My Mom's father lived in Australia when I was born, so I never met him. He was a geologist and in the 60's an opportunity came up. His wife didn't want to go, so he left. My mom never really got over that, IMO. He died when I was about 8-9. My mom did get to go there to say goodbye, beforehand. My mom's mother was fondly called "Amoo" which, I was told was the french word for "grandma," but from google, now seems to be jiberish. Regardless, she was the first teacher to bring Montesorri into Texas. She founded Little Red School House in Westbury Square in the 60's. Just a great woman who still had letters coming from kids she taught thanking her until the day she died. My Dad's father was in the Oil business all of his life. Really nice man. Beat cancer in the 80's, only to develop Alzheimers very shortly afterward. He passed in the mid 90's. My Dad's mother was a housewife her entire life. She lived to be 92, and passed just a couple years ago. Very sweet lady.
My maternal grandmother passed before I was born. My maternal grandfather died when I was 2. My paternal grandparents both lived into their 90's and died earlier this decade. They were horrible parents to my dad and not much better grandparents. I did not like spending time with them. Luckily, I didn't have to much since we lived in Houston and they lived in Maryland. I wasn't too disappointed when they passed.
My paternal grandfather died in 1960 from an accidental gunshot to the head. That was 13 years before I was born. My paternal grandmother was born the daughter of tenant farmers in Tennessee. They slept on the dirt floor of the shack they lived in. Later, she came to Houston. She married my grandfather (who was 20 years her senior). In 1938, my father was born. They were poor. My grandfather apparently had a temper that kept him from advancing in (or keeping) a job. At one point, they owned a small diner close to Union Station. Sadly, they lost the lease on the space and the diner closed. My grandmother found my grandfather's body. Ever since that time, she physically and emotionally declined. I never knew her as an active person. After many years in nursing homes, she died of a stroke in January of 1998. My maternal grandparents were an everyday part of my life when I was a kid. They called everyday as they lived 30 minutes away. My grandfather dropped out of high school to help work the farm. This was even when he was being recruited by football coaches. When he was 18, he joined the army. He was a boxer while in the army. After his service, he moved from the hill country to Houston where he was a Longshoreman for 40 years. He retired shortly after I was born. Him and my grandmother were avid fisherpersons and bowlers. In 1990, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away from surgical complications. At that point, my grandfather stopped caring about taking care of himself. He slowly declined, and passed away from diabetes in 1995. I miss them both terribly to this day as they were always very supportive and excellent confidants.
Both my grandfathers died before I was born. My paternal Grandfather was from Virginia and worked as a civilian contractor for the military. He apparently had very high blood pressure his entire life, which meant that my grandmother and father did most of the work around the house (yardwork included). I don't know much about him other than this unfortunately. My maternal Grandfather was from Durango, Colorado and had an amazing life. He was a page in the U.S. Senate as a boy, graduated from West Point, served as an Engineer during WWII in Europe (he fought in the Battle of the Bulge), was involved with the Bikini H-Bomb tests and was the Major General in charge of Japan during the late 50s, early 60s. He was a drinker, but it mostly just made him extremely argumentative. He died 2 weeks before I was born. My paternal Grandmother was from Virginia and was one of the few women of her region and generation to get a college education. She was very much like a "Southern Dame" and was absolutely devoted to my father. Mostly, I remember that she liked to gossip about the people in her retirement home, and that the sound of Chewbacca growling made her laugh really hard. My maternal Grandmother was from Brooklyn - in fact, the brownstone in which she grew up is now a historic building. She absolutely hated Brooklyn, so she was sent to boarding school and then college. As a military wife, she lived all over the world (including Panama, Germany and Japan), and then she ended up retiring to Aspen, Colorado with my Grandfather. After his death, she moved to Green Valley, Arizona and then later got a summer home in Salida, Colorado. She was extremely active up until her last days. I should add that my maternal Grandmother remarried in her 70s and "Mac" is the person I think of as my grandfather. Mac grew up in Tennessee but also went to West Point. He became a Colonel, but had to retire due to medical issues during the 30s. When WWII started, he applied for reinstatement. After he was initially denied, his appeal made it all the way up to President Roosevelt, who affirmed the denial. He hated Roosevelt with a passion for the rest of his life, but fortunately did other things (including getting an advanced degree - Masters or PhD, I can't remember - in Spanish from Stanford) to avoid the "bitter old man" persona. He was an absolute wiz with electronic equipment, was always making high-fiber cookies, and had a disarmingly blunt sense of humor (most famously, my family was watching CNN and he announced that the anchor - Mary Alice Williams - had "eyes like a w****."). I really liked Mac but unfortunately did not see him again after my grandmother died (he died about a year later).
Fraternal grandfather grew up in rural Louisiana. He courted my grandmother by running the 7 miles to her house every chance he had. He went to work for the CCC and became the company clerk because he was the best at reading and writing. At some point, he went to work for the railroad, who barred him from serving in WWII. Instead, he worked 36 hour shifts in NOLA making sure stuff like tanks and ammo got from the train cars to the ships. Apparently, he became an important middle manager type. He later injured his back severely and retired from the railroad to become a sometimes plumber. He would always have spells where his back was aching and would sometimes spend days in bed. He died about 4 years ago. Maternal grandfather was a grad of Sam and became a teacher in East Texas where he met my grandmother. During the Depression, he worked for the Ag Department as a County Extension Agent. Eventually founded some rural telephone companies in East Texas around Naples and Linden, and later expanded that to some small gas companies including one around part of Lake Livingston near Memorial Point. His sister (my great Aunt) was the interesting one. Also worked for USDA during the Depression and after the war ended up in the Middle East as a missionary, but seemed to have access to leaders and places your average missionary would not. After she came back, she would go away for short periods of times to places unknown and be visited by odd folks. We later found out that she drew a State Department pension. Speculation is that she was in the OSS, but she would never talk about it, even 50 years later. She never married and infuriated the local establishment of Livingston because she had the biggest house and the most money and hired blacks instead of whites (not to mention that she turned down a number of proposals). She was quietly one of the forces for sanity during the Civil Rights era and drew significant ire for that. She was the quintessential tough ol' Southern broad. She owned a huge ranch (at least it seemed so to this kid when we would drive it), most of which is at the bottom of Lake Livingston and left all her great nephews and nieces a nice chunk of cash that will easily pay for my daughters' college, so her influence will be felt for a few more generations.
My Grandfather (mother's side) was simply the greatest man I ever knew. He was born in 1924, the 2nd youngest of 9 children born to Norwegian immigrants who moved to a small town called Gwinner, North Dakota in the early 1900s. He wanted to be a school teacher as he was very proficient in mathematics. He enlisted in the Army shortly after WW2 begin. He worked mostly as a decoder, helping with new technology to try and decipher enemy transmissions. He witnessed the atrocities of the Battle of The Bulge, and often got emotional when thinking of the lives lost. He often told me never to go into the military, because war was the world's greatest tragedy. He married my Grandmother in 1947. After returning from the war, he went to work for my Grandmother's Dad E.G. Melroe, who was a famous inventor in North Dakota, helping to invent innovative farming machinery. He eventually became the executive VP of Melroe industries who first manufactured the Bobcat Skid-Steer loader which you see at probably every construction site in the world these days. After a lot of success Melroe was sold to a larger company and he went on to become CEO of Steiger Tractor, which rivaled John Deere in terms of Large Tractor sales in the late 70s, at one point grossing over 100 million in sales. After the collapse of Agricultural markets in the early 80s he retired, but did serve as a board member for Concord, a company owned and operated by his two sons. He saved and invested his money wisely, and his main goal was to make sure each of his grandchildren had a college education. He enjoyed a good game of bridge, a piece of pie, and a swim at the lake at the family's lake cottage in Minnesota. His wife (My Grandmother) passed away in 1998. He was grief stricken and wrote many beautiful letters about her. He remarried a woman who he had known for years who had also recently lost her husband. She was a welcome addition to our family, and helped him keep him active and in shape. He passed away July 23rd, 2008 of complications from lung cancer a few weeks before his 84th birthday. I still can't believe he's gone. He was always there, always encouraging me when my dad abandoned me and my mother when I was 4 years old. When my step dad never showed interest in anything I did, He took a great pride in telling everyone simple things about me. When my step dad blew the small amount of money he made on hair-brained get-rich schemes, he always dipped into his own pockets to make sure we kept afloat. He had time for everyone, he had a lot of finer things, but he was never snobbish. He always had time for the common man because he grew up the son of a poor shopkeeper. He was a great person who lived a long fulfilling life. I miss him a lot.
I was never that close to my dad or his parents. I met them several times growing up. They´re from the valley but ended up working as farm workers in the midwest during the 50´s and 60´s. My grandmother on my dad's side died this past fall. My grandfather on my dad side is still alive and is planning on moving back to Texas next year with my dad. My grandparents and great-grandparents on my Mom´s side were/are a big influence on my life. My grandfather was a great guy and had more friends than I can remember. He was a firefighter for as long as I remember. Here´s a link to the school they named after him: http://es.houstonisd.org/gallegoses/History/history.htm My Grandma is still alive and worked for years for Al Luna, was on the school board in the early 90´s and the most influential person when it comes to my sense of humor. Both grandparents were born in Magnolia Park. My great-grandmother on my grandfather´s side was the only great-grandparent I knew. She played accordion with her 2nd husband at Ripley House toward the end of her life. Here´s a link for what she did, she is also in the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/houpub/00170/00170-P.html http://governor.state.tx.us/music/tour/txtejanohof I´ve been learning more about my grandmother´s parents in the past years. They both passed away before I was born. I´ve been very lucky to have such wonderful people around growing up.
Grandfather on my Father's side was a newspaperman in Zanesville Ohio. As a reporter he helped solve a bank robbery and was featured in Life Magazine. My Grandmother was a quiet lady who was always by his side. They both loved golf. Grandfather on my Mother's side flew with the Army Airforce in the Pacific in WWII - (Airforce part of the Army then) met my Grandmother when she was visiting his small town and they were married soon after. They both loved to go camping and take the Grandkids with them. I was married in their back yard in a gazebo my Grandfather built. The house my Grandparents lived in was the same house my Grandfather was born in and would also die in. My Grandfather is the on on the right. Great-grandfather is on left.
My paternal grandfather was born in Germany but spent some time in Russia before moving to Manitoba, Canada and meeting my grandmother. He didn't participate in the war since his mother was ailing (and his father had passed away) - so he had to take care of the farm. He was always a hard worker and ended up managing a saw mill for 33 years in Williams Lake, British Columbia. He lived as a devout Seventh-Day Adventist for his entire life and I was lucky enough to live with him for six months after my Granny passed away. He was truly a great husband, father, grandfather, worker, and a true Christian man...not only by his faith but also by how he treated others. My paternal grandmother "granny" was born in Germany but spent time in Poland before moving to Manitoba, Canada where she met my grandfather. She spent time as a housekeeper in rich people's homes where she learned how to cook extremely well, even though she didn't care for it much. She was by far the best cook I've ever known and was also an extremely kind and caring woman - and very soft spoken. She passed away at 84 years of age last October due to stomach cancer. My maternal grandfather was born in Haiti as the son of a Seventh-Day Adventist missionary. I don't know much about his life except that he was a womanizer and drunkard who cheated on my Grandmother many times before the eventual divorce. He now owns a laundromat in a small town in British Columbia. My maternal grandmother was born and raised in British Columbia. She is a poet and artist - and an extremely fun lady to hang out with. Her and her husband (who I also call "Grandpa") live about an hour away from me in BC. She always enjoyed spending time with my brothers and I.
i replied without reading about the tejano hall of fame. WOW, to me that is pretty amazing, i'm a HUGE FAN of Tejano music, so to know that they're up there with other great tejano legends is pretty cool.
My paternal grandfather died in a car crash when my dad was young. He doesn't remember him at all. I know his name is James(same as me), and he was an alcoholic(what a shock he would die in a car accident). My paternal grandmother is crazy. She was a chainsmoking alcoholic gambler until she started undergoing treatment for breast cancer last year. I haven't seen her in a few years, but she has always been very odd. She actually cheats at cards against her own grandson. My maternal grandfather was a truck driver. He was always nice since I knew him, but he was a real ass before his second wife. When my Aunt(his youngest daughter) was in high school, he was dating one of her classmates. He died on Halloween 2002 of a heart attack. My maternal grandmother is alive and in good health. She was a bank manager for years and is now retired. She's probably as perfect a Grandma as you could have... if she wasn't a lib.
My paternal grandfather passed away before I was born, somewhere in Guanajuato, México. My paternal grandmother left Guanajuato I think running away from that same man in Guanajuato, to raise her 8 children in Reynosa, Mexico. She passed away of brain disease in Reynosa in 2001 or 2000, I forget which of the two since it has been a while. Of those 8 kids including my father, only four remain alive. My maternal grandparents are still alive and in Houston, TX. They are both from Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Starting with my paternal grandparents, my grandpa passed when i was about 6 months old so I never met him. My grandma died about 8 years ago this June. She died about a year after suffering a stroke. I've never really knew her since she was living in Mexico. My maternal grandparents are still alive and living here in Houston. They are in their early 80's. My grandma took care of me until i was 9 so I have a special place for her in my heart even though we can't really communicate. She doesn't speak english very well and i can't speak spanish. Utmost respect for her because she raised 12 kids and that is a tough thing to do when poor. They all came to U.S. in the 70's for a better life. My grandpa is just a mean old grouch but still love him anyway!
I'm very lucky in that I am 21 years old, and all four of my grandparents are still alive. My paternal grandfather was born in Caldwell, Texas. In WWII, he was a pilot for some of the planes that flew over Germany. He later went on to do some sort of secret FBI detective work with the government. Even to this day no one has given me a straight answer on exactly what he did, so needless to say I am very inrtrigued. My paternal grandmother was also born in Caldwell, and all I really know about her is that she is an incredible cook and has been married to my grandfather for sixty years. My maternal grandfather has led quite a life. He was born in New York, and played baseball for the Reds and Yankees minor league teams. He even showed me an article where Casey Stengel mentioned him as a top prospect in their organization. The story gets kind of fuzzy here, and it sounds like he ended up playing on the Army team during the war, where they pitched him too much. He ended up throwing his arm out, and never ended up making it to the big leagues. He then tried his hand at politics, and became mayor of Beaumont of two separate occasions. He still lives in Beaumont where he has been battling Parkinson's for over a decade. My maternal grandmother was born in New York as well. She attended Juilliard to study piano. Again, like my paternal grandmother, I do not know many details about her life except that she is still going strong and I would not be surprised if she were still around 20 years from now. Her and my grandfather have been married for 50+ years as well.
My paternal grandfather was an awesome man. He was an East Texas boy, and a huge man, over 300 pounds for most of his adult life. He was a blacksmith who made submarine parts during World War 2, tried to join the Army and wasn't allowed because he was needed back home. He worked his way up to Steel Mill manager, which was the highest hired position in his company. He was one of the most loyal, dedicated, and humble men I have ever known. He got Parkinson's disease in the early nineties and died about 5 years ago. He was 84. My paternal grandmother is still very much alive, and is quite entertaining. She was born 2/29/28 and has had 20 birthdays since. She was basically orphaned when she was six, when her mother and grandmother burned to death from a coal oil lamp. Her father was around but he was never really a father to her. She bounced around between relatives until she married my grandfather. She raised 4 kids, and when they were gone, she went to nursing school. Although she lost certification when she had to quit to take care of my grandfather, she helps out with a home health company today. She takes care of elderly people younger than herself. My maternal grandfather, from the Ozarks, was a bit of a troublemaker when he was young. I don't know what else he did, but he was a car thief and ran moonshine. At eighteen, he broke his back in a construction accident at Bull Shoals Dam and never walked again. The Army Corps of Engineers sent him to Little Rock for retraining (he became a watch repairman), and he met my grandmother, who got him into Jesus, and he became very devout, and a voracious reader. He could quote scripture and books from Shakespeare to Faulkner. He died in 1999, was 67, but seemed older because his relentless back pain had aged him so much. I never knew my maternal grandmother. She had had a leg infection as a teenager and had one leg amputated before she met my grandfather. That they were both on crutches drew her to my grandfather. She never got rid of the infection. It took her other leg when my mother was 3, and killed her when my mother was 10. I think she was about 30.
Attempting to derail this thread ... My maternal grandfather was born in 1895 and died in 1982. In his life time he saw the emergence of the automobile (The Model T was introduced on October 1, 1908). He saw the railroads build out their lines and then fade. He saw commercial airlines take flight. He saw the interstate highways be built across the country. He saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon. He saw the first transcontinental telephone call on 25 January 1915 (between Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson). He saw radio emerge and heard FDR give fireside chats. He saw television replace radio. He saw two World Wars and fought in the first one. He, his wife and two kids survived the Great Depression. I have been alive for over half his years and all I got to show for it is The Internet
