Friday, April 2, 2010

Sepia Saturday...Contradictions of My Father


This is my Father seated on one of the Catapillers he operated over his 52 year career building roads, fills and working in the quarry for Fremont County, Iowa.

This is my Father with one of the prehistoric artifacts he uncovered working the Fremont County Quarry.  This is a portion of a tusk from a Mammoth Elephant.  In addition he found Sabre Tooth Tiger remains as well as undersea creatures.  Many of his finds were donated to the museum in Lincoln, Nebraska and a few are in the Fremont County Museum in Sidney, Iowa.


This is my Father at around 27 or so.  I remember the suit and tie which he wore at his wedding to my Mother and to funerals.  I think he was a handsome man but his kindness and love are what I remember most.  He worked hard all his life.  He provided as best he could for his family.  I remember most his love of flowers.  He gardened to help feed us and there were always rows of Gladiolias planted with the vegetables.  He created a Glad that was actually black.  It, like him was a contradiction.  I still miss him so very much.


This is my Father toward the end of his working career for Fremont County.  I believe it was hard work that kept him young and healthy.  He lived to be 86 years old.

19 comments:

  1. Your father was a good-looking man, judging by the photo which presents him in suit and tie.
    But of course, his inner qualities mattered to you most - his being a kind and hard-working man who took good care of his family.
    This post is a very touching tribute to your father. May his noble soul rest in Peace!

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  2. Your father was a good-looking man judging by the photo which presents him in suit and tie.
    Of course, his inner qualities mattered to you most - his being a kind, and hard working man who took good care of his family.
    This post of yours is a very touching tribute to your father. May his noble soul rest in peace!

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  3. I tried yesterday to leave a comment ; it was rejected. I don't know what's wrong.

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  4. Your father was a good looking-man, judging by the photo that presents him in black suit and tie. You,of course, valued most his inner qualities, that of a kind, hard working man who spares no effort to take good care of his family.
    This post of yours is a beautiful tribute to your father's memory. The old pictures are lovely.

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  5. The story about the prehistoric artifacts was fascinating. The story about your father was heartwarming.

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  6. Duta-Not sure what happens to my blog from time to time I can't even get into it! Perhaps Google uses it for tests?

    Thank you for your remarks. It was strange how my entire life I considered the loss of my Father (who was 11 years older than my Mother), I worried about what I would do without him. Then on Mother's Day in 1985 (at the age of 62) my Mother dropped dead unexpectedly. One is never prepared for loss. And all these years later I still can't believe she is gone. It was a much more difficult death to accept since I had not prepared for it.

    Barbara-Thank you for your kind remarks, and thanks for visiting my blog.

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  7. A wonderful tribute to a fine looking, hard working man, who contributed to history - how fascinating, the artifacts. And gardening - the very best pasttime, and to develop a black Glad, amazing. I like your title about the contradictions. I can relate to your comment about your mother - I too had the same thing happen, and to this day I still grieve, the shock of loss was tremendous. My dad did not follow her for another 15 years, and then on Mother's day, he passed! Thank you for sharing, this is a great post!
    "Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted." [Matthew 5:4]

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  8. Hi again, I recently joined Sepia Saturday, but signed incorrectly on my last post (I have lots of blogs). Thanks again!

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  9. Lovely photographs and lovely memories - yes he looks a lovely man too. Isn;t it good to have fond, loving memories. So sorry to hear you have RA - I have a friend who has had it for 22 years and still she struggles on. It is such a cruel disease - you have my sympathy. Thanks for your good wishes re my back problems.

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  10. A nice post -- do you still have black glads?

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  11. He is a good looking man and those prehistoric finds must have done much to enliven his day.

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  12. These are great pictures! Your dad was such a good looking guy. That tusk reminds me so much of that huge bone my ggg grandfather Palestine was pictured holding. (I think you mentioned your father, when I posted it.)

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  13. I think your father was very handsome,too and I agree that it was the hard physical work that kept him going. I have that same trait in my ancestors. The photo of the tusk of the mammoth elephant is wonderful as well as hearing about the other artifacts he "unearthed" Very interesting photos and post.

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  14. I think your father was a very handsome man. You can see the kindness and humour in his eyes. The title of this post is so apt, for we human beings are such contradictory, complex creatures.

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  15. He does look very kind...love the twinkle in his eye! And that tusk is amazing! Yes, that tusk reminds me of my ggg grandpa's findings...that Willow already mentioned! Really amazing!

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  16. Very interesting photos. I think it's really neat that he developed a black gladiola. I love really dark tulips and I'm sure I would have loved those glads.

    kat

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  17. I guess I don't remember where the quarry was in Fremont county. I found the whole area so fascinating with the bluffs and valleys. I lived in Sidney for four years and I have a lot of good memories of the area.
    Your pictures of your father are so nice. He was a handsome man.

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  18. What a wonderful post. That third photograph of him seems to underline what you say about "kindness and love". And what looks like a fair degree of humour too. If we do nothing else but record the lives of people such as your father, we are not wasting out time.

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  19. I love the vintage Caterpillar. Of course, work site photos are my favorites!

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