America Lost Another Great Man From ‘The Greatest Generation’

I write this to share the story of one of the greatest men in my life, my grandfather, who passed away at the age of 96 on Sunday, July 16th.

My grandfather, who we called Pepaw, was an amazing man who loved life and people. As a member of 'The Greatest Generation' he lived through the Great Depression, served our great country in World War II in the Army, served the citizens of Dallas as a fireman and retired from the department in 1971 and spent the rest of his time working at different jobs and around his house and enjoying life.

Returning to the small town where he grew up of Blooming Grove in Navarro County, it was his home for the last twenty or so years. He was a man that loved to fish the creeks of Richland Chambers Reservoir near Corsicana for crappie, where it seemed like the fish would just leap out of the lake at his feet! He was quite the baker too, he loved to make mini pecan pies from the pecans that would fall from the trees at his home in the middle of town and then deliver them to area nursing homes as far away as Waxahachie. My Pepaw was a man of great knowledge, he seemed to know how to fix anything and everything! He was constantly tinkering around his house and had several 'projects' happening at the same time!

My grandfather was full of stories that he just loved to share with people that he met while collecting his mail at the 76626 post office! One of my favorite stories was the one saying he never told a lie. As a small kid if he told a lie and his daddy found out, he knows he would get into big trouble, so he never told a lie. One other thing about my Pepaw is that he loved being outdoors, up until three weeks ago, he was in his yard with the weed trimmer and his cane tending to the yard.

He will be greatly missed as with the others from 'The Greatest Generation', these men and women worked through some really tough times, served our country in war and made it possible for me to lead the life that I do today. I learned a lot from this man and will forever cherish the memories I have of him and with him. I hope that if you have a family member from this generation - or better yet, your family - cherish them because we all have a limited time to be with each other.