My In-Laws - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s.



My In-Laws

Previous blogs have shared memories of my family and friends so the focus of this blog will be about my in-laws, shown in this 1953 photo holding their first child, my wife-to-be some 19 years prior to our marriage. Both in-laws grew up during the Great Depression and World War II, with my mother-in-law unfortunately losing both her parents as a young child. An aunt cared for her and her 7 siblings on their family farm which happened to be next door to my grandparent’s farm. So my dad and my future mother-in-law knew each other at a very early age. That connection no doubt helped diminish any initial negative impressions my in-laws-to-be had of me after I rolled in on a motorcycle, with long hair, tie-dyed tee shirt and bell bottoms the first time I met the family! In fact, my mother-in-law-to-be once asked if that was the only outfit I ever wore! Needless to say, I went out and bought something new for the next visit.

My in-laws had 6 kids, and as a young family during the 50’s, they quickly outgrew their first home, an old farmhouse in the country. They decided to build near town and while saving for the new house, my father-in-law-to-be, a Korean War vet, held down two jobs as the local rural delivery postman and also as a worker at his dad’s small business in Piqua manufacturing doors and windows. My wife recalls the scrimping and saving during that period by her parents to have enough money for the new home. To save money, my mother-in-law, who was a great seamstress and gardener, would sew the kids clothes and meticulously tend to an extensive vegetable and flower garden. As the home construction was underway, my father-in-law was challenged with the home building expenses, so my wife as a young child had all her younger siblings gather the money from their piggy banks. When she presented the coins and a few dollars to her dad for help with the construction bills, in his frustration, he exclaimed “that won’t even pay for a doorknob!” In later years, my father-in-law always declared he would never have said such a thing, but in the heat of the moment and stress of building a new home, he can be forgiven for probably the only disparaging words he ever spoke in his entire life, for he was the most gentle man I’ve ever met. He, along with his sister and her husband, went on to successfully run the family business that now is being operated by the third generation. Unfortunately my father-in-law passed away in 2009. January 4th would have been their 65th wedding anniversary. My mother-in-law continues to live in the family home that she and her loving husband saved for, built together and maintained over the years. She still enjoys gardening, as well as reading, meeting with friends at a local senior center and most of all, attending family get-togethers with her 40+ grandkids and great grandkids on a regular basis (the photo below shows what this original family of three has grown into!). I’ve been blessed to have the best and most caring in-laws one could ever hope for.