was born in 1869 in Puerto Rico and married Eulogia Medina who became Elogia Medina Y Serrano De Atanacio Y Aquilino. I am so glad they dropped all the extra names by the time I met Margie. Emilio and Eulogia had eight sons and one daughter.

A smattering of Atanasio cousins, during a visit in 1961. Margie is in the front row, bottom left.

 

There is one more Atanasio generation traced beyond Emilio and that is Agustin Atanasio Y Hernandez (bn. 1805) and his wife Maria Florentina Y Castillo Y Ayala (bn 1810), both of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

 

Margie’s abuela (grandmother) was the daughter of Simplicio Ruiz and Maria Valentine. 

Abuela Cheva, looking very beautiful

Margie (center) with her mom, her abuela, and her siblings

Simplicio was the son of Santiago Ruiz and Romona Cruz. Beyond this point we have no other information.

 

It appears that even though Margie’s maiden name is Greek, her heritage is most certainly Puerto Rican from her father’s side, and though it is a mix of Greek, Spanish and Italian heritage from the Atanasio line, the Ruiz line is Taino, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico. With all things considered, I have not yet found any family line that was not born in Puerto Rico, and I believe that it’s fair to say that Margie is half Puerto Rican.

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The two people at the beginning of this post have this in common with most of these ancestors of mine: except for my dad, they are all on the other side of life now. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor. 5 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Dulcinea, Robyn’s little daughter, sat in my lap on Saturday during the funeral, and I explained to her that though Joan’s body would be entombed in the fifth floor of that mausoleum in Logansport, her spirit was with Jesus. And I know that many of my ancestors, most notably my Abuela Cheva, are also with Jesus.

Betty was horribly wrong. Not everybody gets to go to Heaven. In fact, Jesus particularly addresses that.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

“Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'

“And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

 ~Matthew 7:21-23

Lisa, at age ten, knew about how to get to Heaven and she was exactly right. Chris and Susie, as children, were also two of our most determined evangelists, caring greatly about their friends. Several of our grandchildren have reached out to strangers because their deep faith makes it impossible to keep silent about the Good News.

Sammy, one of my evangelist grandchildren, at Life Chain 2021

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

“Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

~Matthew 18:1-4

“Lord Jesus, give us childlike faith, to humble ourselves and seek Your face and Your forgiveness. We know that not everyone will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but help us to find it and to show others the way. Today is the day of Salvation. Even so, Lord Jesus, may Thy Kingdom come, and come quickly! We are anxious to see our loved ones there. 

“For it is in Your Name we pray, Amen.”

Eric’s 60th birthday party at our church, 2015. Joan is on the far left in the back.

Church camp counselor Bob, in the back with his arm raised in worship.

Valerie and Vivian are seated, third and sixth from the left.