Thursday Thirteen

Yesterday was my father's birthday. He turned 74.

So here are 13 facts about my father.

Me and my father in 2012. He was playing
Santa Claus at one of the local churches.

1. He was born in a cabin in West Virginia. His father was a coal miner at the time.

2. When he was seven years old, his uncle bought him a shoeshine kit and he shined shoes in Summersville, WV to earn money.

3. His family moved to the area we live in now around 1949. Eventually they ended up in Salem, living in the house that shared a backyard boundary with the home of a young lady my father would marry.

4. During his early teen years, my father had a wholesale bait-selling business, complete with employees.

5. He also had a lawn-mowing business. Back then, he cut lawns for $2.

6. He joined the military when he was 17. He served for 37 months, part of that in Korea. His last military job was decoding messages for the government.

7. After he left the military, he worked as police officer in Salem and married my mother. They had two kids in four years.

8. After a few years, he went into sales.

9. He moved to rural Botetourt in 1969, purchasing property that bordered his father-in-law's old home place. He began farming and raising cattle.

10. In 1973, he started his own business selling industrial rubber products. The company was initially called The Rubber House of Roanoke. Later, the name changed to Cardinal Rubber and Seal.

11. He played guitar and sang in a band called Music, Inc. in the 1970s and early 1980s. Today he plays guitar and sings in a band called Stone Coal Gap.

12. In 1999, he became an auctioneer.

13. My mother died in 2000; he remarried in 2007.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 402nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.