The New Older Generation
The last of my parents generation died about a week ago. Now we (me, my sisters and brothers and my cousins) are the new older generation. I would like to talk a little about each of them. There were 8. There was my Mon and Dad and my dad's older sister and her husband. My dad's older brother and his wife and my mom had 1 younger sister and her husband. They are all gone now.
Mildred was the first to go. She was my Mom. We all loved her very much. She was one of the 2 most wonderful women I have ever met. Her mother (my Grandmother) was the other. Mildred died on February 3 1982. She had a short battle with Pancreatic Cancer. She was only 63. She died way to soon. Before she married Arnold she was studying to be a nurse. When they got married on July 19 1941 he say he wanted a mother for his children and a housewife. So Mildred gave up her studies and became a housewife and mother. She raised 8 kids.
Arnold (my dad) died on October 27 1997 at the age of 75. He was in the army during WWII. He worked in a defense factory for a while first. When he could not stand the factory anymore he quit and got drafted. He was a Mechanic first. He left Chicago after his mother died. He could not take the Chicago winters anymore. He settled in California and started putting in lawn sprinklers. He was one of the first to use plastic pipe. He business never got very big because of his pride. He refused to go out and get work. He was content to let work come to him.
He found out his brother was getting married in September of 1941 so he talked Mildred into getting married in July. He wanted to be married before his brother. He had more common sense then anyone I have ever seen, He also had more pride the anyone I have ever seen.
Wilford was the next one to go. He died on July 4 2003. He was 86 He had a Doctor degree in Chemistry. He spend his whole life working for Standard Oil. He was learning to make things out of petroleum. He held many patents. The only time I ever heard him called Dr. was one time I was visiting them and he asked me to have lunch with him. So I drove over to Standard Oil. I drove up to the gate and told them Wilfred was expecting me. The guard said Dr. and point to where Wilford was. If it hadn't been for the guard I never would have known he was a Dr. He married Laverne on June 3 1944. After my Grandfather died he and Laverne took my Grandmother in and took care of her until she died in 1976.
LaVerne died about 18 months later. What has always seams strange to me was Lavene and Mildred, the 2 sisters died of the same thing, Pancreatic Cancer. La Verne was a house wife. They only had one daughter. La Verne was 83.
Bob was next he died March 15 2011 at the age of 93. he was in the Army during WWII and also the Korean war but when they found out how may dependents he had they sent him home from the Korean war. He was a printer. He spent his whole working for a printing company. He married Dorothy on Jan 30 1943.
Bud was next he died November 19 2013. He was 93. he was also in WWII. When he came home he followed his father's footsteps and became a Carpenter. He owned his own business. He died of Dementia. He married Jeannette on September 22 1941. Like I said earlier about 2 months after Arnold and Milly got married.
Dorothy died on September 1 2015. She was 97 She was a housewife. They had 4 children.
The last one was Jeannette. She died on February 24 2021. She was 101. She worked in the office of a car dealership. She raised 3 children.
For the last few years my niece has been telling me I am part of the older generation now. I don't want to be part of the older gerneration. I would rather go to heaven and live there. God keeps telling me there is more for me to do. So I guess I am part of the new older generation now. I will stay here until God says my work here is done.
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