I have to say that my Dad, Elmer, was typical for his generation in that he was self reliant and took pride in whatever he did in all aspects of his life including school.  He received awards for artistic efforts, primarily drawing and drafting.  He was fascinated with flying and as a child he made model airplanes from wood scraps sanded to size on the sidewalk.

Like all the early brothers he took his place in the bakery which cut into his after school activities but that was not uncommon in that day and age.  He graduated from Manual High School and gravitated to the construction trades with the intention of becoming an architect but there was no money available for that avenue but as I remember the story he was offered an appointment to West Point which he had to decline because of family finances.

I still have some of the “self educate” books and collections that my father availed himself of during that period attesting to his love of learning in all areas of interest from the Classics to his chosen field, electricity.

I know little of his history in the twenties but from some snapshots link it appears as though he was in the swing of things, so to speak.  I have to admit that I can’t truly recall the story of my dad’s courtship with my mother but as I recall my mother talking about that period it was truly a gentleman courting a lady in every sense. Link My dad being a true gentleman nev er spoke to me in that regard.  In true retrospect I wish I would have asked them to talk about it but that is a common thought among aging children so let it be a lesson the reader who still has access to their information sources.

Of course the Depression reared it’s ugly head during their courtship and that put a crimp on things including the construction trades and I have a few memorabilia of that period showing the day wages collected the money borrowed, charged, and sometimes loaned but again I say I don’t think that was unusual for that era and generation.

El, as my dad was called was the only brother to marry during the depression years, Karl and Fred were already  married with family but El and Billee went to Chicago in June of 1934 accompanied by Ernie and Billie who stood with them as they were married. link

In 1937 or 1938 my dad started building our home on Sterling in West Peoria on a dirt road across from a Convent farm.  Sterling remained a dirt road through WWII since West Peoria was a township and a relatively poor cousin to Peoria proper.  The house was a single story wood frame with a Kitchen, Dining room, Living room, and two bedrooms with one bath.  The gravity furnace was in a dirt wall excavation with cement block supports and an adjacent dirt wall coal bin which provided access to the furnace.  My dad did all of the work on the house with the help of Billee’s dad, Carl Joyslin and I’m sure the brothers pitched in as they could.

Eventually the economy picked up and El was able to progress in the Electrical arena to a point where after the war he was the Electrical Superintendent of most major industrial facilities construction in Peoria and Tazewell counties. After work hours he was very active in IBEW 34 activities and in the Masonic order including the Consistory and the Shrine where he served on the Directors team for many years.

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