Fannie A. Luce ^{1 2 3}

   FamilySearch ID: L58P-PDD.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Newspaper: Pittsburgh Press: photo of Fannie Hagadorn Parsons with her Sears Roebuck home, 7 Apr 1985, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA. ⁴ For nearly 60 years, Fannie (Hagadorn) Parsons has lived in her Sears Roebuck home in Swissvale
Mail-ordered Old Sears houses enjoying new popularity
In the 1926 Sears catalog, there were at least 100 models of the Honor Bilt house, including "The Pittsburgh." It was a three-bedroom, one-bath house, costing $1,731. The catalog listed houses, ranging from the Fairy, a modest cottage, selling for $941, to the top-of-the-line Southern-style mansion, selling for $5,140. This house, with Gothic columns, curving staircases and servants' quarters, was called the Magnolia. The pieces for the houses arrived by train. The lumber came first, already cut, notched and mitered, and with each piece numbered. Next were the window frames, plaster, plumbing, wiring, trim, glass, red-cedar shingles. Finally, enough paint and varnish were delivered to permit three coatings. There were six "ready cut" garages available, priced from $137 to $277. Sears even helped out on the financing. For folks who needed extra financial help in meeting the cost of construction, Sears would lend up to $500. Monthly payments on a $2,500 house' might be about $30. The first appearance of the houses was in 1908 in a special homes catalog. The first bill of materials for a complete modern home was sold in 1909 and two years later, the first mortgage loan was made. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to the demise of the mail-order Sears houses. In the summer of 1931, the company was forced to foreclose on a large number of houses whose owners couldn't meet payments. The department's accounts were liquidated in 1934 and the houses made their final appearance in the spring 1937 catalog, although special catalogs appeared in subsequent years. In 1926, Fannie and Carl Hagadorn found their dream home in a Sears Roebuck catalog. The couple, who later became lay ministers at the Hazelwood Ames United Methodist Church, chose the "Wellington: Honor-Bilt." It cost them $1,758 and was one of about 100,000 sold nationally through the Sears catalog between 1908 and 1937. Little did the Hagadorns think then, when they purchased their home that Sears Roebuck houses might one day be considered "chic," yet that seems to be happening. Lenore Swoiskin, a Sears' archivist, says she has received numerous calls at her Chicago office during the last three years on the houses. The calls come from curious homeowners and persons who deal in historic matters. They tell her they have become nostalgic about their Sears home, and that people are interested in locating these houses. Fannie (Hagadorn) Parsons, who married Richard Parsons following the death of Carl, said her Sears house has been more than just a home. It is part of her life. The Hagadorns had to cart the lumber and boxes of housing materials from the Swissvale railroad station to their vacant lot on Columbia Street in Swissvale. There were kegs of nails, lumber, doors and windows and all sorts of sections which had to be glued, nailed or assembled. Because Sears included a detailed assembly plan with the materials, and numbered each item, assembling the house proved to be relatively easy, but it took a long time to complete. "Karl and a friend, both of whom worked the day shift at Westinghouse, would work on the house evenings and Saturdays, but never on Sundays," said Mrs. Parsons, once again a widow, following the death of her second husband. "My job was to do the inside work, sandpapering walls and furniture, putting on shellac and wallpaper." The work started in the spring of 1926 and the Hagadorns moved into their five-room, soft-toned shingle bun-aglow that November. Through the years, the Hagadorns built an addition and modernized their house. This Sears catalog ad attracted the Hagadorns Many, if they are the third, fourth or fifth owner of the house, may not even realize that. William Metzger, a photographer, occupies a Sears house at 341 Beadling Road, Mt. Lebanon. And anything he wants to know about the structure he asks his next door neighbor, J. Herbert Haughin, who resides at 343 Beadling. Haughin helped his father, Thomas, build that three-bedroom house in 1927. They had to dig the foundation before hiring carpenters to put up the framing. From there, the Haughins took It now has six rooms, 2Vfe baths, and a double garage. The greatroom sits above the garage (which is the addition). Aluminium siding, tilt-out storm windows, a new furnace, full house air conditioning and a precipitron have been added. Mrs. Parsons, who looks more like 60 than the 83 years she admits too, is in the process of selling her house and moving to a retirement village in Ohio. Her price? $64,900. A number of other Pittsburghers own or occupy mail-order Sears homes.

2. Obituary: Pittsburgh Press: obituary of Fannie Hagadorn Parsons on 31 Aug 1987 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA. ² Fannie H. Parsons
Fannie Hagadorn Parsons, retired school teacher, died of a stroke yesterday in Alliance Community Hospital, Alliance, Ohio. Mrs. Parson, 85, formerly of Swissvale, had been living for the last month at the Copeland Oaks retirement community in Sebring, Ohio. A native of Hamlet, N.Y., and graduate of Fredonia College, Mrs. Parsons was a teacher in the Ithaca, N.Y., and Edgewood schools. She was a former lay minister of the Hazelwood United Methodist Church and a former member of the Swissvale United Methodist Church. She is survived by her daughter, Beverly B. O'Leary of Beaver, Beaver County, a son, Gerald Hagadorn of Moon; seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Friends will be received from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Gednetz Funeral Home, Sebring, Ohio. Burial will be in William Penn Memorial Cemetery, Wilkinsburg. Memorial contributions may be made to the Swissvale United Methodist Church or the Sebring United Methodist Church.

Fannie married Richard Jerome Parsons Sr., son of Charles King Parsons and Mary Virginia Clark. (Richard Jerome Parsons Sr. was born on 28 Feb 1898 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA,^{5 6 7 8} died on 23 Aug 1984 in Forest Hills, Allegheny, PA ^{1 6 8} and was buried in Wilkinsburg: Woodlawn Cemetery, Allegheny, PA ⁸.)