My Memories - Eugene Gadd
Dedication
I WOULD LIKE TO DEDICATE "MY MEMORIES" TO MY MOTHER AND FATHER I WAS BLESSED TO HAVE HAD THESE, TWO WONDERFUL, PEOPLE FOR PARENTS, MY MOM WAS VERY LOVING AND I AM SURE THAT SHE IS THE PERSON MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR MY GOOD SELF WORTH, MY DAD WAS A HARD WORKING MAN WHO ALONG WITH MY MOTHER GAVE ME MY VALUES MY BROTHERS AND I WERE FORTUNATE, TO HAVE HAD A GOOD START IN LIFE
WHEN FUTURE GRANDCHILDREN READ "MY MEMORIES", I HOPE THAT THEY FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT THEIR PARENTS. IT IS MY PRAYER THAT THIS LOVE FOR THEIR PARENTS CONTINUES TO BE PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. HOPEFULLY THROUGH THESE MEMORIES MY GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN WILL KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR GRANDFATHER GADD. I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE HAD A BOOK LIKE THIS ABOUT MY GRANDPARENTS.
TO MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND I WILL BE WATCHING FROM HEAVEN WHEN THE LORD TAKES ME HOME. REMEMBER THAT JESUS LOVES YOU!
LOVE,
DAD AND GRANDPA
Early Years
My name is Eugene “Gene” Wilfred Gadd. I was born on December 15, 1931 at Trinity Lutheran Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. December 15th was also my father's birthday and being born on his date of birth always made me feel special, especially on my birthday. My dad said that he paid the doctor that delivered me by building him a brick fireplace. I was named after my Uncle Gene who lived in Lebanon, Missouri and my middle name was from my father whose full name was Wilfred Arthur Gadd. My mother's full name was Ellen Alice Parker before she married dad. My first memories are of my mother, dad, two brothers and myself living in a small apartment above a grocery store at 24th street and Mersington on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri.
My folks had started dating after mom's boyfriend had been killed in an accident. My dad had been a friend of this guy before his death so my folks had known each other before they started going out. They waited for about a year before they were married. My parents were married on February 23, 1930. My folks had lived in the tiny two room apartment on Mersington since they were married. Prior to my folk’s marriage, my mother was living at 4210 Walnut Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. This was during the depression, and I was born at the end of this economic nightmare.
My father was a journeyman brick mason during the depression, but because there wasn't a lot of construction, he was looking for another position. He found a part time job as a paint mixer at Seidlitz Paint Co ., because my Uncle Kenneth was working there as a purchasing agent. This always hurt my dad's pride because Aunt Doris Lydia (Gadd) Ward who was my father's sister married to Uncle Ronald Kenneth Ward would always remind dad that they had helped get him employed. On the other hand, my father felt he was fortunate to have a job during the depression when so many people were out of work. Aunt Doris would sometimes make comments like, "You poor boys" as if our family was in poverty and we didn't have enough money. Although my Aunt was right about our family not having a lot, my brothers and I always felt that if we weren't rich we must be doing pretty good. We were living as well as most of the people in our neighborhood. Uncle Kenneth had a college education and he did have a higher paying job than most men, so my aunt and uncle were doing better than most families. My brothers and I knew that the Wards had more than we did, but we were never concerned as we were very content with our family. Back in the mid 1930s, hardly anyone had any money because the depression had made it difficult for people to be able to pay their bills and the economy several years later was still improving.
Aunt Doris and Uncle Kenneth had 3 children whose names were Bill, Margie, and Ronnie. I always felt that our family had it more together than the Wards even though they lived in a large home and belonged to the Blue Hills Country Club which was an exclusive club in the south part of Kansas City. Bill went to Yale Univ. and Margie went to Lindenwood College which was an exclusive school for women. Ronnie ended up going to the same college that I attended which was the University of Kansas City. The University of Kansas City became the University of Missouri at Kansas Cityin1962. My dad's sister, Doris (Gadd) Ward was born on May 3, 1912 and she is still living in 1998.
Even though my father wasn't working at his trade, I remember that we all were very happy during this early period of my life. This happiness was because my mother and father spent a lot of time with my brothers and myself and our home was a fun place to live. Even though I'm sure that my mother and father were worried about being able to provide for their sons, I don't remember as a child having any real concerns. I was told that I was a real momma's boy as I wouldn't go anywhere without my mother. During my first few days of kindergarten, I ran home after my mother, telling her that I didn't want to stay at school. My mom said that I settled down with my new classmates after the first week.
I was raised with my two brothers, Robert Byron and Richard Floyd. We were close in age as there was only 2 1/2 years between the three of us. Bob was born January 13, 1933 and Dick's birth was June 1, 1934. We fought like most brothers, but I was very proud of both of them and I didn't let anyone pick on them.
Bob was about 9 or 10 years old when he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. He wasn't allowed to play different games because he couldn't get a lot of exercise. Rheumatic fever is a disease which could have injured Bob's heart if he exercised too much. I will never forget the day (Bob was about 12 or 13 years old) Mom brought Bob home from the doctor and told us that he was now well and he could do anything that Dick and I were doing. I questioned Mom about Bob being able to play ball and being able to fight if he had to. Again she said that Bob was cleared for everything. I proceeded to hit him and knock him off the back porch stairs, as the last few years had been hard on all of us, not just Bob. I was so relieved that he was over his sickness, but I couldn't wait to hit him because of his sharp tongue for the last several years. We had strict orders that we were not to touch him no matter what he said or did while he was sick, and Bob had taken full advantage of the situation.
Polio was another disease that had a large impact on everyone that grew up in the 1930s and 1940s. Sometimes we weren't allowed to go swimming and there were other restrictions that were put on most children. Parents didn't really know what to believe so everyone was paranoid about what they would allow their children to do. I remember that many people were paralyzed from the waist down, and would use crutches for the rest of their lives.There Were others that were completely paralyzed and they had to live in an iron lung.
Bob was always very organized, and I knew that he would be successful because of the way he made money from Dick and I and the other guys in the neighborhood. He always had band aids and shoe strings for sale and he would loan us money if we would pay him back at twice the amount that was borrowed. When anyone in the neighborhood would want an ice cream cone, Bob would loan us 5 cents if we would pay him back 10 cents. It is hard to believe in 1997, but ice cream cones actually cost 5 cents in the 1930s. Bob also drove me crazy by policing the house for anything that I would do such as taking a cola out of the fridge without asking my parents. Actually the cola was a Royal Crown Cola as this was a popular brand along with Nehi, Pepsi, Coke, and 7 Up. Nehi didn't survive over the years, but it was very popular in the 1940s. The first thing that Bob would do when he came into the house was to check the cola case to see if there were any cold empties, and then proceed to tell mom that Gene had an R.C.! I eventually learned to run hot water over the cold bottle so that it was impossible to tell if I had enjoyed an R.C. Cola. Bob was a pain to live with, but he was a good brother.
Dick was a good younger brother although he was very independent and wanted to do everything his own way. Dick had to put up with a lot being the youngest as he was blamed for many things that happened while we were growing up. I can remember when we were young boys that Dick would sometimes take the spankings for Bob and me, as Dad would tell us that no one was going to bed until one of us would confess about who had done a particular deed. We would tell Dick that because he was younger, Dad wouldn't spank him as hard as he would us. We would hope that Dick would say that he was guilty so we all could go to bed. My brothers and I used to put pads in our pants before Dad would spank us. My mother had made each of us baseball sliding pads so we wouldn't scrape our hips when we would slide into base. I don't think that my folks ever knew that we would pad ourselves before being spanked.
Back to the cola part of my life, we had a family ritual of sitting on the front porch in the summer having an R.C. cola before bedtime. I should say that our R.C. was really one half of a bottle for us three boys and mom, but dad had a whole bottle for himself. I couldn't wait to grow up so I could have a whole bottle of R.C. whenever I wanted it. Having a cola together in the evening was a great way to have family time talking about what had happened during the day. This family time would be almost impossible today, because everyone would be watching their favorite program on TV. Television wasn't available until the late 40s and only a few families could afford to buy one until several years later. My folks were able to buy a small black and white television in 1951. Besides my family, my dog "Sugar" was the most important thing in my life as she would follow me and my brothers everywhere.
Dick started smoking when he was in elementary school because he could buy cigarettes for a penny a piece at the Tivoli movie theater in our neighborhood. I am so thankful that he has stopped smoking after all these years. I had bugged him by sending him newspaper clippings in the mail and harassed him about smoking during my visits. I really can't take any credit for Dick not smoking since he made the decision to quit by himself.
Dick was a very good athlete. He was the shortstop on the baseball All Star team for 14 year olds and he played at the Municipal stadium in Kansas City which is where the professional teams played. Dad and I laid off work so that we could go to the games to watch him play. I believe that If Dick would have had good coaching he probably could have played professionally.
Bob turned out to be a good basketball player in the service even though he didn't play for several years while growing up because of his rheumatic fever. Bob and I had a running feud for years while growing up about who was the better baseball player in the major leagues. I liked Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees and his favorite player was Stan Musial who played for the St. Louis Cardinals. Both men today are in the Hall of Fame, but dad got tired of hearing the argument and all of the statistics so we couldn't mention either man's name especially at the dinner table.
Bob was so much more intelligent than the rest of us in the neighborhood as this was his special gift. Bob was a straight "A" student and years later he scored in the superior range in his interview testing for IBM, before he worked for them selling in Kansas City.
Dick would sing to the family at the dinner table when he was about 8 or 9 years old. His favorite song started out, "Dicky has the muscles, he has everything"! He kept all of us laughing and my folks seemed to enjoy his antics. Dick was a lot of fun to be around when we were growing up. He had such a good personality that everyone seemed to like him and he was very popular with the girls. He was about 2 1/2 years younger than me so we didn't run around together until we were in the Navy.
When I was about 5 years old, my folks rented a small one bedroom house at 28th and Wenzel which meant we had a backyard to play in. We still didn't have a bedroom to sleep in, but the sofa in the front room was fine for us three boys. We would sleep two at the top and one at the bottom, since my folks had the only bedroom. My brothers and I never even thought about having our own beds as we were all raised sleeping on the sofa. I also remember when Great Grandma Betz came to visit she had to sleep on the sofa bed with me and my two brothers. This made four people sharing a small sofa, so she also had someone's feet in her face. I don't remember anyone having any real problem with this sleeping arrangement even though my great grandmother was in her late 70s. My great grandmother had been raised during difficult times so she never complained about sleeping on a hard sofa with three small boys. My folks always looked forward to her visits, and this would allow my Uncle Harry and Aunt Mildred some time alone.
When I was in the 3rd grade we were still living at 28th and Wenzel. Each day my brothers and I would walk to Greenwood Grade School down 28th street, where several black guys would throw rocks at us from atop a small hill. The neighborhood was divided with the whites living on the northside of 27th Street and the blacks on the south side. We decided that we would get even with them so we each gathered up a handful of rocks and waited for these kids to come up the hill. When they started to climb the hill we let them have it with every rock that we had stockpiled. The boys retreated down the hill and before we could get to school, several fathers of these kids started chasing us. When we finally arrived at school I thought we were safe, but the principal and the dad came into my class room with my brother Dick. I was so scared when I saw the principal and the men talking to my teacher. Dick had been picked out of his class room because they had seen his birthmark which was a 2 inch circle of white hair at the back of his head. His nickname growing up was "cotton tail". This was my first trip to the principal's office, andBob and I never let Dick forget that he had squealed on his two brothers. Dad gave all of us a spanking when we arrived home from school because the principal had called to tell my folks what had happened. The spanking was worth it because the guys who had done the rock throwing never bothered us again.
A comment on race relations in the 1930s and 1940s would be that black and white children didn't attend school together since black kids would be bussed to another school. Actually blacks and whites didn't really communicate with each other, nor did they live in the same neighborhoods. Blacks could only live in a certain area and this would be defined by a street. For example, in our neighborhood Blacks could live from 28th street to 31st Street and whites lived from 27th Street on down and 32nd Street on up on the other side. As children we didn't know whether segregation of the races was right or wrong since we were raised in that environment. When I became an adult, I felt that there should be equal opportunity for everyone. I have tried over the years with my 7 children to let them know that we are all the same in God's eyes. As a District Manager with Burroughs Wellcome, I am proud that I hired more Blacks, Asians, and women than any other manager in the country. Each of these people were very qualified for the position that they were hired for in the district.
When I was in the 3rd and 4th grade I would always want to play baseball, basketball and football with the older boys in the neighborhood at 28th and Wenzel. I was never included because I was so small unless they needed an extra player. The good news is that I learned a lot about sports either watching or doing my limited playing time as most of the guys were 2 to 3 years older. I also remember receiving a new baseball for Christmas and going out to play hopefully in a game, but the older guys still wouldn't let me play even though they used my ball. When I was called to supper I asked if I could have my baseball, but I was told that they would bring it by the house after the game. When I told my dad what had happened he made me go back out to the game and tell the guys that I had to have my ball. This was probably my first confrontation, but it wasn't that difficult because when I mentioned my dad they didn't hesitate in giving me my ball.
What I remember most about the house on Wenzel was walking to school on those cold, snowy days. We were never given rides to school during the war because Dad had traded in the family car in 1942 for a promise of a new automobile. The dealer was pretty dishonest as Dad didn't receive the car until about 1944. By then the war was almost over, and we had already moved to another house in 1942. I don't know how my folks did their shopping or ran errands during this time period as today no one would be able to function without an automobile. Dad had to make arrangements for a ride to work each day and mom had to do the same thing when she was working at the Lake City Defense Plant during the war. The first car that I remember that our family had was a 1929 Model A Ford which had a rumble seat in the back. Only two people could sit up front so us three boys would sit in the rumble seat that was outside at the back of the car. The next automobile that I can remember was a 1941 Pontiac. Dad's favorite car was Pontiac when we were growing up.
We were very fortunate during World War 2 that dad was on a draft board where the majority of men were in their teens and twenties. Dad was 32 years old when the war started so he was classified 3A which meant he was qualified to serve, but the younger men who were 1A would be drafted first. I know that not being in the military was hard on dad as almost everyone was in the service, but this was a blessing to our family to have my father home while we were growing up. Because dad wasn't in the service he made sure that he did a lot of work at the Lake City defense plant. There was a lot of rationing during the war because the U.S. Armed Forces had first priority on all supplies. Some of the more common items rationed were gasoline, tires, Crisco, (cooking shorting) nylons, sugar, soaps and shoes, etc. You couldn't buy gasoline without using your rationing stamps. We also had all kinds of collection drives for the war effort with some of the items being scrap iron, aluminum, grease, and old tires. Many people in our neighborhood had "Victory Gardens" where you could grow your own vegetables and fruit. Everyone would pitch in to do anything that they could to help the war effort. It was a time when people loved their country and patriotism was popular.
Relatives
Growing up I had very little exposure to my grandparents because of the following circumstances. My dad's father, Harris Byron Gadd was killed on March 12, 1917 in a train accident while he was working on the railroad in Mt. Vernon, Washington when my dad was 8 years old. Grandfather Gadd was born on March 28, 1883 which means that he was 33 years old when he died, as he would have been 34 in about two weeks. Dad's parents were married April 9, 1907. Grandfather was born in Lebanon, Missouri and he worked in construction on the railroad. A few years after grandfather Gadd was killed, Dad quit school. He was only 12 years old when he stopped attending 7th grade so he could help support his family. Eventually he was taught to be a bricklayer by his first step dad whose name was Troy. This marriage didn't work out so when dad was still a young man his mother, Flora Adelia (Blanchard) Gadd remarried and eventually moved to Everett, Washington. Dad stayed in Kansas City so he could finish his brick mason apprenticeship. I only remember seeing my grandmother Gadd a couple of times and once was when our family visited her on vacation in 1947. Grandmother Gadd was born on September 21, 1887 in Dade County, Missouri, and she died on February 4, 1974 in Everett, Washington which means she lived to be 86 years old.
My grandfather Harris Byron Gadd's father was Joseph Collins Gadd Sr. who was born on January 18, 1844 in Somersetshire, England. He came to the United States from England when he was 2 years old. Joseph Collins Gadd Sr. died April 6, 1925 in Lebanon, Missouri which means he lived to be 81 years old. Joseph Collins Gadd's Father (my Great, Great Grandfather) died on the ship coming to the United States from England and he was buried at sea. Grandfather's mother was Lydia Anne (Allen) Gadd who was born January 17, 1846 in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, and she passed away on March 27, 1930 at 84 years of age. Great Grandfather Joseph Collins and his wife Lydia Anne were married on October 2, 1866 and they had seven children, 5 boys and 2 daughters.
My grandmother Flora Adelia (Blanchard) Gadd's dad was John J. Blanchard. He was born February 10th, 1859 in Ash Grove, Missouri and he died August 17, 1935 at the age of 75 years old. Grandmother's mother was Susan Tabithia Parker and she was born on March 11, 1869 in Clinton, Missouri. She passed away at 86 years of age on August 6, 1956. Her father was William Franklin Parker who was a Baptist minister. Rev. Parker would have been my Great Great Grandfather. He was born on March 18, 1844 and he died on May 13, 1920 at 76 Years of age. Pastor Parker's wife was Nancy Jane Harris (my Great, Great Grandmother)who was born December 10, 1847 and she died on June 19, 1901 at 53 years of age.
My mother's mom, Maude Edna (Betz) Parker was divorced from mom's dad George Irvin Parker before I was born. I was told by my mother that her folks had divorced because the family was against the marriage since my grandparents were first cousins. My mother's parents were married March 16, 1907. My Grandmother Parker was born on February 24, 1884 in Lincoln, Nebraska and she died on October 23, 1932 a few months after I was born after a long illness. She was 48 years old when she passed away, and I have often wondered if she died of a broken heart. My grandfather Parker had moved to Huntington, West Virginia after the divorce where he worked as a tile setter. I only saw Grandpa Parker once when we went to visit him in West Virginia in 1937 when I was 6 years old. Grandfather Parker was born in February, 1876 and he died in 1940 which would have made him 64 years old when he died. He is buried in Huntington, West Virgina.
My grandfather (Mother's dad) George Irwin Parker's father was Benjamin Parker who was born August 23, 1857 in Adair County, Ohio. His wife was Alice (Bowers) Parker. My mother's mother, Maude Edna (Betz) Parker's dad was James Franklin Betz who was born November 30, 1857 and he died July 23, 1919 at 61 years of age. Her mother was Sarah Ella Parker who was born Jan 19, 1859 in Adair County, Ohio and passed away February 24, 1946 when she was 87 years old. My grandmother's mother, Sarah Ella Parker was a sister to my grandfather's father, Benjamin Parker which means as I stated earlier that mom's mother and father were first cousins.
When I was growing up, my school friends and the guys in the neighborhood would talk about going over to their grandparents house. This would usually be for holidays or staying for a couple of weeks during the summer. My brothers and I never stayed at our grandparents because they either weren't alive or didn't live in the Kansas City area. It would have been great spending time with my grandparents while I was growing up, but I really didn't know the difference since it never happened. I never felt cheated, probably because I received so much attention from my mother and father.
My ancestral lineage is very interesting, because we have Parkers on both my mother and father sides. Some of the names in dad's family are Allen, Parker, Harris, Blanchard, Gadd and Scottish clans of Wilson, Kemp and Black. Ethan Allen was in my dad's heritage going back to 1738, and also the names of Duckett and Fancher. I mentioned earlier that Great Grandfather Joseph Collin Gadd's father was on his way to the U.S. from England aboard ship in the early 1800s when he died and was buried at sea. On mom's side, the names are Betz, Bowers, Prichard, and Parker with both her parents. The names show a strong English ancestry. The exception would be with the Betz name which is German. As I mentioned above Dad also had Parker on one side and mother had Parker in both her parents' ancestry. Some day I would like to pursue this lineage to see if there is a connection between the two families.
Actually the Parker name on my dad's side has historical significance since my relatives had a fort named after them in Texas. In 1832 Fort Parker was built by the emigrating Parker family and others from Illinois. In 1836 the Comanche Indians raided Fort Parker, Texas (40 miles east of Waco, Texas) and massacred many of the men and kidnapped the women and children. John Parker and his sons, Silas and Robert were all killed. Most of the men at the fort were working in the fields so they survived, but the women and children were very vulnerable to the surprise attack. John Parker's nine year old daughter, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped and later became one of Chief Peta Nacona's wives at the age of 15. She bore him a son they named Quanah Parker who became one of the Comanches most daring chiefs. John Junior at 6 years of age was also captured, and he later became a Comanche warrior. Quanah Parker eventually surrendered to the Federal troops and he later became a federal judge and a good friend of the United States President, Teddy Roosevelt.
We did have a great Uncle whose name was Harry Donald Betz who made a large impression on us boys while we were growing up. He was my mother's uncle as mom's mother was his sister. Uncle Harry had made a lot of money by discovering how to cool large building by freezing pipes and then blowing the pipes with large fans. His company was Betz Engineering and he also owned several locker plants for people to store their meat. He had built his own airplane so he was a hero to the family, but what I mostly remember was how frugal (tight) he was. Uncle Harry and Aunt Mildred (Leffler) Betz lived in a wealthy area across the state line in Kansas which is still nice fifty years later. My uncle wouldn't allow us three boys to go into some of the rooms in their home or sit in some of their chairs. Other than these quirks he and my Aunt Mildred treated us great, although I resented it when my aunt would give my mother her hand-me-down clothes. My mother was very thankful for the clothes, but I made up my mind then that I would work hard when I was an adult, so that my family would never have to rely on someone else for anything. Aunt Mildred and Uncle Harry were married on January 18, 1925. Uncle Harry was born January 26, 1892 and he died November 11, 1977 at 85 years of age. Aunt Mildred passed away in 1987.
My brothers and I loved to play tricks on Uncle Harry as he was pretty naive for being so successful. Once when we were playing poker, Uncle Harry went into another room which allowed us to set up the hands where my Uncle had a straight and one of us would have either a royal flush, or a full house. He became very excited, and he would bid us up and we would also keep bidding. He kept saying, " I have never seen so many good hands." A couple of times this happened when he left the table to do something else. We tried to give him his money back, because we told him that we had been playing a trick. He wouldn't take the money back, because he said that he was an experienced poker player. He also wanted us to know that he had been playing poker before we were born, and it would be impossible to fool him. My brothers and I laughed about what had happened, but I felt pretty guilty for what we had done.
Each Thanksgiving and Christmas we would always get together with either mother's or dad's family. My dad had a brother whose name was Elmer Elsworth Gadd and his wife was my Aunt Laurine (Fager) Gadd. My Aunt and Uncle were married on June 1, 1932. Uncle Elmer worked for the U.S. Postal Service after being discharged from the U.S. Navy, and Aunt Laurine was one of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet. They had one child whose name was Myrtle Marie and my aunt and uncle had a hard time in raising my cousin. She was very independent and she had trouble taking direction when she was young. When she was in high school my aunt and uncle more or less let her do whatever she wanted to do. I remember that Myrtle Marie was married right after she graduated from high school. I don't have any idea where Myrtle Marie lives now because I haven't seen her in years. My dad's brother, Elmer was born on November 19, 1906 and he died January 12, 1975.
My mother's sister, Maude E. (Parker) Simpson had three children with my uncle James T. Simpson. The kids' names were Jim Jr., George and Verna. My Uncle Jim was a bully to his kids and I believe that this is one of the reasons that his son George spent many of his adult years at San Quentin Prison in California. Uncle Jim was always putting George down to where he didn't have a lot of self worth. George was always unhappy and he was convicted when he was in his 20s of being the driver in the robbery of a liquor store. An example of the way Uncle Jim treated his children was that he would cut large chunks of hair from the front of their heads if they came to the dinner table without washing their hands. Looking back on these incidents, I feel that my uncle was showing off for my mother and dad when we would visit their home.
Jim Jr. was easily the favorite of his father, so I am sure that this rejection took its toll on George's self esteem. Uncle Jim was a poor example for his children as he was always trying to find ways to beat the system. He worked for the city and he would brag about bringing home tools and supplies from work that he would later try to sell. I remember that my folks didn't have any respect for my uncle Jim. This lack of respect was because of the way that he treated his children and also because he would do things that were dishonest. Jim Jr. became a Boy Scout executive so my cousins really took different paths. I have lost track of Verna over the years as she moved out of state and never answered our Christmas cards or sent a forwarding address. When we were children, our families would get together each Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays, We stayed pretty close until my brothers and I went into the service. Aunt Maude and Uncle Jim were married on June 19th, 1925. My mother's sister Maude E. (Parker) Simpson was born on November 11, 1907 and she passed away on October 8, 1995 at 87 years of age.
School Years and Activities
I attended Greenwood Elementary School from Kindergarten to 6th grade. My folks made sure that we didn't have to change schools even though we moved three times. When I was in the 3rd grade we did moved temporarily to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for about 7 months so dad could find work. The bricklayers in Kansas City were on strike so we lived in a motel with another family for the whole time we were in Iowa. This move meant that we went to a different elementary school for almost a full school year. I remember that we lived outside of town in a rural area and that the kids at the school were pretty rough. I don't think that I was ever in as many fights during a school year like I was when I attended the Howe Grade School in Cedar Rapids. I was real happy when we moved back to Kansas City so I could see all of my friends at Greenwood Elementary School.
When I was in the 5th grade (approx. 1942) my folks made a big decision to purchase a home at 26th and Mersington. Dad said that he was tired of paying rent, but the house was selling for over $2,500. After coming out of the depression this was a big decision as brickmasons didn't always have steady work, and dad wasn't sure he could handle the monthly payment. This doesn't sound like a lot of money, but a bricklayer only made about $10 dollars a week in 1942 which would be less than $500 a year. Prices were a lot different as you could buy a hamburger for 5 cents, a new car for $300 to $400, and a haircut was about 10 cents. The house was very small as there were two small bedrooms upstairs and a very tiny bathroom. Downstairs we had a small living room and a dining room and a little kitchen. Although the house was small, we felt like we were living in a mansion as this was the largest home that we had ever lived in. The good news for my brothers and I was that we would still be attending Greenwood Elementary School and we now had a bedroom that we shared, plus each of us now had our own twin bed.
Jerry Sullivan and Hugh Braden were my best neighborhood friends, and we did everything together. The neighborhood at 26th and Mersington had 9 boys in 5 houses and the nine of us played whatever sport was in season. There were also two older brothers, Jack and Joe Harrison who taught us everything about sports. They were both good athletics who were already in high school and they pretty well ruled the neighborhood. We competed every night after school and each weekend. We made up a lot of games such as throwing a tennis ball against the front steps which were high because each yard had a terrace. We would try to hit the ball with a cut off broomstick which really helped our batting eye and also our throwing arms as we pitched the tennis ball each day all summer. We played basketball in Bob Parker's back yard as he had a goal on the garage. During football season we played touch football in the street and tackle football in Jerry's vacant lot next door to his house. We had a neighborhood baseball team called the Mersington Midgets which played other neighborhoods. We also used to go to the park and play either tackle or touch football as a team. The names of the other guys in the neighborhood were Gene Guilliams, Bob and Dick Braden. Since I moved to California I have probably only seen the Bradens 3 or 4 times and Bob Parker twice. I have lost track of Gene Guilliams, and Jerry Sullivan.
The house at 26th and Mersington was my favorite home since this is where we lived when I graduated from Elementary school and attended junior high and high school. I have many pleasant memories as I graduated from Central High School while living there and I enlisted in the U.S. Navy from this house. The address was 3907 East 26th Street, and when I think of Kansas City I always think of this home. Whenever we visit Kansas City I always like to go back and see the neighborhood, even though the house was torn down several years ago. Our church, Mersington Heights was only a block away and Duff's Market was across the street from the church.
Being raised in the 1930's was so much different than the way it is today. Most people had very little money and they watched every penny. You didn't buy anything that you didn't need to, and we were taught this concept at a very early age. People had lost all of their savings and their homes during the times that the banks went under during the depression in 1928. Americans today would think that everyone back in the 30's was frugal, but you had to watch your money or you wouldn't be able to survive. It must have been especially hard when you also had the responsibility of bringing children into the world. I remember Christmas as being a very special day when I was a child, but I also remember that we would receive one gift. Today's children wouldn't understand, but I felt pretty lucky that I had received a present. I also don't remember having a birthday party until I was 13 years old and this was a special occasion, as I was now in my teens. I might be wrong, but I can't recall my brothers ever having a birthday party. Today's children will have many parties, but things were different in the 30's and 40's. We knew that we were loved, but parties and presents were not always in the budget. I remember that I saved for over a year to buy a second hand bike which I found advertised in the newspapers.
Even though I have made a good living and have been somewhat successful, I find that my value system for money is the same as when I was growing up. I have a difficult time with any kinds of waste, which includes food, living the lights on, Or spending money for frivolous items. I will wear clothes for a long time without wanting to buy anything new. When working as a manager, I did understand that I needed to dress nice so that I would look very professional. I am so condition to save and not spend, even though I find that I'm not nearly as thrifty as many of my friends who are the same age. This is probably because I saw a lot of money change hands while purchasing and selling several homes.
Meals were also different when I was growing up as at dinner we always had a lot of potatoes and bread. If there was meat on the table, dad had first choice because he was working hard in construction. I remember once when my cousin Bill Ward was visiting for the weekend, he made a big deal about our family eating a lot of potatoes and bread without having meat. My mother would offer a different potato dish for each evening's meal, and mashed potatoes was my favorite. I don't remember being concerned about not having meat for dinner, although in looking back I'm sure that my mother knew that we would do fine without always having a meat dish. The cost of potatoes was probably pretty inexpensive. Our family financial status must have improved when I was going to high school, because we seemed to have meat at almost every meal. This was probably because my dad was working steady since there was a lot of construction after World War I ended. I also don't ever remember having a lettuce salad when I was growing up, as mom's always would prepare a carrot jello salad for Sunday's dinner.
My mother would tell my brothers and I that she loved us several times each day, although I don't remember my dad ever telling me that he loved me. He showed his love in many other ways such as the look on his face when I would do something that would make him proud. I have always told my children that I love them each time that I see them, or talk to them on the telephone. I am not sure that this is important to my seven children as they probably don't know or understand the difference. As a child when I would get in trouble, mom would say that my dad would punish me when he arrived home from work. I would always try to get my mother to handle the punishment because I knew that she wouldn't spank me very hard. I also would try my best to make her laugh as I knew then that she probably wouldn't tell dad. My brothers and I were spanked whenever we did something wrong until we were teenagers. Sometimes it could be a slap or a belt spanking, but I can honestly say that I never felt abused.
When I was about 11 years old, Bob and I had the scare of our lives. Without telling Our folks, we went on a small journey to the Blue River which was several miles east of Kansas City. A teenager we didn't know had a motor boat and gave both of us several rides on the river. After several trips, we asked him to go back over to the other side of the river to get our shoes because we were ready to go home. He was on his way back with our shoes when his boat started to sink. He couldn't swim and he was yelling for us to help him. We both felt so helpless watching this high schooler go under as neither of us could swim. I remember how frustrated I was when we were trying to get cars to stop on the highway so we could get someone to help us. I stood in the middle of the road hoping that someone would stop, but people would just keep driving. My folks made sure that we both learned to swim that summer, but I had nightmares for years from watching this teenager drown and not being able to save him.
My family and I attended Mersington Heights Evangelical Church at 25th and Mersington which was one block from our home. We went to Sunday School and Church every Sunday and every Wednesday night there was a potluck dinner and prayer meeting night. I had a perfect attendance record for over 8 years which meant I would go to Church even when I was sick. My folks would try to make me stay home, but I didn't want to ruin my attendance record. Most of our family friends were from our church and my folks would do things with several of these couples which included bowling in several leagues and usually a party on Saturday night. My mother and father's parties would be playing cards or board games and drinking cokes because my folks didn't drink nor did any of their friends. My brothers and I would usually go to one of the neighborhood movie theaters during these parties. The movie tickets cost 13 cents for under 12 years and 35 cents after you had your 12th birthday. During this time in my life I didn't have a personal relationship with the Lord, but I will discuss this later.
Other activities besides church which my brothers and I participated in were Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, church basketball league, and 3 & 2 baseball which was like Little League is today. My two brothers and I each attained the rank of Eagle Scout which made my folks very proud. My mother always wore 3 small eagles on her lapel in recognition of this achievement. When I was an adult living in Sacramento, CA., I was the Cubmaster for the Cub Pack that Mike had joined. This was my way of giving back to Scouting for all they had done for me and the impact they had on my life when I was a young boy. Church basketball was a lot of fun as most of the guys in the neighborhood played on our team, and it was a way for us to get rid of our excess energy. We all played baseball for Minute Circle and this included many of our friends from school. I also played basketball and 6 man football for Minute Circle. Minute Circle was a neighborhood recreation center which in many ways was like a Boys Club of today.
In the 6th grade I started playing the drums at Greenwood Elementary School because my cousin Jim Simpson played and he could give us free lessons. Jim taught us drum rolls so that Bob and I could play in a drum and bugle corps. It was fun at the beginning, but I didn't know how to read music so I soon became very uncomfortable. When I went to Central Junior High I was in the orchestra, but I finally asked my folks if I could quit playing drums. I was playing 4th chair and when I saw how bad the girl was playing the drums in the 3rd chair, I realized that I must be pretty awful if I was playing behind her. It was also a pain to have to carry the drum back and forth from school to home so Bob could have the drum for practice at Greenwood. Dick had started violin lessons but, like the drums, this attempt at learning to play an instrument didn't last very long.
Some of the common terms or sayings when I was a kid during the war were, "A slip of the lip will sink a ship." This saying was all over billboards showing a ship sinking with a man or women holding their index finger to their lips. Other sayings during the 40s were: If you were excited about something you would say "Holy Cow", or if you were feeling good about yourself you were the "Cat's Meow." If you were attracted to a member of opposite sex: you would say "Hub Ba, Hub Ba". The expressions seem pretty silly now, but they were quite popular in the 1940s.
When I was growing up, I had a lot of different jobs. My mother believed in her son's working so we could make our own money, and most of my jobs were as a result of her making contact with a business. My brothers and I began our careers selling Liberty magazines for 5 cents when I was 8 or 9 years old, so that would make Bob 7 or 8 and Dick about 5 or 6 years old. We would go to large apartments or dad would take us to the Bricklayers union hall. I did pretty well, except that some people would say that they would rather buy from Dick because he was so cute.
After selling Liberty Magazines I worked at Eastman's Drug Store as a delivery boy which was my first real job. I would guess that I was probably about 10 or 11 years old. I didn't like to work there after I was robbed while delivering cough syrup on 28th street. A man jumped out from behind a car and grabbed the handlebars of my bike. He told me to give him all the money that I had on me. I didn't get hurt as I only had a few dollars so I could make change, but I was afraid that somebody else would rob me as most of my deliveries were at night. The pharmacist, Mrs. Eastman told me that they would have to take the money that was stolen out of my pay which upset my folks and I wasn't very happy either. If you broke a bottle of cough syrup or any other medicine, this amount would also be deducted out of your pay. This taught me to be very careful with glass products!
I had several other jobs while growing up and one of these was being a golf caddie at Blue Hills Country Club when I was in the 7th grade. This would put Bob in the 6th grade and Dick in the 5th grade. My brothers and I would have to take two buses to get to Blue Hills which was more than an hour away. We were hopeful that we would be able to caddy so we could make some money. This was a real awakening as the older boys would bully us younger guys, and we weren't ever allowed to caddie until the high schoolers had all been hired. My brother Dick was finally able to get a caddying job one day when there wasn't anyone else left in the caddie shack. He was sent back to the club house after the 2nd hole because he couldn't carry the clubs without dragging the golf bag on the ground. We were paid $1.25 for a single and $2.00 for carrying a double which is two bags. The golfers would sometimes buy you a coke at the 10th hole if you were lucky. We would always hope that the golfers would give us a tip if we did a good enough job.
From caddying I was able to earn enough money to pay for scout camp each year. I remember the amount being $21.00. This two weeks of scouting at Camp Osceola was a great experience as we swam and worked towards earning our merit badges. We had to have so many merit badges for each scouting award (Star, Life, and Eagle) so the camp was the perfect place to achieve this goal. We stayed in large tents and most of the guys in the neighborhood were in the same tent. We went on nature hikes and we had swimming races between the different scout troops and I remember being very home sick.
Another job that I had was working at Rockhill Bowling Alley setting pins before all of the automation was available. Setting pins is a lost art today, as we would work two alleys at the same time straddling the petition between the lanes with our legs high in the air. We would first pick up the pins that were knocked down and then send the ball back to the bowler. One time when I was new, I sent the ball back before picking up the pins and then looked up to see the ball coming right at me. After this near miss I always sent the ball back after the pins were secured. We earned 10 cents a line which meant that we could make a dollar if somebody would bowl 10 lines. I liked caddying better than setting pins because we were guaranteed $1.25 if you were picked to work.
I also worked at a neighborhood grocery store (Duff's Market) and I would make the deliveries on a bicycle which had a large basket in the front for carrying groceries. Duff was a hard man to work for as he was never satisfied with anything I did, so when anything would go wrong I just wouldn't say anything about it. I would pump the bike as fast as I could go, but he would always say, "Gadd, what took you so long?" Once I was delivering this large order and just as I was turning into the driveway of this home the bananas fell out of the basket and I rolled over them. I told the lady that I would bring her back some more bananas during my next delivery. As I was going out the door Duff said the new delivery didn't have any bananas to be delivered, so he removed them from the basket. I wanted to tell him what had happen, but I was afraid that I was going to lose my job. I later snuck bananas out the back door, but I felt so guilty for taking them that I told my dad what had happened. The next day he made me go to Duff and explain the situation, and to my surprise he was very nice about it. I always felt that he treated me better after this confession. Years later after I was married I walked into a small neighborhood market and there was Duff behind the counter. He had bought this store and I was pleasantly surprised how nice a man he was to talk to now that I was an adult. I couldn't believe that I had been so afraid of this man when I was a young teenager.
I also worked on the weekends at Safeway for a couple of years when I was in high school. This was during my junior and senior years so I would have been about 16 years old. I would start in the produce department opening crates and cutting produce until the checkers needed me up front to box or sack and carry groceries out to the cars. This was a job that paid $5.00 a day which allowed me to save enough money for dates and other teenage things.
I went to Central Junior High School for my 7th grade and freshman year, as there wasn't an eighth grade in the Kansas City district until after I had completed my freshman year. World War Il ended while I was attending Central Jr. as I was there from 1944 to 1946. I attended Central Senior High from 1947 until I graduated in 1949. I remember going out for Junior Varsity football my sophomore year in 1947. I weighed about 120 lbs, and I asked the coach if I could play against the varsity in practice as I seldom saw any action on the J.V. team. I thought this scrimmage would be a good experience and maybe the coach would be impressed by the way that I played. My football career ended when I tackled a varsity running back from the side and he proceeded to drag me for a first down after I had hit him several yards back. I was embarrassed because my friends started kidding me, but the coach told me that I just needed to gain some weight. I would try to eat a lot of ice cream whenever I could, but I just couldn't put on enough pounds. For the next two years I decided to concentrate on baseball and basketball.
At high school I rushed for the Central Jefferson Club which was one of several literary societies (clubs) at school. You had to have a 3.0 grade point average to be in the Jefferson's and you were nominated by other members and had to attend rush. Looking back it was more of a popularity contest, but at the time it was a lot of fun. I had my first date when I was a Jefferson with Patty Rose who was in our sister club, the Delphians. We went on a hayride together and I had my first real kiss. Even though she was very nice I didn't ask her out again, probably because I wasn't ready to start dating.
During my junior year I tried out for the J.V. basketball team, but I was cut on the last day of tryouts. This was a big disappointment so I decided to work on my game to improve my skills for the next season. My game did improve enough so that I was selected to play varsity basketball my senior year. It was such an honor to make varsity at a high school like Central which had an enrollment of over 2,000 students. I was very pleased that during the first part of the season I was receiving more playing time than several of the guys who had played varsity the previous year. This joy didn't last long as I received an "F' in Chemistry during January which made me ineligible for the rest of the season. This was my biggest disappointment in high school, and this is probably why I have preached the importance of working and studying hard in school to all seven of my children.
Baseball was easily my best sport so I tried out for the high school’s American Legion team (high schools in Kansas City didn't have varsity baseball) as a junior. Out of more than 30 guys trying out, I was one of 15 selected for the team. I was one of the youngest on the team and I had a lot of fun even though I played outfield (I wanted to play 3rd base) and batted near the bottom of the line up. It was great playing with these guys as the team easily won the league, and I have often wondered what happen to most of these ballplayers. I don't ever remember my folks missing one of my games! This meant a lot to me even though at times I would be embarrassed because most of the other player's parents hardly were ever in the stands. The other ball players would kid me and give me a hard time, but I loved my parents being there to support me. I'm sure that this is one of the reasons that I would always do everything in my power to attend each of my children's games or other functions while they were growing up.
When I was about 17 years old, our family had a frightening evening one night when we received a phone call that Dick and several of his buddies had been in a serious car wreck across the state line at Wyandotte County Park in Kansas. We were also told that several boys had been killed. We were so scared thinking that Dick was one of the fatalities. When we arrived at the hospital we were notified that two of Dick's friends had died and another boy was in serious condition. I will never forget how thankful we were when we were told that Dick wasn't with this group, because instead of going for a ride he had went over to a girlfriend's house to spend some time with her. We felt so bad for the other families, but we were all so relieved that Dick was all right.
I was anxious to learn to drive when I had my 16th birthday and dad would let me practice with the family 1947 Pontiac. I don't remember having to take a driving test although I did take an oral test at the Missouri DMV office in downtown Kansas City. While laying brick in the summer after my junior year, I was able to buy a 1930 Chevy which I drove during my senior year in high school. This car cost me $165 and I would drive it until it ran out of fuel. I would then find a way to earn a few dollars so I could buy some gas.
When my buddies were riding with me, I would ask them to chip in some money for fuel. I remember going to the gas station or filling station and asking for $1.00 worth of gas and 50 cents worth of oil. The oil wouldn't be new as it was drained from other cars, but it worked fine for me. I would take 4 or 5 guys to school each day from our neighborhood which was fun, as you could stack people into the car since there weren't belts to worry about. It actually was probably safer to drive back then, because the cars were built very solid. Today most modern automobiles are built with a lot of plastic, or fiberglass and they don't hold up even in a minor accident.
U.S. Navy
I graduated from Central High School in 1949 at the age of 17. I wanted to go to college like some of my friends, but my dad said that it was important that I get a job so that I would understand what hard work was all about. Again I have to remember that my dad had to quit school in the 7th grade to help support his family after his father was killed while working for the railroad. My mother also only had a 7th grade education as she needed to help out at home since her parents were divorced and her mother had serious health problems. I became an apprentice bricklayer after I graduated from high school in 1949, which meant I had to serve a 4 year apprenticeship to become a journeyman Brickmason.
I loved having a job so I could have my own spending money, plus I was able to pay room and board. After taxes I would clear $40 a week and I can still remember that I paid $15 a week for living at home. Dad agreed that the money that I paid would go to my mother so she could buy things for herself. I also remember that I was able to buy my mother an automatic dishwasher which made her so happy. The Gadd's had come a long way as I was raised with an ice box and now our family also had an electric refrigerator which dad had bought a few years before. Prior to buying the refrigerator, I remember how the Ice Man would come each week in his truck to deliver ice. My folks would put a sign in the window telling the man how many pounds of ice they would want for that week. The man would chip off pieces of ice for us to chew so we would stay out of his way. He would grab the ice with tongs which allowed him to put the ice on his back to be carried.
My dad was highly respected in bricklaying so he had little trouble finding work, but most contractors didn't want to be burdened with an apprentice. When my father was the foreman I would work for him, but this was difficult because he would give me the jobs that he didn't want to give to the journeymen brickmasons. These jobs were mostly working off of a swinging scaffold cleaning down the new construction with muriatic acid or working from a ladder to brick around joists underneath the roof. Dad did allow me to get some good experience working on the wall with the bricklayers, but if there were any chores that the journeymen didn't like I was expected to complete the task. To be fair, most apprentices should handle these jobs, but not every day. I felt that my dad had gone somewhat overboard as several bricklayers could complete in a few hours what would take me many days or weeks to finish.
After working in construction full time after graduating from high school I bought a 1941 Plymouth which I used for dates and to go to work each day. When I left for the Navy in 1951, I told my brothers Bob and Dick that they could drive the car. I explained to them that I would want to use the vehicle when I came home from boot camp. When I arrived home I was shocked as the car's transmission was completely ruined after only 12 weeks of use. My brothers said that they were able to power shift without using the clutch, so I knew what had happened to the transmission.
My brothers and I have always enjoyed each other's company and to this day I always look forward to visiting with them. We like to give each other a hard time and I am sure that this is annoying to people around us, but this kidding around is probably one of the reasons that we have stayed so close. Both of my brothers followed my footsteps in joining the Navy and both followed me in attending night school at Rockhurst College after their discharge from the service. The hardest part for me when I was transferred by Burroughs Welcome to the west coast was in being separated from my brothers whom I have missed a lot over the last 30+ years.
I had been working construction for a little over a year when the Korean War started in late 1950. Three of my buddies, Bob Maize, Don Howey, Dave Fricke, and I went down to enlist in the U. S. Marines in February, 1951. There were so many patriotic people enlisting that the Marines had a six month waiting list, so we went over to talk to the U.S. Navy recruiters to find out they also had a six month wait. We completed all of the paperwork which was the same for both services since the Marines are a branch of the Navy. The Navy contacted us about six weeks later to tell us that they had an opening for three recruits if we could leave in two days. They also said that Bob Maize's references showed that he had a police record so he wasn't eligible to enlist.
The three of us told everyone goodbye and we were on our way to San Diego for a 1 week boot camp on April 10, 1951. I was made a squad leader during the first week which meant that I had 12 guys reporting to me until we graduated from boot camp. Having the responsibility for these guys was my first opportunity to be a leader and I found that this experience gave me a lot of confidence. I loved the marching in boots and the competition between the different companies. Other than when I was playing in college, I don't think I have ever been in better shape than when I was in boot camp.
Several guys that I had met through Don and Dave at East High School were killed in the battle of Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. They had enlisted in the Marines in early 1951 which was several months before we left for boot camp. Dave, Bob and I were going to enlist in the Marines at that same time, but Don asked us to wait for him as he was having a problem with his girlfriend. The Marines were surrounded by the Chinese and the North Koreans and several divisions were wiped out. When the three of us heard the news about the 3 guys being killed, we couldn't believe that we had been so fortunate just because of Don having girl problems. God was really watching out for all of us!
After boot camp I reported to the U.S.S. Philippine Sea (CVA-47) which was an aircraft carrier (Essex Class) and I was assigned to an aviation division aboard ship. I was given the job of side cleaning while we were in port which meant that my task was to hang over the side of the ship to chip the rust off and then paint with navy gray. We worked off of a hanging rope scaffold with the flight deck being 56 ft. from the water line. Several guys freaked out! I had worked off of scaffolds that were 100 feet from the ground (10 story buildings) when I was laying brick so the height didn't bother me. After only a few weeks of side cleaning, I was asked to try out for the carrier's baseball team as some of their players were on leave. Much to my surprise I made the team and I was relieved of my side cleaning duties. This didn't make the officer in charge too happy, but I was ecstatic.
I couldn't believe that until we would leave for overseas, my main job for the next few months was to play baseball. This temporary assignment didn't last long as once we went overseas, my job was working with the flight crews. We played mostly Navy and Marine bases and other large ships. Again I wasn't the star of the team as most of the guys had played college, but this would prove to be a great experience for the future. I also tried out for the ship's basketball team and although in the beginning this team wasn't as talented as the baseball team, we started winning after a few new players transferred to the ship. In 1953 the team won the 11th Naval District Championship for Ships at Sea. Again this was a great experience for me as we had several players who had played in college. (Bill Mercer, Fred Knox, and Jim Lucas)
Prior to the start of the next season, Bill Mercer and I were asked to try out for the San Diego Naval Air Station basketball team. The team was called the "Skyraiders." Bill and I both made the team and we were T.A.D. (Temporary Attachment of Duty) from the carrier, and we were both assigned to Special Services. This was special because this division was where the entertainers and ball players were assigned during their stay away from regular duty. Again my job was to represent the San Diego Naval Air Base by playing basketball. From the first day I was in awe because the team had several college all conference players plus a 2nd team All American from Kentucky. His name was Bill Tussey and my claim to fame was that he asked me to shag his free throws in a national free throw contest. Bill shot 400 free throws to get to the finals, taking 100 shots each time and never making less than 97. He won the championship round by making 98 out of 100. The reason that he let me shag (retrieve) was that I had stayed after practice to rebound for him and he showed me how to give him a bounce pass to his chest after each shot. Even with all of the talent that this team had I remember that we completed the season in 2nd place because the Naval Training Station (NTC) had even more college players than we had. The team played several colleges and we defeated them all, because we had such depth. Our last game of the year was an exhibition with the Harlem Globe Trotters. The carrier and our air wing served over 3 years off the coast of Korea supporting the ground troops. This support from our carrier was in our planes making bombing runs from early each morning to late in the evening. We were in a naval task force which usually included 2 to 3 aircraft carriers, one battleship or two heavy cruisers, and 10 to 12 destroyers. Many days we worked from 12 to 16 hours each day, but we still had a warm dry place to sleep which was much better than the way the ground troops were living. This went on for 7 days a week and I remember not knowing what day it was until I would hear the church call on Sunday. After my 2nd tour, my youngest brother Dick transferred to the carrier from his ship which was a cruiser (USS Rochester) so that we could serve together for my last year overseas. I was a plane director for two tours aboard the carrier and prior to the start of my last cruise to the Far East I was promoted to the position of head director. I was a 2nd Class Petty Officer at the time, so I was made an acting 1st Class Petty Officer because the head director was required to be a 1st Class.
Shortly after I was given the position of acting 1st Class Petty Officer, Dick was promoted to Hangar Deck Control which meant he would tell me where the planes had to be spotted. Hangar Deck Control would tell me which planes were coming down the three elevators and which aircraft needed to be sent to the flight deck. My job was to do exactly what I was told to do by Hangar Deck Control. Even though I was in charge of over 80 men, and outranked my brother, he loved to give me orders over the P A system which was also fun for me. These instructions were humorous because he would tell me things like, "Can't you get your men to move any faster?" Dick would also say to me, "Do you want me to come down and show you how to do your job?" I would tell him that he had better be careful or he could find himself back on the U.S.S. Rochester where he had already served for over two years. I can't write some of the other things that we said to each other, but we had a lot of fun. This continuous kidding went on from early morning to late in the evening. Dick helped me a lot as I was under pressure to have the planes on the flight deck at the right time, and dealing with my brother made a difficult job a lot of fun.
Dick and I had our bunk beds right beside each other in our sleeping quarters. The bunks were 4 high so we were sleeping right against the overhead, (ceiling) so we had more privacy than most of the guys. This was nice because we could make sure that neither of us would oversleep when we were working those long hours. The only thing that could have even been better would have been having my other brother, Bob aboard the carrier running the print shop as he did aboard his Seaplane Tender (USS Pine Island). The three of us did get the chance to get together in Japan and the Philippines when our ships were in port together. I can honestly say I was never worried about any danger to myself, but I did worry about my brother Dick when he transferred to the ship. I was a pretty protective big brother.
Looking back on my time in the U.S. Navy, I realized that I left home as a 19 year old boy and I came back as a 23 year old man. The Navy didn't care if I went to chow or if I had a good night's sleep as long as I did my job. If you followed orders and stayed out of trouble you would get along fine. Many of the men were raised without discipline when they were young boys and they had a lot of trouble in the service. They wanted to make their own decisions such as staying on shore after their liberty had expired. This was called A. W.O.L. or absent without leave. I would see these guys in the brig for 30 to 60 days and eventually several of them were given a dishonorable discharge. I always felt sorry for these men as some of them didn't have a clue about how to stay out of trouble. Another guy that I met was running the ship stores which is the crew's store when you are out to sea. He had a system where he charged each customer an extra five cents for their supplies and he would sell cigarettes to the Japanese for twice the amount. He probably stole several thousand dollars, which led to him being prosecuted. He was sentence to serve 15 to 20 years in a federal prison. The U.S. Navy Intelligence Service had been watching him for several months.
I was given an Honorable Discharge on March 18th, 1955 which meant that I served 3 years, 11 months, and 8 days. While I was in the process of being discharged I was told that if I would stay in the Navy, I would be able to pick any station or ship in the fleet to serve on by re-signing for another 2 years. I was somewhat tempted as I really wanted to see Europe, but I was now married and the father of a son. This offer was available to everyone at the time, but I was ready to get on with the next phase of my life.
My Parents
My most difficult time in the Navy was when my mother passed away while I was overseas. My mother was a wonderful person and a fantastic lady whom I loved very much. She was everything that anyone would want in a mother. Although she had a limited education she had such an understanding of how to build a child's self worth and at the same time making them feel loved. My confidence (some people have said that I have to much) came from my mother as she told me and my brothers every day that she loved us and that we were good sons. Even though we didn't have a lot in the way of material things, we had so much more because of this woman. There was nothing more important to my mother than her family as she was always there for us. I can honestly say that I have never met anyone that didn't like my mother as she treated everyone so great. I loved my mother more than anyone could ever imagine and I wish that everybody could have a "Mom" like her!
My mother passed away after being sick for over a year on May 1st, 1953 at the age of 43 just a few days before her birthday on May 18th. She had a stroke in 1952 which I'm sure was the result of her having severe asthma for most of her life. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1909. We were told of her death just as the carrier that Dick and I were on had arrived back in Yokosuka, Japan after being off the coast of Korea for about 8 weeks. We would rotate back to Japan to pick up supplies and fuel and also to allow the ship's crew and squadrons the opportunity to get some R and R. (rest & relaxation) My brother Dick and I were notified of our mother's death by the ship's chaplain. Even though my mother had been sick, I couldn't believe that she had died at the age of forty three, and that I had lost my mother when I was 21 years old. I have sometimes wondered if my mother's stroke and then her death could have been partially due to the fact that myself and my two brothers were all away from home in the service at the same time. Dick and I were also told that only one of us could go home for the burial because of the war. I can't I thank my brother Dick enough for telling me that I should be the one to go home for m's funeral. My mother is buried several miles east of Kansas City at Floral Hills Cemetery in Raytown, Missouri.
My father was born December 15, 1909 in Lebanon, Missouri. He was a tough and hard working man who had the discipline that was needed to survive the depression. He was a man's man and I was proud to call him "my father". I have often said that my mother gave me my "self worth" while my dad gave me most of my "values". My dad didn't drink which was different than most brickmasons, as I would estimate that more than 90% would go to the tavern after work. When I started laying brick I only met a few men who didn't drink and that was because of religious reasons. Even though he didn't drink, dad was hooked on cigarettes. He started smoking when he had to go to work to help support his family. At 13 years old his dad was killed while working on the railroad. This smoking would eventually kill him as he developed emphysema and died on October 16, 1975 at 65 years of age after suffering for several years. My father is buried at Mission South Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas because he lived in this city for the last fifteen years of his life. Because my dad was so proud that he didn't use alcohol, I would never drink. On the other hand, I never smoked because I saw what tobacco did to him, and it was such a filthy habit.
Some of Dad's sayings were, "Whatever is worth doing is worth doing right", " Don't ever quit or give up", ”Treat other people the way that you would like to be treated", "You can do almost anything if you will only try", “Your honor is at stake if you owe someone money or you have made a promise, so don't ever go back or your word", “You always pay your own way", "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all.”
I stood up to my father once as if I was going to hit him. He told me that I would have to leave the house if I even acted like I was going to swing on him. He said that I would be O.K after missing one meal, but I would be pretty hungry after missing my second. I never doubled up my fist again to my dad! My father had a temper at times and he demanded respect. He also wouldn't hesitate to spank you if you didn't mind. He was a good family man and provider as I remember how hard he worked outside in some bad weather conditions. I became very close to my dad when I was laying brick as we rode to work each day and talked about everything. I admired the way other men looked up to him, as he was respected by everyone. I loved my dad very much!
Discipline in the family has changed since I was raised in the 30's as we were expected to do exactly what we were told to do. A lot of children back then were raised with the concept that "Children were to be seen and not heard", which I don't agree with as a child needs interaction with adults. We would be spanked if we didn't follow our parents orders and no one was concerned about child abuse. I wish that there could be a happy medium between spanking a child and being abusive. I really feel that a spanking at the right time can help a child know the difference between right and wrong. An old saying, "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child" many times can make a lot of sense. On the other hand, I know some parents abuse their children and I don't condone this behavior. Today you hear children not only raise their voices to their parents, but they will tell their folks to “Shut up!” Because of the way that I was raised, I would never allow my children to talk to me in a disrespectful way. The respect issue was never a problem with Mike, Cathy, Patty, or Rebecca, but it is confusing to Jeff, Kevin and Brett because they have heard their friends talk back to their parents.
Being raised in the 1930s has really helped me appreciate and enjoy all of the technology advances in the last 50 to 60 years. My parents had one radio, one telephone and one bathroom in our small home on 26th street in Kansas City. I remember that there were several families that didn't have a telephone or a radio. Today most homes have several televisions, two or three phones and at least two bathrooms. The home that we are now living in on 2508 Wilde Avenue, Pleasanton has 4 televisions, 6 telephones, and 4 bathrooms. Many individuals have a car phone, a cell phone and they are probably on E Mail, or Voice Mail in their businesses. If you call an 800 number for a business you will get several recordings instead of talking to a person. You are told to push different numbers depending on what information you need and if you're lucky you can sometimes talk to an individual at the particular business you have called. You can also be sitting with someone at a restaurant and their cell phone will ring so now your private conversation has been interrupted. I still have a hard time knowing that it is possible to order different services on the computer as it seems like you can do almost anything on the Internet.
I married Marilyn Sue Reese after my first overseas tour. We had dated during our senior year of high school in 1949 until we broke up the next year. When I went into the service she was dating another guy so I didn't think there was a chance of us getting back together. I came home on leave in 1951 and after hearing that she had broken off her relationship with this other man, we became engaged. I remember only having a 5 day leave before going back overseas so we decided that we would be married during my next leave which would be more than a year away. I came home in August, 1952 and we were married. Marilyn came with me to live in the Navy housing that was available in San Francisco. This was a fun time as several couples from the carrier were also living in the same housing. I remember that none of us had any money so we couldn't do anything, but play cards, etc. My navy pay was $80.00 a month, until I made Petty Office and then I was making $120.00 each pay day. This living arrangement in San Francisco didn't last long (approx. 3 months) because the carrier was going back to the Far East. For the next two years Marilyn and I were together only about 2-3 months and away from each other for about 10 months each year until I was discharged in 1955.
Mike, Cathy, Patty, and Rebecca
We had four fantastic children during our marriage. Their names are Michael Eugene, Catherine Ellen, Patricia Diane, and Rebecca Sue. Their lives growing up weren't always easy as they were raised alot like I was, which means that they had to mind and respect their parents. I was very strict with them, but after the way they have turned out I guess their mother and I did a pretty good job. I am very proud of each of them for graduating from college, and having career positions in the workforce. I am also pleased that they all turned out to be good citizens. They have given me seven beautiful grandchildren at last count. I love Mike, Cathy, Patty, and Rebecca very much and I love and adore their children. I wish that I could spend more time with them, but I know that they are busy with their families and jobs.
Michael Eugene was born on September 8, 1954 at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. I was overseas when Mike was born so I didn't see him until he was several months old, but I thought about him every day until I could hold him in my arms. I didn't want to call my son Eugene Wilfred, so we gave him my first name as his middle name. Mike is intelligent, athletic, caring and he has a good work ethic. Mike played varsity basketball, baseball, and ran cross country at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. Mike graduated from Cal State, Chico with a P E. degree. Mike was also the welterweight boxing champion at Cal State, Chico, and he never lost a match when I was in attendance. He quit boxing after graduation even though he was asked to go on to the National Boxing Championships. Mike had it tough growing up as he was the oldest, plus I was his coach in football, basketball, and baseball and my high expectations made it very hard on him. Mike married Anne Gildea after meeting her at Chico State, and this has worked out great as Anne is from Livermore. They have two beautiful children, Emily Anne and Brian Reese. Mike has worked in management for both Terminix and Clark pest control companies. He was the manager for Terminix's Yuba City office before being employed by Clark. He worked in the field for Clark a short time before being promoted to a manager. Mike and Anne own their own home in Sacramento, California.
Catherine Ellen was born on August 18, 1957 at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. I was so excited about having a daughter that I would wake her up every night after I would get home from night classes at Rockhurst College. Marilyn and I liked Cathy for a name, but we also wanted to give this baby girl the middle name of Ellen in honor of my mother. Cathy is very personable, intelligent, attractive and athletic. She was also very competitive when growing up as she wouldn't let anyone beat her at anything. I remember when Cathy was in high school that boys would come to the house to play ping pong and she would always win. Cathy was a song leader and a cheerleader plus she played varsity tennis while a student at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. She also competed in the “Miss Pleasanton" beauty contest. Cathy worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming during summer vacation in high school. She graduated from Cal State, Chico with a Communication degree and she has been employed at the Lawrence Livermore Lab working in security. Before Cathy worked at the Lab she sold furniture at Valley Furniture in Livermore. She married Russ Hastings and they are very proud of their beautiful daughter named Rachael Alexandria. Russ was raised in Livermore and he and Cathy have a Firestone store in both Livermore and Dublin. Cathy and Russ own their home in Livermore, California.
Patricia Diane was born on November 29, 1959 at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. I was standing by the hospital elevator when the physician who delivered Patty walked up to me and said, "your daughter is really put together well." He said that most babies were very scrawny, but your little girl is built. Her mother and I both loved the name of Patty and we wanted a middle name that would go with Patricia. I believe that Diane was the perfect choice. Patty is attractive, intelligent, very sensitive, athletic and very personable. I always feel bad for Patty as she inherited my allergies, although they should get better with age. I remember when Patty was young she would get tears in her eyes watching a movie, just like her dad. Patty was a song leader and head flag at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. Patty also worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming at Pleasanton Meadows. She first met her husband, Kevin when they both were lifeguards. Patty graduated from Cal State, Chico with a major in Fashion Merchandising. She had worked as a manager for Macy's before becoming a school teacher in Tracy, CA for the last few years. She married Kevin Santin and they are the proud parents of two beautiful children, Eric Robert and Kelsey Dianne. Kevin was raised in Pleasanton and he also attended Amador Valley High School. When I look at Kelsey, it is hard not to call her Patty as they look so much alike. Patty and Kevin own their home in Livermore, CA
Rebecca Sue was born on February 7, 1963 at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. She was born with a hernia and when she had to have it repaired it was really hard, as I didn't want her to go through surgery when she was so young. I always loved the name of Rebecca, and we decided to give her Marilyn's middle name of Sue. I also liked the nick name of Becky, but in college she asked all of us to only call her Rebecca. Rebecca is attractive, personable, athletic, and aggressive plus she has a good work ethic. She would always stick up for herself. I remember Rebecca chasing her sisters when she got mad at them even though they were several years older. Rebecca was a cheerleader and she played basketball at Foothill High School in Pleasanton. Rebecca was also a lifeguard and she taught swimming at several different pools in Pleasanton. Rebecca graduated from Cal State, Chico with a major in Elementary Education. When Rebecca was young, I would never have to remind her about following up on a job application or anything else. She doesn't procrastinate. She taught school for two years in Woodland, CA and has been teaching in Moraga, CA for several years. She married Jon Walker and they are also the proud parents of two beautiful children, Cameron Christopher and Austin Scott. Jon was raised in Lafayette and met Rebecca while they both attended Chico State. Rebecca and Jon own their home in Danville, California.
College Years
When I returned to civilian life in April, 1955 I was very fortunate that I was able to resume my brick mason apprenticeship. Although my dad was now living in San Antonio, Texas, I was able to work for a good contractor. (Morris Hoffman Co.) The bricklaying foreman was a man named Al Stonger whom I liked working for as he was a wonderful person and a great teacher.
I started attending College at night in September, 1955. I had wanted to go to a University when I had graduated from Central High School in 1949, but additional education wasn't important to my family at that time. My father told me that I needed to get a job, so that I would understand how hard it is to make a living. When I was in the Armed Forces I met so many men who had attended a University, that I felt that it might be possible for me to attend college when I was discharged. Even though I had several years remaining on my apprenticeship, I made one of the best decisions ever when I enrolled at Rockhurst College night school. I took 10 units a semester while working full time as a brick mason. This was very difficult as I would leave the house each morning before 7AM, and get home at approx. 5:30 PM. I then would have to be in class by 6:10 PM. The classes lasted until 10:30 PM, but they were only 3 nights a week (Mon/Wed/Fri) so I had Tuesday and Thursdays and the weekend for studying. In 3 years I had 60 college credits which was almost 2 full college years. The requirement was 128 units to graduate.
At this time of my life I made another important decision. That was to quit laying brick (I was now a journeyman) so that I could go to college full time and work towards a degree. I had saved about $600 and I was told by the bricklaying foreman, Al Stonger that he would hire me part time which would help me in paying the bills. I had so much confidence in myself during this time of my life that I even bought a home in Kansas City. Then I decided to enroll at the University of Kansas City (now the University of Missouri at Kansas City) to major in Business. Because of my bricklaying and the G.I. Bill for veterans, I was able to pay for all of my tuition without taking out any loans. The G.I. Bill paid $120 each month which wasn't a lot of money, but it did give me some breathing room. I have always wonder about people who say that they can't afford to go to college, yet they have never tried to come up with a plan to pay for their education.
I was now laying brick 1 or 2 days a week, and I started to sell Wearever Cookware whenever I could sign up for appointments. This was the busiest time of my life as I also decided to play college baseball and basketball while I was working construction and selling Wearever. When I didn't have enough money to pay my bills, I would go out and sell 2 or 3 sets of cookware which gave me a 20% commission. In just a few months of selling cookware, I became the number one salesman in the Kansas City division for Alcoa Aluminum which was Wearever's parent company. I also joined the Delta Chi Fraternity because I thought this would help me get a career position after graduation.
I studied for my Missouri Real Estate license my senior year in college and after passing the board, I sold for the Hank Riffe Co. I also worked in retail for Emery Bird Thayer department store in downtown Kansas City which also helped me get anv"A" in my retail class. After selling cooking utensils, real estate and men's wear, I knew that I could have a career in sales if I didn't land a coaching job.
While at the University Of Kansas City I played varsity baseball and was honored to be named captain of the team during my senior year. I had a good year as I batted over .330 and played every outfield position in a winning season. I was named first team all league along with my teammate Joe Haynes. In basketball I didn't have the same success even though I played varsity both years. I never started one game! This was a major disappointment in addition to the fact that I usually was the 2nd player off the bench. Coach Brummit always felt that at 6'2" I was too small to play a wing but I had shown him during the preseason that I could stay with the bigger players. The coach told me after the season that he should have played me more, but since I was a senior he wanted to give the players who were underclassmen more game experience. That really didn't help me feel any better, because I knew that I could have helped the team more than the other players. This would have been especially true in the tight ball games that were decided by one or two points.
I remember that my roommate on the road was our 7 foot center. Although he was listed at 7 feet in the program, I thought he was closer to 6'10" or 6'11. He had a hard time traveling, because he would have to put a chair at the end of the bed with a pillow so that he could stretch his legs out. His name was Phil Fleming and he was very shy about talking to the ladies. Once he was attracted to this girl standing in line at the student union, but he wouldn't go over and talk to her. I went over to tell her that my buddy wanted to meet her, but she also was pretty shy and I couldn't get her to go and meet Phil. Finally after much persuasion I introduced them and they were married when Phil graduated. I have often wanted to see how tall their children were since she was at least 5’10”.
I received my Business degree in May of 1961 from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. I was 28 years old with three children when I graduated. I don't want to come across as bragging, but I am proud that I was the 1st Gadd to receive a college degree. My mother and father both had to quit school in the 7th grade for family reasons. My brother, Bob was the 2nd Gadd to graduate from college, and Dick would have graduated if his business wouldn't have taken him out of town. My four older children (Mike, Cathy, Patty, and Rebecca) have all earned a university degree. Hopefully, the three younger boys (Jeff, Kevin, and Brett) will all graduate from college in the next few years.
Earlier I had written about some of the economical and social changes that have taken place since I was raised. Now I would like to discuss some of the changes that has happened in sports. First and probably most important is that ball players are larger and stronger than the athletics were in the 1940s and 1950s, primarily because of weight training and diet. Baseball has probably changed the least, as far as the rules. The biggest change in baseball has been the addition of the designated hitter in some leagues. Football is different primarily because as I stated earlier everyone is bigger and quicker. In football having players play only offense or defense has made the game better. Basketball has changed the most as players are taller, but even more important are the rule changes which have had a great impact on the game. The 3 point shot and the 35 second shot clock have made the game faster. Back in the 1970s they wouldn't allow a basketball player to dunk the ball, but that rule was changed a few years later. You don't see as much half court offense today since every team tries to push the ball up court on almost every possession. The increase in dribbling skills has also helped the game as most players today can dribble the ball behind their back and between their legs. We were never allowed to shoot from the outside as the strategy was to work the ball inside to your center especially if you had a size advantage. We would have been benched if we would have dribbled between our legs or shot anything longer than a 12 or 15 foot jump shot.
Another important consideration is that ball players in the 1940s only played their sport during the season. Now days high school basketball players play ball year round and some go to basketball camps and everyone has to play in summer league or they can't play during the season. My four sons, Brett, Kevin, Jeff and Mike all had superior ball handling and shooting skills compared to me. I excelled in rebounding, blocking out, and driving to the basket and playing tough on defense.
I still feel that we could have competed today because of the way we were raised and our attitude about pain was different as bumps and bruises weren't important. Today young people have been raised by their parents who want to give them everything, while we were loved in a different way. Most children are a lot softer which isn't their fault, as their parents are responsible. I strongly believe that in basketball my generation would have won most games, even though we didn't have the same shooting or ball handling skills. Our strength would have been in the way we set hard screens and by blocking out on the defensive boards. We also would have tried for higher percentage shots, and I feel that this could have been accomplished with a shot clock. This is only conjecture, but I wish that it was possible to go back in time so that I could prove my theory.
Burroughs Wellcome
When I graduated from U.M.K.C. I had thought that my Delta Chi contacts would help me get a good job, but it was my baseball playing that helped me more. The placement director, Mr. Fencil at the University was a great fan of the ball team. He allowed me to have an interview with Burroughs Wellcome Pharmaceutical Company. I never would have received the interview without Mr. Fencil as you had to be a science major to talk to any of the pharmaceutical companies. Two companies interviewed on campus with the other one being Parke Davis. I wanted to talk to Burroughs Welcome since one of my buddies on the ball team, Jerry Fair had started with them in 1960. Jerry had graduated with a Biology major. He raved about how good Burroughs Wellcome was to work for, plus he said that they also had a great training program.
I interviewed with the Kansas City manager, Pete Peterson, and he told me that he didn't think that I could handle the training without having a science background. I told him that if he gave me the chance, I would be one of the companies top sales reps., not only in my district, but in the country. He turned and looked me in the eye and said, "Do you really believe that you could be one of our top salesmen?" I answered back that I had been successful at whatever I had tried and I would guarantee my success, if he would give me the chance to prove it to him. He agreed to test me and although I didn't get a real high score on the science portion, I did extremely well on the sales part, so he sent me back to Tuckahoe. New York for my final interview. Again I was tested which gave me the opportunity to do better on the science and I scored even higher on the sales test. During the meetings in New York I was told that they also had concerns about me, but after the final interview I was given the Sacramento, Calif. territory since there weren't any openings in Kansas City.
I started working on probation with Burroughs Welcome at $450 a month on April 10, 1961 and started Basic Training in Boston, Mass. that day. Again I did very well on the sales part of the training, although the science product knowledge was very difficult for me. There were 6 of us in basic training and several guys were pharmacists. Their help in class and during the study sessions was very valuable. After 3 weeks of training I was sent to San Francisco for Field Training, which included working with my manager and 4 territory trainers. After about 4 months in the field, I was sent back to Tuckahoe, New York for a month of advanced training. Two of the guys in basic training didn't make it to advanced training because they had been fired by their manager. I missed my college graduation because I was in training in May of 1961. I was very excited about moving my family from Kansas City to Sacramento as I had been gone from home off and on for over 6 months while I was in training.
I enjoyed being a representative in Sacramento because I worked with an older BW&Co. representative whose name was Andy Boothe. He taught me so much about pharmaceutical sales and his rapport was so good with his doctors and pharmacists that I aspired to be just like him. He later became my district manager and was the man who recommended me to be promoted to a field trainer which happened in 1964. From 1962 until 1967 I was the top producing sales rep. in the district in deal sales, and my friend Dale Sharrah and I were # 1 in wholesale dollar sales. I was rewarded by being promoted to Field Supervisor in 1968. I was then promoted to District Sales Manager for the Bay Area in 1969 which also included Hawai. I promoted Dale Sharrah to Senior Rep. in Hawai about a year after I became a District Manager.
We moved to Pleasanton, California from Sacramento after I completed my probation and was promoted to Manager from Field Supervisor. Mike, Cathy, Patty, and Rebecca adapted to the area and the schools in just a few months.
Several years after being promoted and moving to Pleasanton, I was elected president of the Amador Valley High School Athletic Booster Club where I served for 3 years. This position was a lot of hard work because the booster club had gone downhill for several years before I accepted the challenge. I made sure that I had a good board of directors so that I had key people in all positions. Our Mission Statement included ways to raise money for the athletic program which covered all sports. We also gave several college scholarships to deserving athletics. The principal, athletic director, and coaches would attend our meetings. After 3 years I stepped down and the new president and his board continued the program. Today the AVHS Booster Club is still an outstanding organization.
Mitzie
I married Marianne Elizabeth ("Mitzie") Turner after Marilyn and I divorced and we have been blessed by three great sons, Jeffrey Robert, Kevin Eugene, and Brett Richard. Mitzie is very sensitive and she also is very bright. Mitzie was a nurse at Stanford University Hospital for 15 years before deciding to go back to college so she could become a marriage and children's therapist. She was named Psychology student of the year at Cal State Hayward. She also had straight A's in all of her undergraduate and masters classes. Mitzie has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Counseling from California State University Hayward. She also has a nursing degree. I am very proud of what Mitzie has accomplished as she now has a very successful marriage and family therapy practice in Pleasanton. When we moved to Oregon, she canceled her practice in California which upset quite a few of her clients. When we moved back to California and the word was out about her return, she had a full schedule within several weeks.
Mitzie and I are best friends, probably because we have so much in common. Our values on religion, politics, morals and most importantly on how to raise children are the same. Also we both love our sons very much. We are both doers and neither of us will procrastinate on anything. We are the type of people that hang pictures on the day that we moved in to our last three homes, and we always put everything away when we come back from a trip, even if it's two o'clock in the morning. I also writes checks for our bills on the day that they are received by mail at our home.
I quit eating red meat in about 1985 as I found myself on the road having bacon for breakfast, a roast beef sandwich for lunch, and a steak in the evening. Although I am 6 feet, 2 inches tall, I weighed over 210 lbs. which was too much for my medium bone frame. When I quit eating red meat I dropped my weight down to about 190 lbs and I have stayed pretty close to that ever since. I like to eat a lot of pasta, salads and fruit which is much different from the way that I grew up. I try to avoid eating any meat for lunch unless Mitzie and I go out to a restaurant. I would like to think that my overall health has improved.
Jeff, Kevin, and Brett
Jeff, Kevin, and Brett have become very close to each other, even though there is more than 6 years difference in age. Jeff looks out for his brothers and likes to loan them clothes, money, etc. Jeff is also very proud of his brothers accomplishments in athletics and he doesn't like to miss their ball games. Kevin and Brett also look up to Jeff and their favorite activity is to be able to hang out with him at his apartment. Jeff recently told his mother and I that Kevin and Brett were his two best friends.
Jeffrey Robert was born on June 21, 1974 at Stanford Univ. hospital in Palo Alto, CA. He was born one month premature and it really bothered me to see all the tests that Stanford hospital did to him during those first few days of his life. Jeff is intelligent, athletic, caring and very personable. Mitzie and I both liked the name Jeff, and we decided on Robert for the middle name in honor of my brother Bob, and Mitzie's brother and dad who both have the name of Bob. He graduated from Valley Christian High School in 1992. He played varsity basketball where he set a school record for three point field goals. He played varsity soccer and played second and third base as well as shortstop during his two year baseball career. Jeff was only the second athletic in Valley Christian High School history to make All League in three sports. Jeff was the captain of the high school baseball, basketball and soccer teams. He also was student body president his senior year. He was named student of the year by the Rotary Club of Dublin. Jeff will be completing his college degree at Cal State Hayward, where he plans to major in Business. After working in the Deli at Club Sport in Pleasanton he was promoted into management. Recently (1998) he was promoted again to supervisor of the closing managers. Club Sport is one of the largest Athletic Clubs in Northern California. Jeff was honored as "Employee of the Year" at a recent club banquet. This was a wonderful honor because Club Sport has many employees.
Kevin Eugene was born June 13, 1980 at Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore, CA Mitzie and I were having trouble coming up with the right name for the new baby as we thought we might have a girl. We both liked the name Kevin and we agreed that Eugene would be the perfect middle name. Kevin has always been a lot of fun because he doesn't old back on anything as you always know exactly how he feels about everything. Kevin is very sensitive, intelligent and athletic plus he has a great sense of humor. Kevin played varsity baseball, basketball and soccer at Valley Christian High School in Dublin, CA. When Kevin was a sophomore he was captain of the J.V. basketball team. He also was presented his varsity letter for baseball at the sports banquet when he was a sophomore. His junior year he was a starting outfielder for the V.C.H.S Viking baseball team. Kevin was given the "Most Improved" award for varsity at the basketball sports banquet during his junior year. Kevin has a gift for getting up and talking in front of people, and I am hoping that someday he will give theater a try. Kevin has always been the dramatic one in the family. People still talk about his speech at my retirement dinner. He worked at the Ruby Hills Golf Club during his sophomore year, and he has worked the last two summers at the TCBY yogurt store in Pleasanton. He was hired recently to work at the Club Sport Athletic Club in Pleasanton. He will graduate from high school in 1999.
Brett Richard was born on November 24, 1981 at Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore, CA Brett was kept in the hospital for several extra days because he wouldn't wet his diaper. I had been a Kansas City Royals fan at the time, so we thought the name of Brett would be a good choice. This was because George Brett was the "All Star" 3rd baseman for the Royals. Mitzie and I gave Brett the middle name of Richard in honor of my brother Dick in Kansas City. Brett is very intelligent, athletic and popular with his school friends, plus he has a great work ethic. Brett started every Freshman and J.V. basketball game while playing at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. When Brett was a sophomore he was given the Amador J.V. basketball "Coaches Award" for his leadership and scoring. During his freshman year, Brett was awarded “Most Valuable" on the J.V. Tennis team and he was also captain of the Freshman basketball team. Brett has transferred to Valley Christian High School so that he can graduate from the same school as his brothers Jeff and Kevin. He will play varsity soccer, basketball and baseball at Valley Christian Brett has a special talent in art, and he enjoys working with the computer which should be helpful in whatever field he chooses. Brett also has the ability to sit down and put anything together after reading instructions. Brett is now working at Club Sport. He will graduate from high school in the year 2000.
As a Burroughs Welcome Manager, I was fortunate to work for several good people. My last supervisor was Jerry Slater and I learned a lot from him about how to manage a 25 million dollar business. For several years, my district was number one in the region, but we had a hard time tracking dollars. For the last few years of my career, we finally had computer sales by Zip Code on D.D.D., and I am proud to say that before I retired the district was number one in sales for the pharmaceutical division for the entire country. D.D.D (Drug Distribution Data) would give us sales for each product from each pharmacy in each zip code. We only bought the data for each zip code, and not from each pharmacy because of the cost. The data that the company bought did give us accurate prescription sales for each territory, district and region in the country. Being number one nationally was a great honor as it was announced at our national meeting and it gave Mitzie and I a week with the President's Club in Hawaii. I just wished that our sales could have been tracked by zip code during my entire B. W.&Co. career.
While I was managing the Bay Area for Burroughs Welcome I was fortunate that I hardly traveled my last few years with the company. Early in my selling career I was on the road 3 out of every 4 weeks. I did do a lot of traveling to Manager's meetings, and to National Sales Meetings. When I first started with the company we didn't have National Meetings, so I didn't see several guys that I started with until we had a visiting class seven years later. The modern company was different as we had a national sales meeting twice each year which was a great way to renew friendships. During my more than 30 years of traveling I have been in every state other than Alaska, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Alabama. I was fortunate to be able to see most of the United States and to stay at many beautiful hotels. Mitzie was able to join me for the last 15 years and three of our trips included Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Cancun, Mexico.
I worked with the company until September, 1994, and when I retired I was given a fantastic party by my representatives, other managers, family and friends. My proudest moment was in having all seven of my children at the party so everyone could see what I had been working for all these years.
The cost of living has gone up several hundred percent in the last 40 years along with salaries. My first house payment in 1955 was $88.00 a month and I was making approx $500.00 a month working as a brick mason in Kansas City. In 1961 when I started with Burroughs Welcome at $450.00 a month, my house payment in Sacramento was $135.00 each month. I lost some in salary with BW, but I knew that I would more than catch up in a couple of years. When I was promoted in 1968 and moved to Pleasanton, my salary was increased to $1,000 a month. My house payment went from $135.00 each month to $350.00. When Mitzie and I were married, our house payment on Cope Court was $640.00 a month. Our house payments on Corte Libre in 1981 were $1,500.00 month and I was earning $3,500 a month. When I retired in 1994 my Burroughs Wellcome income was approx. $120,000 to $130,000 a year depending on my sales bonuses. Our house payment in Bend, Oregon was $2,700 a month. We now have a house payment of $3,400 each month for our new home at 2508 Wilde Ave. in Pleasanton.
I remember that my dad had a problem when I bought the home in Sacramento for $135.00 each month. He said that I was taking a big chance paying that much for a 30 year loan. In 1997 people are paying over $900.00 a month rent for some one and two bedroom apartments in Pleasanton. My grandchildren will probably look at my Burroughs Welcome yearly income someday, and say I wonder how Grandpa Gadd was able to make it on that amount of money. I hope and pray that they all will be blessed like I have been.
After retiring from Burroughs Welcome in September, 1994, Mitzie and I decided to sell our home in Pleasanton. We wanted to move to either Arizona, Colorado, or Oregon as we had always wanted to try living somewhere else. We planned to visit each area before making up our mind. Mitzie had corresponded with several cities in each of the above states, and the Chamber of Commerce made each town look very attractive. Because Steve Schliesser, our financial advisor, had clients in Bend, Oregon, we decided to visit this city first. Mitzie and I both agreed that we wouldn't make a decision until we had seen each state.
We went out with our realtor in Bend and after seeing several properties, she took us to a beautiful country club called Broken Top. We both fell in love with the area and decided that we should buy a lot and get several bids from local contractors to build our own home. The promise that Mitzie and I made to each other about not buying a home until we had seen all of the areas didn't hold up after seeing all of the beautiful scenery in Oregon. On the way to Bend we had also stopped in Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass, Oregon to see what these towns had to offer. We hired Don McPrang a local architect who designed a beautiful home for us and then we awarded the construction bid to Steve Berg of Sound Construction. Both of these choices were excellent as Steve built a fantastic home for us on the 4th fairway at Broken Top Country Club. This was the home of our dreams and we had everything that we had ever wanted.
Living in Bend, Oregon was a great experience for our whole family and we all benefited from the move. Jeff had a good job at the athletic club and he attended junior college. He also played golf several days a week. Kevin found out that he could compete in school and sports at Mountain View High School which was a large public school with over 2200 students. Kevin finished the school year with a grade point average of over 3.75. plus he had a lot of good friends. Brett attended Cascade Junior High where there were over 900 in the student body. Brett was a straight "A" student and he was honored by being selected as Scholar Athlete of the year for the student body. I was pleased that the boys could acclimate to their new schools and also in finding new friends. This move seemed to give each of our sons confidence in knowing that they could adapt to a new location and experience besides Pleasanton. Mitzie had just finished her written and oral boards for her Marriage and Family Counseling, so she was in need of a breather after all of her preparation and studying. I myself was looking forward to living in another state other than California as I wanted to get away from all of the population growth and the traffic.
Our home in Bend was about 20 minutes from the ski resort at Mount Bachelor and the area was so beautiful that we thought we would stay in Oregon for the rest of our lives. Jeff decided to move back to Pleasanton, and we were really missing our other children and grandchildren. We found out that it wasn't easy to drive back and forth especially when the highways started getting icy. We missed every birthday for the grandchildren after agreeing that we would try to come back for each one. I also didn't like having to shovel the snow from the driveway each morning, especially with our house being 70 to 80 feet from the street. Mitzie enjoyed the snow on the beautiful trees surrounding the property, but I was reminded of my childhood in the midwest where it snowed and was freezing all winter. Mitzie also felt that she shouldn't be so far away from her parents who were in their mid 70s so we contacted a realtor to list our home. Mitzie and I had both agreed that if either of us wanted to move back to California within the first year we would respect each other's wishes. Our family had a great year in Oregon, but because of our family and friends in Pleasanton we knew that we made the right decision when we moved back in July, 1996. We now think of our move to Oregon as a one year vacation.
We didn't find out until after we sold our house that the average time to sell a home in Bend, Oregon in our price range was 2 1/2 years. We had already committed to buying a house back in Pleasanton thinking that our home was going to sell like the houses in California. We sold our home in about 6 months, so we know that the Lord was with us! Mitzie and I both like moving to new areas and we enjoy making a fresh start, although along with a new start comes a certain amount of risk. Since we have been married, we have sold 4 houses and bought S homes. We have been truly blessed as we have made money on several homes and broken even on our most recent sale and purchase. We have always had somewhat of a demand for our houses, probably because Mitzie does an outstanding job of decorating.
Reflecting back on our move up north, we had been told by many Californians that the residents in Oregon wouldn't like people moving in from California. We found that the opposite was true. The Broken Top Country Club where we lived wasn't a good test since more that one half of the residents were retired Californians. The people that we knew who were raised in Oregon became some of our best friends. It is true that home prices did go up, although a young couple can still buy a house for under $100,000. Californians are moving to Oregon, but Californians are also paying more than their share of taxes which are improving the schools, roads, etc. The Oregon natives like the new shopping centers and the many businesses that are moving into Bend, Oregon. We had heard so many horror stories when we decided to move to Bend, but we found out that they were just stories. There may be ill feelings toward Californians in Portland and along the coast, but we didn't have this experience in Bend, Oregon. As I stated earlier, I was very active in our church growing up, but it was more the thing to do as a young boy. Because we wanted more discipline than what Jeff had at his elementary school, we decided to send him to Valley Christian School in Dublin, CA This was a private church school that was big on the 3 Rs and discipline. Mitzie and I liked everything about the school except the emphasis on religion, although we both understood that the school was affiliated with the church. Jeff at age seven started telling us about the love of Jesus and asked Mitzie and I if we would go to church. After being turned off for several years we decided in 1982 to start attending Valley Christian Church in Dublin, where we were taught bible scripture by a wonderful teacher and pastor. His name was Ward Tandenberg or "Pastor T" as he was called by the members. The church is located high in the Dublin hills which gives you such a beautiful view of the whole valley.
I will never forget one Thanksgiving church service, when "Pastor T" passed the microphone around so that people in the congregation could share what they had to be thankful for. Our son Jeff' grabbed the mike to announce to the congregation that he was thankful that, "Jesus had died on the cross for our sins". I can honestly say, from that moment on I wanted to know more about the Lord. This would turn out to be another good decision for me. Since I made the commitment to have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I have had such a peace about me. I know that if I were to die today I would be with the Lord, and that has given me great comfort. I am so thankful that Jeff taught me about the love of Jesus, and that he asked Mitzie and I to pray and to go to church. Along with my family, (seven children, seven grandchildren and Mitzie) my faith has become the most important part of my life. I also know that my prayers have been answered so many times over the years. I believe that Jesus knew I would have a personal relationship with him even before I did. This has to be the reason that my family and I have been blessed so many times over my lifetime. All 1 can say is, "Thank you Lord", and I love you!
In 1988, "Pastor T and the church board asked me to serve on the Valley Christian School Board. We had an enrollment of over 1200 students with the Preschool, Elementary, Junior High and the High School. After serving for two years, I was asked by the other board members and "Pastor T" to be the chairman of the school board. These were difficult times as I had to have the principal at the high school replaced because he wasn't taking care of school business. Many people in the church didn't want me to make the change, but I felt that I had to do what was best for the high school. Looking back everyone agrees that I had made the right decision, but at the time it was difficult because this man was a member of the church family. I served for 4 years on the school board.
Although I had a career in pharmaceutical sales, I have always had a love for coaching sports to children and also adults. I tried to get into the coaching profession after I graduated from college. I visited several high schools in the Kansas City area looking for an opportunity. I found some interest at the high school that I had attended which was Central High even though I had changed my major from Physical Education to Business during my last two years in college. What I discovered after several interviews was that teachers were seriously underpaid, and although money wasn't everything, I needed to support a family which already included three children. If I had gone to college out of high school and I was 21 years old and didn't have children, I know I would have gone into coaching at whatever salary was offered. I didn't feel that I could let the family suffer because of what I wanted for a career. I did the next best thing by deciding to be a volunteer coach, not only for my children, but many times for teams when I didn't have a child playing.
I have received a lot of personal satisfaction from coaching and I have had the pleasure of working with many wonderful young men and women. Many of these people are now adults and have their own families. I can only hope that they are coaching in their communities. I am going to list some of the teams that I have coached. I know that I will forget some as we are talking about a 35 years span. I am doing this so that my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will have knowledge about my love in working with young men and women. These teams included baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. Many of these teams won league championships, but even the teams that didn't win gave me a great deal of satisfaction. This enjoyment came from working with so many fantastic young people. Coaching was a wonderful way to give back to the community while at the same time being able to enjoy what I was doing.
Sacramento Parkway Little League Baseball - 4 years Parkway Little League Majors Baseball All Star Teams - 3 years Sacramento City Basketball League - 2 years Pleasanton Babe Ruth Baseball League - 3 years Pleasanton Women's Softball League - 2 years Pleasanton Junior Football League - 2 years Pleasanton Senior/American Legion Baseball - 4 years Pleasanton Girls Soccer League - 2 years Pleasanton Girls Softball League - 1 year Pleasanton Bobby Sox Softball League - 1 year Pleasanton Bobby Sox Softball League All Star Team - 1 year Pleasanton Ballistic Soccer League - 5 years Pleasanton American Little League Baseball - 1 year Pleasanton City Rec. Basketball League - 2 years CYO Basketball League - 4 years Pleasanton National Little League Baseball - 7 years Pleasanton National Little League Baseball Majors All Star Teams - 4 years Valley Christian High School Basketball Junior Varsity Coach - 1 Year Valley Christian High School Basketball Varsity assistant - 4 years Valley Christian Jr. High Basketball - 1 year Valley Christian Jr. High Softball - 2 years Valley Christian High School Varsity Baseball assistant - 3 years
I am currently the assistant boys varsity basketball and baseball coach at Valley Christian High School in Dublin, CA. I had knee replacement surgery on both legs, (1997) so I don't know what is in the future. I don't have the pain in my knees now, but I am restricted to the activities that I can participate in at the present time. I'm not allowed to play tennis or basketball, but I can play golf as much as I want. I enjoy golf less than most sports, probably because I don't play that well.
Since I retired in 1994 I have tried to learn to relax, but it is very difficult to change after many years of being a manager where I was under constant pressure to make my sales quotas. I don't miss all of the 12 hour days as I used to work in my office 3 to 4 hours each night after arriving home from working with a sales representative all day. I do miss the people that I worked with plus many of the managers that were my very good friends. I have always been described as intense and competitive which is probably very true. That is one of the reasons that I always enjoyed going to manager's meetings where I would see men and women that were intense and competitive just like me.
Since we have moved back from Oregon I have had the opportunity to spend some time with 3 former friends of mine from Burroughs Wellcome. Jerry Slater, who was my former supervisor, Jack Nesselroad, and Charlie Perrigo who I worked with in the Bay Area for many years. We meet for lunch once a month and we have a coffee/tea get together just about every week. I think that we all have been somewhat surprised that the company has been able to make it without us.
I have had a wonderful life and I have been fortunate to have known so many exceptional people. I had great parents, two fantastic brothers, good teachers, close friends, and I have worked with many talented people. I was truly blessed to have had seven wonderful children. At this time I have seven grandchildren and I hope and pray that I will be able to watch them grow up. I also would like to be around when Jeff, Kevin, and Brett are married and have their own families. Mitzie is my soul mate and she has really made my life fun and exciting. I discussed earlier my relationship with the Lord, and I know that I never would have had this life without knowing Jesus Christ.
I am very proud of my seven children as they have all turned out to be wonderful citizens and fantastic human beings! Thank you Lord for Mike, Cathy, Patty, Rebecca, Jeff, Kevin, and Brett!! You have blessed me many times, but my seven children have been my greatest blessings.