| I think some of the best memories of Grandpa, would be his since of humor and his love of all that life had to offer. I can never remember in my 31 years of life that I ever saw Grandpa having a bad day. He loved life with no reservations at all. He always smiled, he always was out enjoying life to the fullest. Weather it was one of the many, many trips to the mountains, which he loved, or if i was sitting under the oak tree with him telling one of his many jokes that someone had shared with him. And when he all alone you could sit back and watch him from a distance as he indulged himself in a book or a magazine, which is were I feel he got all of his knowledge from, but when he knew you were there he would always put it down to give you all of his attention. He was truly everyones best friend, and truly one of the greats of my time that will never be forgotten. ~Glen~ ( GrandSon) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How fortunate I was to have had my " Gramps" for 34 years of my life. What a blessing that he lived 88 glorious years on this earth. He was a man who truly cared about people, and touched so many lives. Through his life and his death, he taught me many things. However, the most important thing he taught me was kindness. He was the kindest and most generous man I have ever known. I never heard him say an unkind kind word about anyone. He loved life, and he loved people. As my cousin Glen said, the day of Grandpa's funeral, "Grandpa left a legacy behind." How true that statement is! I have so many great stories and memories to share with my children, and my grandchildren. His legacy will live on for generations to come. I spoke at Grandpa's funeral about one of my fondest memories of him (I have so many). When I was nursing at Forsyth Medical Center on the oncology floor, Gramps was a volunteer in the patient discharge area. When patients were discharged from the hospital, he wheeled them out in the wheelchair. When I had a patient who was ready for discharge, I would call downstairs and request Grandpa to come and get my patient. A few minutes later, here would come Gramps with his wheelchair, ready to help! Of course he always told my patients, "this is my little granddaughter." I, in return always told my patients, "This is my Grandpa." We were proud of each other. A lot of times, I would help Gramps take patients out if they had a lot of flowers, luggage, etc. We made a good team. One other thing that I must share is Grandpa's dry sense of humor, and his never ending wit. He was so funny, always making jokes, and making people laugh. I can remember some things that he use to say, and just belly laugh. He was a truly happy person, and made those around him happy also. Even though Grandpa is away from us physically, he will always live on in our hearts and minds. He is our legacy, and for that we are forever grateful to him. Thanks Gramps! We love you always! ~Jana~ (GrandDaughter) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grandpa was such a blessing to everyone who knew him, but especially his family. I think about all the memories that we have of him that will last a lifetime and be passed from generation to generation. I want to share a couple sayings and memories that always bring laughter and a smile to my face. Of course we all know that Gramps would pat us on the cheek and say, " Hey Baaaabbbbby." Yes it would rattle our teeth a little but I loved this. Now I show my children how Gramps would do this to us. Gramps would always use the word "cockeyed" (hope I spelled this right). He could make this word fit in any sentence. This has always cracked me up. I also remember when I would tell Gramps, "I love you Grandpa." He would reply, "I love you too baby; Be sweet." I can still hear him saying this. My funny hiking story of Gramps is when he took me, Jana, Tim and Glen hiking. Before he went, he took us to the grocery store and bought some hot dogs for lunch. When we got to the picnic area, of course Gramps found someone to chat with; he never met a stranger. As he talked to the gentleman, his hungry, sneaky grandchildren began eating lunch. We ate all the hot dogs "RAW" and when Gramps came to the picnic area the lunch was all gone. I can hear Gramps now, "Who ate all those cockeyed hot dogs." I can't remember, but we probably blamed it on each other or just looked at each other without a word. Something that is most dear and precious to me is that Gramps got to see both of my children as infants. This was very special to me and always will be. Brandon was born April 11, 1997. Gramps got to see Brandon in May 1997 when he was about three weeks old. Brandon was able to get to know "Grandpa Joe Joe" as he calls him. Brandon has memories of him and the times he was able to spend with him. He always says, "Joe Joe was a good man." Callie was born, October 12, 2000. Gramps came to the hospital to see us that night; I will never forget this. Even though she is young and did not get to know Gramps, for sure she will know him through all the memories that will be shared with her. May we all continue to share our fondest memories of Gramps with everyone and may he live on in each and everyone's heart that knew him. ~Cindy~ (GrandDaughter) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years ago, when Kimberly was too young to be interested in camping out, GrandPaw and I took Tim and Glen backpacking near the Pisgah National Forest, which is Southwest of Asheville, NC. The trailhead was near the Blue Ridge Parkway in a town so small that, even then, it probably didn't have it's own Post Office. This was a real backcountry camping trip, so we had to pack in supplies for a five day stay. Two events stand out in my mind about that trip today: a hike down the upper gorge of the river adjacent to which we made camp somewhat downstream, and the trip out of the lower gorge at the end of the week. We had not intended to hike down the upper gorge of the river. Instead, that morning, we were up early and headed out in another direction, to see what was "there." After a few hours, we ran into the Blue Ridge Parkway and decided to follow it "on up" (that is, South, away from Asheville, but towards a higher elevation). A while later, we came to an overlook and cookout area, which had some hiking trails leading off from it to some old Indian burial grounds. Since any broken trail is almost usually better than one you have to make yourself, we ate lunch, and then headed out to traverse them and view the promised waterfalls at trail's end. Achieving our goal, we realized that the falls were more than likely made by the same river on whose banks we had established our campsite downstream, so we decided to "take a shortcut" back to our campsite by following the river (literally, by hiking down the actual riverbed). This later proved to be a momentous decision, since we had committed ourselves early on to staying in the gorge of the river (although this was not at all obvious at the time). By the time it was clear that we had made a mistake, it was, in fact, too late to turn back, since we had on several occasions had to jump down from large rocks in the still relatively dry riverbed onto the wet sandy bed of the river to continue ... setting a course we could not reverse since we did not have either ladders or climbing gear to get back up from whence we came. Plus, the gorge itself had become deeper, its slopes very steep, and there was no way to climb out of it without ropes and assistance from above. We were literally trapped on the sides by the slick, dripping wet, moss- and algae-covered walls of the gorge, at the rear by un-climbable boulders, and the only way to proceed was downstream. If the gorge got too narrow, we might have to "hike" in the river itself. Having seen the impressive waterfall, that was not going to be a good option, especially if there were any others like it downstream. But as it turned out, we never had to hike in the river, or traverse some rapids without boats. We did, however, have to climb up and along the frequently deeply sloping bank along one side of the gorge and crawl sideways downriver. A slip on the wet algae or loose fine gravel would have resulted in falling into the riverbed, which at times was more than one hundred feet below. If the slope had gotten steeper, or slicker than it actually did, we would have been trapped, or hurt or even killed. Doing that was definitely a bad idea. But, in the end, even thought it was not obvious at the time, it was clear that GrandPaw blazed a trail through the muck and moss and algae and loose gravel along the steep walls of the gorge where we could not hike along the riverbed that enabled us to get downstream as long as we remained calm, moved slowly and surely, and were careful. Of course, we were lucky it was not worse than it was, and wetter than we could actually have managed to hold on to, but we did make it. I would not make that trip again without climbing gear and ropes. That would simply be a very stupid and silly thing to do. GrandPaw kept his head and his cool; the rest of us were merely following the leader. At some point along the way, when we had to jump down from whatever giant boulder was in the riverbed that had a soft landing below it, I slipped, probably due to an accumulation of algae or mud or moss on my shoes from an earlier gorge slope traversal, and landed very hard on my butt on a large boulder. As painful as that was, it really jolted my head, and I immediately developed a tremendous headache. That headache lasted for the next two days and nights, to such an extent that I was unable to sleep whatsoever. Then, at the end of the trip, we packed up early (when it was time to go, and GrandPaw was ready to go, he became very single-minded about getting the hell out of Dodge), and headed back out to the trailhead where we left the car. Because I was not feeling well, GrandPaw took the heaviest pack. Glen was too little to carry anything, anyway, so most of the load was shared between the two of us, with Tim carrying only slightly less than myself (going back out). Now, this was a several-hour hike, and, even though our packs were lighter than going in, we were dead tired from more than five days of physically demanding activity and sleeping on rocks, basically. A few hundred yards from the trailhead, I simply gave out. I could not continue. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and the total lack of energy. I did not even know if I could get up again once I took my pack off and sat down. GrandPaw was, as usual, up ahead, but noticed that I had fallen behind and came back to investigate. I told him I could not continue carrying the load, but to go on, then come back and get my pack, and I would walk out with him then after I had rested. Well, GrandPaw would have none of that! When he was ready to go, he was ready to go! He reached down and grabbed my pack, lifting it up on his chest and somehow affixing it there. I figured he was planning to carry both his pack and mine out, and then I would follow later on when I had rested a little, or maybe even he would come back to make sure I got out. Well ... not actually. He then stooped down on his knees, resting his hands on a large boulder, and told me to get behind him and grab on. Clueless (still) for a while, I couldn't manage to get in position until he told me he was going to pick me up and carry me out! Well, of course that was impossible. I was over 200 pounds at the time, and the two packs together probably weighed in excess of 50 pounds. I don't think GrandPaw ever weighed more than 160 pounds in his entire life. But, he did pick me up on his back (on top of his backpack), and carried me and both our packs out of that gorge back to the trailhead (some steep hiking paths were still ahead). Impressive. I would never have believed such a thing possible. But, I was there to see it ... no, to be carried out. I collapsed in his car, and I think I did finally go to sleep on the way back to Winston-Salem. I was not right for days until I recovered. GrandPaw was just like Rambo, only much smaller and lighter. GrandPaw remained as healthy as the ox which he never resembled until just a few years ago, when time did eventually start to catch up with his body. Even then, he lived six or seven years longer, in apparent good health, up until about six months before he left us ... for the most exciting trip that I am sure he ever took, to see his mother, who died in childbirth when he was only 14 years old. I have no doubt that he was able to make that trip as well as he did the one down and out of the river gorge years ago, and that he arrived at the end of his last journey as happy as he did every trip we took together. One day, I expect to be able to take another camping trip with GrandPaw. The scenery will be even more beautiful, and we won't have to worry about slipping on and falling off the side of the gorge to the rocks below. Maybe I'll get to carry him somewhere the next time. It's my turn. ~ Bill~ (Son-in-Law) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Some of my first memories were of Gramps when I was younger. Being the youngest grandchild and granddaughter, I had Gramps to myself most of the time, since everyone had already had him for so much of the time. So it was my turn. Often we would go up to Winston-Salem and Gramps and I would sit in the igloo, read, chat and just relax. Dog-Dog was always with us. Goose and the rest of the family would be up at the house. When Gramps and I went for a hike he would make me a new walking stick each time. We would pack a picnic lunch and hike for hours, then sit on a fallen log and build a fire. Gramps could always make and keep the best fires going. Every time we went camping at a public camp ground, people would come to our fire to get some kindling burning because they couldn't get theirs to burn. No matter how wet the wood was, he could always get it started. Gramps was Mr. Outdoorsman. No matter what, whereever he was, Gramps was always on everyone's mind. "Where's Gramps?" He was the star of the show, even at the very end. He loved his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and of course his own children very dearly, and worried about them all until the day he died. I don't know if he taught all the the grandchildren, but he taught me to cuss. We would have a good ol' time out in the the woods; I would ask Gramps if I could cuss and he would say yes. I always made sure I wouldn't get into trouble for saying words I wasn't supposed to, when other people were around. But out in the middle of the woods, Gramps would teach me how to cuss, and did I ever! We worried about even when his body was being shipped back home to North Carolina. Even though he now lives in our hearts, minds and memories, he is still the star. As of March 12 2002, when we lost him, all that knew him were changed forever. But then we were all different when we were around Gramps. The man had so many names it would be hard to list them all; each of them meant something different to each individual. I feel so lucky to have had him as long as I did, and especially to share in his last moments. I'm grateful that I got to spend so many years with him, the more so since he got to live with us. We love you Joe-Joe. ~Kimberly~ (Granddaughter) |
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| I will never forget Joe, he was the father and best friend to my best friend in the whole world. He was so full of life and fun to be around. I didn't get to see him much because of living in Tx. but he always made me laugh. I could always see where Joyce got her since of humor and zest for life when I was around him. I do remember the last thing he ever said to me and it is so "him". It was at Glen's wedding. I walked up to him and hugged him and said, "do you remember me" and he said, "no, but I want to." Always with a since of humor and making others laugh. ~Judy~ (Friend) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dearest Gramps, Happy 90th Birthday!!!! Many times I have tried to write something to put on your website, and never finish because I feel I am not capable to expressing what I feel. So, here goes once again. You truly are/was the greatest man I ever knew. When I think of you, I smile, I cry, I remember the good times we had, the times we would ride around and always have some silly game we played, I miss you beyond words. You left all of over a year ago, and it seems like it has been forever. I think of just two years ago tomorrow, on your birthday that you and Rick walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. What a fun day that was, cold, but you were determined to walk the bridge and you did just that. As I watched your health decline, I never could think of not having you on birthdays, holidays, celebrating the 4th, as you always loved so much. You loved like as no others, what a drive you had. Remembering the checker games on the deck during the July 4th parties in San Jose, you wearing your little white thigh highs, what memories. You are missed by us all. With the memories we all have of you, the unique ones that each of us have are treasures fair beyond our deserving, but I thank you for giving me the years we had, for always being there and loving me as you did. I have tried to think of just one special memory we shared, but there are so many I could not just write about one. I love you Gramps, thank you for your spirit that still lives here, you always know just the right time to show me you are still with me, I will look for you tomorrow on your birthday. Happy Birthday, I love and miss you! ~Joyce~ (Daughter) |
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Joe was my much loved father-in law. After both of my parents died he was my father too. We loved to have Gramps come to North Carolina from California for visits as Rick and I missed him very much. He loved to keep busy and we loved the extra help in the yard and for organizing areas of the house...basement attic closets etc. One of his last visits here was in October 2000. He and Jean spent a couple of fun weeks with us. We visited the Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC spending a lot of time at the train transfer station at the depot. Another day we drove up to Basset, VA to the furniture plant where Gramps had worked in the 1930s and even looked for the house where he had rented a room. We went to Hanging Rock State Park Campgrounds where their family spent many weekend camping when Frank, Rick, Joyce and Gary were children. Gramps, Rick and I walked around the campgrounds I do believe that they camped at every site there during their years of camping...and they had tales of every one. We went to Fairy Stone Park and Gramps bought some Fairy Stone necklaces for Jean and me at a little country store. It was a visit back in time with the old farmers sitting around the pot bellied stove shooting the breeze with whomever happens to come in...and we were no exception. Of course Gramps loved that and we ended up in the back of the store looking for Fairy stones in the rocks. These natural cross shaped stones are found only in this fairly isolated area of Virginia. Fairy Stones of Patrick County, VA We ended up this day with a visit to the site of the Wreck of the Old 97, about which a song was written and one we loved to hear Gramps break out singing all the many verses that tell the story. We will make sure Kimberly has that picture to add to the website. He always worked in the yard and this trip was no exception...trimming shrubs and clearing the woods behind our house. One morning Jean and I were in the breakfast area chatting over coffee and watching Gramps putter in the yard behind our house. He was cutting down scrubby tears and just cleaning out the under brush from the woods. Our next door neighbor have a really picturesque pond on their property. We are fortunate to be able to look out through the edge of our woods to this pond from the back of our house. All of a sudden I realized that he was cutting down out beautiful dogwood trees up to 6 feet and taller. As much as I hated to tell him no about anything I ran into the yard to and asked Gramps why are you cutting down dogwood trees. His reply. These trees sort of block the view to the pond from the house and I'm just going to clear them for you. I stopped him from cutting down any more of that the half dozen or so that he had already downed. On a spring day when the dogwoods are in full bloom we can look out our back windows and enjoy those beautiful flowering trees through our woods...except for a path to the pond...And we love it... In memory of Gramps. ~Vicky.~( Daughter-in-law) |
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I was a friend of Joe's but I felt more like a daughter. I grew up with Joyce, his daughter, and spent many nights and hours at their home. Joe made sure that I always felt welcome and loved. Joyce and I would walk outside and enjoy the flowers that he manicured. He also seemed to know my favorite foods because it was always on the table when I was there. Joe would tell me stories about my Daddy growing up that I would always enjoy hearing. I remember going to go cart races with the family and that was a "big" thing for me. The love that Joe gave me will never be forgotten only cherished.
Joyce is really like a sister to me. She has so many qualities of her Dad and that makes her so special. The love and memories that we share will never be destroyed.
I thank Kimberly for making this website possible and letting us share fond memories. ~Sue~ (Friend) |
