Biography of Dewey Faulkner

Chapter 1

First Memories

In this remembering Dewey Faulkner, my beloved father, I try to think of my first memories. Some I think I may remember and others were told to me so I think I remember. On one occasion we were at Brimfield at Grandma and Grandpa (Delia and Cyrus) Faulkner‚Äôs house. I had thrown something down - I feel it was probably I had been throwing it down, people picking it up, and throwing it down again as babies do. I was very very young. I think I recall I was under a year. Daddy insisted that I pick it up - whatever it was that I had thrown down. Convinced, I am sure, that I was not to be spoiled and I had to stop this willful throwing things. At any rate I did not pick it up and it got to be a contest of wills. This story has faded now, but Grandma tried to pick it up for me . Tried to put it in my hand. They tried to talk him out of it but apparently he was adamant. Finally I picked it up and when they remonstrated against what he had done he said, ‚ÄúWell, she picked it up, didn‚Äôt she?‚Äù

This is an example, I think, of one of two basic traits that are evident throughout this account of Dewey's life. He was one wh worked hard to achieve success at whatever he put his hand to. Now he was embarked on fatherhood and like everything he did, he wanted to do it right.

Chapter 2

First Years

AGE 1-12

Dewey was born on March 21, 1899. He was seventh in a total family of 12 children. All preceding children had been girls. Later there were two brothers, Wilbur (Bud) and Robert (Bob) quite a bit younger than he. They were a family that always struggled - never had much.

They lived ‚Äúout on the prairie,‚Äù he used to say. This was some place beyond the city limits of Ft Wayne, I believe, probably west of the town on the Bass Estate where his father farmed for a few years. I remember him talking about going to school in the cold and they would stick newspapers inside their coats to help block the cold and keep them warmer. It was during this time period when he was twelve years old tat he wrote a letter to the newspaper. It was December and the News-Sentinel had a page of letters to Santa that children sent in. Here is what he wrote:

TWIN GIRLS: ‚ÄúWe are little twin girls 7 years Old. We cant write very good so we will have our brother 12 years old to write for us. We would like two dolls a dollar a piece two go-carts and plad ribbons. We hope this isnt to much. By By a Kiss From Your little Friends Delia and Celia. Faulkner please bring all our toys just alike. My little brother said he would like a hobbie horse he is two years old.

I would like to have a pair of kid gloves. get them for me I am 12 yrs old. We live out in the Country and please leave these at Leonard and Gillers Grocery at the Corner of Broadway and Taylor st. put on the package Dewey Faulkner and i will get them when I am to town please dont forget us Santa. O yes Santa we would like some Candy nuts and oranges two. By By DELIA, CELIA, WILBUR AND DEWEY FAULKNER P.S. please dont forget the big dolls. Delia and Celia.‚Äù Fort Wayne news, Dec 15, 1912.

Put about cyrus and delis here.

Chapter 3

Family

He used to say that if any one ever were to go to heaven, it would be his mother. She worked so hard and did so much for her family. When LaVerne and I visited them when we were children, she was always working, working. We wanted her to stop and play with us.

In later years they lived in Rome City.‚ÄùThe Sanitarium‚Äù (Kneipps Sanitarium) was a familiar place to him as a child and then during his working years he delivered meat there. In later years he would speak of it, recalling it, longingly as a place of peace

At times he indicated maybe he and Hazel would go there when they got old and helpless.

In speaking of Rome City there was a boy who was a close friend of his that he used to refer to. I have forgotten his name now. I suppose it was about this time that he took money from his mother‚Äùs purse. I know about this because in his very last years, he yearned to make things right. Talked about making confession because, I am sure, his Catholic upbringing came up and he wanted to atone for his ‚Äúsins.‚Äù And this was much on his mind.

He dropped out of school after a few years to work with his dad. There was some injury I believe - his father broke his leg or arm. He worked hard all of his life. At age 16 or so he went to live with a family to be their hired hand. They were the Bidlacks, Willis and Blanche and he respected and admired them. I think they were good to him. In some ways I believe they contributed to his growing up to be responsible and to try to get ahead and work hard. Or perhaps he was there because he wanted to get ahead and work hard. that. The others in the family generally did not all turn out as well. I think how much the Bidlacks meant to him is shown by the fact they named their youngest daughter after Mrs Bidlack. They named her Blanche LaVerne.,

Chapter 4

Early Adulthood and Marriage

When I was researching my family data, I found Dewey's World War I registration on Ancestry. com.

World War I Draft Registration for Dewey Elmer Faulkner Sept 12, 1918

Address: RFD Albion, Noble Indiana Occup RR laborer Napannee, Indiana

Mother: Delia Faulkner RFD Albion Noble Indiana

Description: Medium height; Medium build, Eyes blue, Hair, brown

‚ÄúCrooked arm caused by being broken‚Äù

Local Board for County of Noble; State of Indiana, Kendallville, Indiana

So much is hidden of his early years. At some point he left Rome City and the next records we have is his listings in the Ft. Wayne City Directory. In 1920 it notes that he was a laborer at Eckhart‚Äôs (Meat Packing Co.) and he was boarding at 1333 Sinclair St. About this time he met H√¢zel Dell Gillam at Triers Park. Triers Amusement Park was a big attraction in Fort Wayne, having all kinds of amusement rides, a roller coaster, fun house and a very popular dance hall. When I was a teenager it was still a popular place to visit.

He and a friend took Hazel and a friend home from the dance hall. I think their courtship was very short. On January 22, 1921 they were married in Hillsdate, Michigan. They boarded a train from Ft Wayne in the morning and returned the same day. They were married at the City Hall. A week later Hazel's father, Eston Gillam and his betrothed, Evelyn Center, took the same trip and were married. Hazel and Dewey accompanied them according to pictures that still exist.

picture

Continuing with the Ft Wayne City Directory, the notation for the next year, 1921 and in 1922 again states he was a laborer at Eckhart‚Äôs. He probably worked on the loading docks. In 1921 he lived at 3429 Beaver Ave and in 1922 in a house on Greenwood Ave. This was the short street that ran from West Main Street through to Triers Park. 1923 finds him listed as a butcher, still living on Greenwood with Hazel, of course.

retyped from edited mss to here. Thu, Mar 8, 2007

There were hard times for him in 1923. He was out of a job and had to try different jobs to make a living: truck driving, helper at Slick Laundry, helper at the Nickel Plate railroad for 1923 to 1926. They had bought a house on Link St in 1923 before I was born but because of the money problems, they rented it out and stayed in primitive conditions in a house out in the country. It had no running water, an outhouse. It was difficult for them, especially Mommy with a new baby and no conveniences.

By 1925 they are back in their house and in 1927 he began his long career as ‚Äútruck driver,‚Äù ‚Äúchauffeur,‚Äù and ‚Äúsalesman‚Äùat the Fred Eckart Packing Co. He is listed until 1946 in tis same job although Eckarts was bought out and changed to Kuhners, later to Marhoefers.

Chapter 5

Chapter Title Here

Chapter 6

Life with Wife and Daughters

In his work he traveled to the small towns near Ft Wayne. A different route each day. Kendalville, Churubusco, Avilla, Wolf Lake. Many of the names elude me now. Sometimes, during summer vacations from school, we would ride with him all day and it would be fun. We would go in the store with him, LaVerne and me, and the store owners would give us sweets and Daddy was so proud and they would treat us well. Sometimes our family would be out for a trip, going to or from the lake, or such and Daddy would stop at one of his customers to handle some concern with them. That was so boring. We would sit forever with nothing to do and just wait and watch for him to come.

His job was a priority with him, another aspect of his lifetime dedicatin o success and achievement.

He left early in the morning after a big breakfast always the same: eggs, bacon and toast. That was his breakfast most of his life. Perhaps until he lived alone with Charity as his caretaker. Serenity. Cherie. He would arrive home late . It would be seven or later when Hazel would serve him his supper. Then he read the newspaper before heading to bed and starting all over again the next. In the early days he worked six days, then five and a half and finally five days only.

On his days off and when he was on vacation, he loved to spend time with his family.and on vacations. We played croquet sometimes and he loved to swim. We often rented a cottage at the lake and finally after my graduation they bought a cottage at Tri Lakes. We would swim together. He sometimes took the rowboat out and turned it over and we would play on it. Try to crawl up on it and it would tip and flip away from us but sometimes we could carefully get on top and balanced, ride on it. It was great fun. When we were younger and lighter he would put us on his back and swim out in the deep with us, one at a time.. He had broken his arm as a child and it had never been set so it was crooked. He could not hold it straight out and so it was sometimes make his arm movements a little awkward. but it was fun riding on his back while he swam. Mommy would fish too, off the end of the pier if they did not go out in a boat. She could not swim so there was always that little underlying fear for her. I heard Daddy say once that if anything happened he believed he could save us girls but probably not Mommy.

He loved boats and bought a big powerful speed boat called Suds III and he kept it at Kuhners as he worked on it. So often on Sundays he would go over thre to work on it. . He loved baseball games on the radio. Sometimes we would plan to go someplace: for a ride quite often. Just taking an automobile ride was a recreation for people in those days. Or go to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Brimfield. That was about 35 miles away and would take, I am sure, at least an hour or maybe hour and a half. Sometimes we went down town and there was an ice cream place where we got huge ice cream cones. I always got banana. But, the hard part was that we would be waiting around to go on the ride or visit. Our neighborhood friends would mostly be occupied with their Sunday activities so we had nothing to do. And Daddy would be listening to the ball game. I can remember the distaste I had for those droning voices of the baseball announcers. I was waiting impatiently for the game to be over and it took so long, it seemed to me. Mommie was always patient with him at these times. She always championed him, protected him. Put him first above anyone else in the family. If he wanted to listen to the baseball game, well then he should and the rest of us could wait until he was ready. The biggest piece of pie, the first in all things, that was her attitude to his place in the family.

He loved to fish and he and Mommy would take vacations where they could fish. They would rent a rowboat and spend loing hours on the lake. LaVerne and I would be left to amuse ourselves along the shore. They would rent a primitive little cabin which typically had a screened in porch and a room, usually one room , with beds and couches to make into beds and kitchen and bath all in the one room. Often the lakes were not swimming lakes and it was not great to wait.

They played golf quite often, both as a couple and with their friends.. Mabel and Julian Hines, Dick and Pauline Best, Elmer Strasser and Stella. So they would play with others or by themselves and again we would be left alone to find something to do. So incredibly boring. It was expected that we would wait for them and not complain. Children were not catered to then as they later came to be. Sometimes we walked with them around the golf course. We wanted to carry their bags but mostly theWith would not let us. They felt people would think they brought us to caddy for them and they did not want anyone to think that.

to here Mon, Mar 12, 2007 but a couple passages to be inserted above or somewhere in edited copy.

This same four couples met regularly at each others house on a Saturday night They would play cards, have highballs and then the hostess would serve food late at night . Mommy often had cake and jello with whipped cream. They played what? Canasta. I don‚Äôt think so. I don‚Äôtknow what. Canasta came later. Oh no, it was pinochle. They always played pinochle and sometimes as a family we would play but I don‚Äôt think we enjoyed it very much. Daddy loved to win and did not take setbacks graciously. He had quite a temper. Always had quite a temper. I remember him being angry once that a pen would not write and he threw it across the room accomanying that with strong cusswords. He was pretty loud and vociferous when he was angry. Never bamboozled Mommy though. She took it calmly.

These four took overnight trips together and shared many social activities. Strassers and our family went to Blue Lake for a week once or twice.

Sometimes he would go with the men frionm the Packing Co up to Michigan or someplace to fish. DeYoung, Ralph Miller, Elmer, other s I don‚Äôt recall. Maybe Julian. Bill Sorg and Sylvester Strasser. Elmers sister and her husband were sometimes involved in their activities. The name will come to me. Sylvester and Claire?….

What else did he like to do?

He loved his newspaper and read it every night. He was a rather slow reader but he read it all. I suppose we listened to the radio as a family. Maybe not. Maybe only Mommy and us as he was‚Äù hard of hearing.‚Äù He had that handicap throughout his years. Don‚Äôt remember it much when we were younger but got worse over the years. He talked very loud on the telephone. Mommy sometimes tried to get him a book or magazine or other reading material but he never really did that.

He loved yard work too. Kept the yard beautiful and didn‚Äôt liek many shrubs or trees so it would be easy to mow. There was a garden behind thge garage to the back alley which they cultivated and raised vegetables. He and Mommy did it together. mHe would spade up the ground, and then she would plant the seeds.

He loved nice cars and always managed to have a pretty new model. I was prioud of our cars. He organized his garage and in later life his utility room with meticulous care: a place for every tool, every box of nails, every washer,, all the screws and bolts aeverything so he could find it and so the place was very neat and tidy. He kept his old license plates and nailed them up on the garage wall. The garage was his domain and he did what he wanted with his stuff out there. He could move the car out and work there.

He and my mother had a very good relationship. They loved each other very much. When he got older, he would say they never had a cross word to each other but I think most of us realized he exaggerated! He had a temper and sometimes spoke in anger. The truth was that he often spoke in anger. Mommy was even tempered, as she describes herself ibn her autobiography and eased him our of his times of rage. He was a poor loser at cards and was known to blow up from time to time - sometimes throwing his cards hard down on the table with loud expressions of disgust.

Chapter 7

Later Years

About the time LaVerne and I were going to college (St Francis), Daddy went to Milford to live to run a grocery store there. Mommy stayed in Ft Wayne and was involved in selling the house . I am not really clear on the time frame. She had the awful task of selling it and then getting rid of the furnishings. Packing up, and getting ready to move by herself. She tried to give the piano away I think and approached several people. Finally some one on Runnion took it as I recall. She had to go through all of our toys and belongings we had left behind. It must have been very hard. I remember going back with Mommy and Daddy to visit the old house just before the time of moving out. The piano was still there and I sat down and played it. Mommie cried saying that will be the last time you will play the piano in this house. It was sentimental and sad to her. I didn‚Äôt feel that attached to the house. My life was all ahead. They were both very sentimental. Daddy used to sing sentimental songs: ‚ÄúWhen Your Hair Has Turned to Silver, I Will Love You Just the Same.‚Äù ‚ÄúThat Silver haired Daddy of Mine‚Äù and others I can‚Äôt recall. We had a player piano. Mommie could play but sometimes we would put rolls in, pump the pedals and sing along with the popular songs of that time. Dewey loved to sing. Often sang when driving and while we drove on our vacation trips.

The visits continued over the years. A couple of times Hazel flew down by herself. Most often they drove although Dewey was not yet retired so he didn't have much time. Once in when they were visitng his mother died. He was grieving, especially at the thought that he was in Florida, having a good time; had traveled all over and she never got to go anywhere. I doubt if she minded. He drove to Indiana wihout stopping for the funeral and then returned.

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In _ they looked for a house to buy in the Miami area. Norman, my husband went with them One day when I came home from work they were jubilant. They had found just what they wanted in a new subdivision in th ePerinne area. They bought a house on a small island plot divided into four large plots. Since they wee larger the houses were not a close to each other as the rest of the houses. A good choice and they were very proud of that home and were very ahppy there.

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they came only for a time in the winters at first continuing to live in their home on Tri-Lakes. Their friends Elmer and Stella Strasser also bought a house. It was just a block awy. Dewey took care of both houses. They had a great time going to the races, shopping, on sightseeing trips, playing cards - playing and going and having fun together. Then Elmer died a month or two before retirement and that shocking tragedy stopped all the carefree times they had.

In ----------they moved permanently to the Keys. They did not give up travel. When it began to get hot they would go to the Elkhart area in Indiana and buy a new travel trailer. They traveled in it for the summer and then return home to South Miami Heights in the fall. They would sell it then for more thanthey paid for it. They did this for years. Another example of their shrewdness and business sense.

They visited all the states of the Union, Canada and I suppose Mexico. They often, most years, would visit LaVene and Dick and their grndchildren out west. They lived in Sisters, Oregon, Wenatchee Washington and Cashmere Washington.

In Florida they became part of our extended family group. My husban'd mother, Gladys and neice had moved to Florida from Indiana. His sister and husband Liz and West Williams moved here and bought a house on Key Biscayne. My friend Beth from college, the one I visited Florida with in 1948, also bought, with her husband Gordon Read, a house on Key Biscayne. So we three couples, Caspers, Reads and Williams had many social events and holiday celebrations. The parents and rrelatives and then the children were added to our social life and we had a wonderful time together as a large family. The older generation: Dewey and Hael, Gladys Casper, Carl and Lillian Read, Sylvia Ryberg. We often referred lovingly to the four older ladies as "The Grandmothers." They were all friends and enjoyed each other's company.

Pictures

Dewey and Hazel were beloved in their neighborhood. He was alwys making the rounds, visiting - sharing grapefruit or oranges dfrom his tree or fish he had caught in the Everglades. They had a wide circle of firends with many visitors and social occasions.

As mentioned, he did lawn work and that brought him many friends as well. Their closest friends were the Herrems, Helen and Joe and Helen;s sister and her husband. They played cards, Canasta, every Saturday night.

Joe and Dewey were good friends. They would visit each other every day. The each loved to joke and had special jokes they shared with each other. They did lawn work together and went fishing together in the Everglades. Dewey had a boat he could load on top of his cart by himself. They would drive out the Tamiami Trail twenty miles or so where there were canal systems. He would put his boat in there. The fishing was wonderful. He never failed to catch all http://www. wanted.

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Then time and age dimmed the picture. Mymother got Parkinson's Disease which limited her activities. Then later she developed dementia. She died two days before her 90th birthday. Dewey always kept more active. I remember at age 876 he was cutting up fire wood for me during the short time they lived with me.

They had a young woman who cared for them in their home. After Hazel died Dewey more or less retired from life. He went to be early in the evening and slept for hours. His hearing got worse and he was captive in his body where he could not hear, could not see well and lost all interest in life. He said over and over, "I wish I would die," just as Hazel did in her last years.

He kept his mental alertness to the end. He had a stroke while Hazel was still living which took his speech and affected the muscles on one side of his body but he overcame that. A few years later in 1889 at the age of 90 he had another stroke. He ws in the hospital for a few days and died without regaining consciousness.

I was there when he died. I prayed with him just before he passed on. That was a precious gift to me. Wehad a service at the Funeral Home. I officiated and many neighbors and friends came. It was hard to feel sad for eiher of my parents when they died because their existencewas so difficult, beset with physical problems and few people around that they loved. I visited weekly for the day for many years. I visited when I was still working in Ft Lauderdale at Bauder College.

and then when I was living and working in the Keys. I tried to bring light into their life. They tried hard to be up for me and show their love.

After they wre both gone I had a my own personal private service for each of them. I bought a tall palm tree, first for Hazel. I dug a hole, placed her ashes in it and then planted the tree there. I had a little ceremony I worte for her. It was on her birthday, June 12 probably in 1990. Then the following year on Dewey's birthday , March 21 I did the same thing for him. The trees both thrived and still stand - a tribute to two wonderful persons who gave much to the world and received much in return.

Here is what I wrote in remembrance and in honor of Dewey:

Chapter 1

NOTES

World War I Draft Registration for Dewey Elmer Faulkner Sept 12, 1918

Address: RFD Albion, Noble Indiana Occup RR laborer Napannee, Indiana

Mother: Delia Faulkner RFD Albion Noble Indiana

Description: Medium height; Medium build, Eyes blue, Hair, brown

‚ÄúCrooked arm caused by being broken‚Äù

Local Board for County of Noble; State of Indiana, Kendallville, Indiana

Ft Wayne City Directory records (ACPL 9/2004)

Faulkner, Dewey lab(orer) Eckarts bd 1333 Sinclair (Ft Wayne City Directory 1920)

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) lab Eckharts h. 3420 Bever Ave. (ditto 1921)

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) lab Eckharts h. 315 Greenwood ave (ditto 1922)

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) butcher Eckharts h. 315 Greenwood 1923

Faukner Dewey E (Hazel) trucker h 1223 Elm 1924

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) hlpr Slick Laundry h. 1819 Link 1925

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) hlpr NP(Nickel Plate) h. 1819 Link (1926)

Faukner, Dewey (Hazel) chauf Eckhart Pkg Co 1819 Link 1927

Faulkner, Dewey truck driver (1928)

Faulkner, Dewey slsmn Fred Eckhart 1819 Link St 1929

Faulkner, Dewey slsmn 1930

Faulkner, Dewey meat Pkt 1941

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel) slsman Kuhner 1943

Faulkner, Dewey (Hazel D) meat pkr. r1819 Link 1846

1949 not listed

Faulkner Dewey slsmn Kuhner 1945

Chapter 1

Chapter 1