HELEN M. DRENDEL FAMILY

Helen M. Drendel married Adam Dernback of Wheaton. He managed the Naperville movie theatre in its early years. A piano was used at first to suit the mood of the silent films played there, but later an organ was installed. Adam struggled to make his theater a successful venture, for in the 1920’s Naperville had a “Blue Law,” which prohibited showing movies on Sundays. With the arrival of the Depression, attendance fell sharply and the theatre closed in 1931. Helen and Adam had one son, Paul, who did not marry, so Frank Drendel’s family line ended. We have very little information about these few members of the Frank and Catherine Drendel family. In spite of her father’s early death, the Drendel family at large was noted for their longevity. Helen was part of this pattern, for she lived to almost 93 years of age, dying in Joliet, Illinois.

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