He was best described by many as a "Self Made Man" and I agree because I was his daughter-in law and also because I happen to have witnessed him in action taking care of business at hand.
Everyday was work day for him and on Sundays, when most people would be either attending church or resting, he was busy fixing things in one or two of the several homes he owned in town. He was up early every morning and what most people call early is like 6:00 a.m, to him early meant 4:00 a.m.
Most of his days were filled with one project or another. He taught all his children how to do "handy work" in the homes.
Encouraged by his loving parents who happened to live right around the corner from him, he managed to acquire several parcels of land and built homes, small homes with maybe two bedrooms, but never the less, cozy and comfortable enough for small families.
He never could handle stress and let it be known to everyone around him when he had enough. His hat would be crooked and he would walk at a fast pace into the home he shared with his wife and children. At times, I thought he would have a heart attack or stroke due to his anger but it never happened.
During small spurts in his life, he would sit down in his living room on his recliner and instead of reaching out for the remote control, he would ask for "La Jeannnnneettteeee." Then, Jeannette would run right into his arms and with her cute little voice would say to him, "Grandpa, I want fruit." He would get up, holding her in his arms and go out to his front door. He had planted fruit trees in the front yard of his home and there was his apple pear tree. He would let her yank at it until she pulled it off the branch. Then he would take her to wash it and dry it. Jeannette loved her grandpa. She was only three but she knew who to turn to and who she could get special attention from. It was her grandpa.
He never not never had a mean thing to say to me. We had a good relationship and such so, that at times we would sit in his living room and we would make each other laugh so much. He had a good sense of humor and loved hearing my stories of incidents at my job while working at the hospital in Fresno, Calif. We were close and I admired all his skills and knowledge.
He was a good father and left his children the skills to fix cars, homes, pipes, broken cabinets, etc.
I just wish he would focused more on his second son. His second son has no parenting skills or grand parenting skills whatsoever. He is nothing like his dad. Oh, yeah, I forgot, he does know how to change the oil in his car.
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