Born in rural West Virginia, she met Ed when she was a striking 21-year-old and he a handsome Marine who had recently returned from the Pacific theater. They were married within a year and headed for Chicago to live near his Polish-American family. By the time Dana was 30, she was a homemaker with five children, all skinny like their mom and blond like their dad, with the kinds of names that sound perfect for a charming family sitcom: Rosie, Mikey, Vicky, Timmy, Mary.