My grandfather on my dad’s side was a retired firefighter. Twice. He retired as a captain, then went back as a civilian in their fire alarm office. He inspired his son, my dad, into the same career.
My mom’s natural father? I don’t know. Her mom remarried soon after she was born. Her stepfather was a retired railroad worker.
I know one of my grandfathers was a house painter and the other was a meatcutter; can’t remember which.
My grandparents all died long before I was born.
On Mothers side, a farmer, raised cows and pigs, hauled pulp wood.
On fathers side, musician, owned a company that made hood ornaments for cars, Made liquid corn up in the ozarks for a while(till he got caught), and was a sharecropper.
My grandfather (d. 1988) was the happiest and kindest man who ever walked the earth. He had a heard of gold. He was also a sergeant in the Philippines during WWII. On one occasion I asked him to tell me about the war. (I was a pre-teenager, and up till then I had romantic visions of what WWII was like. You can thank Hollywood for that.) As you might expect, I was hoping for some heroic stories of bravery, courage, and valor. But when I mentioned it he became ultra serious, look me in the straight in the eye, and told me it was the most horrible thing he ever experienced. And that’s all he ever said about it. And I never asked him about it again.
Sorry… heart of gold.
Zev,
What you wrote about your grandparents is just beautiful. Thank you for sharing your memories with us. I know I’m a bit late with this, have not visited this thread in a while, but I just read what you wrote here and thought it wonderful.
Maternal grandfather: born in Lithuania, worked in England as a printer, when he emigrated to the U.S. he worked for the Baldwin Train Works, building big locomotives.
He died when my mom was young, like 10 or 12, in the '20s, and her mother (also born in Lithuania) ran a taproom and raised three daughters.
Paternal grandfather (died when I was in kindergarten, didn’t really know him, since we lived 500 miles away): I think he worked for Sun Oil, but I don’t know what he did.
Grampa Kellar (Father’s) worked on the Railroad where he suffered a terrible injury requring amputation of a leg which was replaced with a wooden one. Nickname latter in life: Peg-Leg Kellar
Gramps German (Mom’s) was a cobbler. He owned the building which was a double storefront. (Beauty Shop on other side) and the Family lived in the apt. upstairs. Amazingly enough, the building is still standing and when I pass it by I get all misty eyed.
Maternal grandfather was a moonshiner and a Klucker. Maternal grandmother was a homemaker.
Don’t know anything about my paternal grandparents, other than my father’s father died in a Louisianna prison.
.:Nichol:.
Klucker??
Explain to the blonde, please. . . .
My maternal grandfather worked as a logger in his young years. I have some pictures of him when he was in his 20’s standing next to some huge trees that were just cut down. Both he and my grandmother worked at the Navy shipyard in Bremerton during WWII, then he worked many years at a chicken processing plant. My paternal grandfather was an accountant, the only place I know of that he worked at was a hospital in Burbank, California.
Don’t worry, I’m a blonde myself. “Klucker” is slang for a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Like most white men in rural Mississippi at the time, my grandaddy was in the Klan.
.:Nichol:.
Ah, thank you Nichol. 
I was raised in Ca, have never run into southern slang till I moved here to NC. so I still have some catching up to do…
Here is what my paternal grandfather did. I think he still does some research, but of course he’s been retired for a long time now.
I’m really not sure about my maternal grandfather, though I know he served in the US Navy during World War I (yes, that’s I, not II). He died when I was only a few years old.
And I have even less of an idea about grandmothers. My paternal grandmother is still around; my maternal grandmother died about a week after I was born, I think.
Paternal grandfather: farmer
Maternal grandfather: opthalmologist
Maternal Grandfather : Coal miner - died of black lung - go figure!
Paternal Grandfather: Delivered Ice for the old ice boxes. I thougt that was interesting.
This article (zoom in) mentions my paternal grandfather. The first name mentioned, that’s him.
My paternal grandfather was a teacher, high school basketball coach and elementary school principal, in addition to farming.
My maternal grandfather drove a tank in WWII, worked as a radio dispatcher for the Kentucky State Police, and ran a successful woodcraft business.
My grandfather on my father’s side: Drove trucks, owned and operated a full service gas station and garage, was a volunteer firefighter, and drove race cars.
On my mother’s side: Fought in WWII with the US Army, drove trucks, did other industrial type things.
Neither of my Grandmothers had a paid job, AFAIK.
Maternal Grandfather was in WWII (don’t know in what capacity), and was an electrician until he retired in his 60s.
Paternal GF came from Naples in the early 1900s. Too young for WWI, too old for WWII. Don’t know what he did as a young man, but he delivered bread for about 40 years, into his 60s or 70s…
hrh
