Time in Boston
Childhood Sickness
In the late 1930s, Gus contracted Rheumatic Fever and had to spend a few years at a farm for sick and dying children in Walpole, MA. He wasn't able to see his family for a few years since the Solomons didn't have a car or any way to get to Walpole. He was finally cured and left the farm in 1941.
After leaving the farm in 1941, Gus was finally able to reunite with his family who was living in Dorchester at the time. The Solomons initially settled in East Boston when they first arrived to Boston, but they eventually ended up moving to Dorchester a few years later. During his time in Dorchester, Gus would begin to make a living, even getting involved in illegal gambling, and meet his future wife, Sarah.
Life After the Farm
Work
After graduating high school, Gus primarily made a living through illegal gambling. Gus got tangled up with prominent Boston mobster, Abe Sarkis, and began to take numbers. He would eventually take ownership of the convenience store, B&G, in West Roxbury, where he would continue to take numbers until he was arrested in the late 1950s. After getting out, he got clean and stayed a law-abiding citizen for the rest of his life.
Love
In 1941, Gus met his future wife, Sarah Chansky, at a party in Chelsea. Like Gus, Sarah's family was also Jewish and had emigrated from Russia in the 1920s. Sarah was initially reluctant to go out with Gus since she initially thought that he "looked like he was in the Mafia." However, despite Sarah's initial worries, they would eventually fall in love, get married in 1945, and have three children together.
Sarah in her late 20s
