My Daddy

Before he was my Daddy, he was a "medium height" (5'6") "medium weight" fellow with light brown wavy hair, blue eyes and freckles. He came from a large family with 5 brothers and two sisters.

He was good at baseball and track. The fall after he graduated from high school, he was hired to teach grade school in his hometown. After one year of teaching, he decided he would attend Ft. Hays Kansas State Teachers College so he could learn how to teach! He taught school for about 12 years and at one school, he was the principal.

He was drafted into WW I and served for a short period of time. His discharge says that he was honest and faithful and in good health when he was discharged

I think I was probably Daddy's girl. He came home for lunch each day. After we ate, he sat down on the sofa and read the "funnies" to me. I still read the "funnies" every day.

When he came home from work in the evening he would ask me if I had been good. Of course, I always answered, "Yes." The next question would be, "What have you been good for?" I would always say, "Nothing." Then he would tease me about being "good for nothing."

Summer evenings would often find my pal Jim and I playing out in our front yard. sometimes we would play "Statues." Then Jim would turn cartwheels and I would turn sommersaults. Then Daddy would come outside and show us how he could stand on his yead. Jim and I would giggle to see it. After all, this was my Daddy and he was "old" - and old people didn't stand on their heads!

He was a good daddy and he loved me. He just wasn't in my life as long as I would have like.

The photo above was dated 1916.