Nick is the son of Alex Nicholas Seminoff (1897-1959) and Anna John Poppin (1899-1993). He is one of five children: John, Nick, Elsie, William, and Nora.
He married Diana Ruth (Holcomb) Seminoff Bales Mauregard (1921-2020) on 23 Oct 1945 in Sonoma County, CA. Diana also used the maiden name "Neffe." They have a son, Stephen born in 1948.
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Phone interview with Bill Seminoff 5/28/2000 (son of Alex Seminoff)
Bill told of a story about his brothers Nick and Jim, who were single at the time and his Uncle George Poppin. George would come up from the city and they'd go the Russian River and strut their stuff. They would come home and eat the Russian Borst and sleep in the haystacks. Then George would go home.
Side note by Nancy Posey: My mother, Dorothy Poppin, later said that my father, George Poppin, would talk about this often because he was very close with John and Nick Seminoff. They would go to Monte Rio.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nick Alex Seminoff married Dianna Ruth Neefe. They had a son Steven, born after Nick died. After Nick's death, Diana remarried. Bill doesn't know where she or the son is.
According to his brother Bill, Nick was not very tall, only five feet ten. What he lacked in height, he made up for with his personality and his charm. He knew how to talk and how to get the ladies. According to Bill, Nick met his wife Diana on a bus. He walked up to her and said, "Move over. I'm going to marry you." And he did. Nick was a World War II veteran. There were some emotional problems after the war. He would often talk to his brother Bill and tell him how scary it was. He started drinking heavily. One day he was picked up for his drinking and the police took him to jail. The next day, the police found him dead in his cell. He had hung himself. Poor Nick. So young to die and with so much emotional pain. War is hell. [Nancy Ann Posey - 5/28/2000
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Notes from Bob Dickerson:
Arrest /record/: April 1947
Reason for arrest: Battery, charged by his wife , and received 180 days Santa Rosa, Ca.
Burial: Abt. September 30, 1947, Santa Rosa Memorial Park
Cause of Death: Self inflicted hanging
Medical Information: Due to his war experience, memories of it caused him much mental pain
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Head Stone of Nick A Seminoff,
Nick A. Seminoff AZ Pvt Ord Dept WWII
b. Nov 20, 1919 d. Sept. 24, 1947.
He served on the AZ during WWII as a Private in the Ordnance Department.
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The following account was written by Kathy Seminoff Dickerson, daughter of John Seminoff and Nick Seminoff's niece. Her account is touching and honest and deals with the time surrounding Nick's death. It was written on June 11, 2000.
Hi Nancy,
It was a nice surprise that Bob found you. He had tried to contact Baba's, Anna, my Russian grandmother and it seems also Dyeda's (Alex, my Russian grandfather's) ) family, but it seems the timing was too late, for your father had tired from his research by the time Bob got fired up. Bob originally started with his own family, continuing the work done by his mother, when he realized how lopsided our personal family history was without my family as well. And, believe me, my family has as many members, strung out in all directions, when my mother's family is included along with my father, John's, which means yours as well, the Poppins and Seminoffs.
I was surprised to realize Baba and her father both married Seminoffs, brother and sister. Nobody ever told me that, as if they were embarrassed. I wouldn't think it incestuous, because there were no blood ties. Like
many young people who marry, they get together with whoever is available at the time they're ready to start a family and get away from the domination of parents. My guess is that's how it happened.
I met Aunt Alice when she came to my sister, Debby's funeral. Everyone came to our home afterward, including a Seminoff brother of my deceased, Dyeda's, who looked so much like my gf that is seemed Dyeda had returned from the dead. Uncle Bill, of course, was here, with his friendly,
emphatic talking, Russian-like, his voice heard above everyone else's. His wife, Velma is quiet, by contrast, though you can see her wheels turning. She likes it that way. My father, John, had already died, young, age 63, by the time Debby died of cancer. I knew Dad had had a red beard, and when Aunt Alice walked in, red haired still in her 70's, I knew my two sisters, one brother, and
myself had inherited our red hair from the Russian side . One other brother, although a blonde, also has a bright red beard, full blown. That's five out of seven. Of the other two, one is a blonde, the other a brunette.
How many redheads are there in your family, Nancy? Bob wants to know because it is rare. Only 5% of the human population has red hair.
You, of course, are curious about Uncle Nick's suicide. Family always tries to hush things up when such a tragedy occurs. I was glad you relayed Uncle Bill's anecdote about his and Uncle Nick's trips to the Russian River
when they were young. It kind of put things in a brighter light than the story I am about to relate to you.
Being Jehovah's Witnesses made my father and his family Conscientious Objectors to war. I was raised in this religion and had to stand for it, as a small child, not saluting the flag at school, nor observing holidays
or birthdays, during the post-WWII hatred of such unpopular beliefs. While Uncle Bill, Aunt Nora, and my brother Nick, all 3 whom you've talked with, still adhere to this religion, I have left it, feeling it much too harsh in many ways, though I still agree that war is bad.
I am a complete pacifist about war. I will tell you why.
My Uncle Nick's suicide I directly blame on the social pressures brought about by a government's manipulation of popular opinion. Through manipulation by the press and by passing laws, making it illegal to resist,, our government coerced their young men into becoming soldiers
during WWII.
My father, John, for whatever reason., whether ignoble or noble, I cannot say, stood by his belief, refusing to go to war and faced court action. My Uncle Nick, whether against or not against his belief, certainly against
his family's belief, joined the National Guard and went to war. I, personally, cannot fault him. Pressure was tough. Both brothers were in a quandary. Can you see that? Two brothers chose opposite paths and Uncle Nick's ended in tragedy.
Dyeda gave half his 10 acres on Stony Point Rd. in Santa Rosa, to my father, John. We lived across an expanse of field from my grandparents and raised a cow for milk and had a vegetable garden. My grandparents had a cow, which Uncle Bill milked, and the garden, plus a banya, a steam house. Being the eldest grandchild, a little spoiled and living so close, I spent a lot of time with Baba. I remember taking horrid steam baths with Baba. It was miserable for me, as a small child, to sweat and drip in all that steam. I would try to run home back across the field when she wanted to take a steam bath. I still remember her huge pendulous breasts, which I didn't inherit, dripping with steam. I'd almost forgotten. My tiny brother Nick usually stayed at home with Mother.
Though he looked like a grown-up to me, Uncle Bill must have been a teenager when I was small. He lived in a room above the tank house at Baba and Dyeda's. I remember the steep, narrow, rickety stairway which led to his room on the south side of the building. Those stairs frightened me
badly. I avoided them and would enjoy blinchky in my grandparents spotless, spare Russian kitchen in the main house, with its painted green chairs and bench. Auntie Nora and Uncle Bill always did the dishes afterward, and showed off and laughed at my amazement over their deftness
at the operation. While I accepted Auntie Nora (Nyoorrrka), I adored Uncle Bill. He would come by my folks house in his white coup and take me off to Baba's. He used to pinch my nose, hold up his thumb between his fingers and tell me he's swiped it. He thought that was so funny and I'd be furious. I always forgave him. Little children and animals have that ability.
Such is the setting for Uncle Nick. I never knew where Uncle Nick lived. I knew it was somewhere around Santa Rosa and I would see him at my grandmother's at times. Or he would come by to talk with my father at our house. I didn't like Uncle Nick the way I liked Uncle Bill. Looking back on it from an older person's viewpoint, I don't think he liked me. Or he didn't like children. I can't say. Perhaps it had nothing to do with me. He was quiet, moody, I would say even sullen, mulling things a small child cannot understand. And though it may seem a contradiction, I knew I loved him, unconditionally, only the way a child can, though I didn't respond to him with open arms, the way it was easy, as you know, to do with
Uncle Bill. I felt ill-at-ease with Uncle Nick. Though he must have been good looking, I never thought he was as handsome as my father or Uncle Bill.
When Uncle Bill went to jail because he wouldn't go to war, the light left my life. He was gone for about six months, and my parents must have realized how much I missed him, because after he'd been freed and returned
home, my father, with an air of mystery about him, took me to Baba's, keeping Uncle Bill's return a secret. When I saw Uncle Bill, I ran as hard as I could and jumped delightedly into his arms. Shortly after that he married Auntie Velma and built a small, neat house next door to Baba and Dyeda's. Although Baba's house and my folks house have long been sold, Auntie Velma and Uncle Bill still live there.
Perhaps because his presence at Baba's was infrequent, I didn't miss Uncle Nick when he went to war. Somewhere in the time period he married Aunt Diana and they had a tiny boy, Steven, whom I know very little of because Diana severed ties with our family after Uncle Nick was gone.
Before he died Uncle Nick came to see my father at our house. My mother was away, Possibly in the hospital having Debby, the third child. My brother Nicky, Uncle Nick's namesake, played in the gravel Dad was shoveling behind our tank house, as Uncle Nick unburdened himself on my father, telling of horrors I envisioned without judgment, seeing in my mind's eyes Uncle Nick's friends dismembered body parts, heads, floating in the water beside the battleship.
Understandably, Dad tried to shut him up so Nicky and I wouldn't hear. "Take it easy. Take it easy, Nick," he said to my uncle, gesturing warningly toward us. Nicky was 3; I was 5.
Taking my father's warning for rejection, Uncle Nick jerked around to leave, Though I was always curious when listening to grownups, this time I knew something was wrong. I gripped my father's hand and warned him,
"Uncle Nick's hurting, Daddy. Don't let him go."
"Naw. Naw." Dad said, leaning on his shovel, chewing on his toothpick, squinting at his brother lumbering away across the field back to Baba's house. "He'll be fine."
I didn't know Uncle Nick would commit suicide that night. I only knew Uncle Nick wouldn't be fine. I didn't have enough experience to understand what it was he intended. But I felt his desperation, that he was hurting too badly and that he'd made up his mind. Uncle Nick didn't
know that it wasn't my father but myself which he made connection with. And too bad, for my father didn't pay attention to my plea and thought that Uncle Nick's suicide was impossible.
The funeral was held in the evening at Welti's Funeral Parlor, which then existed and no longer does on the corner of 4th and E Sts. in Santa Rosa. My last glimpse of Uncle Nick was in a casket. I realized then how
handsome he was, and my heart swelled with tender love for him.
I remember Auntie Diana, baby Steven in arms, standing in the darkness on the sidewalk outside the funeral home afterward, asking my Mom and Dad what she would do now. (That's how I remember it. Apparently, according to
some records, Steven wasn't born yet. But that is what I remember.) Diana became a teacher.
Carrying this in me all my life, I thank you for asking about it, Nancy. Most people prefer to turn their backs, sweep it under the rug. I learned that at an early age. If Bob hadn't developed a keen interest in my family, I never would have said anything. After all, my father didn't listen. I cannot say whether he felt contempt for my uncle, that he got what he deserved for going to war, that God punished Uncle Nick. I don't think so.
Love,
Cousin Kathy
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From the Thursday, September 25, 1947 Press Democrat front page:
VETERAN HANGS SELF IN JAIL
Nick Seminoff, 27-year old Santa Rosa war veteran, hanged himself with his belt in the city jail last night, the coroner's office reported.
Jailed at 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon on a charge of Possiblyation violation, Seminoff was last seen alive about 11 p.m. during a routine check by officers.
Office John Ellis discovered the body shortly before 1 o'clock this morning, when he took a "sleeper" to the cell block. The body was slumped against the jail cell door and a piece of the belt used to take his life was still tied to the cell bars. Officers expressed the belief the belt broke after Seminoff died of strangulation.
A resident of 815 Humboldt Street Seminoff was last arrested prior to yesterday, in April of this year on a battery charge, lodged by his wife. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail upon conviction and later placed on
probation.
It was in violation of this probationthat he was arrested yesterday. The body was removed to the Welti funeral parlors pending completion of an investigation by Coroner Vernon Silvershield.
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From the Friday, September 26 Press Democrat (Page 6) and
the Saturday, September 27 Press Democrat (Page 3) obituaries:
SEMINOFF-in Santa Rosa, Wednesday, September 24, 1947, Nick Alex Seminoff, dearly beloved husband of Diana R. Seminoff; loving son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex N. Seminoff of Santa Rosa; loving brother of John A. Seminoff and William A. Seminoff of Santa Rosa and Nora Magnetti of Los Angeles. A native of AZ; aged 27 years, 10 months, 4 days.
Friends are invited to attend the funeral Saturday, September 27, at 10 a.m. from the chapel at Welti Funeral Parlors under the auspices of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interment Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery.
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Death Certificate Transcription for:
Nick Alex Seminoff
Date of Date: 9/24/1947 at 9:45 a.m. Age: 27
Death Certificate #1947000766
State File #: 47-070631
Registrar #: 4502-146
Volume 0015, Page 0222
Male, Caucasian, born 11/20/1919 in AZ
Father's name Alex N. Seminoff born in Russia
Mother's name ---------------------
Social Security # 567-03-2142
Occupation: carpenter
Married: spouse, Diane Seminoff
Place of death: Santa Rosa County Jail, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Last residence: 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Informant: Alex N. Seminoff, 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, CA
Coroner: Vernon Silvershield, MD
Cause of death: strangulation by hanging by a strap around the neck,
suicide
burial: nothing noted on death certificate
Funeral Home: Welti
Embalmer: Wesley W. Daniels, Lic. #2514
He married Diana Ruth (Holcomb) Seminoff Bales Mauregard (1921-2020) on 23 Oct 1945 in Sonoma County, CA. Diana also used the maiden name "Neffe." They have a son, Stephen born in 1948.
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Phone interview with Bill Seminoff 5/28/2000 (son of Alex Seminoff)
Bill told of a story about his brothers Nick and Jim, who were single at the time and his Uncle George Poppin. George would come up from the city and they'd go the Russian River and strut their stuff. They would come home and eat the Russian Borst and sleep in the haystacks. Then George would go home.
Side note by Nancy Posey: My mother, Dorothy Poppin, later said that my father, George Poppin, would talk about this often because he was very close with John and Nick Seminoff. They would go to Monte Rio.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nick Alex Seminoff married Dianna Ruth Neefe. They had a son Steven, born after Nick died. After Nick's death, Diana remarried. Bill doesn't know where she or the son is.
According to his brother Bill, Nick was not very tall, only five feet ten. What he lacked in height, he made up for with his personality and his charm. He knew how to talk and how to get the ladies. According to Bill, Nick met his wife Diana on a bus. He walked up to her and said, "Move over. I'm going to marry you." And he did. Nick was a World War II veteran. There were some emotional problems after the war. He would often talk to his brother Bill and tell him how scary it was. He started drinking heavily. One day he was picked up for his drinking and the police took him to jail. The next day, the police found him dead in his cell. He had hung himself. Poor Nick. So young to die and with so much emotional pain. War is hell. [Nancy Ann Posey - 5/28/2000
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes from Bob Dickerson:
Arrest /record/: April 1947
Reason for arrest: Battery, charged by his wife , and received 180 days Santa Rosa, Ca.
Burial: Abt. September 30, 1947, Santa Rosa Memorial Park
Cause of Death: Self inflicted hanging
Medical Information: Due to his war experience, memories of it caused him much mental pain
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Head Stone of Nick A Seminoff,
Nick A. Seminoff AZ Pvt Ord Dept WWII
b. Nov 20, 1919 d. Sept. 24, 1947.
He served on the AZ during WWII as a Private in the Ordnance Department.
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The following account was written by Kathy Seminoff Dickerson, daughter of John Seminoff and Nick Seminoff's niece. Her account is touching and honest and deals with the time surrounding Nick's death. It was written on June 11, 2000.
Hi Nancy,
It was a nice surprise that Bob found you. He had tried to contact Baba's, Anna, my Russian grandmother and it seems also Dyeda's (Alex, my Russian grandfather's) ) family, but it seems the timing was too late, for your father had tired from his research by the time Bob got fired up. Bob originally started with his own family, continuing the work done by his mother, when he realized how lopsided our personal family history was without my family as well. And, believe me, my family has as many members, strung out in all directions, when my mother's family is included along with my father, John's, which means yours as well, the Poppins and Seminoffs.
I was surprised to realize Baba and her father both married Seminoffs, brother and sister. Nobody ever told me that, as if they were embarrassed. I wouldn't think it incestuous, because there were no blood ties. Like
many young people who marry, they get together with whoever is available at the time they're ready to start a family and get away from the domination of parents. My guess is that's how it happened.
I met Aunt Alice when she came to my sister, Debby's funeral. Everyone came to our home afterward, including a Seminoff brother of my deceased, Dyeda's, who looked so much like my gf that is seemed Dyeda had returned from the dead. Uncle Bill, of course, was here, with his friendly,
emphatic talking, Russian-like, his voice heard above everyone else's. His wife, Velma is quiet, by contrast, though you can see her wheels turning. She likes it that way. My father, John, had already died, young, age 63, by the time Debby died of cancer. I knew Dad had had a red beard, and when Aunt Alice walked in, red haired still in her 70's, I knew my two sisters, one brother, and
myself had inherited our red hair from the Russian side . One other brother, although a blonde, also has a bright red beard, full blown. That's five out of seven. Of the other two, one is a blonde, the other a brunette.
How many redheads are there in your family, Nancy? Bob wants to know because it is rare. Only 5% of the human population has red hair.
You, of course, are curious about Uncle Nick's suicide. Family always tries to hush things up when such a tragedy occurs. I was glad you relayed Uncle Bill's anecdote about his and Uncle Nick's trips to the Russian River
when they were young. It kind of put things in a brighter light than the story I am about to relate to you.
Being Jehovah's Witnesses made my father and his family Conscientious Objectors to war. I was raised in this religion and had to stand for it, as a small child, not saluting the flag at school, nor observing holidays
or birthdays, during the post-WWII hatred of such unpopular beliefs. While Uncle Bill, Aunt Nora, and my brother Nick, all 3 whom you've talked with, still adhere to this religion, I have left it, feeling it much too harsh in many ways, though I still agree that war is bad.
I am a complete pacifist about war. I will tell you why.
My Uncle Nick's suicide I directly blame on the social pressures brought about by a government's manipulation of popular opinion. Through manipulation by the press and by passing laws, making it illegal to resist,, our government coerced their young men into becoming soldiers
during WWII.
My father, John, for whatever reason., whether ignoble or noble, I cannot say, stood by his belief, refusing to go to war and faced court action. My Uncle Nick, whether against or not against his belief, certainly against
his family's belief, joined the National Guard and went to war. I, personally, cannot fault him. Pressure was tough. Both brothers were in a quandary. Can you see that? Two brothers chose opposite paths and Uncle Nick's ended in tragedy.
Dyeda gave half his 10 acres on Stony Point Rd. in Santa Rosa, to my father, John. We lived across an expanse of field from my grandparents and raised a cow for milk and had a vegetable garden. My grandparents had a cow, which Uncle Bill milked, and the garden, plus a banya, a steam house. Being the eldest grandchild, a little spoiled and living so close, I spent a lot of time with Baba. I remember taking horrid steam baths with Baba. It was miserable for me, as a small child, to sweat and drip in all that steam. I would try to run home back across the field when she wanted to take a steam bath. I still remember her huge pendulous breasts, which I didn't inherit, dripping with steam. I'd almost forgotten. My tiny brother Nick usually stayed at home with Mother.
Though he looked like a grown-up to me, Uncle Bill must have been a teenager when I was small. He lived in a room above the tank house at Baba and Dyeda's. I remember the steep, narrow, rickety stairway which led to his room on the south side of the building. Those stairs frightened me
badly. I avoided them and would enjoy blinchky in my grandparents spotless, spare Russian kitchen in the main house, with its painted green chairs and bench. Auntie Nora and Uncle Bill always did the dishes afterward, and showed off and laughed at my amazement over their deftness
at the operation. While I accepted Auntie Nora (Nyoorrrka), I adored Uncle Bill. He would come by my folks house in his white coup and take me off to Baba's. He used to pinch my nose, hold up his thumb between his fingers and tell me he's swiped it. He thought that was so funny and I'd be furious. I always forgave him. Little children and animals have that ability.
Such is the setting for Uncle Nick. I never knew where Uncle Nick lived. I knew it was somewhere around Santa Rosa and I would see him at my grandmother's at times. Or he would come by to talk with my father at our house. I didn't like Uncle Nick the way I liked Uncle Bill. Looking back on it from an older person's viewpoint, I don't think he liked me. Or he didn't like children. I can't say. Perhaps it had nothing to do with me. He was quiet, moody, I would say even sullen, mulling things a small child cannot understand. And though it may seem a contradiction, I knew I loved him, unconditionally, only the way a child can, though I didn't respond to him with open arms, the way it was easy, as you know, to do with
Uncle Bill. I felt ill-at-ease with Uncle Nick. Though he must have been good looking, I never thought he was as handsome as my father or Uncle Bill.
When Uncle Bill went to jail because he wouldn't go to war, the light left my life. He was gone for about six months, and my parents must have realized how much I missed him, because after he'd been freed and returned
home, my father, with an air of mystery about him, took me to Baba's, keeping Uncle Bill's return a secret. When I saw Uncle Bill, I ran as hard as I could and jumped delightedly into his arms. Shortly after that he married Auntie Velma and built a small, neat house next door to Baba and Dyeda's. Although Baba's house and my folks house have long been sold, Auntie Velma and Uncle Bill still live there.
Perhaps because his presence at Baba's was infrequent, I didn't miss Uncle Nick when he went to war. Somewhere in the time period he married Aunt Diana and they had a tiny boy, Steven, whom I know very little of because Diana severed ties with our family after Uncle Nick was gone.
Before he died Uncle Nick came to see my father at our house. My mother was away, Possibly in the hospital having Debby, the third child. My brother Nicky, Uncle Nick's namesake, played in the gravel Dad was shoveling behind our tank house, as Uncle Nick unburdened himself on my father, telling of horrors I envisioned without judgment, seeing in my mind's eyes Uncle Nick's friends dismembered body parts, heads, floating in the water beside the battleship.
Understandably, Dad tried to shut him up so Nicky and I wouldn't hear. "Take it easy. Take it easy, Nick," he said to my uncle, gesturing warningly toward us. Nicky was 3; I was 5.
Taking my father's warning for rejection, Uncle Nick jerked around to leave, Though I was always curious when listening to grownups, this time I knew something was wrong. I gripped my father's hand and warned him,
"Uncle Nick's hurting, Daddy. Don't let him go."
"Naw. Naw." Dad said, leaning on his shovel, chewing on his toothpick, squinting at his brother lumbering away across the field back to Baba's house. "He'll be fine."
I didn't know Uncle Nick would commit suicide that night. I only knew Uncle Nick wouldn't be fine. I didn't have enough experience to understand what it was he intended. But I felt his desperation, that he was hurting too badly and that he'd made up his mind. Uncle Nick didn't
know that it wasn't my father but myself which he made connection with. And too bad, for my father didn't pay attention to my plea and thought that Uncle Nick's suicide was impossible.
The funeral was held in the evening at Welti's Funeral Parlor, which then existed and no longer does on the corner of 4th and E Sts. in Santa Rosa. My last glimpse of Uncle Nick was in a casket. I realized then how
handsome he was, and my heart swelled with tender love for him.
I remember Auntie Diana, baby Steven in arms, standing in the darkness on the sidewalk outside the funeral home afterward, asking my Mom and Dad what she would do now. (That's how I remember it. Apparently, according to
some records, Steven wasn't born yet. But that is what I remember.) Diana became a teacher.
Carrying this in me all my life, I thank you for asking about it, Nancy. Most people prefer to turn their backs, sweep it under the rug. I learned that at an early age. If Bob hadn't developed a keen interest in my family, I never would have said anything. After all, my father didn't listen. I cannot say whether he felt contempt for my uncle, that he got what he deserved for going to war, that God punished Uncle Nick. I don't think so.
Love,
Cousin Kathy
- - - - - - -
From the Thursday, September 25, 1947 Press Democrat front page:
VETERAN HANGS SELF IN JAIL
Nick Seminoff, 27-year old Santa Rosa war veteran, hanged himself with his belt in the city jail last night, the coroner's office reported.
Jailed at 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon on a charge of Possiblyation violation, Seminoff was last seen alive about 11 p.m. during a routine check by officers.
Office John Ellis discovered the body shortly before 1 o'clock this morning, when he took a "sleeper" to the cell block. The body was slumped against the jail cell door and a piece of the belt used to take his life was still tied to the cell bars. Officers expressed the belief the belt broke after Seminoff died of strangulation.
A resident of 815 Humboldt Street Seminoff was last arrested prior to yesterday, in April of this year on a battery charge, lodged by his wife. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail upon conviction and later placed on
probation.
It was in violation of this probationthat he was arrested yesterday. The body was removed to the Welti funeral parlors pending completion of an investigation by Coroner Vernon Silvershield.
- - - - - - - - - - -
From the Friday, September 26 Press Democrat (Page 6) and
the Saturday, September 27 Press Democrat (Page 3) obituaries:
SEMINOFF-in Santa Rosa, Wednesday, September 24, 1947, Nick Alex Seminoff, dearly beloved husband of Diana R. Seminoff; loving son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex N. Seminoff of Santa Rosa; loving brother of John A. Seminoff and William A. Seminoff of Santa Rosa and Nora Magnetti of Los Angeles. A native of AZ; aged 27 years, 10 months, 4 days.
Friends are invited to attend the funeral Saturday, September 27, at 10 a.m. from the chapel at Welti Funeral Parlors under the auspices of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interment Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery.
- - - - - - - - -
Death Certificate Transcription for:
Nick Alex Seminoff
Date of Date: 9/24/1947 at 9:45 a.m. Age: 27
Death Certificate #1947000766
State File #: 47-070631
Registrar #: 4502-146
Volume 0015, Page 0222
Male, Caucasian, born 11/20/1919 in AZ
Father's name Alex N. Seminoff born in Russia
Mother's name ---------------------
Social Security # 567-03-2142
Occupation: carpenter
Married: spouse, Diane Seminoff
Place of death: Santa Rosa County Jail, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Last residence: 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Informant: Alex N. Seminoff, 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, CA
Coroner: Vernon Silvershield, MD
Cause of death: strangulation by hanging by a strap around the neck,
suicide
burial: nothing noted on death certificate
Funeral Home: Welti
Embalmer: Wesley W. Daniels, Lic. #2514
Nick is the son of Alex Nicholas Seminoff (1897-1959) and Anna John Poppin (1899-1993). He is one of five children: John, Nick, Elsie, William, and Nora.
He married Diana Ruth (Holcomb) Seminoff Bales Mauregard (1921-2020) on 23 Oct 1945 in Sonoma County, CA. Diana also used the maiden name "Neffe." They have a son, Stephen born in 1948.
- - - - - - - - - -
Phone interview with Bill Seminoff 5/28/2000 (son of Alex Seminoff)
Bill told of a story about his brothers Nick and Jim, who were single at the time and his Uncle George Poppin. George would come up from the city and they'd go the Russian River and strut their stuff. They would come home and eat the Russian Borst and sleep in the haystacks. Then George would go home.
Side note by Nancy Posey: My mother, Dorothy Poppin, later said that my father, George Poppin, would talk about this often because he was very close with John and Nick Seminoff. They would go to Monte Rio.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nick Alex Seminoff married Dianna Ruth Neefe. They had a son Steven, born after Nick died. After Nick's death, Diana remarried. Bill doesn't know where she or the son is.
According to his brother Bill, Nick was not very tall, only five feet ten. What he lacked in height, he made up for with his personality and his charm. He knew how to talk and how to get the ladies. According to Bill, Nick met his wife Diana on a bus. He walked up to her and said, "Move over. I'm going to marry you." And he did. Nick was a World War II veteran. There were some emotional problems after the war. He would often talk to his brother Bill and tell him how scary it was. He started drinking heavily. One day he was picked up for his drinking and the police took him to jail. The next day, the police found him dead in his cell. He had hung himself. Poor Nick. So young to die and with so much emotional pain. War is hell. [Nancy Ann Posey - 5/28/2000
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes from Bob Dickerson:
Arrest /record/: April 1947
Reason for arrest: Battery, charged by his wife , and received 180 days Santa Rosa, Ca.
Burial: Abt. September 30, 1947, Santa Rosa Memorial Park
Cause of Death: Self inflicted hanging
Medical Information: Due to his war experience, memories of it caused him much mental pain
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Head Stone of Nick A Seminoff,
Nick A. Seminoff AZ Pvt Ord Dept WWII
b. Nov 20, 1919 d. Sept. 24, 1947.
He served on the AZ during WWII as a Private in the Ordnance Department.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The following account was written by Kathy Seminoff Dickerson, daughter of John Seminoff and Nick Seminoff's niece. Her account is touching and honest and deals with the time surrounding Nick's death. It was written on June 11, 2000.
Hi Nancy,
It was a nice surprise that Bob found you. He had tried to contact Baba's, Anna, my Russian grandmother and it seems also Dyeda's (Alex, my Russian grandfather's) ) family, but it seems the timing was too late, for your father had tired from his research by the time Bob got fired up. Bob originally started with his own family, continuing the work done by his mother, when he realized how lopsided our personal family history was without my family as well. And, believe me, my family has as many members, strung out in all directions, when my mother's family is included along with my father, John's, which means yours as well, the Poppins and Seminoffs.
I was surprised to realize Baba and her father both married Seminoffs, brother and sister. Nobody ever told me that, as if they were embarrassed. I wouldn't think it incestuous, because there were no blood ties. Like
many young people who marry, they get together with whoever is available at the time they're ready to start a family and get away from the domination of parents. My guess is that's how it happened.
I met Aunt Alice when she came to my sister, Debby's funeral. Everyone came to our home afterward, including a Seminoff brother of my deceased, Dyeda's, who looked so much like my gf that is seemed Dyeda had returned from the dead. Uncle Bill, of course, was here, with his friendly,
emphatic talking, Russian-like, his voice heard above everyone else's. His wife, Velma is quiet, by contrast, though you can see her wheels turning. She likes it that way. My father, John, had already died, young, age 63, by the time Debby died of cancer. I knew Dad had had a red beard, and when Aunt Alice walked in, red haired still in her 70's, I knew my two sisters, one brother, and
myself had inherited our red hair from the Russian side . One other brother, although a blonde, also has a bright red beard, full blown. That's five out of seven. Of the other two, one is a blonde, the other a brunette.
How many redheads are there in your family, Nancy? Bob wants to know because it is rare. Only 5% of the human population has red hair.
You, of course, are curious about Uncle Nick's suicide. Family always tries to hush things up when such a tragedy occurs. I was glad you relayed Uncle Bill's anecdote about his and Uncle Nick's trips to the Russian River
when they were young. It kind of put things in a brighter light than the story I am about to relate to you.
Being Jehovah's Witnesses made my father and his family Conscientious Objectors to war. I was raised in this religion and had to stand for it, as a small child, not saluting the flag at school, nor observing holidays
or birthdays, during the post-WWII hatred of such unpopular beliefs. While Uncle Bill, Aunt Nora, and my brother Nick, all 3 whom you've talked with, still adhere to this religion, I have left it, feeling it much too harsh in many ways, though I still agree that war is bad.
I am a complete pacifist about war. I will tell you why.
My Uncle Nick's suicide I directly blame on the social pressures brought about by a government's manipulation of popular opinion. Through manipulation by the press and by passing laws, making it illegal to resist,, our government coerced their young men into becoming soldiers
during WWII.
My father, John, for whatever reason., whether ignoble or noble, I cannot say, stood by his belief, refusing to go to war and faced court action. My Uncle Nick, whether against or not against his belief, certainly against
his family's belief, joined the National Guard and went to war. I, personally, cannot fault him. Pressure was tough. Both brothers were in a quandary. Can you see that? Two brothers chose opposite paths and Uncle Nick's ended in tragedy.
Dyeda gave half his 10 acres on Stony Point Rd. in Santa Rosa, to my father, John. We lived across an expanse of field from my grandparents and raised a cow for milk and had a vegetable garden. My grandparents had a cow, which Uncle Bill milked, and the garden, plus a banya, a steam house. Being the eldest grandchild, a little spoiled and living so close, I spent a lot of time with Baba. I remember taking horrid steam baths with Baba. It was miserable for me, as a small child, to sweat and drip in all that steam. I would try to run home back across the field when she wanted to take a steam bath. I still remember her huge pendulous breasts, which I didn't inherit, dripping with steam. I'd almost forgotten. My tiny brother Nick usually stayed at home with Mother.
Though he looked like a grown-up to me, Uncle Bill must have been a teenager when I was small. He lived in a room above the tank house at Baba and Dyeda's. I remember the steep, narrow, rickety stairway which led to his room on the south side of the building. Those stairs frightened me
badly. I avoided them and would enjoy blinchky in my grandparents spotless, spare Russian kitchen in the main house, with its painted green chairs and bench. Auntie Nora and Uncle Bill always did the dishes afterward, and showed off and laughed at my amazement over their deftness
at the operation. While I accepted Auntie Nora (Nyoorrrka), I adored Uncle Bill. He would come by my folks house in his white coup and take me off to Baba's. He used to pinch my nose, hold up his thumb between his fingers and tell me he's swiped it. He thought that was so funny and I'd be furious. I always forgave him. Little children and animals have that ability.
Such is the setting for Uncle Nick. I never knew where Uncle Nick lived. I knew it was somewhere around Santa Rosa and I would see him at my grandmother's at times. Or he would come by to talk with my father at our house. I didn't like Uncle Nick the way I liked Uncle Bill. Looking back on it from an older person's viewpoint, I don't think he liked me. Or he didn't like children. I can't say. Perhaps it had nothing to do with me. He was quiet, moody, I would say even sullen, mulling things a small child cannot understand. And though it may seem a contradiction, I knew I loved him, unconditionally, only the way a child can, though I didn't respond to him with open arms, the way it was easy, as you know, to do with
Uncle Bill. I felt ill-at-ease with Uncle Nick. Though he must have been good looking, I never thought he was as handsome as my father or Uncle Bill.
When Uncle Bill went to jail because he wouldn't go to war, the light left my life. He was gone for about six months, and my parents must have realized how much I missed him, because after he'd been freed and returned
home, my father, with an air of mystery about him, took me to Baba's, keeping Uncle Bill's return a secret. When I saw Uncle Bill, I ran as hard as I could and jumped delightedly into his arms. Shortly after that he married Auntie Velma and built a small, neat house next door to Baba and Dyeda's. Although Baba's house and my folks house have long been sold, Auntie Velma and Uncle Bill still live there.
Perhaps because his presence at Baba's was infrequent, I didn't miss Uncle Nick when he went to war. Somewhere in the time period he married Aunt Diana and they had a tiny boy, Steven, whom I know very little of because Diana severed ties with our family after Uncle Nick was gone.
Before he died Uncle Nick came to see my father at our house. My mother was away, Possibly in the hospital having Debby, the third child. My brother Nicky, Uncle Nick's namesake, played in the gravel Dad was shoveling behind our tank house, as Uncle Nick unburdened himself on my father, telling of horrors I envisioned without judgment, seeing in my mind's eyes Uncle Nick's friends dismembered body parts, heads, floating in the water beside the battleship.
Understandably, Dad tried to shut him up so Nicky and I wouldn't hear. "Take it easy. Take it easy, Nick," he said to my uncle, gesturing warningly toward us. Nicky was 3; I was 5.
Taking my father's warning for rejection, Uncle Nick jerked around to leave, Though I was always curious when listening to grownups, this time I knew something was wrong. I gripped my father's hand and warned him,
"Uncle Nick's hurting, Daddy. Don't let him go."
"Naw. Naw." Dad said, leaning on his shovel, chewing on his toothpick, squinting at his brother lumbering away across the field back to Baba's house. "He'll be fine."
I didn't know Uncle Nick would commit suicide that night. I only knew Uncle Nick wouldn't be fine. I didn't have enough experience to understand what it was he intended. But I felt his desperation, that he was hurting too badly and that he'd made up his mind. Uncle Nick didn't
know that it wasn't my father but myself which he made connection with. And too bad, for my father didn't pay attention to my plea and thought that Uncle Nick's suicide was impossible.
The funeral was held in the evening at Welti's Funeral Parlor, which then existed and no longer does on the corner of 4th and E Sts. in Santa Rosa. My last glimpse of Uncle Nick was in a casket. I realized then how
handsome he was, and my heart swelled with tender love for him.
I remember Auntie Diana, baby Steven in arms, standing in the darkness on the sidewalk outside the funeral home afterward, asking my Mom and Dad what she would do now. (That's how I remember it. Apparently, according to
some records, Steven wasn't born yet. But that is what I remember.) Diana became a teacher.
Carrying this in me all my life, I thank you for asking about it, Nancy. Most people prefer to turn their backs, sweep it under the rug. I learned that at an early age. If Bob hadn't developed a keen interest in my family, I never would have said anything. After all, my father didn't listen. I cannot say whether he felt contempt for my uncle, that he got what he deserved for going to war, that God punished Uncle Nick. I don't think so.
Love,
Cousin Kathy
- - - - - - -
From the Thursday, September 25, 1947 Press Democrat front page:
VETERAN HANGS SELF IN JAIL
Nick Seminoff, 27-year old Santa Rosa war veteran, hanged himself with his belt in the city jail last night, the coroner's office reported.
Jailed at 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon on a charge of Possiblyation violation, Seminoff was last seen alive about 11 p.m. during a routine check by officers.
Office John Ellis discovered the body shortly before 1 o'clock this morning, when he took a "sleeper" to the cell block. The body was slumped against the jail cell door and a piece of the belt used to take his life was still tied to the cell bars. Officers expressed the belief the belt broke after Seminoff died of strangulation.
A resident of 815 Humboldt Street Seminoff was last arrested prior to yesterday, in April of this year on a battery charge, lodged by his wife. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail upon conviction and later placed on
probation.
It was in violation of this probationthat he was arrested yesterday. The body was removed to the Welti funeral parlors pending completion of an investigation by Coroner Vernon Silvershield.
- - - - - - - - - - -
From the Friday, September 26 Press Democrat (Page 6) and
the Saturday, September 27 Press Democrat (Page 3) obituaries:
SEMINOFF-in Santa Rosa, Wednesday, September 24, 1947, Nick Alex Seminoff, dearly beloved husband of Diana R. Seminoff; loving son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex N. Seminoff of Santa Rosa; loving brother of John A. Seminoff and William A. Seminoff of Santa Rosa and Nora Magnetti of Los Angeles. A native of AZ; aged 27 years, 10 months, 4 days.
Friends are invited to attend the funeral Saturday, September 27, at 10 a.m. from the chapel at Welti Funeral Parlors under the auspices of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interment Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery.
- - - - - - - - -
Death Certificate Transcription for:
Nick Alex Seminoff
Date of Date: 9/24/1947 at 9:45 a.m. Age: 27
Death Certificate #1947000766
State File #: 47-070631
Registrar #: 4502-146
Volume 0015, Page 0222
Male, Caucasian, born 11/20/1919 in AZ
Father's name Alex N. Seminoff born in Russia
Mother's name ---------------------
Social Security # 567-03-2142
Occupation: carpenter
Married: spouse, Diane Seminoff
Place of death: Santa Rosa County Jail, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Last residence: 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Informant: Alex N. Seminoff, 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, CA
Coroner: Vernon Silvershield, MD
Cause of death: strangulation by hanging by a strap around the neck,
suicide
burial: nothing noted on death certificate
Funeral Home: Welti
Embalmer: Wesley W. Daniels, Lic. #2514
He married Diana Ruth (Holcomb) Seminoff Bales Mauregard (1921-2020) on 23 Oct 1945 in Sonoma County, CA. Diana also used the maiden name "Neffe." They have a son, Stephen born in 1948.
- - - - - - - - - -
Phone interview with Bill Seminoff 5/28/2000 (son of Alex Seminoff)
Bill told of a story about his brothers Nick and Jim, who were single at the time and his Uncle George Poppin. George would come up from the city and they'd go the Russian River and strut their stuff. They would come home and eat the Russian Borst and sleep in the haystacks. Then George would go home.
Side note by Nancy Posey: My mother, Dorothy Poppin, later said that my father, George Poppin, would talk about this often because he was very close with John and Nick Seminoff. They would go to Monte Rio.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nick Alex Seminoff married Dianna Ruth Neefe. They had a son Steven, born after Nick died. After Nick's death, Diana remarried. Bill doesn't know where she or the son is.
According to his brother Bill, Nick was not very tall, only five feet ten. What he lacked in height, he made up for with his personality and his charm. He knew how to talk and how to get the ladies. According to Bill, Nick met his wife Diana on a bus. He walked up to her and said, "Move over. I'm going to marry you." And he did. Nick was a World War II veteran. There were some emotional problems after the war. He would often talk to his brother Bill and tell him how scary it was. He started drinking heavily. One day he was picked up for his drinking and the police took him to jail. The next day, the police found him dead in his cell. He had hung himself. Poor Nick. So young to die and with so much emotional pain. War is hell. [Nancy Ann Posey - 5/28/2000
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes from Bob Dickerson:
Arrest /record/: April 1947
Reason for arrest: Battery, charged by his wife , and received 180 days Santa Rosa, Ca.
Burial: Abt. September 30, 1947, Santa Rosa Memorial Park
Cause of Death: Self inflicted hanging
Medical Information: Due to his war experience, memories of it caused him much mental pain
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Head Stone of Nick A Seminoff,
Nick A. Seminoff AZ Pvt Ord Dept WWII
b. Nov 20, 1919 d. Sept. 24, 1947.
He served on the AZ during WWII as a Private in the Ordnance Department.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The following account was written by Kathy Seminoff Dickerson, daughter of John Seminoff and Nick Seminoff's niece. Her account is touching and honest and deals with the time surrounding Nick's death. It was written on June 11, 2000.
Hi Nancy,
It was a nice surprise that Bob found you. He had tried to contact Baba's, Anna, my Russian grandmother and it seems also Dyeda's (Alex, my Russian grandfather's) ) family, but it seems the timing was too late, for your father had tired from his research by the time Bob got fired up. Bob originally started with his own family, continuing the work done by his mother, when he realized how lopsided our personal family history was without my family as well. And, believe me, my family has as many members, strung out in all directions, when my mother's family is included along with my father, John's, which means yours as well, the Poppins and Seminoffs.
I was surprised to realize Baba and her father both married Seminoffs, brother and sister. Nobody ever told me that, as if they were embarrassed. I wouldn't think it incestuous, because there were no blood ties. Like
many young people who marry, they get together with whoever is available at the time they're ready to start a family and get away from the domination of parents. My guess is that's how it happened.
I met Aunt Alice when she came to my sister, Debby's funeral. Everyone came to our home afterward, including a Seminoff brother of my deceased, Dyeda's, who looked so much like my gf that is seemed Dyeda had returned from the dead. Uncle Bill, of course, was here, with his friendly,
emphatic talking, Russian-like, his voice heard above everyone else's. His wife, Velma is quiet, by contrast, though you can see her wheels turning. She likes it that way. My father, John, had already died, young, age 63, by the time Debby died of cancer. I knew Dad had had a red beard, and when Aunt Alice walked in, red haired still in her 70's, I knew my two sisters, one brother, and
myself had inherited our red hair from the Russian side . One other brother, although a blonde, also has a bright red beard, full blown. That's five out of seven. Of the other two, one is a blonde, the other a brunette.
How many redheads are there in your family, Nancy? Bob wants to know because it is rare. Only 5% of the human population has red hair.
You, of course, are curious about Uncle Nick's suicide. Family always tries to hush things up when such a tragedy occurs. I was glad you relayed Uncle Bill's anecdote about his and Uncle Nick's trips to the Russian River
when they were young. It kind of put things in a brighter light than the story I am about to relate to you.
Being Jehovah's Witnesses made my father and his family Conscientious Objectors to war. I was raised in this religion and had to stand for it, as a small child, not saluting the flag at school, nor observing holidays
or birthdays, during the post-WWII hatred of such unpopular beliefs. While Uncle Bill, Aunt Nora, and my brother Nick, all 3 whom you've talked with, still adhere to this religion, I have left it, feeling it much too harsh in many ways, though I still agree that war is bad.
I am a complete pacifist about war. I will tell you why.
My Uncle Nick's suicide I directly blame on the social pressures brought about by a government's manipulation of popular opinion. Through manipulation by the press and by passing laws, making it illegal to resist,, our government coerced their young men into becoming soldiers
during WWII.
My father, John, for whatever reason., whether ignoble or noble, I cannot say, stood by his belief, refusing to go to war and faced court action. My Uncle Nick, whether against or not against his belief, certainly against
his family's belief, joined the National Guard and went to war. I, personally, cannot fault him. Pressure was tough. Both brothers were in a quandary. Can you see that? Two brothers chose opposite paths and Uncle Nick's ended in tragedy.
Dyeda gave half his 10 acres on Stony Point Rd. in Santa Rosa, to my father, John. We lived across an expanse of field from my grandparents and raised a cow for milk and had a vegetable garden. My grandparents had a cow, which Uncle Bill milked, and the garden, plus a banya, a steam house. Being the eldest grandchild, a little spoiled and living so close, I spent a lot of time with Baba. I remember taking horrid steam baths with Baba. It was miserable for me, as a small child, to sweat and drip in all that steam. I would try to run home back across the field when she wanted to take a steam bath. I still remember her huge pendulous breasts, which I didn't inherit, dripping with steam. I'd almost forgotten. My tiny brother Nick usually stayed at home with Mother.
Though he looked like a grown-up to me, Uncle Bill must have been a teenager when I was small. He lived in a room above the tank house at Baba and Dyeda's. I remember the steep, narrow, rickety stairway which led to his room on the south side of the building. Those stairs frightened me
badly. I avoided them and would enjoy blinchky in my grandparents spotless, spare Russian kitchen in the main house, with its painted green chairs and bench. Auntie Nora and Uncle Bill always did the dishes afterward, and showed off and laughed at my amazement over their deftness
at the operation. While I accepted Auntie Nora (Nyoorrrka), I adored Uncle Bill. He would come by my folks house in his white coup and take me off to Baba's. He used to pinch my nose, hold up his thumb between his fingers and tell me he's swiped it. He thought that was so funny and I'd be furious. I always forgave him. Little children and animals have that ability.
Such is the setting for Uncle Nick. I never knew where Uncle Nick lived. I knew it was somewhere around Santa Rosa and I would see him at my grandmother's at times. Or he would come by to talk with my father at our house. I didn't like Uncle Nick the way I liked Uncle Bill. Looking back on it from an older person's viewpoint, I don't think he liked me. Or he didn't like children. I can't say. Perhaps it had nothing to do with me. He was quiet, moody, I would say even sullen, mulling things a small child cannot understand. And though it may seem a contradiction, I knew I loved him, unconditionally, only the way a child can, though I didn't respond to him with open arms, the way it was easy, as you know, to do with
Uncle Bill. I felt ill-at-ease with Uncle Nick. Though he must have been good looking, I never thought he was as handsome as my father or Uncle Bill.
When Uncle Bill went to jail because he wouldn't go to war, the light left my life. He was gone for about six months, and my parents must have realized how much I missed him, because after he'd been freed and returned
home, my father, with an air of mystery about him, took me to Baba's, keeping Uncle Bill's return a secret. When I saw Uncle Bill, I ran as hard as I could and jumped delightedly into his arms. Shortly after that he married Auntie Velma and built a small, neat house next door to Baba and Dyeda's. Although Baba's house and my folks house have long been sold, Auntie Velma and Uncle Bill still live there.
Perhaps because his presence at Baba's was infrequent, I didn't miss Uncle Nick when he went to war. Somewhere in the time period he married Aunt Diana and they had a tiny boy, Steven, whom I know very little of because Diana severed ties with our family after Uncle Nick was gone.
Before he died Uncle Nick came to see my father at our house. My mother was away, Possibly in the hospital having Debby, the third child. My brother Nicky, Uncle Nick's namesake, played in the gravel Dad was shoveling behind our tank house, as Uncle Nick unburdened himself on my father, telling of horrors I envisioned without judgment, seeing in my mind's eyes Uncle Nick's friends dismembered body parts, heads, floating in the water beside the battleship.
Understandably, Dad tried to shut him up so Nicky and I wouldn't hear. "Take it easy. Take it easy, Nick," he said to my uncle, gesturing warningly toward us. Nicky was 3; I was 5.
Taking my father's warning for rejection, Uncle Nick jerked around to leave, Though I was always curious when listening to grownups, this time I knew something was wrong. I gripped my father's hand and warned him,
"Uncle Nick's hurting, Daddy. Don't let him go."
"Naw. Naw." Dad said, leaning on his shovel, chewing on his toothpick, squinting at his brother lumbering away across the field back to Baba's house. "He'll be fine."
I didn't know Uncle Nick would commit suicide that night. I only knew Uncle Nick wouldn't be fine. I didn't have enough experience to understand what it was he intended. But I felt his desperation, that he was hurting too badly and that he'd made up his mind. Uncle Nick didn't
know that it wasn't my father but myself which he made connection with. And too bad, for my father didn't pay attention to my plea and thought that Uncle Nick's suicide was impossible.
The funeral was held in the evening at Welti's Funeral Parlor, which then existed and no longer does on the corner of 4th and E Sts. in Santa Rosa. My last glimpse of Uncle Nick was in a casket. I realized then how
handsome he was, and my heart swelled with tender love for him.
I remember Auntie Diana, baby Steven in arms, standing in the darkness on the sidewalk outside the funeral home afterward, asking my Mom and Dad what she would do now. (That's how I remember it. Apparently, according to
some records, Steven wasn't born yet. But that is what I remember.) Diana became a teacher.
Carrying this in me all my life, I thank you for asking about it, Nancy. Most people prefer to turn their backs, sweep it under the rug. I learned that at an early age. If Bob hadn't developed a keen interest in my family, I never would have said anything. After all, my father didn't listen. I cannot say whether he felt contempt for my uncle, that he got what he deserved for going to war, that God punished Uncle Nick. I don't think so.
Love,
Cousin Kathy
- - - - - - -
From the Thursday, September 25, 1947 Press Democrat front page:
VETERAN HANGS SELF IN JAIL
Nick Seminoff, 27-year old Santa Rosa war veteran, hanged himself with his belt in the city jail last night, the coroner's office reported.
Jailed at 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon on a charge of Possiblyation violation, Seminoff was last seen alive about 11 p.m. during a routine check by officers.
Office John Ellis discovered the body shortly before 1 o'clock this morning, when he took a "sleeper" to the cell block. The body was slumped against the jail cell door and a piece of the belt used to take his life was still tied to the cell bars. Officers expressed the belief the belt broke after Seminoff died of strangulation.
A resident of 815 Humboldt Street Seminoff was last arrested prior to yesterday, in April of this year on a battery charge, lodged by his wife. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail upon conviction and later placed on
probation.
It was in violation of this probationthat he was arrested yesterday. The body was removed to the Welti funeral parlors pending completion of an investigation by Coroner Vernon Silvershield.
- - - - - - - - - - -
From the Friday, September 26 Press Democrat (Page 6) and
the Saturday, September 27 Press Democrat (Page 3) obituaries:
SEMINOFF-in Santa Rosa, Wednesday, September 24, 1947, Nick Alex Seminoff, dearly beloved husband of Diana R. Seminoff; loving son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex N. Seminoff of Santa Rosa; loving brother of John A. Seminoff and William A. Seminoff of Santa Rosa and Nora Magnetti of Los Angeles. A native of AZ; aged 27 years, 10 months, 4 days.
Friends are invited to attend the funeral Saturday, September 27, at 10 a.m. from the chapel at Welti Funeral Parlors under the auspices of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interment Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery.
- - - - - - - - -
Death Certificate Transcription for:
Nick Alex Seminoff
Date of Date: 9/24/1947 at 9:45 a.m. Age: 27
Death Certificate #1947000766
State File #: 47-070631
Registrar #: 4502-146
Volume 0015, Page 0222
Male, Caucasian, born 11/20/1919 in AZ
Father's name Alex N. Seminoff born in Russia
Mother's name ---------------------
Social Security # 567-03-2142
Occupation: carpenter
Married: spouse, Diane Seminoff
Place of death: Santa Rosa County Jail, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Last residence: 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA
Informant: Alex N. Seminoff, 4352 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, CA
Coroner: Vernon Silvershield, MD
Cause of death: strangulation by hanging by a strap around the neck,
suicide
burial: nothing noted on death certificate
Funeral Home: Welti
Embalmer: Wesley W. Daniels, Lic. #2514
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