Just a little history

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It is interesting that I was able to get a copy of the following text. It was written by your Great Grandfather before he died. Actually, it is the concept I used to create this website. The only thing I can say is that he was getting a little senile and randomly put his thoughts on paper.  Your cousin Taylor has the original copies in his own handwriting that gets hard to read in parts.

If there are any misspelled words or illogical comments, I can only say that this is the way he wrote it. I tried to keep it as original as possible. 

Clifford Duncan Philip (Sr)

My life started in 1919 on the Old Bain Farm in Lake Forest, Illinois, where my dad was the manager of the ranch, so to speak. He and my mother were both from Aberdeen, Scotland. So I am the first generation of Helen & James Philip.

They had four children of which I am the youngest: Hugh George, Mary Gertrude, James Walker and me, Clifford Duncan. Mary & I are the only children that are still alive. 

My mother, who I don’t remember, died when I was two. Although they say that she did take me back to Scotland when I was about one year old just to see her parents. But when we got back, she died of pneumonia and left my father with four kids to raise. He had bought a house in town in Lake Forest which had two classes of people; the rich and the people who worked for them. 

My father did work. What he did was to carry ice on his back (25 lbs each) to fill kitchen ice boxes. The word refrigerator had not been invented by then. He also went around town lighting the old street lights at nights. So I guess he did work for the city.

He also made beer in the basement, which I believe illegal. And he bred his beer and he made a lot of it. 

And I went to grade school. The school was named Halsey and it was on Dearpark Ave in town; two blocks from downtown Lake Forest. 

All four kids went to school at Halsey. Halsey was a block away from our house. What I remember about Halsey was our lunch time. They would let the young grades out first to avoid confusion & I would run home as fast as I could to beat Hugh, Sis and Jim to the cream off the top of the milk bottles for my corn flakes, which was my lunch. They always got mad at me. 

And then my dad moved to Kenosha in Wisconsin. I believe it was because of his beer business it became pretty illegal in rich Lake Forest. 

In Kenosha, all four kids went to school & then one night I was with my dad when he delivered a little beer in one of the local taverns. He got back in the car with me, and we drove and had a flat tire. While he was changing the flat, he got hit by another car and killed him instantly. 

Now what. Four kids in grade school. Big Dick, Hugh’s nick name (why I don’t know) quit school immediately and went to work on a ranch in Libertyville, Ill. They were the Thompson’s of Lake Forest, with a huge beautiful home on Green Bay Ave. Just before the Lake Bluff Live, Big Dick became the house man, chauffer and ran the whole show. In fact I used to spend my summers pulling weeds in the gardens there. 

He got married and lived a nice life. And I’m really not sure when he died, I was in the Navy and wasn’t quite sure, but old Big Dicks dead. He had a nice quiet wife & she died soon after. Actually Uncle Hugh died around 1975 or 1976. Rebe and I lived with him for a couple of months right after we moved back to the states from Puerto Rico. I had just gotten out of the hospital and we didn’t have an apartment yet.

Jimmy, well he was just Jimmy who could do anything. Never finsished grade school. He finally ran this farm for his very nice widow with his wife Bev; what a beautiful pair. 

Jimmy, wife & the widow all moved to Tucson, Arizona. And I was happy because I lived in Phoenix at the time. I was a traveling salesman and I spent a lot of time with Jimmy before he was stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. I can still see him sitting in his chair with his beard down to his knees. Sorry, I just had to wipe the tears from my eyes. Thinking of my brother Jimmy, who I saw punch a horse in the nose & put it to his knees. 

Jimmy had a little horse called Baldy who could really run. One day after Jimmy asked me if I would go out in the field and bring Baldy in. So I did. Jump on him, bare back, no harness of any kind and he ran until his chest hit the coral fence and I went sailing over the fence. Broke my arm. I thought Jimmy would die laughing at his smart-ass younger brother. 

And then there is Sis. What a beautiful woman. When dad died, she went to work for the Douglass’s on Green Bay. Uncle Mac was their chauffer. Sis went into the kitchen washing dishes, etc. She is still Alive. Going strong, pushing 90 years and has her own home in Highland Park, Ill. Aunt Gert died a couple of years before Cliff died.

But now back to me. When living in Lake Forest, before dad died, I used to make my money at Onwensia Country Club caddying at 50 cents for 18 holes and taking care of the Polo Horses. All the kids used to take the old Polo sticks and cut them down to size and played polo on the street. Had some real fun. I remember going to the junk yards and found an old wooden 5 iron which I fooled around with on the Deerpath public course – the junk yard would come up with a lot of goodies including roller skates, ice skates and I became an excellent skater on the Public West Park which they flooded and froze.

Where Sis worked, my uncle Mac was the chauffer and I could get to the back of Deerpath Golf Course from Aunt Chrissie & Uncle Mac’s long driveway. Had fun with that old 5 iron! That’s where I fell in love with golf. Aunt Chrissie had 3 sons: Alvin, Earl, and Duncan. We were all buddies. 

World War II came and Earl and Duncan both were pilots – lost their lives. Alvin is still alive and just sold Aunt Chrissi’s house (who diet at 105 years old). In the heart of Lake Forest she bought it for $12,000 and he sold it for $750,000. Nice investment. 

Back to Kenosha. School was 3 miles away so I rode my horse and tethered it during school hours. 

When dad died, Hugh, Jim and Sis left school and never finished grade school. Went to work. I was the fortunate one. I went to live with my Uncle Bill and Aunt Mabel. They had two kids; boy and girl. Billy & Hellen. Hellen was the oldest and got married soon as I got there to live; married Rideley Ray of Mundel, Ne.

Billy and I were real buddies and quite a pair. He was about 5’ 5” and I was 6’ 4”. He had a beautiful tenor voice and was an artist. So very talented. 

Uncle Bill was the manager of Mar-el-Bar Farm on the line between Libertyville and Gurnee, Illinois. Mar-el-Bar, named after the daughter of the owner, Margaret Ellen Barthelamey. Mr. Barthelamey was in the insurance business. Never saw him except at the back of this limousine as they drove through the entrance to the estate. He was just Mr. “B”. 

The estate was very beautiful, as you entered it, on the right was the 5 car garage where Charlie, his wife and two daughters lived up above. On the left as you entered was my Uncle Bill’s home: 3 bedrooms, beautiful with a big green house attached to it where Uncle Bill kept the big house supplied with flowers. And beyond that the root cellar where the potatoes, etc. were stored. 

And then up the hill, straight ahead was the Big House (never saw the inside, except the kitchen). It was about 200 yards of open green grass between the opening to the estate to the Big House. And right in the middle of this yard, so to speak was this huge bird house standing about 20’ up.

The driveway to the Big House wound to the left past the house and to the right was the farmer’s house: big, white with the barns, etc, surrounding it. 

We went to Warren Township High School, Gurnee, Ill., about 5 miles from the estate. 

Forgot something. Dad used to give me a quarter to go to the corner and buy him a pack of Luck Strikes. 20 cents for the cigarettes and 5 cents for my ice cream cone. Luck Strikes were in a green package and during the war changed to a white package with the slogan “Lucky Strike Green has gone to war”. 

Billy was the Quarter Back and I played End on the football team. We were quite a team. I was about 6’ 3” at the time and had good hands. I was the Capt. of the Football team, Basketball team, and Baseball team; all in the same year. 

I was an excellent athlete but a so-so student with a “C” average. 

My girl friend was June Van Eandt. She taught me how to kiss and dance. Used to kiss by the hour and dance together. Used to go up to the Trianon Dance Hall in Chicago and dance all night. 

Used to go over to Waukegan to the Genesee Theater and for 23 cents go to the movies. 

June had big breasts and I touched them only once; what a thrill. We vowed to stay together but she went to the University of Illinois and I to the University of Wisconsin and after one letter we were completely separated. 

At the banquet held in Waukegan for the All County Football Team, the main speaker was the coach of the Wisconsin Team: Harry Stuhldrer. He was famous for being the Quarterback of the Four Horsemen. They had Stuhldrer, Hayden, Miller and Crowley. 

Talking to him he said he could get me a scholarship and a job washing windows for $2.00 an hour. 

So I graduated (not with honors). Said goodbye to Aunt Mabel, Uncle Bill and Billy. I can’t say enough how great they were making me a part of their family. 

Next morning with $10.00 in my pocket, got on the road and hitch hiked to Madison, Wisc. This was in 1937. Going on my 18thbirthday.  I moved into a basement apartment with six other football players – had a ball, but it was tight. 

In those days, you couldn’t get on the Varsity team until your Junior year so for 2 years I was just practice fodder. But I finally made first string Varsity my Senior year. I was just a so-so player, nothing spectactular.

During that year, 1940, Uncle Sam gave 9 hours free flying lessons. I soloed in 3 hours. Roaring George Packarson and I hitch hiked out to the airport to take our flying lessons. He was the Full Back on the football team and would roar when he plowed through the line: hence the name “roaring George”.

My love for flying started there and immediately after graduation I joined the Navy Air with about 5 other players and we called ourselves the Flying Badgers. But we were separated. 

Right after graduation, I checked in to the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. They gave me a choice for my Cadet training: Jacksonville, Pensacola, or Corpus Cristie. I chose Pensacola so we drove over to Pensacola from Jacksonville and stopped on the way at one of the jails to sleep – slept on one of the prison cots. 

My coach in High School was Robert Kelton and he was a very important man in my life. He coached everything – Football, Basketball and Baseball, and he was the woodworking teacher. I took his class and built a beautiful secretary desk out of solid walnut. My daughter has the desk now after 70 years. 

I believe that Uncle Sam knew something was going to happen because we were flooded with Cadets learning to fly. Squadron 3 was at Chevrlier Field at the Main Station flying 2 seater SNJ’s in Instrument training so after I graduated I stayed on as an Instructor in Instrument flying. I used to “pop the hood” in strange places. But before that while still a cadet, we were Bowling one Sunday morning. Pensacola had a two lane manually operated alley. The loud speaker came on and Captain A. C. Reed said “All hands President Franklin D Roosevelt just announced that “Japan has just bombed Pearl Harbor”. All hands report so we quit bowling (haven’t bowled since) and we worked to finish our training – got my wings and stayed on as the instructor. 

And then the life of leisure started. While WWII was in full swing, they sent me to Wichita, KS to pick up a Twin Engine Beechcraft SNB. This I flew down to Miami where I was stationed. Worked 4 hours a day flying that SNB with Navigation students in the rear trying hard to be navigators. Sometimes we would get lost. Once ended up in Cuba. This was intentional anyway because I wanted to get a few cans of rum. Cuba only had a grass field for an airport, but that SNB was easy to handle. 

While living that soft life, I earned my Navy Marine Corp Medal for Bravery. It happened this way. While sitting outside the Officers Club at Miami Naval Air Station drinking a bloody mary, watching the plains come and go. I noticed one guy taking off very funny like and I said to the other fellows at the table. Hey this guy isn’t going to make it. So I got up and ran and got the the fence. Went over it in one jump just as the plane on it’s back started to burn. I reached under the plane, unbuckled him and rolled him out and away. And then fire trucks and all came and went back to my bloody mary. 

I forgot all about it until about a year later in Elk City, Oklahoma. My Skipper, Murray West called me ‘front & center’ and presented me with the medal. 

So then they thought my life was too good so they sent me to Lake City, Fla to learn the Lockheed PV1 So I went from SNBs 2-250 HP engines to 2-2,000 HP engines in the PV1. 

I hate to brag on myself, but I was the best pilot of them all in the jPV1. Later on Ken Kirkwood told me this. He was my co-pilot and stayed in the service to become Admiral in-charge of the entire Caribbean. 

New Year’s 1942 came and I met this lady at a party in Lake City. Married her. Got orders to go to Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA. Had ten days to get there. 

Frances Vautrot was her name. She was very small and petite and I really liked her. In fact I fell in love with her. We were quite a pair. But she didn’t like sex, she just went along for the ride and to satisfy my sex life because I had a constant erection. She told me that she never had a climax. Felt sorry for her but I tried and tried to satisfy her. My erection with Fran reminded me of my High School days when I would go from class to class with June with my books in front of me so no one would see the erection. I had lost my virginity in Miami, with who, I don’t know. 

In Lake City I bought this old Chevrolet and we started out. Up to Boston first to see her mother who was very sick. After 2 days in Boston we got down to Highway 66 and headed west to San Diego. Now had 6 days to get there. Stopped in Chicago to see my Sis and Aunt Mabel and Uncle Bill. We made love on Hwy 66 all the way across the United States but Hwy 66 is another story.

Jacque, my beautiful talented daughter was conceived on Hwy 66 – probably around Kansas City: birthday is Oct 6, 1944.

So we arrived in San Diego with a day to spare. Checked in at the Naval Air Station and got move order. You wouldn’t believe it, back on Hwy 66 to Elk City, Oklahoma. We found an apartment in a house in the middle of town (nice people).

I then checked in at the station, Commander Murray Weot was the Skipper and C. Golden the Executive Officer. I never saw either on of them in a plane. But I guess they did fly so they could get their minimum 4 hours monthly for flight pay. 

But I checked all the pilots out in the PV1. I had one accident. We had landed and pulled along side another plane, and I was in the Rt hand seat as the instructor. I was bending over to adjust my rudder pedals when he released the brakes and we plowed into the other plane sitting along side. Murray didn’t say much except “Flip” (my nickname) you should know better. 

But she was born on Hwy 66 in Elk City. I kid her she was born 9 months 15 minutes after I said “I do”, but it was actually 9 months and 6 days. 

Elk City High School did not have a football team – no coach. So I proceeded to be their coach. We were a ragged looking bunch, with our helmets, pants and shirts. No one matched the other, but I think we had 5 games and won one. But had four kids give me a bracelet at the end with 5C number on it. 

In Elk City, we found out why the Navy was training a bunch of pilots out in the middle of nowhere. I went to Philadelphia to pick up the plane they had redone. They put 8 gas tanks in it to adjust the load and left the belly of the plane open so the torpedo would fit. The gas tanks were the thing because you had to go from one tank to another to balance the load. But I was the smartass one – who knew what to do what and when I even got all the pilots together and made a speech telling them how this thing worked. 

Anyway, flying back from Philly and doing all the proper. I told my co-pilot that we were sure using a lot of gas and we leaned the gas control out as much as possible. I told Kirkwood, well we’ll make it, but it will be close. We landed that plan in Elk City, ended up at the end of the runway and I leaned back in my chair and breathed deeply. Out of gas. They came out to get me and towed me in. The mechanics went over the plane and came to me and said “why didn’t you use the gas in B-tank”? Embarrased, wow, still had one tank left. Lt Ken Kirkwood, to this day says I tried to kill him. 

What the hush-hush program was. We were to use the torpedo in the belly to get Japanese ships. 

Radar had just been invented and we flew close to the water, dropped the torpedo, put the radar on the Jap boat and homed the torpedo in. It never worked. Sot the PV1 were finally used for patrolling and searching.

We, the squadron, was moved to Mofit Field just south of San Francisco. I brought Fran and Jacque the baby with me and we got this apartment in La Jolla and stayed there, doing nothing but figuring out which one of us was going to fly under the Golden Gate – guess who…

Was at Mofit Field about 3 months and got order to put all squadron planes aboard aircraft carrier and ready to shove off in the morning. We did. 

And we all went out and got stumbling drunk that night and I was sound as legs (drunk) sitting on the right had side in the accident and I went through the window. Woke up in the Oaknoll Naval Hospital, in Oakland, CA.

This operation started in the middle of nowhere on highway 66 in the middle of Oklahoma. The Navy chose this airfield because it was in the middle of nowhere and no one ever heard of it. Because we were trying something new and we were the guini pigs. Actually what it was, was a flying torpedo guided by radar. 

The plane would spot a Japanese ship, turn the plane towards it, drop the torpedo and guide it toward the ship with radar. It never worked. 

We used Lockheed Venturas PV1s because it had two 2,000 HP enginees to allow for the torpedo. Actually instead of two tanks, it had 8 smaller ones. 

Well I got sick one week and stayed home so with time on my hands, I made a miniature mock-up of the gas tank arrangements. How to run them almost dry and then switch to another tank. Well, with my miniatures I was the pro and gave a lecture on just how to do this. 

The planes were in Philadelphia to get the gas tanks changed. So I went to Philly and picked up a plane and brought it back to Elk City, Oklahoma. This is the flight that my Co-Pilot Ken Kirkwood says I almost killed him. 

Well, we were approaching Elk City when I told Kirk that we were using a lot of gas that he had better lean her out and I tilted the nose a hair. We landed and ran out of gas at the end of the runway and I sat back and breathed deeply. They towed her in and then discovered that I had one tank left. I was sure kidded about that; the old pro didn’t know what he was doing. 

When we were in Elk City, the Skipper Murry West called the squadron together and LtJg Clifford Philip front and center. Now what. Well he presented me with the Navy Marine Corp Medal for Bravery and I didn’t know why. He read the report and then I remembered. 

The war was on and I went to Witchita, KN to pick up a twin engine SNB. I was checked out on twin engines at the factory. The biggest plane I flew before that was the SNJ in Squadron 3 in Pensacola. Instructor for Instruments with the hood I could pop open when the student made a mistake. Well, I flew that SNB to Miami and started the easiest job I ever had. I would fly Navigation students, who would tell me how to get to a designated point and most of the time they were wrong and all I had to do was to make sure I was back in Miami in 4 hours because that is all the fuel I had. And then I would go to the Officer’s club and sit in the nice warm sunshine drinking bloody mary’s. What a great duty that was. So one day while sitting there and watching the planes take off, I said “that plane wasn’t going to make it and I started to run and went over the fence about the time the plane hit it. The plane went upside down and I reached in and dragged the pilot out. He was unconscious. The plane then caught fire and the pilot and I were away from it and I went back to the Officer’s Club and my bloody mary and watched the fire trucks come and do the clean up. 

Then I forgot all about it until the Skipper called me “front and center” and gave me the medal. 

I stayed in Miami about 6 mohths and had to go back to work so to speak. I was sent to Lake City, Fla where I checked out the PV-1 and taught all the rest of the pilots how to fly it. On New Year’s eve party I met this beautiful girl Frances Vautrot and married her. I had orders to go to San Diego, CA and had two weeks to get there. I then bought a used 1937 Chevrolet and wee drove to Boston to see her mother who was very sick and died shortly after that. Then we got back on Hwy 66 on the way to San Diego. Stopped on the way in Chicago to see my Sis and everyone else. Then back on Hwy 66 to San Diego. We made love all the way there. Jacque was born 9 months and 6 days after I said “I do”. I always kid her and say 9 months and 15 minutes. 

Made it to San Diego and checked in at the Naval Air Station. Got new orders and back to Hwy 66 all the way back to Elk City, Oklahoma where I did the PV-1 thing. 

In Elk City we stayed in the home of a nice old couple (forgot their name) and enjoyed our new marriage. The Elk City High School didn’t have a football team so I coached them. Out of 5 games scheduled we lost 4 and we were ragged looking with no uniforms that looked alike, but we had fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. 

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin (story about the train ride). I played football and ws on the Track Team. During my sophomore year we went out to California and played UCLA. UCLA had a black man playing Halfback and he was good. I tackled him.

While in Miami with that soft duty, we played a lot of volley-ball and I had a doctor friend of mine, who noticed while we were showering after a game, that I was not circumcised. He said that they had a new system for circumcising now and he would like to do me, so I agreed. What it was was no stitches but they would cut and then seal it for 8 minutes. Well, after 8 minutes the Doc said see h ow it works and he took my penis and pulled it up and down and broke the seal. Then he had to stitch it and then I had a hard time. I would get an erection and break the stitches. I had a hard time for awhile but it finally worked and I was circumcised. 

After I sold the laundry in St Thomas, I bought a bar in Frenchtown. In St. Thomas one experience I had while in the bar was that I had never used marijuana and one New Year’s Eve none of my bartenders wanted to work so I did it myself. And about 10 o’clock I got hungry and in the refrigerator was all these nice brown cookies and I ate half of them. Passed out and woke up in the hospital. With my bartender standing there, she said “you ate all my marijuana cookies”. Never again!

XV

I earned about $40 a month washing those windows on the University propery. Big huge windows. I put out the scaffold and all and took about an hour to wash one window. So I talked to the head of housekeeping and said “would you give me $2.60 for every window I wash?” He said “yes” so I eliminated the scaffolding and walked around the 1 ½ foot ledge; much faster. So I worked about 10 hours for my $40. 

University entry was on a hill and became Hall was the main building. In the winter time it was tough just to get up that hill. 

The football team had a small field to play big ten games in and Basketball Team had none. This was Randal field and in 1940 they enlarged the stadium with more seats and put the huge building for the Basketball Team at one end. 

It was good they did because in 1940 Wisconsin was National Champs. We had big crowds. 

We became champs only because …. Came along and change the face of Basketball. Games used to be 25 or 30 points but he would make 40 – 50 all by himself only because he shot overhand, like they do today instead of 2 handed underhand which everyone did. Just to watch him play was amazing. 

In 1939 we went out to California and played UCLA. This was my toughest game because I tackled their Halfback and ruined my knee. Guys name was Jackie Robinson. Pretty good football player, but more famous for Baseball. 

I was in the upper bunk on the train coming back from California to Madison, Wisc. Horrible Trip.

When we got home I checked in at the hospital with water on the knee. That was an awful ride home. 

My girlf friend, Jean Frantz from Finimore, Wisc, spent a lot of time with me in the hospital. She was a virgin when we met and a virgin when we left each other after graduation. 

The squadron left the next morning to go to the Philippines for their patrol duty. And I was finished. Fran and the baby came back to me in La Jolla, Ca. They had already left to go back east to my sisters house while I was overseas. 

I sat on my ass for about 4 months with Fran and baby Jacque doing nothing, waiting for my fact to heal. I was actually attached to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA. Then started to fly a little. Flew DC-3 over to Denver with the mail. And then the war ended and I immediately resigned and drove to Kansas City, Mo and Joined TWA. Kirkwood stayed in the service and became an Admiral

TWA was Transcendental and Western Air and then bought some Continentals and became Trans World Airlines. There must have been at least 100 ex-service pilots that joined TWA and I got tired and bored waiting my turn to be a co-pilot again. So I resigned and never flew an airplane since. 

You must remember that all this was during the great depression until FDR came along with his WDA etc, etc. No one had any money. We were in Kansas City, Mo at the time and Flip was born C. D. P. Jr. Named him “Flip” because that was my nickname; Skipper used to say Philip so fast and it sounded like Flip.

The trooper during all this was Fran. She sure put up with a lot. We rented a small shack in the back of this house. No toilet, no stove, etc and made it livable. Toilet was a hole in the ground with a 55 gallon drum with holes in it. Worked pretty good. I can still see Fran washing diapers by hand in the toilet. I added one small addition on one side of the shack. Big enough to put a baby’s crib. I was still with TWA so had a lot of time. We found a rat in the crib once. 

The owner of the house and the shack was plant production manager, for Bill Glover, Inc. (forgot name, let’s call him Frank)

Frank and I became pretty friendly and he wanted me to come to work for him in my spare time. I was still with TWA. Bill Glover, Inc was dry cleaning machinery mfg for spotting boards, finishing boards and pant stretchers. 

He was noted for his pant stretchers, more than anything else. So he put me in charge of putting them together. I got pretty good at doing it. Could stretch about 75 an hour. Dry cleaners used to wash all pants at that time and they would stretch so had to stretch them back. Sold quite a few and when a customer had trouble, I would go out in the field and fix. So that’s when I started my traveling. I traveled all the states going to conventions and fair grounds demonstrating the pant stretcher. During those trips I learned how to drink. Booze that is and I did my share of it. 

Then Bill Glover Inc sold to one of their distributors John P. Lynch & Co out of Las Angeles. Owned by the Beringer Family. Art Beringer taught me how to drink wine. In fact one Christmas he sent me 32 cases for customer presents. A B Tanner was the manager and he did nothing but sit. They sent me to Pacoima, CA to get business out of San Fernando Valley. Did real good. Build a 3 bedroom house and had a nice time with Fran and the kids. We were a good family. John P. Lynch was a distributor and we also sold lots of soap and alkali. One soap in particular was Dri-Suds and I had every laundry in my territory using Dri-Suds. 

And then J. P. Lynch sold to Cowles Chemical Co, mfg of Alkali – Dry Met in particular which Dri-Suds was made of. 

Cowles Chemical had a Sales manatger name Ray Johnson, the biggest con-artist you will ever see, smooth talker, sell anything. He talked me into moving to Phoenix, Az where I build another home, not unlike the one in Pacoima. I had bet Ray that I would have every laundry in Arizona and Nevada on Dri-Suds within 6 months. I didn’t quite make it, but sold a bunch. At that time Las Vegas had 2 cross roads, and one hotel. I could have bought property there for $25 an acre: hind site.

Old hwy 66 was my territory again, Flagstaff, etc. By this time I should have bought Hwy 66 as I could drive it blindfolded. 

Jacque went to grade school In Phoenix. Cowles Chemical wanted to expand so they sent me to Washington, DC where I bought an old 2 story house for $16,000 and practically rebuilt it from top to bottom. Anyway, we did well and I sold a lot of goods and then Cowles sold to Stauffer Chemical Co and I was made General Sales Manager for East Coast. But had to move to New Your, then located in Ramsey, N.J. on Hy 17 right outside the city.

Jacque and Flip both went to High School in Ramsey and they enjoyed it. I built another house. Had the Ramsey Gold and Country Club up the hill and I played a whole bunch of golf. In fact too much I and take care of my family. 

Flip and I used to go to New Your City and watch the Yankees play. Mickey Mantle was my hero and I still say if it wasn’t for booze, he would have been the best player of all times. 

So I think because of traveling, golf, etc, Fran and I separated. But we had a good life together and raised 2 very nice kids. I guess Fran did most of the raising. She was with Flip when she died. 

Stauffer then moved into a new building in Shaker Square. Bob Huntly, Pres, had his office “Big” in one corner Bill Clossey, VP and Treasurer the other corner. Ray Johnson, General Manager of Laundry and Dry Cleaning Dept had a smaller office in one corner and I had my office next to Ray Johnson as Sales Manager and Bill Scheihler had one corner. He was over Ray I think. One day I decided to down to Puerto Rick and see if there was enough business there to put a salesman. Went over to St Thomas. Fell in love with it and went back to Cleveland and resigned. 

I put in 15 years with Stauffer and took early retirement. $200 a month I get from Stauffer retirement fund. I sort of miss that big 4 door black Buick I used to drive when I was in Cleveland. 

I met this girl in Puerto Rico, Ruth. And she wanted to go to St. Thomas to live and so did I. So we got married and went to St. Thomas. After about 3 or 4 months she couldn’t stand it and left. I stayed. 

I became General Manager and owner of the Island Laundry in the Sub Base in St. Thomas.  Also I had 9 Laundromats centered around the island. They got to be a pain trying to maintain and collect the money so I had an all-around man working at the laundry. So I put him in charge of the Laundromats. He collected the money, one for the boss and one for me kind of deal he had. They became hard to maintain so I closed them all

I didn’t play a lot of golf at the time. St. Thomas didn’t have a golf course and I had to travel to St. Croix or Puerto Rico to play. I traveled on the Sea Plane. They finally build a course on the north side of St. Thomas called Mahogany Run, nice course and I played it often. 

Now I had a friend who came to me and asked me if he could stay in my house that I had just built. Couple of days he had a girlfriend coming in and she was bringing a friend. I said okay. 

So we met them at the airport and as they walked toward us, I said which one? He said the one on the right is mine. I said “great”, the one on the left was blond, big boobs and beautiful. 

She slept with me that night and I met my second con-artist. She became my wife, 20 years younger. Finally she owned the laundry and the house. But she was good in bed. 

She was from Connecticut and she traveled back and forth to take care of the laundry. 

McCoy Webster, the kid I had picking up coins was her right hand and the last time I saw the place, McCoy owned it. So I guess there is a whole story there. He not only owns the laundry, but all the property around it. 

Anyway I was free of everything. I heard the U. S. Army needed a man in Germany to run all the Army Laundries. Natural for me so I went to Frankfort and spent a year. I resigned because I couldn’t stand Germany. 

While in Germany, I did have a girlfriend. Blond girl worked for me as manager of one of the small outlying laundries. 

So back to St. Thomas which I guess is my home at this time and golf. I didn’t play for one year in Germany. Mahogany Run had just finished back nine and it was a good difficult course to play. 

I bought the oldest bar in French Town and I didn’t pay much attention to it as I played too much golf. 

Story about one New Year Eve. None of my bartenders wanted to work so I tended bar. About 10 o’clock I got hungry. The refrigerator had some coolies in it and I stuffed myself. Passed out ended up in the hospital with my bar maid standing there. She said “you ate all of my marijuana cookies. You ruined my party.”

Con Artist number 1 was staying with me. He even came down to St. Thomas and stayed. It seemed he followed me around always to get free lodging, but I liked him. 

My sister had a daughter “Helen”. She owned property in Fort Meyers, Fla. It had 2 trailers and 2 small houses on it. So I went there to square that place away; it was a mess. Both trailers unoccupied and I never saw so many cockroaches. They attached me when I opened the door so I stayed there in a little apt I build on the main house with my own money. 

She bought another trailer and attached it to the one she had there. I have never seen it but she says it looks good and is comfortable. 

By this time my legs were getting bad; no blood flow. The story ends with Jacque married to a nice guy Gene. He has a home in Greenfield, Texas. 

I’m in a Greenfield nursing home with both legs amputated. But I have no regrets. I had a great life and I enjoyed every complicate bit of it. I am 86 years old now and still healthy but an amputee. 

While playing Fort Meyers Gold Course, I played the private course Misty Creek and met this girl Barbara. Older but a good golfer. In fact, whe was Florida State Seniors Champion. The course I wanted to belong to, so I married Barbara. Nice lady, but what a terrible thing to say and do. Marry a lady only because you wanted to belong to her golf course. Our first night together, we got to bed and I rolled over to touch her privates and she said “do we have to?” I said to myself we got problems. It didn’t last long. 

Dea Murray, what a great friend. She was always there for you if you needed her. Very smart, great artist, she painted every bird of the Virgin Islands. We spend a lot of time together. She owned and operated a place on Main Street, St. Thomas called the Kitchen. Yes, we did make love and often and we both enjoyed it.

The American Legion in Fort Meyers was very important to me. The building was about 1 ½ blocks from my apartment so it was easy to get there. In fact, I spent so much time and did all the work that they made me “Legionnaire of the Year”. Jacque and the kids lived close by, about 3 blocks away. On Sunday morning soametimes I would cook breakfast at the Legion and they would wait on the tables, their first job was there. Breakfast was $3.00 and they usually got $4.00. With the $1.00 tip, that thrilled them to earn their own money like that. 

Once I remember distinctly we got lost. I wasn’t but the navigation students were. We ended up in Havana. I told them I had to refuel. So we landed, no runway at the airport. Just a grass field. Well, I went to town and bought 10 cases of Rum. I got them in the nose of the plane and we calculated that we were a little over weight.

I put the blittle SNB up to the fence as close as I could, turned the nose into the wind and pushed the throttles as far forward as possible with the brakes on. I released the brakes and away we went. I didn’t have too much to spare, believe me. But I got the rum back to Miami. 

I was in Palestine, Texas when the VFW came to me and found out my background. What they wanted to do was to throw me a big party and present me with a present. Well, they did and there were about 200 people at the party and they presented me with a brand new scooter. I really use that scooter.

I’m ashamed of myself for not t…….. When I became Lt. Commander in the US Navy, I sort of ignored my Aunt Mabel, Uncle Bill and Billy. They all died and I didn’t even know it. I think that terrible. Because they were so good to me, making me a part of their family. 

My senior year at Wisconsin I joined the Track Team. Not because I was good but because I was lazy. I didn’t want to go to Spring training for football. I high jumped and broad jumped. I wasn’t bad but not good. I sat on my skinny ass on the grass most of the time, watching Westly Mahl and Chuck Fenske try to break the 2 mile and one mile records; they were good.

I don’t drink anymore. I don’t know why I quite. Just don’t like the taste of Scotch anymore. I still smoke. My sister is very proud of me for quitting. She is on oxygen now but going strong. God bless her. She never drank or smoked. 

Con artist number 3 is Ernie Foelsch the father of my grandchildren. He owes me $15,000 cash and I wouldn’t even say hello to him if I met him on the street. 

When I lived in Washington traveling and selling, I had a customer in Baltimore, The Baltimore Overall Co. The manager was named Hugh Loftus and the purchasing agen was Bob Gessler. Well, when I called on them, Bob would hand me the order for the truckload of Drymet. Hugh would get out of his chair, didn’t say a word and we went to lunch. Lunch was about 10 martinis. I would leave lunch and get back on the road to Washington, drunk, wow. I don’t know how I made it without getting arrested. Many times I would pull over and sleep. But I sold a lot of Drymet and was the top salesman. 

I have this picture of Lana Turner and myself which I would tell people that I used to date her. But I didn’t. She was a young Starlet and we were at a banquet in California. Just a picture, but I enjoy it. 

In St. Thomas, I had in those 20 years 2 girlfriends. (One at a time). Both of them lived with me. I won’t mention their names, so if they read this, they won’t be embarrassed. About 5 years apiece they lived with me. We had fun. I talked both of them into going back to the states to find a husband and have kids. I hear they both did. I remember on morning I left the apartment at 6 o’clock to open the laundry and I was just getting into my car when she let out a healty fart and I said “your cough sounds better this year”. She said, “I’m going to kill you”. I laughed all the way to the plant. 

When in the navy, I played a lot of softball. I could hit the ball a ton. So we got together an All-Star team and scheduled a game with the Women All-Star State Champs. Well, I was embarrassed, up 3 times and actually didn’t get the bat off my shoulder – struck out 3 times. 

Well, here comes Hurricane Rita with 175 miles per hour winds – Category 5 hitting Galvaston and Houston. A big one.

The two most (can’t think of a word for it, so I’ll try) excitingly proud moments were #1)running onto the field out of the dressing room in front of 25,000 cheering fans and #2) when I graduated from flight school and Capt Reed pined my Wings on me.