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| Dad with his truck (early 1950s) |
Dad drove truck for about 15 years. Started with Consolidated Freightways, then worked for Hudson House. (Side note- Joe's (my husband) dad also
worked for Consolidated Freightways during the same time period. He was out of Portland, and drove mostly long haul routes). Dad drove to the coast two or three times a week. It wasn't uncommon for him to pile us all in the car on a Sunday morning, take us over his route, and introduce us to people he met while working. We would end up at Shore Acres Park near Coos Bay or Honeyman Park near Florence.
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| Dad, Dale, Susie, Ross, Mom at Honeyman Park - 1954 |
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| Dale, Marianne, Susie, Ross at Honeyman Park - 1960 |
While working as a truck driver Dad also built houses. It is amazing to me that he was able to work a full time job, have a family, and built houses in his spare time. After finishing the first house, he built a duplex. I believe they rented those units. He then built his 2nd house for his family. He took the risk of quitting his job in 1960, and starting his new business as a full time building contractor.
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| One of Dad's houses - built in mid-1960s. Built on Greenley St. in Roseburg. |
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| Grandma Greenley, Dad, Marianne |
My Uncle Everett once told me that my dad had a plan. Like most plans, the final step was to be wealthy. Dad started his plan by buying property. In the 50s and 60s, land was cheap, and he bought land. The downside of owning a lot of land is that until you develop it, it costs more than it returns.
Mom kept the books. I remember her being upset because more money was going out than coming in. With a family to take care of, she needed the security of a regular income, and having money to pay the bills. She was so uncomfortable with not having a regular income, she went to work in 1964.
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| The back side of our house we moved into in 1966. |
In 1966, push came to shove, financially speaking. Bob had bought several lots down the street from our
house. He had built two houses, and was working on a third when he ran out of money. The newest house was the biggest yet, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The only loan he could get was a VA loan - and then only if the new house were his primary residence. So we moved down the street. Mom was upset. She loved her house with the remodeled kitchen and double oven.
By 1968, finances were improving. We had money to spend. My dad bought me a flute so I could participate in band, Lance got a new bike. A new COLOR TV was an exciting purchase. We went out to dinner on Friday nights (granted, it was usually the buffet restaurant (similar to King's Table), but still, a night out. By this time, it was usually just Lance and me at home.
Our Homes
Yes, we lived in three different houses on the same street. Only the first house (we called it the Pink House) faced Bradford. The second house faced Broccoli. (On the corner of Bradford and Broccoli) The third house was on the corner of Bradford and Carroll Ct.
The Jeep
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| Susie drew this picture of the jeep |
Dale, Susie and Ross used The Jeep as their transportation as teenagers. The jeep had personality - and it could be persnickety. According to Dad, Susie had the best skill at coaxing it to behave. She took it to Eugene when she first moved. I remember dad taking Lance and I to the foothills of the Coast Range to do some fun "4-wheeling". The Jeep calls up fond memories to this day.
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| Dale and Susie in front of the jeep |
More corrections. After Consolidated, Dad went to work for Pierce Freight Ways. It was down in the hole between the Parrott House and the current Southgate Shopping Center. Southgate used to be a grocery store, Nielsen's and on Friday mornings Mom would load the three of us up in the car, go down to Pierce to pick up Dad's paycheck then up to Nielsen's for grocery shopping. If more was needed, we'd go uptown and drive around the blocks a few times looking for a parking space to open up. We shopped Penny's, Monkey Wards, Millers and the shoe store. I loved it when we walked by Weber's Bakery with the wonderful aroma and a window full of pastries. No amount of pleading would get mom to buy us a doughnut. On the other side of the street was a popcorn wagon and on rare occasions Mom would buy a 5¢ bag for us to share. Our last stop was always Umpqua Dairy where we had a chicken wire cage with a padlock where we kept meat, venison, Elk, beef and pork from Grandpa Becker and Coho Salmon dad caught in the fall at Singleton park fishing with Howard Crook from his boat. Mom would pick out a weeks worth of meat and then we'd head home.
ReplyDeleteThe Jeep was a 1952 and the engine came from a 1962 Corvette that Don Caskey's son wrecked when it was only a week old. Don and Dan took the engine with a power pack from the 'Vette and put in in the Jeep, plenty of room for it under that big hood. It was a hot rod and left rubber in all three gears. It won Gary Lewis and me a lot of beer at local impromptu drag races. There was nothing "Gracie" about it, it was all full-blown testosterone male.
Marianne misremembers or Dad was being facetious about Susie and the Jeep. Susie struggled to start it and keep it going She was always having trouble with it. I had to go rescue her more than once because she had no idea about how to get it going again. She also wrecked it twice, something I never did. The one I remember most is when dad and I had to go up on Military Avenue and pull her out of the ditch she ran into. I took it to college my sophomore year and had a lot of fun with it and Fraternity brothers while it was there. It purred not like a kitten, but like a lion and never gave me a bit of trouble.
I feel the need to correct the corrections. As usual Dale starts with some facts and wanders off some to fit his needs. The Jeep ending up in the ditch on Military Ave was not a "wreck". The story I remember is that Ross was driving around in the snow. I think his passenger was our cousin Wayne but it might have been a friend (Rolly Hanks?). Whoever it was, he persuaded Ross to pull over to the side of the road so Wayne could get a hand full of snow to eat (without getting out of the jeep) and the soft road shoulder pulled the jeep into the ditch (I have nearly done the same thing in my brand-new pickup, but I was trying to get some blackberries, a much more worthy cause). This caused the Jeep to get stuck in the mud under the snow. You wouldn’t think that was a problem in a four-wheel drive Jeep, but old four-wheel drives didn't have electric locking wheel hubs. To fully engage the four-wheel drive you had to get out of the Jeep and engage the locking hubs by hand on the front wheels. So in this situation you would have to make your way between the roadside bank and the Jeep which would also include mud, snow and possible blackberry or poison oak vines. So that is why Ross attempted to use the Jeep's "full-blown testosterone male" to get out of the ditch. This resulted in blowing a hole in one of the pistons. Not what most of us would call a "wreck."
ReplyDeleteI remember getting my first shop safety lessons (I was little, 6 or 7?) helping Dad fix the Jeep and being tasked with cleaning the top of a piston. I was using a power drill with a rotating wire brush. I was wearing a zippered hoody (unzipped). I have this drill going full blast (the only way old drills work) and my hoody zipper gets caught in the wire brush. The zipper wraps itself around the drill moving its way (with significant force) up the hoody and hitting my chin. Shop safety rule number 1 don't wear loose fitting clothes.
Lance pretty much got it. This is when we discovered that to remove the intake manifold you had to pull the distributor
ReplyDeletewhich was tucked into a cute little notch in the firewall thus trapping the distributor and the intake manifold. Made it a little harder to pull the head but we managed. took the pan off and removed the crankshaft bearing from the piston allowing it to slide out the top. I think dad took the head to a shop for replacing the valve. Or maybe we just got a "new" junk yard head. A new piston and reassemble. All in the back driveway on Carroll ct.