New leads, right under my nose

A few days ago, I was having dinner with my mother, niece, nephew and kids and the topic of my dead end with the Diocese of Davenport came up. As it turned out, the person my mother had spoken to when she contacted them a few years ago was the same person I had contacted. Our outcomes had been the same. She mentioned that the contact person told her that the St. Vincent House, where my father had stayed when sent to Davenport was closed down decades ago and no records were available. She indicated that it was surprising as my father had been featured in a newspaper advertisement encouraging the public to take in displaced orphans from Europe. I asked when she'd seen that. She said, "Oh, it's at home, upstairs in the safe."

I nearly choked. She knew I was doing this research, but had never mentioned anything about this. I asked if there was anything else. My nephew piped up: "Oh yeah, there's all kinds of stuff on him."

I nearly choked again.

When I get a chance, I'll post any relevant and useful info I find.