Perry (Pat), my dad, was born in Cumberland, Iowa into a family with 8 sisters and 3 brothers. 

His family was not well off and the 4 boys all had to quit school after 8th grade to help support the family.  Dad was good in school and was allowed to skip one grade so he went to work when he was thirteen.  He and his brothers spent a lot of the summers fishing and he said that was the families main meal often times.  He would remain a devoted fisherman his entire life.

Dad worked wherever he could, mostly on farms and construction jobs.  He told the story of when he was teenager he was in southern Minnesota close to Christmas time picking corn – by hand of course.  He was homesick and started walking home to southern Iowa to have Christmas with his family.

When he was eighteen he was in Oklahoma as a foreman on a crew of 30 African-Americans laying paver bricks on cobblestone streets.  When he was in his early twenties he came to Oakland, Iowa (where he would spend the rest of his life) and learned the carpenter trade from his brother-in-law.  Dad married my mother in 1931 during the depression.  

He told the story of how he chopped fire wood paid for by the town of Oakland.  The town then would provide this wood to the needy.  Dad said many of the recipients of this wood were just as able-bodied as he was but didn’t want to do the work.  Dad was a life-time conservative and would not be happy today to see the welfare state being created.

Since he was older and had three children dad did not serve in the second World War (too young for the First World War).  By this time he had his own construction business and a crew of approximately 12 men.  His entire crew was drafted into the service and all were sent to the Pacific theatre to fight the Japanese.  During this time we lived on my mother’s family farm and dad continued to do carpenter work along with some farming.

After the War and with all of the soldiers returning home construction was a good trade and in 1948 we moved to the town of Oakland.  All of his men returned safely from the War and they all came back to work for him which they continued to do for the most part until dad retired.  Dad was a hard task master with his men but he managed to give them work, even when times were not so good.  Some years he was building new churches and homes and then there were difficult years spent repairing old farm buildings.

I admired my dad, as most sons do.  I always marveled at how he took pleasure in the simple things of life, like fishing and baseball.  He taught me how to hunt, fish and play baseball.  We spent many enjoyable hours walking through timbers and fields where he would discuss different topics.  He worked hard and long hours and I didn’t have lots of time with him growing up so I cherished these times.  I was a fairly good baseball player and he enjoyed this time with me.  He played on the “old timers” team well into his fifties.