Fran Toler
Fran Toler
First generation Polish Immigrant and Minneapolis Native
Be sure you go to school. Be sure you do the best job you can. Anything you learn, no matter what it is, is a gift and will help you through life.
Fran Toler
First generation Polish Immigrant and Minneapolis Native
Dzien Dobre. That is Good Morning in Polish. My name is Mrs. Fran Toler. I wasn’t born in Poland, but my mother and father were. I grew up in northeast Minneapolis.
I went to a Catholic parochial school for the first eight years. The reason they had parochial school is there was a big focus on religion at that time.
My dad built a house and built a duplex. One family lived downstairs and usually the first married child would live upstairs.
I lived in neighborhood with a lot of churches. We went to a Polish Catholic Church. If you wanted to go to church you wanted to live within walking distance because nobody had cars. There was no television in those days so we made a lot of our own games like going Ice skating and playing card games.
After I got out of high school I went to work for the telephone company. When I started we used the long cords and I sat on a high chair with a headset. We didn’t have computers. I retired with 29 years of service plus.
I’ve been over to Poland twelve times. It is an organization which supports a sister city in Poland called Lomianki. It is a very old country with ld churches, museums, and palaces. Some of the buildings are over 500 years old and they are still maintaining them.
My favorite Holiday in Poland is Christmas. There are always polish delicacies that are served. Tea is a big drink in Poland more so than coffee. During the holiday everyone shares a Christmas wafer. When passing it to another person they say, “I wish you good luck and happiness.”
I was married at St. Charles Borremeo Church. We had an old fashion wedding cake for dessert. My husband and I had four children together. I have three children surviving and they live close to me. My husband died years ago.
I like living in Columbia Heights.
Dzien Dobre, Good Morning
Honoring Fran Toler
Dzien Dobre, Good Morning
Honoring Mrs. Fran Toler
CHORUS:
Dzien Dobre! Good morning! Dzien Dobre to you!
Dzien Dobre! Good morning! May all your dreams come true!
Mother and father - were born in Poland – many years many ago
Took them six weeks - to cross the ocean - to get - to their new home
In northeast - Minneapolis - where I was born and raised
In a Catholic - church and school - where we walked to and from each day
(Chorus)
I grew up - in a duplex - in a big family
Where the first child - to marry - would live upstairs - to save money
When they moved out - the next to - marry would do the same
Plus go to - church on Sunday - where everybody knew your name
(Chorus)
It cost a nickel - for the movies - and for a penny could get five
Pieces of candy - without a TV - we would play outside
Kick the can - and hide and go seek - long after the sun went down
Neighbors helped neighbors - no strangers - on my side of town
(Chorus)
After - church on Sunday - we would go from house to house
Like In Poland - lots of cabbage, potatoes, and sauerkraut
Without a car - we would go walking - everywhere we would go
Without a scrub board - we had a washtub - on Mondays we washed clothes
(Chorus)
There were Russians - There were Germans - and Irish who lived near
They all went - to different churches - back in those years
If German - married German - if Polish - you did the same
But when I moved - to California - I made a change
(Chorus)
In the shipyards - from Alabama - met my husband to be
He wasn’t Catholic - so he converted - after we married
Like Opletek - the Christmas wafer - to live - is to share
To learn - from each other - is to show – that you care
(Chorus)
Words & music by Larry Long
with Jack Schwint’s 5th Grade Class
of Valley View Elementary School
Columbia Heights, Minnesota
© Larry Long 2009 / BMI