Uncle Bill
Here's the link to Uncle Bill's obit in the Marshall Democrat-News. He was the last of Dad's siblings, and he was the longest lived of them--95. Who knew he was on the Orearville School Board and served as president of the board of Slater Co-op Association? He also taught Sunday School for a while, which must have been interesting. They didn't include the fact that he used to practice his fiddle while on the toilet. It also looks like he wrote a fiddle tune called "Phyllis Gayle's Breakdown" that was recorded on one of the anthologies he was on. (Phyllis Gayle would be Lil Phyll, his daughter.)
I thought it would be a fitting tribute to one of the great uncles to share some Uncle Bill stories. Here's mine: On our last trip to Missouri (about 2000 I think) we were staying at Aunt Josephine's and Bill came over to see Dad. He, Dad, and I were talking in the dining room and I got up to go to the bathroom. Before I got to my destination I heard Bill say quietly to Dad, "Well, Mac, Mike is no longer a young man." I had never heard that said before.
I'm sure you chilluns have got much better stories than that one. Fishing stories? Stories with Puss in them? Hey, Doll, bring these folks some tea!
By the way, if any of you have a photo Bill, please send it along and I'll post it here. Who's got that great photo of Uncle Bill sitting on a couch with Grandpa Eddy? I think Bill is wearing a hat in it.
I thought it would be a fitting tribute to one of the great uncles to share some Uncle Bill stories. Here's mine: On our last trip to Missouri (about 2000 I think) we were staying at Aunt Josephine's and Bill came over to see Dad. He, Dad, and I were talking in the dining room and I got up to go to the bathroom. Before I got to my destination I heard Bill say quietly to Dad, "Well, Mac, Mike is no longer a young man." I had never heard that said before.
I'm sure you chilluns have got much better stories than that one. Fishing stories? Stories with Puss in them? Hey, Doll, bring these folks some tea!
By the way, if any of you have a photo Bill, please send it along and I'll post it here. Who's got that great photo of Uncle Bill sitting on a couch with Grandpa Eddy? I think Bill is wearing a hat in it.
posted by Webmaster at 9:10 PM
6 Comments:
I think I have that photo in a large size, not the snapshot size. I will see if I can find it, but someone needs to remind me.
One memory I have of him(among many) is of the day I met him . Grandma tried to get him to give me a kiss, but he seemed a little embarassed! It took several years before he was comfortable letting me hug him!
Trouble is that I was so young when I was around Uncle Bill that I can't remember anything specific. But anytime we went to Missouri it was a swarm of strange, experiences. I mean, who shoots turtles?
My favorite memory is of a fishing trip with just the two of us. I went to Missouri alone with Mom and Dad once--I'm guessing I was around 9 years old. It was night, and he took me in his oil truck and we went out n a row boat and fished by lantern light. I caught a big fish, a two pound bass if I recall. I don't know who was happier, he or I. I can remember him holding that lantern and the fish coming up and he scooping it with a net using the other hand. And I remember Dad being pretty happy about the whole thing when we got back. At the time I thought it about the fish, but looking back I'm sure it had more to do with who had helped me. (Why we went without Dad I don't know.) I don't remember anything Uncle Bill said to me that night. I wish I did. But I remember enjoying myself and that I was in good hands, not a worry in the world. It was the first time I ever sat in a truck.
And who could forget the time when he had Lisa Eddy in the car and backed too close to the pond!
I also remember being at a county fair and watching him play fiddle with his friends. He looked very happy playing fiddle--I can still remember that smile.
Lastly, I remember getting to take him through the woods behind Voss's house on a rare Indiana visit from him in the late 1970s. Dad went with us, and maybe one of my brothers but I can't remember who. I remember our dog, Thor, was with us, rollicking around. The thing I remember was that he complimented the status of the woods as being a fine woods of hickory and oak. That made me feel good, and I suppose it did Dad, as the comment was directed at him, as if it was his land.
My favorite memory was (I believe) from the same fishing trip where he and Lisa went for the swim. I landed the biggest blue gill that ever swam in Saline County, but it had swallowed the hook. Not only that, but when I wiggled the hook back and forth, the fish's eye moved right along with it. I took it over to Uncle Bill, knowing that he'd remove it with the surgeon-like precision he'd mastered over the decades. I handed the fish to him, and after assessing the situation himself and reaching a similar conclusion, he announced, "Steve, this fish has suffered a misfortune." With that, he gave a mighty pull, accompanied by the ghastly sound of ripping blue gill innards and tossed it over his shoulder into the weeds. Problem solved.
Dang, Rob, I didn't know he took you night fishing,too. Am I the only one he never did that with? He must have figured that you guys needed the extra practice.
Judging from my "delightful" personality while traveling, maybe mom and dad were hoping he'd lose me.
Maybe put you in a gunny sack with the surplus kittens and take you for a swim in the minner pond.
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