The photo above is J.A. Powers and Evelyn Kaelin Powers in 1915 or so. J.A. and Evelyn were my dad's parents. J.A.'s birthday was May 22. He was born about 1892 or 93 in Washington State. He was the 4th son, and his parents must've run out of names because they just gave him initials for a name. Just J and A. Fill in the blanks yourself. The first thing that comes to mind is of course... Jack Ass. What a dis-service to do to yer kid.
Anyway, I was only 5 when Grandpa died. But Gram told many stories about him. They married when Gram was only 17. Gram told me they met in and around McArthur Park in Los Angeles where the kids used to gather to meet each other on week-end nights. They first lived with J.A.s mom in LA, and soon a playboy brother of J.A.s came to stay awhile with mom, and made a move on Gram. Gram packed her suitcase, went home to her mom's house, said, "I made a mistake; I don't want to be married anymore." Gramma Kaelin would not let Gram back into the house and said, "get the hell back to your husband; you married him, so go live with him". So Gram went back to J.A. and said, "We need our own place", so they moved out to their own place soon afterwards. J.A.'s mom was a buyer-fixer-upper of houses and made a lot of money that way, so I think Gram told me they'd live in one of Old Lady Genung's houses till she sold it, then they'd move again.
J.A.'s mom's name was Old Lady Genung because one day in Washington State she caught her husband, Old Man Powers, in the flat bed of a pick up truck canoodling with another woman. So she divorced Powers and married Genung, a batchelor lawyer who was a good friend to Old Man Powers. (After grandma Genung died, Old Man Genung got sick, married his nurse and the nurse-wife inherited the fortune when he died. The Powers brothers tried to sue to get a piece of the pie that had been their mother's fortune, but the court ruled against it.)
This a photo of J.A. about 1942 or so during WWII. He is looking at photos of his 2 sons on his desk at the office. Might've been wondering if they'd come back from war or not. Both eventually did.
Another photo shows J.A. at home in his chair; this is how I remember him, always in a suit, sometimes with a hat on. I do have photos of his last year, when he was fading away from prostate and bone cancer; Gram got him a wheelchair that I used as well every time I'd come home from another polio surgery. But I'd rather recall him as a well gentleman, in good health, having fun with grandkids and making jokes very often.
He and my dad were gone too soon.
In 1952, J.A. was president of the Los Angeles Home Show; probably a showcase for contractors and suppliers. He lived long enough to fulfill this office. He was very ill and in pain when this photo was taken. The photo above shows Gram, J.A., Dad, Mom, Aunt Enid and Uncle Frank.
Ever wonder if people really R.I.P?? Both his sons would divorce, but Gram never remarried because J.A. told her the men would probably want to marry her for her money. Sure enough, Gram told me their family doctor proposed after J.A. died by saying, "So, Evelyn, why don't you and I pool our resources?" hahaha,, some damn romantic proposal, huh? She said no! But she did give him most of J.A.'s suits because he was the same size as grandpa.
Grandpa also told Gram that the tax people would come after her to find out why she was left so much money when he died. He told her to emphasize that his brick business made a lot of money in WWII because he bid on jobs that he could quarantee would be finished promptly, and his word was good, so he was able to make a lot of bread. Gram said that's exactly how it came down, and she was off the hook quickly with no problems. She loved him and thought he was a very wise man. Happy Birthday to him.
family stories... pass them on!
