Thursday, June 16, 2011

Thursday's thirteen: My Dad

Johnnie B Seagraves 1922-1982
Photo taken at the Salton Sea (dad's last fishing trip)
(the pretty lady on the left is my mom, Jeannetta.)

It's almost Father's day and I find myself thinking about my dad. He's been gone for nearly thirty years, but I still miss him.

1. My dad, Johnnie B Seagraves, was born in 1922 in Mount Pleasant,Tennessee. But was raised on a farm near Pulaski.

2. My dad was raised on a farm and rode a horse before he could walk, but all his life he disliked horses.

3. My dad and his family came to Madera, California in 1936, when my dad was fourteen.

4. My dad learned to skate in an old barn, where he had nailed down ten can lids over the knot holes in the floor. He leaned to be a good skater, so he could skate with the girls at the roller rink that we still have in town.

5. He was drafted into the Army and served his tour in Hawaii as a ambulance driver and later a medic, taking care of the boys hurt in the war.

6. After the war when he came home, he used his Vet benefits to learned to be a Body and Fender man (that's someone who hammers out the dents and paints cars). According to his good friend Harmon Henderson, my dad was the best Body and Fender man in Madera.

7. In 1960, my dad met and married my mom, Jeannetta.

8. In 1961, I was born. :) In 1962 my sister Deanna was born.

9. My dad loved to fish and was very good at it too.

10. One time my dad went deep sea fishing and caught a shark. After wrestling with the thing for what seemed like hours (and may have been), he finally got it on board and decided to keep it. He took it home and cut it up. Soon all his friends found out Johnnie had a shark and came over to ask for a steak so they can try shark. My dad's good nature was his undoing, he gave everyone who asked a shark steak, until he realized he had given it all away.

11. Dad taught me how to fish, but I'm not very good at it on my own and don't fish anymore.

12. In 1980 my dad found out he had colon cancer.

13. In 1982, my dad passed away in the Veteran's hospital in Fresno. He was 60 years old. I was twenty-one. It was a very wet year and it seemed like the very skies wept.

18 comments:

Maddy Barone said...

Wow! My dad and yours had quite a bit in common. My dad was about 9 years younger than yours, and he also died in 1982, when i was 21. Father's Day is always a little bitterweeet for me.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Maddy,

Oh wow, we really do have a lot in common then. And I feel the same way about Father's day.

(((hugs)))

Janice~

Savannah Chase said...

Your dad sounds like an amazing man...Great T13

Suzanna said...

My dad was born in 1926 and passed away in 1992 when I was 26. Although my father's gone and it's sad to think of all the things in my life he's missed, I do derive comfort from thinking of all the wonderful things we shared. I hope you do, as well. Thank you for sharing.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Savannah,

Thank you so much for saying so. :)

Hi Suzanna,

I try to, but my dad's been gone for almost thirty years. He missed his two grandchildren being born.

It makes me sad. :(

Janice~

Suzanna said...

I know. My father has four grandchildren (one of my sisters has two boys and I have two girls) and he didn't get a chance to meet any of them. It does make me sad since I know he would have adored them.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Suzanna,

Thanks for coming back. :)

Oh, that is sad. In my families case my sister had one boy and I have one girl. Dad's grandson (my sister's boy) was born just two years after dad passed away. :( I think he would have liked both of his grandchildren too.

Janice~

Xakara said...

Father's Day is always a split for me between missing my dad and remembering to pass on that same gratitude to the uncle that helped raise me. It makes it an odd time of year, each and every year the last 20 since he's been gone....

Hugs,

~Xakara
13 DVR'd Shows

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Xakara,

That's sad, but at least you have your uncle who raised you.

Janice~

Alice Audrey said...

60 seems young to me now, but back then it was considered a full life.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Alice,

My dad died in 1982.

Janice~

Shelley Munro said...

Your father sounds like an amazing man. My mother died in 1982 when I was 21.

Carla Krae said...

Sounds like he gave you great memories.

Jennifer Leeland said...

What a moving TT, Jan.
My Dad passed away in 2002 and I still miss him so much.

Darla M Sands said...

I'm with you on the fishing! That's something we need to do again while my dad remains alive and well. Sorry you lost him so young.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Shelley,

Thank you so much for saying so.

I'm sure you miss your mom, as much as I miss my dad.

Hi Carla,

Yes, he did. :) Thank you.

Hi Jennifer,

That not very long ago for you, and you never get over missing
your dad.

Hi Darla,

Thank you.

Yes, spend what time you can with your dad.

Happy TT everyone.

Janice~

Heather said...

Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your dad, Janice. Mine also died of cancer, at a vet's hospital, ten years ago September. Definitely a bittersweet year.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Heather,

I think each ten year mark's are hard to get through, anniversary wise.

It sure make Father's day a hard day to get through, without your father around to share the day with.

Janice~