BRIGHTON BEACH - Key Persons

Sara Koza was an attractive 18-year-old with compelling deep brown eyes. Born of Russian immigrants in Harlem, her mother had died when she was 8-year-old of TB. Her father, Jack was forced to put her and her brother who was two years younger into an orphanage until he could establish a home for them. Jack met Frieda, a young nurse from Russia and they were married. Sara's father was a gifted musician and joined the Goldman band as the lead trumpeter. Sara and her brother, Sam, were taken out of the orphanage and reunited with their father and new stepmother. The Koza's, due to the father's talent flourished during the depression years and Sara had a new sister and brother to concern herself with as the oldest child. As she walked the streets of Brighton to the subway in 1933 she felt a sense of excitement which reflected in the blush that crossed her cheek and her buoyant stride. Although she had put in a hard day working at Bonmo's candy factory in Coney Island, she looked forward to visiting her aunt in New York who owned a boarding house. The city with its bright lights and fashionable stores afforded Sara a momentary escape from her Old World community. By the time she was 19 she had anglicized her name to Sally and met at the boarding house a handsome Irish-Australian captain who would change her whole life. Captain John Patrick Murphy was terribly charming with wavy reddish-brown hair, a lock of which fell across his forehead framing his hazel twinkling eyes. John wined and dined Sally behind her parents' backs, filling her pretty head with the stories of his world travels. He had left Australia when he was only 12 and after various odd jobs, John found himself a position as a cabin boy. He was now at the helm of an oil tanker for a large corporation. Five days after Sally's 20th Birthday, she slipped out of her home in Brighton Beach and married John in City Hall. As was expected, her father disowned Sally from marrying out of her religion. The young couple were very much in love and they made a vow on this cold day in November, 1935, that if their love would be strong enough to survive to their 50th anniversary, they would be married by a rabbi. On their second anniversary, Sally gave birth to a beautiful red-haired boy. When Jack heard he had a grandson with red hair like himself, he was overwhelmed and for the second time, Sally was reunited with her father.