Bruce

This is Bruce, Mother's brother.  Not sure how much I've told you about him.  He was short, fiesty and strong.  He worked hard all his life.  He had a cleaners in Reedley and I think did ok.  I think he ended his life in Berkeley where he had another cleaners.  Our family, particularly Dad and his family, was always very judgmental about Bruce.  He drank and I think he smoked.  At some point, he and his wife broke up and we all knew it was because of his carousing.  I was not so much a part of that because I drank too and Bruce, Allyn and I used to drink quite a bit together.  I did not make it to his funeral.  The last time I saw him I think was at Mother's funeral.

The Crew

Well, here we are.  This is the Roland Dick family, minus Jeff.  The other two are Aunt Helen, my mother's sister and her son Allyn, my first cousin.  I'm guessing this is a Sunday afternoon at Nana's house.  For many years we went to Nana's house for Sunday afternoon meal.  Again, maybe I am about five years old, which would make this somewhere around 1945.

A Hamblen?

I honestly wish I knew who this was.  It looks like a pretty primitive house.  I am going to take a wild guess that it is one of the Hamblens.  Do you know?

Bruce and Nana

I know for sure this is Bruce, my Mother's brother and his mother, my grandmother, Delsie Warnock.
We called our grandmaother, "nana."

Bruce

Now this was one tough man.  My Mother's brother, Bruce.  Here he is in the Army during the Second World War.  He drove a tank on a desert in Africa where Rommel was after them.  (Please don't quote my history here.)  The story is told that Bruce was actually shot with the bullet going through his short collar and he was not hurt.  I've always thought of Bruce as a troubled soul, first growing up without a father and then the war.  But, he survived and I think lived well into his 70's.
I loved him a lot.

Ingals, Kansas

This is another one of those precious ones.  On the back of this picture is written in my Grandmother's handwriting, "here we lived in Ingals Kans."  First, I have never heard of Ingals, Kansas.  Second I have to believe it is somewhere near Hillsboro, Kansas.  Third, it looks pretty desolate,  Could it be during the dust bowl just before then decided to move to California during the Grapes of Wrath movement?  Wow.  What a place to live.  If it is the place where they lived when my Dad was small, they sold it just before they came to California for $10,000 to a relative of theirs.  I'm not sure how many acres they had, but they simply could not make a go of it on this farm.  I think if you enlarge this and look carefully you will see two people leaning on the car.  Grandma and Grandpa?  I went to the blog and enlarged the picture and I'm sure it is Grandma and Grandpa.  I cannot get over how desolate this looks.

Unknown

No idea who this is.  Do you know?

Larry and Rollie

Larry and Rollie

Handsome Larry

Another beautiful Larry picture.

Larry

A nice picture of Larry.

Mother and Me

This is a pictsure of my Mother and me.  I look to be about three years old which would have made this about 1943.  I don't recognize the house in back although I would bet it was taken in Reedley.  

The Boys

This is a picture of Larry and me.  I am almost certain it was at Grandma and Grandpa's house on
Kleinsassor Street in Reedley.  Again, maybe late 1940's?

Mother on the Piano

Larry, help me out here.  I really believe this was Mother after Dad was gone.  Maybe she was in the deep center of her illness?  The music is certainly still classical.  When you do this blog the way I am doing it, a little at a time, with gaps of time inbetween, sometimes you forget what you have said and what you haven't.  Here, I'll just say that Mother was one of the finest musiciona/pianists I have ever known.  Years and years she played in churches and other places.  When Dad left, she went to one of the Claremont Colleges to study piano and then really became a great pianist.  I can't tell you which ones, but whenever I hear some piece of classical music, I think of Mother because it was one of the ones she played often.  There is much more to her story, but will save it for later.

Mother Again

Although this is a pretty wacky little picture, I am still pretty certain it is Mother.

Mother

This picture is so sweet it almost makes me cry.  This is Mother, I assume in High School or Jr. High School, ready for a dance.  It had to be in Reedley.  

The Warnock Kids

A sweet picture of Mother, Aunt Helel and Bruce.  On the back it says Sanford, Colorado.  I think this was wher they were living when their Father died of the flu.  It was pretty tough on them as well as their Mother, Nana, when their father died.  By the way, his name was Bruce as well. 

An Old Picture

An Old Picture.  No idea who or what fruit it might have been.

Olga and the Boys

Here is an interesting picture.  It is of Olga and me and Larry on a burro in Tijuana.  Don't remember ever going, but here is the proof.  I look to be about 10 years old and Larry about six.  If these numbers were right it would be about 1949.

Articles of Faith

This is a little book called The Articles of Faith.  It appears to me to be a Mormon book.  I don't believe I've ever touched a book like this before.  There are three exciting things to me about this post.  1.  I have always said that my family on my Mother's side were Mormons.  However, by the time I cam along, most of them had become Baptists or something else.  This tells me that in fact they were Mormons in the beginning.  2.  There is a newspaper article about the death of a civil leader in Manassa, Colorado.  I do not recognize the name (Huffaker), but Manassa is a town I have heard about often with regard to the Warnock/Hamblen family.  2.  There is a Letter to the Editor.  It is kind of cute.  What I think it was trying to say is that Jesus would have never served real wine at the miracle scene.  He would have only served grape juice!.  However, as proof the writer quotes a verse from the old Testament that he contents is a quote from Jesus.  Am I wrong, or was Jesus not around during the writing of the Old Testament?

Handsome Dad

I didn't know I could make the picture this big.  I suppose I have seen this picture before, I don't think I have studied it very much.  First, what jumps out at you is his wavy hair.  I'm not sure, but I always thought he was a pretty vain man about his hair.  I do believe that the general feeling was that he was a very handsome man.  I'm guessing he is pretty young in this picture.  Second thing that stands out for me is the different sizes of his eyes.  My eyes tend to do that when I am tired as I think Jodi's do.  Finally, I am struck by the resemblence of this picture to my brother Jeff.

Grandma, Grandpa and Olga

I have never seen these photographs.  They are very precious to me.  In the top picture is Grandma, grandpa and Olga, my Dad's sister.  In the bottom picture is my Grandpa and Grandma.  My Grandpa seems to be holding up a cat and a dog.  Didn't remember him being lovers of pets.  These pictures represent exactly the way I remember these three people.  Olga did not get married at a young age.  I'm not sure how old, but she lived at home for many years.  I think Grandpa did everything he could to make sure that no suitors got very far when they dated Olga.  Finally, Bud Klewier came along and swept her off her feet.  They then had their only child Jolene.  I suppose when Grandpa went to church, he dressed a little, but I do not remember him in anything but those overhauls.  Grandpa was a minister in the Mennonite Church.  I understand he could orate with the best of them especially when it came to hell and damnation.  The problem was he preached in German.  They became a problem for him as the church more and more began to use English and finally his German preaching was not of use anymore.  So, he became a field worker.  However, he acquired enough skills that he could work year-round enough to stay busy so he did not have to move to work.

Old Wallet

This is a pretty old wallet.  At first I thought it might belong to my Grandpa or grandma.  Now, I think it probably belonged to Nana.  Three interesting things inside:  two nickels, dated in the 1970's; a bunch of cards with names on them which I don't recognize at all; and, what appears to be a budget.  Two of the interesting things on the budget appear to be a corset and two pairs of hose.

My Original Birth Certificate

I don't think I've ever seen this before.  I didn't know I had it.  I have since ordered official copies.  The most interesting think about this is that my Dad is 24 years old and my mother 22.  I always thought they were a year apart and that they were about three years younger when I was born.

Nana

This is a really nice picture of my Grandmother, Delsie Warnock, my mother's mother.  I'm guessing this was a school photograph since she worked as a teacher, principal and Superintendent.  I have to be very careful, although who would know, my memory of her is not quite so cheerful.