Thomas Washington Witham - Remembering My Grandpa

"There was this one ole boy back in Jacksonville..." That's how grandpa would start off the stories he'd tell us. He liked to tell stories, especially about Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was born and raised. He loved Jacksonville.

My grandpa, Thomas Washington Witham, was the fourth of nine children belonging to Charles "Charley" Washington Witham and Josie Witham (Mann). His family of mostly farmers comes from Clinton and Russell counties in Kentucky. Charley and Josie had their first two children, Myrtle and Mary, while living in Kentucky. Sometime between 1911 and 1914, Charley and Josie (as well as Charley's father and his whole family) moved their family to Morgan County, Illinois due to a lack of work where they lived in Kentucky. Grandpa was the second child born to Charley and
Josie in Illinois. 5 more children were to follow. 

My grandpa was a good man. He was a simple man. He was a hard working man. He was patriotic to the core. He never missed an opportunity to fly his flag. Grandpa served in the Army Air Corps, fixing B17 bombers in Germany during WWII. He was sure proud of those B17s. He would tell us stories about how they would get all shot up but still able to fly home safely. One B17 he told us about had a hole shot all the way through the tail, but it still made it back to base. When grandpa passed in 1999, I was given his B17 repair manual, which sits on my bookshelf in my home office to this day. 

I didn't know this until I saw it on his headstone, but grandpa was a Staff Sargeant in what would become the Air Force. I never knew that because grandpa was a private man. He didn't like to talk about himself much. He didn't like to have his picture taken, either. If you had a camera nearby, he would pull his cap down over his face so you couldn't get a good picture of him.

Speaking of caps, grandpa just about always wore one. He liked ballcaps - especially St. Louis Cardinal baseball caps. He was a huge Cardinals fan. Grandpa wore his ballcap with a B17 pin on it. If you caught him without his cap on, you would see he still had a bit of hair, even in his older years, though he always wore his hair cut very short. 

Grandpa married Anabelle Stucker and had 3 children, Tommy, Susie, and Cyndy. Grandpa and Anabelle divorced and grandpa later remarried Charlotte Maxine Peel. They had 2 children, Terry Paul and Jerry Herbert, who were twins. Terry Paul passed away at birth, leaving Jerry Herbert Witham. My grandma (Charlotte Maxine) and grandpa lived in Paris, Illinois and raised Jerry Herbert there. Grandma and grandpa argued a lot, but they loved each other and grandpa would always give grandma a kiss each night before bed.

Grandpa worked in a book bindery in Jacksonville in his younger years. He talked about the book bindery all the time. I think that's where he met my grandma. After marrying grandma and moving to Paris, Grandpa worked at MECO until he retired.

Grandpa liked to walk to work to get his exercise. He would collect aluminum cans on his walks and would save them up to cash them in for some "mad money". He would also smoke Muriel Air Tip cigars when he could get away with it. I think Grandma knew about his cigar smoking, but I still got the impression that she didn't really approve - and I think grandpa did most of his smoking away from grandma, anyway. Did I mention he was a smart man?

Grandpa loved Coke. Don't even try to give him a Pepsi! He might throw it at you. Grandpa was very loyal to the things (and the people) that he loved.

Grandpa made a mean chili that was famous in the family for being the hottest chili around. I sure wish I had his recipe. He was also famous for his sweet tea. It was the sweetest you've ever tasted. And he made fried potatoes with eggs over the top of them. I have nicknamed them "Pappyfried Potatoes". Pappy is a nickname the grandkids came up with for grandpa. I still make Pappyfried potatoes every now and then, especially when I'm missing grandpa.

Grandpa was an avid gardener. He was known for his gardening abilities in the family. He also loved to camp and loved to fish. Grandma and grandpa did a lot of camping and fishing until they got old enough that it was uncomfortable for them, I think.

Grandpa loved to play cards. By the time we were old enough to know what we were doing, I think he had all of his grandkids playing rummy. He also taught us how to play 52 card pick-up. Yes, he liked playing practical jokes. He liked giving Charley Horses, too. He could commonly be found playing a game of solitaire if there was no one else around to play against. Grandpa was a really good poker player. He didn't lose often, and that's good because he didn't like to lose! He liked to play board games with us, too. Trouble was a favorite of his (and ours).

Grandpa enjoyed watching wrestling on television - and in person. Dick the Bruiser was a favorite wrestler that grandpa used to like to go see locally. Grandpa enjoyed listening to music by Hank Williams Sr. He Would laugh endlessly while watching tv shows such as The Dukes of Hazzard, the Andy Griffith Show, and Are You Being Served. He has a cackle for a laugh. When he laughed, everyone heard it. I once lived in the other half of a duplex with grandma and grandpa. You could hear grandpa laugh through the walls. Grandpa had a sneeze that would scare you to death, too. It came suddenly and loudly!

Grandpa just had a grade school education, which was common when and where he grew up, but he had a sharp mind. He would exercise his brain by doing crossword puzzles and word searches (his favorite) from the comfort of his easy chair, where he could most commonly be found. Grandpa always had an easy
chair. And next to it, you could always find his stash of pens and pencils (he especially loved mechanical pens and pencils), notebook paper, the newspaper, and either a coke or a big glass of grandpa's famous sweet tea.

According to grandpa's brother, William Raymond Witham ("Uncle Ray"), growing up, grandpa had a habit of talking to himself. I had to laugh out loud when Uncle Ray told me that because grandpa still had that same habit in his older days. Grandpa used to work at an auction house, helping the auctioneer sell his goods. He could do the "auction chatter" that auctioneers do. He learned it there, I presume. Grandpa would often entertain himself by practicing his "auction chatter" outloud. He was also known to whistle.

Grandpa had a grumpy demeanor, but it was a front. He was really a big teddy bear with a big heart. Grandpa loved kids and did a lot of things with us when we were growing up. He would take us to see Santa Claus on the town square every year, he would take us to the VFW for Halloween every year to get candy there, and he would take us to the theater to see Disney movies. Grandpa used to call me to wake me up on Sunday mornings when I was a young kid so I could get ready for church and he would come pick me up and take me to First Baptist Church in Paris, IL, where grandma and grandpa were members. Grandpa was also a deacon there.

Grandpa wore glasses, had arthritis, and had high blood pressure. He stayed in pretty good shape by doing a lot of walking, until he got older and had trouble getting around as easily. Then he gained quite a bit of weight.

Grandpa liked to clip coupons. When you would take him grocery shopping, he would want to go to several stores to collect on all his various coupon offers. Sometimes you'd just want to ask him how much money he had in coupons and say, "Ok, grandpa, here's $2.00 to cover your coupons. Let's just go to one store and you can save the other coupons for next time", knowing that next time you'd try the same thing again. I wish I would have been older, wiser, and less selfish when my grandpa was still with us. Today, I'd gladly take him to 50 different stores and be thrilled to have the opportunity to do it.

Something else I would do differently, if I could, is ask lots of questions and really learn about his life. Now that grandpa is gone, I have a lot of interest in finding out all of the information I wish I would have asked when he was alive - only now the answers are much harder to find. Much appreciation goes out to my grandpa's only 3 remaining siblings at the time of this writing, Aunt Marjorie, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Ray for being so nice, so kind, so patient, and so helpful when I have approached them for information. They have never once made me feel like I was bothering them, though I'm sure I must have more than once. I've asked them many questions and they have been most gracious with their time, knowledge, and resources.

Grandpa got sick and went into the hospital sometime just before Thanksgiving 1999. I was living in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the time and didn't get to see him all the time, like I used to when we lived closer. However, for Thanksgiving that year, I was going to be able to travel down to see my family in Illinois. I got to go see my grandpa in the hospital with a group of my cousins and my uncle Jerry Witham (grandpa's son). We had a great time. Grandpa was in good spirits and was cutting up as usual. He was teasing about trying to set my cousin Sean up with one of his nurses. That's grandpa for you. When our visit was over, I was the last one to leave the room. The last thing my grandpa ever said to me was, "Boy, I've got one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel!" I replied, "Grandpa, you're too mean to die." That was the last time I saw my grandpa alive.

Grandpa and I had a special relationship. That's because growing up, most of my cousins were related to grandpa by marriage, but I was related to him by blood. That doesn't mean he loved me any more or them any less, just that we shared a special bond. He was grandpa to all of us and he was loved by all of us.

Grandpa passed away on Dec 21, 1999. I was working in Green Bay, WI when I got the news. My brother called me on the phone at work. I had to finish work that day, but then was given time off to go to Illinois for the funeral.

The funeral was special and a bit unorthodox. I think grandpa would have liked it that way. He wasn't fancy and he didn't care much for traditional ceremony. My cousin Kevin played Taps on his trumpet (a request directly from Grandpa). A group of us (my cousins) decided we wanted to send grandpa out the way he would want to go, so we buried him with a coke, his B17 pin (so we wouldn't fight over it), and coins in his pocket (he loved to jingle his change). Grandpa would have smiled, if he could have.

That's how I remember my grandpa, Thomas Washington Witham - a good ole boy from back in Jacksonville.