Who Did You Come From?

My ancestors were incredibly camera shy. I do have photos of Mom and Dad circa 1954: SSgt Lucille L. Grooms. Her military career ended not long after, when she became pregnant with my older brother. SSgt Ervin R. Sutton, recently returned from the Korean War. Snuck in the service at age 15 and was promptly shipped off to war. He was only 19 in this photo.

 

Just the tip of the iceberg, amigo.

 

You ever see the movie “one hour photo”?


I guess someone might as well give em a look and ponder over em

 

My great-grandmother and my grandfather’s sisters in western Oklahoma about 1920.

 

I’m not sure, I found out when I was 50yrs old, I was adopted.

 

My sister is the repository of all the family photos. All I have on me is this one of myself and my Great Grandfather taken on my 5th birthday (1976)

 

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Still dealing with it with it 17yrs later. There are just so many questions as to why I was the only one in the family that didn’t know. Oh well, it is what it is & anyone with any information is dead. I’m cool with it.

 

I wish I had pictures of my grandparents in the ‘40s. My grandpa was a mechanic in the Pacific Theater.

 

My father, Laurel, Miss., ca.1927




My mother and great-grandmother, Houston, 1939

 

Come from a family that rolled down the tracks, then down the highway.

Maternal Great-grandfather William standing just under the bell on this Nickel Plate RR steam locomotive. William's father supplied medicine to ships sailing out of Liverpool. His name is still on the building in that port city. Somehow William ended up in Montana where he met Sarah in the 1870s. One of his sons, Jack, my grandfather, spent a career driving buses for Greyhound.



Maternal Grandfather Jack in his early Greyhound uniform.



Paternal grandfather Leon ran away from home. Went through the San Francisco earthquake. Was a gunner on a Navy blimp in WWI stationed in England. Met his future wife, a Brit, because local folks offered up their homes to service men who had no where to stay while stationed in country. Was father to my dad and my uncle though they were 11 years apart. Spent his life working on the railroad. Gambled. Liked baseball. Didn't like kids. You didn't want to cross Leon. This guy.



My dad, Leon (Lee) Jr. was a Marine, news reporter in Denver, then a Mad Man a'la Don Draper. He may have been the original Don Draper. Even started out with a TV commercial featuring a little girl. That TV spot helped get a mayor elected. He started four different ad agencies during his working life. On the honor flight to D.C., he was the only Marine. SSGT, WWII, Iwo Jima, 5th Div. 26th Reg. He's right up front and center, in yellow, a Marine cap on his knee. MU grad, same as Jon Hamm (Don Draper).



Interestingly, the family for generations was really run by the women. But then this isn't Facebook, so I'll wait for the 'Women in Your Life' thread to share their photos.

I've been blessed.

 

Dad in 1957 - Just got his pilot's licence in a PA-18

 

My three most famous relatives:
A 16th century heretic
A 17th century philanderer
An 18th century highwayman