Joseph Zink was born in January 1894 to Charles Zink and Margaret Seifert. He was born and raised in Baltimore City and Joe worked in the printing business all of his life, as a pressman before the Depression, and as a printer afterwards. During the Depression, he was out of work for two and a half years, and earned money by digging ditches for 35 cents per hour and driving a wagon around town taking orders for codfish cakes and cole slaw.
Around 1918, Joe married his first wife, Anna Wiseman, who was one year older than him. After their first two boys were born, they moved from the city to Overlea, which was mostly farms at the time, and located about one mile from the northeast city line. Their big stone house with its large lawn satisfied Joe’s desire for ‘a place in the country’ and was only a half a mile away from Anna’s parents’ farm. Two more sons were born, and when the youngest one, Ray, was eleven, Anna died from a heart condition she had had for years.
A short while after Anna passed away, Clara Newheiser went over to Joe’s house to see if she could help with the children. She often went out to help others. Clara was no stranger to the family, though — in fact she was Anna’s cousin. Clara and Joe had lived only two blocks away from each other in the city, and she had attended Joe’s wedding.
At age 46, Clara started taking the 5-mile streetcar ride over to Joe’s house a few time a week and cooked and cleaned. One year after Ann’s death, Joe and Clara married at a little country parish in Halethorpe– a neutral place, since Joe was Presbyterian and Clara was a devout Catholic.
