Fred Steele
Al and Freddy were lifelong friends--even going so far as to marry two twin sisters!
At the White Plains House, dad & Freddy used to play ping pong upstairs then chase eachother around the house- once tearing through one of Grandmother's "musicales.Freddy used to love to reminiscence about Al in his teens /twenties zipping down the driveway totally ignoring Grandmother's operatic voice calling "AllllllllllBerrrrtttt". (Lala)
Sandi Schneider just added this great picture of Al and Freddy and someone else on a beach, I might guess Cape Ann myself?
(Here's another picture of AL and Freddy in 1996. Marcie adds:That's a great picture of ACA with Eliz on his lap, and noted should be Rick Reed standing and King Meyer, old Barrington friend, seated in the middle.)
Fred Davis
Marcie adds a letter from Fred Davis. I read a letter to Father from Fred Davis, his cousin two weeks before he died, and he spoke about his memories of Fred and Jean and their parents Christina and Bob, from the early days in Cleveland and Rockport. Fred was very upset when Father died, as Fred was looking for guidance from Father as Fred entered his 90's in August. He wrote a lovely letter to Dot, and shared this wonderfully vivid memory.
"I have been thinking a lot about Al ..and thought I woul like to tell you about some of the fond memories of him, whom I prefer to think of us as friends, not just a cousin. We are suck with your cousins, we choose our friends. We lived on the near east side of (Cleveland), they way over on the west side. Mother liked to drive a Baker electric car which was rather unique even back then. It had a tall cabin jutting up from a car-long bank of batteries, steered with a tiller like a sail boat, and had flower vases in the corners. The problem was that it had a limited range and East Cleveland to Lakewood was about the maximum. We had to be sure we had a full battery charge before leaving home. Al was fascinated by that car and fussed over it all the time we were visiting. Many times he would wipe it down and wax it. Another Cleveland memory. We would all get together at the East 9th St. Pier on Lake Erie and hop aboard a paddle wheel steamer by the nam,e of GOODTIME for a day's outing a Cedar Point Amusement Park about 80 miles up the Lake.... Al was also best man at our wedding when Lois and I were married, where he filled in at the last minute. A tent mate from WWII in the Pacific Islands was going to do the job... but the Sunday before the wedding the Padre told him a Catholic could not be a part of a protestant wedding... so Al graciously agreed to do the job....So you can see the memories of Al go a long way back. He was a good man in the best sense of the word. Those of us still following along behind may not be all of his immortality but we a big part of it." Regards, Fred (Davis)
Frank Eckloff
Marcie adds: Father had no shortage of friends with Dot, and his favorite easily was Frank Eckloff who Father missed from the day Frank died until the day Father did. This photo is from father's 80 th birthday celebration; Violet Eckloff made the cake!
Walter Cotter.
Walter Cotter and his wife was one of Al's longest friends!
Here's Al and Dot with the Cotters in 1996.
2 comments:
That's a great picture of ACA with Eliz on his lap, and noted should be Rick Reed standing and King Meyer, old Barrington friend, seated in the middle, I have no idea who the man at Good Harbor between Fred and ACA might be!
I will dig out a picture of Uncle Junie Steele, Fred's brother, who Dad at times thought of as his best friend. A wonderful man, charming, a great sportsman (54 national tennis tittles) and business man who had one flaw, gambling, which led him to loose all his financial success, but not our friendship.
La
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