This thread of mine from the dawn of this board. This memory was just as clear to me as I described in the OP. I was just wrong.
Also, I had a very distinct memory of going to see my grandfather in the hospital not long before he died, one of the few memories I had of him. I was in 5th grade at the time. Some time back, I finally found his *obit. Nope. He died when I was in 2nd grade.
*The name I knew him by was not one of his given names, and it took a while before I could eventually ferret it out, as there was no longer anyone around who could have answered that question.