Lindy Alexandra Pio-Ulski-Parks ~ Hong Kong
1939 until 1963 … When She Got Married and Left the Nest ?
Alexandra Pio-Ulski was born at the Matilda Hospital in 1939 and, as I mentioned on the page about my parents, there was a typhoon or storm or really bad weather which prevented my father heading home to Kowloon after her birth. There were no spare beds or rooms at the time so the matron invited dad to spend the night in the morgue, which was the only place with a spare “bed” … or should that be a spare “gurney“? LOL! ?
Alexandra was christened at the Russian Orthodox Church in Kowloon Tong by Father Uspenski; however my parents heard the nickname of Charles Lindbergh, the 20th Century aviator, which was, among others, “Lucky Lindy” and fell in love with the name. They decided Lindy would be a great name for their little girl ?
So … Alexandra was known as Lindy, or Lindooha which we called her, and the name stuck with her for the rest of her life.
When she was still a baby, mom took Lindy to Shanghai to show her off to her parents and sister. It must have been a bittersweet moment for our grandfather as he died in 1945 ?
At the time mom and dad had a flat at 218 Prince Edward Road and this is where this photo of Lindy and daddy was taken on the roof.
When Lindy was just 2 years old, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong. My parents, as Third Nationals, were left to fend for Lindy and themselves. ?
I’m not sure when my folks moved to Cameron Road but it certainly was during the war as I remember mom telling me that she had to push their upright piano all the way from Prince Edward Road to their new premises. One thing I don’t know is how my parents managed to get the piano down from the flat in Prince Edward Road and up into the flat!!
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Thank God they all survived the war unscathed but I remember something my mother told me … when the Americans arrived in Hong Kong after the liberation, one of the officers saw Lindy and offered her a bar of chocolate.
Lindy looked at the candy and then turned to her mother to say, “Mama, what is this?”
Apparently the officer couldn’t believe that a 4 year old kid wouldn’t know what a chocolate bar was and his eyes all teared up ?
So slowly but surely life normalised. Lindy and mom were asked to participate in one of the Tkachenko daughters’ wedding soon after the war. Lindy was flower girl and mom was Matron of Honour.
The bridesmaid on the right was Nellie Tkachenko, the youngest daughter. Lindy told me that one day she and mom were at the table in Cameron Road, picking out welks and other sea creatures from the sand they’d brought back from the beach to add to the rice. Nellie came bursting through the front door and shouted, “Have you heard the news? The Japanese have surrendered!”
Mom used to give Nellie piano lessons so she was a good friend, and who better to hear about the Japanese surrender than from a good friend! ?
Lindy went to Kowloon Junior School and in 1947 I came along, just to brighten up her life ?
We used to do a lot of things together as a family – splashing at the beach, eating ice cream afterwards, and generally just doing what sisters do.
The last birthday Lindy had in Cameron Road would have been her 10th – October 29. 1949 …
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The only person I recognise in the party photos, apart from Lindy, is Lyalya Smirnoff ?
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One year later, Lindy celebrated her 11th birthday party at the PRC …
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Some of the names I remember from the right hand photo …
Top Row : L-R — Libby Stokes, Deirdre Smith, ??, Laila Smirnoff holding me, Lindy, ??, ??
Bottom Row : L-R — Dorothy Kilbee, Tanya Crew, Jo Stanton, Sheila Dyer
You can read about Lindy’s time at KGV HERE ?
In 1952 Lindy celebrated her 13th birthday – the photos dad took of the occasion were coloured slides and unfortunately got quite mouldy. I cleaned them up as best I could but they’re not great ?
I would imagine my folks took her out to dinner, as there were a number of pictures of her in a lovely dress which they gave her, together with new suitcases to take on leave the following year ?
In 1953 we went on leave and were away from Hong Kong from March 29 to November 28 and Lindy would have put on her winter uniform (see above photo) and gone straight to KGV after such a long time on leave!
A party Lindy had for her 15th birthday on October 29 1954 at 45 Morrison Hill Road!
The names of the boys standing R-L: Peter Remedios (I remember him as being Lindy’s boyfriend for a while), Peter Whittaker (Libby’s boyfriend), Gordon Bendall (Helen’s squeeze), Ian Whittaker (Pete’s brother and sweet on Lindy, who wasn’t sweet on him) and Buddy Carnell (Sheila Dyer’s boyfriend).
The names of the girls sitting L-R: Sylvia Heitmyer, Helen Feldman, Lindy, Sheila Dyer and Libby Stokes and li’l ole me gets to sit on the floor in front of them all!! ?
No doubt she had fun being back at school with her friends and then, the next year Lindy had her 16th birthday party at the Police Club!
Boy, she certainly like to have her parties! ?
Lindy managed to get to see quite a few of her buddies when we went on leave in 1957. She would have finished her final year before we left so that she could relax and have fun on the ships going away from and returning to HK, while I had to study!
When we came back from leave in 1957, Lindy did a secretarial course and got a job at the HK & Shanghai Bank as the Chief Accountant’s secretary.
Lindy was always happy to model clothes for Paquerette so my mother included her in a couple of fashion shows she organised in the 1950s. You can see photos of Lindy in those shows HERE.
1962 – Willem and Lindy met and they got married the following year.
June 29, 1963
The car bringing Lindy and our father along Kennedy Road en route to Union Church …
The wedding party after the ceremony …
Other pages about Lindy …
1939-1963 ~ Lindy Alexandra Pio-Ulski-Parks - Hong Kong
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