Nicholas Miloff (Choleff)

The top picture is at a Macedonian Easter service Circa 1939 in back Row from left Ivan {Choleff] Miloff, Coochy {Choleff, unknown, and Nicholas [Choleff] Miloff holding me, Allan.

The second picture centre of front row with white shirt and arms folded holding a cigarette Nicholas {Choleff} Miloff taken 1943 at Canadian Blower and Forge, where war work was likely going on.

My father came to Canada from Bansco Bulgaria with his two brothers Ivan, and Coochy in I believe the late 1920s, to early thirties, The name Coochy is the way he told us and it is my spelling until I hear different. I don't know much about him except that he had the two older brothers that came with him, or brought him with them because of some turmoil at home. They had left sisters back in Bulgaria. All I know about his brothers is what my father told me. I met them perhaps each maybe ten times. John [Ivan] seemed to run a chicken farm outside Kitchener on about 10 acres beside the Dare Cookie Factory, where they had a barn full of chickens. Coochy was a gambler and had a private club for Gamblers in Kitchener, which was illegal at the time, but I was told the Mayor of Kitchener attended. The brothers had owned
and run a restaurant on Queen St outside the Kitchener Arena, where and when my father got to really love Hockey. While they owned the restaurant, and until the arena burnt down, the hockey players would come to the restaurant after the games, and my father got to know the players of that time and place quite well. Most famous of the players at the time for The Kitchener Waterloo Flying Dutchmen, was the Kraut Line, Milt Schmidt, Porky Dumart, and Bobby Bauer. The Kraut line went to the Boston Bruins en masse and my father was forever until his death a Bruins fan. My father would occasionally take me to games at Galt or Preston, and we would have to go on the Electric Train that ran down the middle of what is now highway 8 . It was very exciting just the ride on the train. The Kitchener Arena burnt down, and the games had to be held in the Waterloo Arena, until a new arena could be built, and it would be a the site of the old Army Base at the top of Borden Ave. near where we used to live with the Korbelases. Father when he attended the games would get carried away with himself hurling epithets at the opposing players, yelling and screaming at them, and all the while I am trying to pretend I'm not with him, even at a very young age. One time he was yelling and screaming at a Guelph player, so much calling him a Wop, and Dago to player came over the boards, and went for my father. I actually liked the player quite a lot. He never got very far his team mates held onto him, and I don't know what would have happened, the player, whose name escapes me for the minute was a tough one, but my father although small was quite tough himself. Anyway suffice it to say my father got carried away at hockey games. The player that came over the boards was playing for the Guelph Biltmores, and made it to the NHL, and was there until he tangled with Gordie Howe's elbow, and the blow was fatal to his hockey career. Father was a life long Boston Bruins and Kitchener Rangers fan and died in January of the year the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, so he never saw them get it, although he would have been very pleased. Thank you Bobby Orr. I was a Detroit fan and loved Gordie Howe, until Bobby Hull came along, and although I was always a Detroit fan, I became a Bobby Hull fan, I thought he did what he did effortlessly, and was poetry in motion. I had to always feel sorry for Bobby Hull because he never won a Stanley Cup, but I guess he did alright for himself. Father loved going to the show and would take me from time to time to see Tarzan, The Bowery Boys, and other kids movies, as well as grown up films as well. I remember him taking me to see Paul Muni in "I was a fugitive of the Chain Gang" among others. Father's brother Coochy was quite wealthy, or at least well off, that is until he got cancer, and then his sickness began to clean him out. He would have to come to Toronto by ambulance for treatment, not to mention the cost of treatment. He would die a couple years after being diagnosed. John went to the doctor one day and was diagnosed with cancer, and died about 4 weeks after. Father told me to visit him in the hospital, which I did and had to walk around the public ward several times, and finally asked a nurse which one he was because, he had lost about 200 lbs, in a very short time, like only a few weeks.
John died and there was only my father left over here. Shortly after John died father took us to the farm to check out the farm house to see what was there. Max, Rosemary, and myself were living in the orphanage at the time, and while going through the drawers we found a bunch of silver dollars, which we pocketed without saying anything, perhaps ten of fifteen. When we got back to the home we treated everyone at Beesy's Dairy until the money ran out. In the orphanage to a very great extent if anyone had something everyone did. It's a good thing Father never found out he would have been totally pissed off and when he got pissed off he would use his fist feet, and everything he had. Father was probably an alcoholic, but to be sure not a drunk, and to make that distinction, I never saw him stagger or falling down, or slurring his speech. He never missed work, and always handled himself in a sober fashion. Father could hold his liquor, even if he could not do without it. Father died in his sleep on New Years day 1971, or thereabouts.
All that was left of the Estates of the three of them was a run down house on the edge of Victoria Park in Kitchener. The house looked over the Baseball Park from Centre Field, and they had kind of a bleacher seat built out there so they could watch the games for free. After fathers death we had to contact a lawyer to take us through the legalities in connection with the estate, and as he already had one, which we discovered going through his papers, we contacted the one he had been using. The Lawyer told us that he wasn't fathers lawyer, that his father was and that he was just ending his fathers practice because, he had just died recently. The lawyer told us that we would have to pick and executor, and go down to Kitchener and see him there. When he called to make and appointment, it was to be during the week and I said that, that would be inconvenient because we all worked, and could we make it on a Saturday some time. He said that he had a golf date for a Saturday coming up and if we could be there early, that would be alright. We made it for the Saturday in question and got his address, on King St in Kitchener. We went down on the Saturday and when we got to the address it was on the top floor of the biggest building in Kitchener at the time, and we all looked at each other thinking there won't be much left of the estate when this firm completes probate, in this estate. We were told that our father owned the house on Victoria Park which wasn't worth much, perhaps about $8000.00 dollars, and a small bank account, which had just covered the funeral costs, with perhaps a couple hundred dollars left. He told us that we could sell the house and that the proceeds less his fee would be what we would get from the estate of my father. The Lawyer said that he had the house appraised and that it was in such bad shape that the appraisal was for about $8000.00 which seemed quite low, but on going to inspect the house ourselves we could see why. The house was old to start with, but the people who lived there had just pissed and crapped in the closet from time to time instead of going to the toilet, the wallpaper was just hanging, there were holes in the plaster, it was in rough shape. We decided that we couldn't put in on the market that way so decided to go down, on the weekends and clean it up a bit before we could sell it. We went down several Saturdays painting cleaning, disinfecting, anything we could do to make it a little more acceptable so people could have a look at it. We worked our asses off that summer. On our way back to Toronto one day when it was about 95 deg. f. Emile and I were racing along the 401 in my 1967 Pontiac with about 150000 miles on it and he had a newer Oldsmobile at the time, we went to his place for a dip in their pool. After having a swim we went home and when I pulled in the driveway the rad on the car collapsed, and the coolant went all over the road. I had to pull the rad out of the car, while thinking I hope this house is sold fast so we could perhaps buy a new car. The following Monday I had to get a ride to work, probably from Allan Howe who lived nearbye, and called the radiator shop to see how much it was going to cost the have the rad rebuilt. They said about $150.00. That same day I was asked by the boss to go somewhere near home to pick up a check, as I was from time to time. As I was near home in the CNR vehicle, I picked up the rad and took it to the shop, and when they saw the rad coming out of a CNR vehicle they said that it would be $50.00 off because it was for the CNR and I never argued with them. The next weekend we went back to Kitchener, and it was very hot again, very bright sun and we painted the outside of the stucco house white, and I thought I was going to to blind painting the white on white in that bright sun. All the while while painting and kind of thinking and talking amongst ourselves, I think I wonder if the town would be interested in the house to further extend Victoria Park, and suggest that we phone the town, and ask them. We all agreed, and because we were told that the most we could hope to get was $8000.00, we would ask for $12,000.00. I told Anne to call them, to ask if they were interested, which she did the following Monday. Anne called me at work to say that they were I told her to tell them $12,000.00 . She called them and told them, and they said sold, it was so easy I was left wondering if we should have said more, but that's what we said so that was it. We sold the house to the City of Kitchener for $12,000.00 dollars and they promptly tore it down, after all the work we had put into it. I was very surprised when we got the check from the Lawyer less $200.00 for his fees, I thought it would be much more considering it took about 14 months to close the file. As we had about 150,000 miles on my 1967 Pontiac we ordered a new car which we would pay cash for a 1973 Chevrolet Suburban, which took about 4 months to get.
I'm not sure what Max and Rosemary did with their share but I imagine it went to good use.
Father was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener with his two brothers and his name was to be put on the monument. About a year later we went down to Kitchener as we would from time to time to go to the Market, and went to check to see if the name was on the monument, which it wasn't. We called up the cemetery who said they would check on it and get back to us. They got back to us and said it was an oversight and would be done shortly. A few years later we went back to the Cemetery and this time couldn't find the plot so went to the office for guidance. They asked us for the name, which we gave them and they said that they had 2 Nicholas Miloffs, one in the infant section, and another which they gave us the number of and direction to. The infant had died at birth in 1942, and this was the first real inkling of another sibling. We spoke to Aunt Shirley and she said that mother had told her that she had triplets, one of which had died, and the other two had been given away at birth. The story was that the doctor said that mother couldn't take care of the children she had, and that he knew where the children would be well placed, and did that. I began to wonder if the reason mother took the two kids that weren't hers was that she was trying to replace the two she had given up. What a mystery.