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| Louis and Clara Hirt - Christmas 1969 |
I was only 12 years old when Grandma passed away of cancer in 1983. I remember her as a sweet woman who would take me for walks in her backyard during family visits, when I was bored by sitting around their house while the others were reading the National Enquirer (Grandma was an avid reader and it was the only opportunity my older brother and sisters had to read such a publication), or watching TV (the Brewers or 60 minutes if my Grandpa had anything to say about it).
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| Marriage photo - Oct 1927. Louis and Clara on left. Witnesses Henry Gruny (Clara's brother) and Anna Gruny Fleischman (Clara's sister) on right. |
We would visit them on many Sundays, making the trek from Withee to Medford, WI in our very large, blue, and fake wood paneled station wagon (a GM product of some sort purchased from my uncle on the Oehler side of the family). No one cared about seat belts back then and I loved sitting or sleeping in the way back, which these days is reserved for either groceries or the dog.
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| Grandma and Granpa Hirt's Old House in Medford, WI. |
We always had the same thing for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's - sloppy joes made with Campbell's chicken gumbo and tomato soup as main ingredients, one of the red Jellos with cut up bananas, and iceberg lettuce with Grandpa's french dressing. I don't remember ever having anything else.
I remember them having this great old van. As I look back on it now, it reminds me of a VW Vanagon, but I believe it was a Dodge. There was no way a VW product would be in a yard of a Midwesterner. Detroit reigned supreme back then. The back seats of the van were bench seats that ran along side the back windows rather than perpendicular to them. I remember someone saying that Grandma and Grandpa used to camp in the van when they went on fishing trips. I'm sorry I really didn't know them when they still took those trips. I would have loved to go along! I love to fish and camp!
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| The last place Grandpa worked, Handel Motor Company in downtown Medford. Interestingly, my second oldest sister Jane married into the Handel family and helps run the business - an auto repair and used car dealership. |
Grandpa had his favorite chair much like Archie Bunker, and no one was permitted to sit in it. If you did something that he didn't agree with or thought was a bit foolish, he'd call you a rummy, short for rum-dumb. He was rarely without a handheld transistor radio with an earphone stuck in his ear so he could listen to the Brewers if they weren't on TV. He loved to play cards (I think cribbage was a favorite), but I was too young to ever play with him. Being an auto mechanic most his adult life, he was a lifelong blue collar Democrat and loved to argue with my mother, who even though she was an independant, voted for Ronald Regean once or twice. Interestingly, Mom is now an ardent Democrat just like Grandpa!
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT GRANDMA AND GRANPA?
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