My dad was born in 1923 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN right on the Alabama border, but his parents moved to Akron, Ohio when he was very young. He became very proficient at playing poker at a young age. He was known to frequent after-school poker games with his mother believing he was at choir practice.
After barely graduating high school, but having had a "helluva good time" per his best friend Jack Jordan , he enlisted in the Marines to serve in World War II. He served in the VMTB 131 and spent his time in the Central Pacific. Much to his embarrassment, he didn't see much combat, but he did have to survive on only canned fruit cocktail on Guam when Navy supply ships couldn't get through. He refused to touch the stuff for the rest of his life. War is hard.
Having survived the fruit cocktail ordeal and returning home safely, he married Rosemary Greenwald on April 17, 1948. They lived in Wadsworth, and he worked at the Ohio Boxboard in Rittman as a draftsman and foreman. They would have three daughters. He loved to play golf, softball and cards of all kinds, and had a great sense of humor. Family lore has it that he could count cards, and as a teenager, would win handily at poker with neighborhood men. He also accumulated many Bridge Masterpoints.
Unfortunately he started smoking as pre-teen when the tobacco companies handed out cigarettes to children as they were leaving school. By 14 he was hooked and used a paper route and poker winnings to support his habit. His best friend Jack also related that the two of them had jobs as teenagers repairing in the inside of bomber fuel tanks. He said they would crawl into the tanks with open containers of highly carcinogenic benzene and would have to scramble to the openings for air to keep from passing out from the fumes. My dad's lungs never stood a chance. He would die in July of 1965 of lung cancer at only 42 years of age.
He is forever missed by all who knew him, and even those who didn't.
After barely graduating high school, but having had a "helluva good time" per his best friend Jack Jordan , he enlisted in the Marines to serve in World War II. He served in the VMTB 131 and spent his time in the Central Pacific. Much to his embarrassment, he didn't see much combat, but he did have to survive on only canned fruit cocktail on Guam when Navy supply ships couldn't get through. He refused to touch the stuff for the rest of his life. War is hard.
Having survived the fruit cocktail ordeal and returning home safely, he married Rosemary Greenwald on April 17, 1948. They lived in Wadsworth, and he worked at the Ohio Boxboard in Rittman as a draftsman and foreman. They would have three daughters. He loved to play golf, softball and cards of all kinds, and had a great sense of humor. Family lore has it that he could count cards, and as a teenager, would win handily at poker with neighborhood men. He also accumulated many Bridge Masterpoints.
Unfortunately he started smoking as pre-teen when the tobacco companies handed out cigarettes to children as they were leaving school. By 14 he was hooked and used a paper route and poker winnings to support his habit. His best friend Jack also related that the two of them had jobs as teenagers repairing in the inside of bomber fuel tanks. He said they would crawl into the tanks with open containers of highly carcinogenic benzene and would have to scramble to the openings for air to keep from passing out from the fumes. My dad's lungs never stood a chance. He would die in July of 1965 of lung cancer at only 42 years of age.
He is forever missed by all who knew him, and even those who didn't.
My dad was born in 1923 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN right on the Alabama border, but his parents moved to Akron, Ohio when he was very young. He became very proficient at playing poker at a young age. He was known to frequent after-school poker games with his mother believing he was at choir practice.
After barely graduating high school, but having had a "helluva good time" per his best friend Jack Jordan , he enlisted in the Marines to serve in World War II. He served in the VMTB 131 and spent his time in the Central Pacific. Much to his embarrassment, he didn't see much combat, but he did have to survive on only canned fruit cocktail on Guam when Navy supply ships couldn't get through. He refused to touch the stuff for the rest of his life. War is hard.
Having survived the fruit cocktail ordeal and returning home safely, he married Rosemary Greenwald on April 17, 1948. They lived in Wadsworth, and he worked at the Ohio Boxboard in Rittman as a draftsman and foreman. They would have three daughters. He loved to play golf, softball and cards of all kinds, and had a great sense of humor. Family lore has it that he could count cards, and as a teenager, would win handily at poker with neighborhood men. He also accumulated many Bridge Masterpoints.
Unfortunately he started smoking as pre-teen when the tobacco companies handed out cigarettes to children as they were leaving school. By 14 he was hooked and used a paper route and poker winnings to support his habit. His best friend Jack also related that the two of them had jobs as teenagers repairing in the inside of bomber fuel tanks. He said they would crawl into the tanks with open containers of highly carcinogenic benzene and would have to scramble to the openings for air to keep from passing out from the fumes. My dad's lungs never stood a chance. He would die in July of 1965 of lung cancer at only 42 years of age.
He is forever missed by all who knew him, and even those who didn't.
After barely graduating high school, but having had a "helluva good time" per his best friend Jack Jordan , he enlisted in the Marines to serve in World War II. He served in the VMTB 131 and spent his time in the Central Pacific. Much to his embarrassment, he didn't see much combat, but he did have to survive on only canned fruit cocktail on Guam when Navy supply ships couldn't get through. He refused to touch the stuff for the rest of his life. War is hard.
Having survived the fruit cocktail ordeal and returning home safely, he married Rosemary Greenwald on April 17, 1948. They lived in Wadsworth, and he worked at the Ohio Boxboard in Rittman as a draftsman and foreman. They would have three daughters. He loved to play golf, softball and cards of all kinds, and had a great sense of humor. Family lore has it that he could count cards, and as a teenager, would win handily at poker with neighborhood men. He also accumulated many Bridge Masterpoints.
Unfortunately he started smoking as pre-teen when the tobacco companies handed out cigarettes to children as they were leaving school. By 14 he was hooked and used a paper route and poker winnings to support his habit. His best friend Jack also related that the two of them had jobs as teenagers repairing in the inside of bomber fuel tanks. He said they would crawl into the tanks with open containers of highly carcinogenic benzene and would have to scramble to the openings for air to keep from passing out from the fumes. My dad's lungs never stood a chance. He would die in July of 1965 of lung cancer at only 42 years of age.
He is forever missed by all who knew him, and even those who didn't.
