Granddad

Mother's father. Second-generation German immigrant. Born and raised in the Pittsburg, PA area. Served in the US Navy as a yeoman onboard the presidential yacht Mayflower, and after his discharge became a policeman in the Pittsburg suburb Mt. Lebanon. Here he is on his Harley:



I think his service revolver was a Smith & Wesson K-38 with a 6" barrel, but don't hold me to it. Only saw it once; he kept it on a top shelf of his closet. He told me the single-action notch had been filed off, making it a DAO revolver.

He retired to Florida and spent his senior years golfing and bowling. He was known as "Whitey," although his name was Arthur William. Never asked my mom how he got the nickname "Whitey," I guess now I'll never know. He wore a toothbrush mustache all his life; grew it before it became associated with Adolf Hitler, and apparently never felt it necessary to shave it off because of that.

I don't know for sure how much German he spoke; the only bit of the language I ever heard him speak was the old grace before meals:

Gott Sei Dank, für Speis’ und Trank,

für alles Gute das Du, der Herr, bereitet hast. Amen.


(God be thanked, for food and drink,

For all is good that you, oh Lord, have given. Amen.)


He didn't curse much, unless he stubbed his toe or barked his shin, at which point he'd mutter under his breath God-damned son of a sea cook!

He was a good man.