Felix served in the US Army Band in World War I — apparently he played the trombone — but didn’t serve abroad. (One might conjecture that his German heritage may have played a role. One can only guess at his turmoil at enlisting in the Great War against his homeland only six years after his arrival.) Service dates: March 28, 1917 to June 4, 1920. He was stationed in Fort Slocum (the Bronx), NY, until after his marriage. He married at age 39 in 1918; his bride, Mary, was 19. Felix was granted naturalization on Nov. 26, 1918, just seven weeks after he married. He switched religions from Lutheran to Catholic and all of his children were baptized in the Catholic Church.
The couple moved to Passaic, NJ, where he took jobs as a laborer in the WPA, according to daughter Lillian Sporn. In the 1950s he moved to Hartford, Conn., to play in the Hartford Symphony. His wife, Mary, worked as a cleaning woman at St. Mary’s Church rectory in New Britain, Conn. They separated a few years later. Felix was in a retirement home in Connecticut when he died at age 88. I (Joseph Lasica) remember meeting him just once, when I was about 11, at the retirement home (a year before he died); he didn’t recognize his three daughters, Lillian, Gladys or Midgie, but was pleasant enough.
Birth record follows:
Abridged transcription of the birth record of Johann Friedrich Felix Sporn
#6
Finsterwalde, on 17th January 1879
The midwife Auguste Braunig nee Neumann, resident in Finsterwalde, of Evangelical Lutheran religion, announced that to Mrs. Johanne Wilhelmine Sporn nee Barthel, of Evangelical Lutheran religion, resident with her husband the master shoemaker Friedrich Sporn in Finsterwalde, on 14th January 1879 at 2:00 pm, a male child was born, who has received the given name Johann Friedrich Felix.
Signatures of the midwife and the Registrar of vital records.
Comment: no comment exists
Mildred (“Midgie”) (1924-1987)
Lillian Elizabeth (1922-)
Helen (1921-1995)
Gladys (1919-2005)
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- Felix Sporn in an undated photo by the Eckroll-Stamsvig photo studio in Bergen County, NJ, probably from around 1909-1911, shortly before or after he immigrated.
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- The postcard Felix Sporn, 30, sent to his older brother, Berthold Sporn, from Passaic, N.J., to Finsterwalde, Germany, on Nov. 23, 1909 — 11 months before he immigrated to the United States.
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- Postcard sent by Felix Sporn, 30, from Passaic, NJ to Finsterwalde, Germany in November 1909. Original wording in German: Lieber Bruder, Liebe Schwaegerin! Bin hier ansaessig, habe bereits amerikanische Papiere, in 4 Jahren bin ich amerik. Buerger. Ich brauche sehr nowendig einige Photographie Prospekte aus Leipzig-Lindenau, du kannst mir sofort einige der Drucksachen zuschicken. Teile mir bitte auch mit, was meine Else an Euch geschrieben hat. Hoffentlich seid Ihr gesund u. munter. Besten Gruss! Felix In English: Dear Brother, Dear Sister in Law! I am already settled down, already have American papers, in 4 years I will be an American citizen. I urgently need catalogs for photographic items from Leipzig-Lindenau, you can send me some of the printings right away. Please also write me what my Else (name of a woman) wrote to you. Hope you all are well. Best wishes! Felix
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- Felix and Mary Sporn with daughter Gladys in 1920.
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- Felix Sporn and son Ernest on School Street in Passaic in 1939.
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- Christmas at the Sporn household in New Britain, Conn.: Felix at left, Gladys, Lillian (front left), Midge (on floor), Helen and Ernest in mother Mary’s lap. Photo taken in December 1927.
