Coolest story/member in your family tree

My uncle dated Marilyn Monroe for a few months.

That's all I have.

 

My father-in-law's namesake won a medal of honor for taking out six Japanese positions and clearing a minefield under fire at Iwo Jima. Made it through that unscratched, but was shot and killed six days later. Also had a Navy ship named after him.

 

Distantly related to former major league pitchers Clyde Shoun (Cubs) and Denny Galehouse (Browns, Red Sox), and Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow got the blame for burning down Chicago. More closely related to someone killed by gangster Whitey Bulger - the victim's grandfather and my mother were first cousins.

 

My grandfather stormed Utah Beach.

 

Lenny Wilkens asked my great aunt to a college formal, and she accepted. She was, however, worried about having him pick her up because my Great Grandfather was a bit of a racist.

So the big day arrives without her telling my Great Grandfather who her date was and then comes the knock on the door. My Great Aunt's heart is pounding and she's sweating awaiting a horrible reaction.

My Great Grandfather opens the door and my Great Aunt's date says, "Hello, sir, my name is Lenny Wilkens." To which my Great Grandfather replies something along the lines of, "Holy Crap, Lenny Wilkens! What are you doing here! You're the best basketball player I've ever seen!" He then proceeds to basically worship Lenny for the next 15 minutes before my Great Aunt, who's now embarrassed for reasons different than she expected, finally ushered him out the door.

Not sure if that's the coolest story in my family, but it's pretty good.

 

Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell

 

Well, my 10th GGF Giles Corey is pretty badass.

(Google it if you are not up on all the plot details of "The Crucible.")

One of my GG-grandfathers left Ireland at age 15 as a farmer and blacksmith, signed on in a logging camp in the lumber boom at 19, dove into a river to save a rival company owner from drowning/being crushed by logs, and was immediately hired by this guy as a company foreman, and within 15 years he was a millionaire (and this was in the 1870s) and owned his own company with several hundred square miles of land holdings in Michigan and Canada. So he was pretty badass too.

Pretty much all my GG-grandparents (except the one English branch) made the trip from Ireland to North America on their own as teens or young adults (one by herself at age 12).

 

I see what I did there.

Descendant, not ancestor. And Pocahontas has just one 'H'.

 

Winner.

 

Don't know if it belongs here or in family secrets, but my wife has ancestors who were part of the Donner party. She gets real defensive when anyone mentions canabalism.

She also has an uncle, by marriage, who was an all-American football player and a member of his university hall of fame. He had an NFL career cut short by injury.

 

Holy crap, so do I!

 

Myles Standish is my bucha-greats grandfather.