Sunday, January 31, 2016

Sentimental Sunday: Francis Edward Gresham, 1911-1990

Today would have been my father-in-law Francis Edward Gresham's 105th birthday.  He was born January 21, 1911, in Krum, Texas, the oldest and only surviving son of Marvin/Mark Ellis Gresham (1886-1941) and Betty Dickson (1888-1976).  He graduated from nearby Denton High School on May 29, 1930 (Denton Record-Chronicle, 30 May 1930, page 1 and 4).  According to some notes his daughter Ann has, Francis attended North Texas State Teachers College, also in Denton, from about 1931 to 1933, but is not pictured in any of the yearbooks.

Somewhere between 1935 and 1940, Francis left the family farm in Krum for Corpus Christi, Texas.  The April 1, 1940 Census shows him living at 1337 Tyler and working as a lithographer at a newspaper. I also found Francis on page 212 of the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory. He's listed as living at 623 Blucher and working as a lithographer at Beacon Printing Company.  However, given that the information in city directories is often collected a year or more before they are published, perhaps this was his address prior to April 1940.

Ann's notes show that he was a pressman for Beacon (located at 1113 Leopard Street, Martin Jarrett, Manager, according to a May 11, 1939 business card) from January 1937 through February 1940, and a pressman and shop manager for the Edwin Flato Company from February through November 1940.

Most likely, Francis met his future wife, Jewel Moore (1914-1994) at work, as she is also listed as working as a stenographer for a printing company on the 1940 Census.  They married on October 26, 1940, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Corpus Christi.

Shortly after the marriage, Francis' father became quite ill, and he left his job with Flato to move back to Krum.  His father passed away in February and by March 1941, Francis and Jewel were living  at 405 San Pedro Street in San Antonio, and Francis was working as a multilith operator for the Ben J. Struder Photographic Studios (headquartered at 402 San Pedro).  Their first child, son Mark Edward, was born that August in San Antonio, at Santa Rosa Hospital.

On October 23, 1941, the family moved back to Corpus Christi, to 3038 Minton Street; then to 2024 Peabody on November 6, 1941; 2814 Nueces Street on January 4, 1942; and 3765 Brandywine Court on March 23, 1942.  The latter was part of the La Armada housing project, built to accommodate Navy enlisted men and civilian military employees as the Naval Air Station expanded.  Ann's notes say Francis was a print shop manager for the H.E. Butt Grocery Company (then headquartered in Corpus Christi) from October 1941 to January 1942, and that he was a junior supervisor with the U.S. Naval Air Station print shop in Corpus Christi from January 1942 to April 13, 1944.

The 1944 city directory shows the family back at 2814 Nueces, although that might have been based on earlier information.  Francis enlisted in the Navy on April 13, 1944, and was sent to work as a negative engraver and cameraman at the Navy's Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C.  Jewel gave birth to a daughter, Frances Ann, in that city in December 1944.  While in that city, the family lived at 4613 Lewis Avenue SE, Apartment D.

Francis was released from military service in January 1946, and the family moved back to Corpus Christi.  According to 1948 city directories, Frances was a lithographer at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, and his family lived at 3829 Blanco Courts, also in the La Armada housing project.  Ann's notes state that he was supervisor of miscellaneous duplicating services from March 1946 to December 1947, and "Printer INT[ermediate?]" at the Naval Air Station's print shop from December 1947 to January 1949.

In January 1949, Francis and his family moved to the Myrtle Grove area of Pensacola, Florida, where Francis worked at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.  His title was "Supervisor Lithographic Printing, USNAS Consolidated Printing Plant, Pensacola."  They first lived on a rural delivery route, then at 1505 N. 50th (November 1949), 904 N. 57th Avenue (November 1950), and 1312 N. 52nd Avenue (February 1951 and 1952).  Daughter June Marie was born here in January 1952.

Francis was sent to Guam by the Administrative Department of the Navy in July 1954.  Jewel and the children followed that autumn.  They lived at #15 Estrellita in Tumon Heights during their years in Guam.  Francis was a Quarterman Printer until September 1956, then Acting Supervisor of Publications and Printing until March 1957, then Supervisor until August 1960.  Below is a picture of him in his office in Guam on April 29, 1959.



In August 1960, Francis became Director of the Navy Publications and Printing Service Office of the 13th Naval District in Bremerton, Washington, and the family (except for Mark, who was in college) moved to 4107 Gillette Avenue in Bremerton.  Below is a photograph likely taken about the time Francis retired, most likely at the end of January 1972, on his 61st birthday.



Francis was recognized in late November, 1960, for having over 1,000 hours of unused sick leave:


At his retirement in January 1972, he was recognized for a number of accomplishments, including establishing a branch printing plant in Alaska in 1965 (which required authorization by the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing).


These two Texas natives stayed in Bremerton after retirement.  Francis really liked the hunting and fishing available in the Pacific Northwest, and Jewel really enjoyed how easy it was to garden in the mild and moist climate.

Francis died in Bremerton on December 10, 1990, of congestive cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, and aortic stenosis.  He was cremated and his cremains, along with those of Jewel, are buried in the garden at Ann's home near Husum, Washington, with a view of Mount Hood.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Ten Years Ago, Continued

This is a follow-up to my post earlier today, another entry in my LiveJournal blog from ten years ago today.  This is what I was compelled to write after finding out that Breathless was falling in love with me again (over 23 years after the first time!), and how he responded:




© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Ten Years Ago....

You know how Facebook reminds you of your memories? Well, this is a memory from ten years ago today. But this one is thanks to LiveJournal.

Some background first:

Ten years and 25 days ago, I'd taken a chance and given up a decent-paying but probably dead-end paraprofessional library job in Washington and moved back to Texas for a half-time assistantship in my last semester in library school, gambling that it would be easier to find a job as a librarian in Texas if I WAS in Texas. 

Ten years and 23 days ago, my good friends in the Seattle area took me out for high tea.

Ten years and 20 days ago, my son helped me load what little I'd decided to keep from my old life into a 6'x7'x8' high container, and I left Washington for Texas, and my wonderful cousin Tom Streff and his wife Karen offered to let me stay at their home in Grapevine for the semester.

And ten years and 10 days ago, I went to the American Library Association (ALA) meeting in San Antonio. Here is what happened on the way back:
On the drive back to Grapevine, I went through Granbury where I called an old friend who has recently moved back to Texas as well. We had dinner and it looks like we will be having lunch again this Sunday.
So one of my Seattle girlfriends, posting anonymously, asked me how my lunch date went. Here is what I (my handle on LiveJournal is riofriotex) replied, and what happened next:



I imagine you can guess who Breathless is.

Ten years later, we're still going strong.

And today or tomorrow, we are going back to that restaurant.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Friday's Faces From the Past: TAMU RPTS Stories - First Fall 1976 Meeting and Chili Supper

Here are some more pages from the scrapbook I kept in 1976-77 as the Reporter-Historian of the Recreation and Parks Club at Texas A&M University.  These four pages cover the first meeting of the Fall 1976 semester, on September 7, and the first social event two days later, a chili supper.













Above, from the left:  Judy (leaning over) and Jeff Fulk '77 with their baby, Terry Kerr '78, David Anderson '80, Hugh Bradford '81, Karen Fallwell '77, Social Chairman Bob Lisauckis '77 and his wife Rhonda, and President John Kibler '77.

Below, from the left:  Jim Eley '77, Intramurals Committee chair Russ Tillman '78, and Trips Committee chair Ken Bible '77 (crouching).


I can't identify everyone in the photo below, but that's department Head Dr. Les Reid in the hat, Karen Fallwell '77 seated to his left, and my future roommate Denise Landry '79 across the table in the foreground.



Below from left:  John Melton '77, Art Pena '78, Clyde Howard '83, unknown, Hugh Bradford '81, and George Gillespie '80.




In the jalapeno eating contest, Les Chrietzberg '80 (above) ate nine in one minute, but Dr. John Hanna (PhD '74, below) ate eleven.  Trish Jared '78 is in the background of the picture.





© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Pape Family, ABT 1965


A blurry family photo taken at my maternal grandmother (Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald)'s home, 1118 Bay Oaks in Houston, Texas. I'm on the far left and age 7 here.  Dad (Frederick Henry Pape) is holding my brothers Brian (2) and Mark (4).  Mom (Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape) is standing in the back, and my sister Karen (6) is at the far right.   The slide this image comes from was stamped March 1965, so the photo was taken in or before that month.

So why isn't my youngest sister Mary in this picture?  There's one of her taken in the same location (in front of the plant) with the same date stamp and just a couple slides before the group photo.  She's in an infant seat, below.  My guess is that she fell asleep and my parents did not want to disturb her for the photo above or for the photo of just us children.



© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Sentimental Sunday: TAMU RPTS Stories: Hill Country Parks and a Wedding, May 1976

This isn't part of the scrapbook I was keeping as the 1976-77 Reporter-Historian for the Recreation and Parks Club at Texas A&M University, but it's an event that involved a number of graduates of that department, not to mention a couple state parks as well.



At the wedding reception:  Above from left:  Tomye Folts ('05, Master of Natural Resources Development '08), Karen Secrest (not RP), Steve Philipp (MS '75 and PhD '79, both in Recreation & Resource Development or RRD), Eva Zweifel ('71, MS RRD '76), Denise Abendschein ('76, not visible), and, across the table, Hap Weaver '76 and Curt Alling (MAg RRD '78).  In the photo below, the order from the left is Tomye, Denise, Steve, Karen, Eva, and (across the table) Curt and Hap.


These photos are from my personal album, or are images off color negatives (hence the poor quality of some).  The description comes from a letter I wrote to my long-time pen pal (also an Aggie) dated May 26, 1976:

Last weekend [May 21-23], I went to the wedding of Carolyn Vogel, RP '76 and the club's former social secretary, and Kenny Scheffer, RP '75.  It was in Stonewall.  Friday night after work I was picked up [in Houston] by Denise Abendschein, a senior and former club Recorder-Historian.  We drove to College Station that evening and spent the night with Tomye Folts, the former club secretary....we also went to the [Dixie] Chicken, where we...ran into Curt [Alling], who...was invited by Tomye to accompany us because he happened to mention that his roommate (Steve Philipp, another grad [student]), was living up there while working at LBJ National Historic Site...
We left College Station about 8 a.m. [Saturday] and arrived in Stonewall at 11 a.m.  We checked into the only motel in town ($14 for we three [girls]), which happened to be owned by the same lady who owned the trailer park Steve lived in.  The lady told us the wedding was at 3 p.m. - we thought it was 1 or 2!  So the five of us drove to Pedernales Falls State Park, about 20 miles east.  Wow, was it neat!  The river falls at about a 70 degree from horizontal angle and is fairly shallow, and the rocks it falls over are smooth--therefore, you can slide down the falls!  I wanted to really badly, but unfortunately I didn't bring a swimsuit.....

Above and below:  Steve and Curt slide down the falls at Pedernales Falls State Park.  Not surprisingly, the following year, the falls area was closed to swimming for safety reasons.


The "page 2" that is supposed to follow in the letter quoted from above is missing, but based on my photo album, it looks like we visited nearby Enchanted Rock before heading home on Sunday.  This was back before it became a State Natural Area under the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (in 1978) and was under private ownership.  Note that the sign says admission for adults is 50 cents, and 25 cents for children:


At right is a not-so-good backlit picture of Carolyn on her wedding day.  About 18 years later, my parents retired and moved to Fredericksburg, just west of Stonewall.  This area is peach country in Texas, and Carolyn's family ran an orchard between Stonewall and Fredericksburg that my parents frequented, often seeing Carolyn there helping out when she was home visiting her family.

That was enough to keep us in touch, and when I was in Texas from Seattle for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in September 2004 (and also here for the start of my library school program), Carolyn and I got together in Austin for lunch, pictured below.

Click on the links for the underlined names to find out what some of my old friends have been or currently are doing.



© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Sibling Saturday: Karen, Brian, Mark, and Me, ABT 1965


Counterclockwise from me (I'm the tallest and age 7 here) are my sister Karen (6) and brothers Brian (2) and Mark (4) at our maternal grandmother (Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald)'s home, 1118 Bay Oaks in Houston, Texas.  The slide this image comes from was stamped March 1965, so the photo was taken in or before that month.  Our mother, Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape, made our jumpers of velveteen.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Friday's Faces From the Past: TAMU RPTS Stories - Spring BBQ, May 1976

On April 13, 1976, elections were held for Texas A&M University's Recreation and Parks Club officers for the 1976-77 school year.  Yours truly was elected Reporter-Historian (I'm pretty sure Mark Gray nominated me).  According to the Club's By-Laws (Section 2f):

It shall be the duty of the Reporter-Historian to handle publicity for all Club meetings and activities, and to produce a report of the Club's accomplishments and activities.

Well, I'd already been doing the first duty through the "Park It Here" newsletter.  I decided to fulfill the second duty by creating a scrapbook, the first pages of which appear below.  Since Section 3a of the By-Laws specified that the new officers assumed their duties at the close of the election meeting, our first task was to plan the annual Spring semester end-of-year event, which was held on May 2.







Betsy Paez '76 in white shirt in background, Walt Hood '76 in dark tank top


Steve Schroeder and incoming Social Secretary Bob Lisauckis '77 cook the chicken.

Ronnie Brown '76 dives into the pond

Incoming President John Kibler '77 presents outgoing President Joe Bihon '77 with a gift.

Trips Committee chair Ken Bible '77 pitches to Intramurals Committee chair Russ Tillman '78.


1975-76 "Best Prof" winners Jim Stribling (Recreation & Resource Development MS '69, PhD '76) and Dennis Howard.

"Best 305 Prof" B. Dan Kamp (Recreation & Resource Development PhD '73) - who else?

"Long-Standing Student" winner Hap Weaver '76 gets a kiss from incoming Vice-President Deb Cleland '78.

Department chair Dr. Les Reid presents the Spring 1976 Silver Chaparral Award for outstanding senior to Kay Evans




© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: TAMU RPTS Stories - Somerville Weekend, April 1976

Near the end of the 1976 Spring semester, the Recreation and Parks (RP) Club at Texas A&M University had a campout at Yegua Creek Park on nearby Lake Somerville.  A bunch of us pitched tents at a group site and stayed the weekend of April 9-11.

A highlight of the weekend was when faculty member and soon-to-be Dr. Jim Stribling (who earned his masters in recreation resource development in 1969 and his doctorate in 1976) stopped by our peninsula in his fishing boat and dropped off a number of white bass he'd just caught.  Some of the guys prepped them for baking over the fire for dinner that night.


At right, RP Club Vice-President Mark Gray does some of the prep work on the fish.  

Below, Clyde Howard watches as Mark Gray starts baking the fish.



Above is the article from a late April 1976 issue of the Park It Here RP Club newsletter about the Somerville weekend.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Talented Tuesday: TAMU RPTS Stories - The Newsletter - "Park It Here"

As an undergraduate, I attended Texas A&M University in College Station, and majored in Recreation and Parks.  Now the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS), it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this spring.

In preparation for an upcoming banquet on April 22, the department has asked "alumni to share memories and stories of your time invested as an RPTS major and celebrate the influence that RPTS has had on your personal lives and professional career."

Given that I was extremely involved in the department, I have quite a bit to share.  As a freshman, I jumped in right away, and started a newsletter for the majors club (Recreation and Parks Society, later Recreation and Parks Club, often abbreviated to RP Club).  I used my electric typewriter to put together the master copy each week, then copies for distribution were made at the department's office.

Here are the mastheads for six of the first seven issues, stacked one on top of each other, showing the progression from "Still Nameless!" to "Newsletter Needs a Name!" to "Newsletter's Gonna Get a Name!" to "No-Name Newsletter (but not for long!)" to the winning name, "Park It Here," suggested by the RP Club secretary, Tomye Folts ('05, Master of Natural Resources Development '08).



By the beginning of the following year, 1976-77, we had a logo too:



I continued to serve as editor for this newsletter through the 1977-78 school year, my last full year in the program, as I graduated in December 1978.  The newsletter logo continued to look exactly the same as it does above (despite what the article says) during my term as editor.  By the second issue of 1976-77, however, we were reproducing the newsletter on goldenrod-colored paper.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Sentimental Sunday: TAMU RPTS Stories - Liaison Committee, 1975-76


As an undergraduate, I attended Texas A&M University in College Station, and majored in Recreation and Parks.  Now the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS), it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this spring.

In preparation for an upcoming banquet on April 22, the department has asked "alumni to share memories and stories of your time invested as an RPTS major and celebrate the influence that RPTS has had on your personal lives and professional career."

Given that I was extremely involved in the department, I have quite a bit to share.  I'll start with my freshman year, which was 1975-1976, about 40 years ago.

Shortly after the term began in the fall, I received a letter from the department head, Dr. Leslie M. Reid, who had started the Recreation and Parks department ten years earlier.  I had been recommended by fellow freshmen majors to serve on the Liaison Committee, a group of students that met with him to "seek and define those improvements which will foster the advancement of both educational goals and professional involvement of the students in this curriculum."

The group met regularly with Dr. Reid to "discuss student problems and praise and complaints and criticism," as described in the September 14, 1976, issue of our student newsletter, "Park It Here" (more on that newsletter in a future post).  The group had a mailbox in the basement of the department's then-building, Goodwin Hall, where students could leave their input anonymously.

The photograph at the beginning of this post is from one of the meetings of the committee when I was on it.  Clockwise from left, the members are senior Mark Gray '76,* Dr. Reid, senior Everett DeWolfe '76,* junior Robin Pfannstiel '77, senior Don Harris '78,* fellow freshman Lynn Timken '79, and (back to the camera) senior Joaquin "Jack" Cervantes '76, the chairperson (the asterisk designates members who served the previous year or years).

Here's the letter I received inviting me to join the committee:


And here's a full list of the Liaison Committee members in 1975-76 (from the newsletter I'll be talking about in my next post).  I was designated a sophomore representative because I started the year with 19 hours credit by examination.



Stay tuned for more posts from 1976 through 1979.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.