A brief background of my famly's Jewishness

NOTE: The names below have been changed to allow the narration to be as open and frank as possible without threatening the privacy of anyone mentioned therein.
My grandfather, Saul, was a rabbi who came to the U.S. in the early 1900s. From what I've heard, he was originally Chasidic, but became modern orthodox after he arrived in New York. He had 5 daughters and a son. He organized the building of a synagogue in Brooklyn, NY in a Jewish/Catholic residential neighborhood of mostly 2-family homes with well-kept small gardens in front and small backyards. The rabbi was a very kind and gentle man. His household was run by his gritty and rough third wife (the other 2 died prematurely) who was not the mother of any of his children. It is striking that, of the rabbi's 6 children, only 1 remained deeply immersed in Jewish life when she reached adulthood. And she did mainly because she married a young, dashing rabbi from California. She moved west with him and had 3 children and 12 grandchildren, most of whom have stayed religious. Her only son, Edwin, became a rabbi, more orthodox than his father, a somewhat laid-back othodox rabbi who wore light-colored, fashionable suits and shoes, while Edwin has a beard and wears only dark suits. All of rabbi Saul's children attended public school, and that may have been the start of their drift from orthodoxy. It has been conjectured that Saul really didn't mind the shift because, if his 5 daughers remained religious, their educational and career options would have been very limited. The 4 youngest daughters were attractive and highly intelligent, and the rabbi may not have wanted to have their future's stifled by being boxed into the traditional role of religious Jewish women. Thus, these 4 daughters all attended college and some attended graduate school. The rabbi's oldest daughter from his first marriage and his son were not as brilliant as their 4 youngest sisters or educationally motivated. It's all conjecture at this point, because no-one can go back and read rabbi Saul's mind. However, it seems that, even though he was very religiously observant himself, he was ambivalent about having his children grow up with all the restrictions of the religous Jewish world. So, by not insisting that they be educated in yeshivas or strictly follow Jewish laws and customs, he passively let them drift away from orthodoxy. With all due respect, financial constraints may have also been a factor in Saul's not sending his children to yeshivas. Yet it seems that, if he really wanted to, he could have found a way.